MTG Salvation

I haven't seen many current decklists so I thought I'd start one. I have very little experience with him, so feedback is appreciated.

As we all know, hermit druid decks are for people that like lengthy, sociable games of edh...that don't go past turn 3. This deck is for tournaments, not casual play.

One thing I'd like to avoid as much as possible is casting hermit druid and trying to protect him from all the other players until the following turn so I can use him. For that reason I included 2 creatures you might not have seen in other hermit druid lists: lightning mauler and generator servant. I'm far less worried about removal if the druid has haste. They both help me mana-wise too (note: lightning mauler is another creature to sack to dread return so I won't have to pay U to put fatestitcher into play).

I feel that animating necrotic ooze with morselhoarder, devoted druid, and niv-mizzet, dracogenius in the graveyard is a safer kill than animating angel of glory's rise and putting laboratory maniac and azami, lady of scrolls into play. Once you animate the ooze, the game is over, even if they have instants to disrupt you. More importantly, the angel is screwed by torpor orb and hushwing gryff, which are becoming common includes. And containment priest would be a crushing blow in response to angel's etb trigger. I'm happy to consider alternative wincons though.



Explanation: Step 1: cast hermit druid, activate him - you have no basics so your library is dumped into your graveyard (alternatively, cephalid illusionist + lightning greaves + another creature will accomplish this as well). This also puts narcomoeba into play. If you only have 2 creatures in play, you'll need to unearth fatestitcher and/or dregscape zombie. Next you flashback dread return and put necrotic ooze into play. You make infinite mana with necrotic ooze using the abilities of devoted druid and morselhoarder in the graveyard. Once you have infinite mana, necrotic ooze kills everyone using the scholar of athreos ability.

Is Hall of the Bandit Lord any good for giving haste?

Do mind that it enters tapped and is a colorless land in a 5C deck, so that is a big hurdle to jump. Understandable if that's too much of a problem.

So basically anyone who can outrun you with Tormod's Crypt, Rakdos Charm, Bojuka Bog, Rest in Peace, etc. will basically destroy your game. You should be just as worried about protecting your graveyard as well as giving Hermit Druid haste.

Quote from plushpenguin »

Is Hall of the Bandit Lord any good for giving haste?

It sure does but in this deck, it's too slow.

Quote from DementedKirby »

So basically anyone who can outrun you with Tormod's Crypt, Rakdos Charm, Bojuka Bog, Rest in Peace, etc. will basically destroy your game. You should be just as worried about protecting your graveyard as well as giving Hermit Druid haste.

The deck has removal, countermagic, and tutors to find removal if need be but if you have suggestions on what changes should be made, I'm all ears.

Cards that give you hexproof helps with targeted complete graveyard removal. It may seem like a crap rare, but I've found my ass being saved time and time again by Witchbane Orb. I'm even considering adding it to my Sidisi, Brood Tyrant EDH because graveyard removal is its only unrecoverable weakness. Since you're also running W, you could always add cards like Ivory Mask, True Believer, Aegis of the Gods, Imperial Mask, Leyline of Sanctity, and Spirit of the Hearth.

I think those are horrible suggestions ivory mask in a deck that wins at 2 mana??? He just tutors natures claim for hate permeata he even plays grudge for his entomb...

My opinon is you have too many lands first of all and your missing better lands for speed IE chrome mox colored mana accel at 0-1 is good.

Putting haste Rez on the creature slot with necromancer is good since your running creature tutors to find Druid . I think you can safely cut some lands for addition protection like duress dispel thoughtseize

Cephid breakfast is bad greaves is fine but this is a horrible plan B pull
From eternity into haste Rez is easier I think you wasted that slot.

Other than that list looks pretty much stock I would run maybe 1-2 more loot effects for crap I drew dread return and my combo piece secnarios even merfolk looter is fine since it sacs to dread return anyway saving you a mana required to go off fairly often and it comes down in time to loot out what you need without slowing your goldfish

Edit: I liked ponder here just fine. That could be one of your land slots

Thx for the feedback. I made some changes.

Most Hermit lists I have seen have a plan B with Scion, in case the Hermit combo fails. You think it is not necessary?
When sol ring and mana crypt are useful to you? Why do you have them in your list?
Why do you have gamble in the list?
What about Force of will, are you sure you are going to have an extra blue card and use it? You could use spell pierce or dispel for example instead.
When you reply on all of the above I might be able to make a few more suggestions.
Last but not least, don't you think regrowth deserves a spot in your list?

Thx

Quote from johnnychr »

Most Hermit lists I have seen have a plan B with Scion, in case the Hermit combo fails. You think it is not necessary?
When sol ring and mana crypt are useful to you? Why do you have them in your list?
Why do you have gamble in the list?
What about Force of will, are you sure you are going to have an extra blue card and use it? You could use spell pierce or dispel for example instead.
When you reply on all of the above I might be able to make a few more suggestions.
Last but not least, don't you think regrowth deserves a spot in your list?

I'm on the fence about the alternate win. I could go either way really.
Mana crypt is amazing, especially one turn 1. It would be insane to cut it. Sol ring is less impressive, but still good. There's a fair number of ways to use colorless mana in this deck.
Gamble usually tutors for hermit druid and if it goes to the graveyard, that's fine too. There's ways to recur it.
So far force of will has not been a dead draw. I'd definitely keep it. The options you mentioned are great too.
And yes, regrowth probably deserves a spot. Not sure what to take out for it.

I've only used this deck maybe a dozen times in a highly competitive meta. So it hasn't been tuned yet but it has done pretty amazing so far, even when people are ganging up on you. It's surprisingly resilient.

Regrow not needed aly won con not needed just tutor a way to try and hermit again is better.

Quote from rockondon »

Quote from johnnychr »

Most Hermit lists I have seen have a plan B with Scion, in case the Hermit combo fails. You think it is not necessary?
When sol ring and mana crypt are useful to you? Why do you have them in your list?
Why do you have gamble in the list?
What about Force of will, are you sure you are going to have an extra blue card and use it? You could use spell pierce or dispel for example instead.
When you reply on all of the above I might be able to make a few more suggestions.
Last but not least, don't you think regrowth deserves a spot in your list?

I'm on the fence about the alternate win. I could go either way really.
Mana crypt is amazing, especially one turn 1. It would be insane to cut it. Sol ring is less impressive, but still good. There's a fair number of ways to use colorless mana in this deck.
Gamble usually tutors for hermit druid and if it goes to the graveyard, that's fine too. There's ways to recur it.
So far force of will has not been a dead draw. I'd definitely keep it. The options you mentioned are great too.
And yes, regrowth probably deserves a spot. Not sure what to take out for it.

I've only used this deck maybe a dozen times in a highly competitive meta. So it hasn't been tuned yet but it has done pretty amazing so far, even when people are ganging up on you. It's surprisingly resilient.

Ok. Pretty much you have used all possible tutors you can. The only cards I see possible to be added to your list are:

• Wheel of fortune (must)
  
• Chrome Mox (removing a land maybe?)
  
• Duress /Inquisition of Kozilek (if you want additional disruption)
  
• Spell Pierce/ Dispel (if you want the extra counters)
  
• Impulse (for extra digging)
  
• Fellwar Stone (maybe instead of Generator Servant?)
  

You did a pretty good job making the list degenerate enough. Which cards do you think that are underperforming in the deck based on the games you played so far? Which cards you don't like seeing in your hand besides the combo pieces ofc?

Ok. Pretty much you have used all possible tutors you can. The only cards I see possible to be added to your list are:

• Fellwar Stone (maybe instead of Generator Servant?)
  

You did a pretty good job making the list degenerate enough. Which cards do you think that are underperforming in the deck based on the games you played so far? Which cards you don't like seeing in your hand besides the combo pieces ofc?

I know you don't see generator servant in other hermit druid lists but that card is incredible. You cast it turn 1-2, then next turn you have an additional 2 mana for casting hermit druid and giving him haste. Haste is crazy important for a deck like this. Nobody will let druid live for a turn.

Cards I don't like seeing much are gamble (I know its a good card, I just hate it), abrupt decay (unless I need it, in which case it's awesome), and perhaps some of the transmute tutors.

Quote from rockondon »

Ok. Pretty much you have used all possible tutors you can. The only cards I see possible to be added to your list are:

• Fellwar Stone (maybe instead of Generator Servant?)
  

You did a pretty good job making the list degenerate enough. Which cards do you think that are underperforming in the deck based on the games you played so far? Which cards you don't like seeing in your hand besides the combo pieces ofc?

I know you don't see generator servant in other hermit druid lists but that card is incredible. You cast it turn 1-2, then next turn you have an additional 2 mana for casting hermit druid and giving him haste. Haste is crazy important for a deck like this. Nobody will let druid live for a turn.

Cards I don't like seeing much are gamble (I know its a good card, I just hate it), abrupt decay (unless I need it, in which case it's awesome), and perhaps some of the transmute tutors.

Ok. I believe that your intention should be to cast hermit druid t1. If t1 is not feasible since you will need many cards to accomplish this, you should setup for t2. t3 should be the worst case scenario in my opinion. If you really need the haste part why wouldn't you consider the following:

• Fever Charm (1 mana instant)
  
• Reckless Charge (1 mana sorc but has flashback)
  
• Lightning Greaves (that also gives protection)
  
• Mass Hysteria (1 mana red)
  
• Concordant Crossroads (1 mana green)
  

Enlightened Tutor can help you get the last 3 as well, and you can remove one of the other tutors.
However, I believe that casting hermit druid t1/t2 should be the focus. Therefore the following cards should help accomplish this:

• Simian Spirit Guide
  
• Elvish Spirit Guide
  
• Dark Ritual (But this might be very situational)
  
• Chrome Mox
  
• Fellwar Stone
  

You did not tell me what you think of wheel of fortune With that in hand you can take more risks casting hermit druid.
In addition I would not worry about haste, but how to get Postmotern Lunge or corpse dance if hermit druid is killed.
I also plan to build this deck, that is why I am trying as hard as you to be as degenerate as possible.

I updated the list with a few changes that have been in the deck for a while.

Quote from johnnychr »

Ok. I believe that your intention should be to cast hermit druid t1. If t1 is not feasible since you will need many cards to accomplish this, you should setup for t2. t3 should be the worst case scenario in my opinion. If you really need the haste part why wouldn't you consider the following:

• Fever Charm (1 mana instant)
  
• Reckless Charge (1 mana sorc but has flashback)
  
• Lightning Greaves (that also gives protection)
  
• Mass Hysteria (1 mana red)
  
• Concordant Crossroads (1 mana green)
  

Enlightened Tutor can help you get the last 3 as well, and you can remove one of the other tutors.
However, I believe that casting hermit druid t1/t2 should be the focus. Therefore the following cards should help accomplish this:

• Simian Spirit Guide
  
• Elvish Spirit Guide
  
• Dark Ritual (But this might be very situational)
  
• Chrome Mox
  
• Fellwar Stone
  

You did not tell me what you think of wheel of fortune With that in hand you can take more risks casting hermit druid.
In addition I would not worry about haste, but how to get Postmotern Lunge or corpse dance if hermit druid is killed.
I also plan to build this deck, that is why I am trying as hard as you to be as degenerate as possible.

Wheel of fortune just doesn't fit and all those haste enablers are bad except for lightning greaves, which was already in the deck.

I had elvish spirit guide in there already and I'm considering simian spirit guide, but there aren't many targets for red mana. The green mana from elvish spirit guide is always useful.
Dark ritual and felwar stone suck. Chrome mox might have a place in here though.

If you focus every card on winning on turn 1-2, what will happen is....you will never win on turn 1-2. God hands are rare. Turn 3 is fine.
If I cast druid on turn 1, by the time turn 2 rolls around he'll most likely be in the graveyard or exiled. I'd rather cast/reanimate him on turn 3 when I have some way of protecting him than cast him early and hope nobody has removal. Every time I hope people don't have removal, they have removal.

Incidentally I don't know why cephalid illusionist wasn't up there but I had that in there since the beginning. With lightning greaves and another creature it dumps your library into your graveyard and it has saved me a few times when I couldn't get druid on the field. Its a good plan B (although I think moxnix would disagree )

Wheel of fortune just doesn't fit and all those haste enablers are bad except for lightning greaves, which was already in the deck.

I had elvish spirit guide in there already and I'm considering simian spirit guide, but there aren't many targets for red mana. The green mana from elvish spirit guide is always useful.
Dark ritual and felwar stone suck. Chrome mox might have a place in here though.

If you focus every card on winning on turn 1-2, what will happen is....you will never win on turn 1-2. God hands are rare. Turn 3 is fine.
If I cast druid on turn 1, by the time turn 2 rolls around he'll most likely be in the graveyard or exiled. I'd rather cast/reanimate him on turn 3 when I have some way of protecting him than cast him early and hope nobody has removal. Every time I hope people don't have removal, they have removal.

Incidentally I don't know why cephalid illusionist wasn't up there but I had that in there since the beginning. With lightning greaves and another creature it dumps your library into your graveyard and it has saved me a few times when I couldn't get druid on the field. Its a good plan B (although I think moxnix would disagree )

The preordain you had is gone from the list now. I personally agree with the cephalid illusionist. But I don't see why you don't like Concordant Crossroads . t1 you play this and t2 hermit druid...
Careful Study and Faithless Looting are also pretty good. You can drop one of the looters to add one of them.

Quote from elfric »

how does the deck perform with the new mulligan?
alot of my decks became unplayable the way they were build before.
the manabarrier still is the lowest in the game to win, but the mulligan can really bring odd situations. any insight from guys playing this deck?

I haven't played this in a long time since I converted it to a 5-color sliver deck. I still have all the cards for it in case of a tournament or something, and I'd expect it to be nearly as oppressive as it ever was. There's plenty of tutoring and card draw in there, so I'm sure it is still ridiculously good with the new mulligan rule.

Why looters? I've seen lists before and never seen looters in them. Is it to give the ooze the ability or would you resolve them with nothing better t2? I assume baby jace will come in if that stays. Cool to see one of these lists going, I have always wanted to play against a good one.

Quote from Welgo »

Why looters? I've seen lists before and never seen looters in them. Is it to give the ooze the ability or would you resolve them with nothing better t2? I assume baby jace will come in if that stays. Cool to see one of these lists going, I have always wanted to play against a good one.

The looters aren't amazing but in this deck they filter, they're fodder for dread return, and they save the day if you draw combo pieces that need to be in the yard.
And I swapped out one of the looters for baby jace
It's an amazing deck but I can't say it's a lot of fun, even if you win. The game just ends very quickly without much playing involved.

You kind of ignored The Joker. He's correct - you need to have Buried Alive -> infinite mana in there. Niv-Mizzet is much better than Shivan Hellkite or Scholar of Athreos. Your commander is an infinite-mana outlet - or, at least, can turn itself into one. If you're worried about opponents you can't deal damage to or target, you can play both Niv-Mizzet and Scholar, but allowing for Buried Alive + Reanimate to be a win that doesn't care about spot removal is really, really powerful. Survival of the Fittest turns into a one-card combo too.

you're right I missed Joker's post. Sorry, Joker.
I made some changes:
-1 dimir infiltrator
-1 scholar of athreos
+1 buried alive
+1 niv-mizzet, dracogenius

If you want this to be degenerate I have no idea why you would play this deck in multiplayer. Disrupting 2+ players at the same time and trying to go infinite as soon as possible is a really poor strategy.

So I have been running a 5 color Hermit Druid combo EDH deck for a few months now at the local game store tournament; it has been a pool of about 20 different decks.

My thoughts about Hermit Druid EDH:
- It's super great in the early game, but after turn 5 it needs an alternative win-con.
- I like the Angel of Glory's Rise, Lab Maniac combo shell instead of the Necrotic Ooze combo. It just seems like a safer win condition.
- You also become a big target at the table, and get a lot of disruption.
- General Tarzi may be the best commander for the deck because he provides an alternative win-con for the mid game when Hermit Druid gets too much disruption. http://landdestruction.com/competitive-general-tazri-edh/


The initial list I got was for 1 v 1 and have made some changes to make it more multiplayer friendly. It looks like our lists are very similar. Its 4am here so I will get it together tomorrow. I think it still needs some tuning. It feels amazingly explosive at times, and at other times very awkward. I think the biggest problem is the cost of entry for the deck, so there is not a lot of testing going on out there.