text: All damage that would be dealt to Protean Hydra is prevented, even if it doesn’t have that many +1/+1 counters on it. This is true even if Protean Hydra has no +1/+1 counters on it at all (and is able to remain on the battlefield because some other effect is boosting its toughness). If the amount of damage that would be dealt to Protean Hydra is greater than the number of +1/+1 counters on it, all the +1/+1 counters on Protean Hydra are removed from it.