Jotun Grunt -Is there any place for this guy? i mean, i know tha absence of skullclamp makes him weak. i have a playset which is already collecting dust, LOL. just wanna ask if this guy can make a cut in modern.
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He's a gravehating bear that hits hard, whose variety of gravehate can make for a source of marginal value even, as it reseeds cards in the yard into the bottom of the library (read: lemme just tutor this thing one... more... time...)
He was used in D+T for a time, but lost quite a bit of synergy when Stoneforge Mystic got banned (no recycling broken equipments). He lingered around for a while longer because wisp/cloaker could remove his age counters, but he sees little play now because he's not fast enough to be efficient grave hate and his ability kills himself.
I suppose he could be used as some sort of Keldon Marauders with the bonus of messing up Tarmogoyf, but not too many decks want that nowadays. Even Gruul Zoo prefers its threats to stick around and won't play Marauders (that I've seen).
I still support Grunt in principle, but he has just been outclassed by so many cards that it is hard to find those narrow instances where he is the best choice. I still think there is a place for him in mono-white decks that really want to play almost all creatures, but often he is looked at in the wrong way. He is frequently looked at as fat beater with a cumulative upkeep cost, but I have found the most value using him as a grave hoser that will also be able to swing for 4 a couple of times- which is well worth 1W. If you can flicker it then mores the better, but that is just gilding the frost giant.
Scavenging Ooze typically is a better card than Grunt at this point if you can play green. Ooze's life gain can be particularly relevant in the format as well.
If you're in White and you want to hate on graveyards, Rest in Peace is probably what you're going to bring in.
I love the Grunt, and I've been a huge supporter in the past, but he is certainly outclassed in this metagame. If your opponent has a Scooze then Jotun Grunt is basically worthless.
Worth it as a sideboard card for graveyard hosing ?
If you are playing white, and your deck would benefit especially from having a creature as your gy hoser, then yes it is. Rest in Peace is more resilient, but the other day I loved having it in my D&T sideboard. It tears apart the graveyard, is bolt/helix resistant, and presents a wonderful threat.
Scavenging Ooze typically is a better card than Grunt at this point if you can play green. Ooze's life gain can be particularly relevant in the format as well.
In the matches I mentioned I was playing GW D&T, and Grunt did more to deny gy resources than Scooze was ever able to manage. My green sources were vulnerable to removal (being non-basic), and I was facing a lot of low creature archetypes so my gy removals were not actually pumping my Scooze. Don't get me wrong, Scooze is a fantastic card, as is DRS and Rest in Peace- my point is that that there are metagame and deck pressures that make each a better choice than the others.
I think the 2 mana dude slot in the Modern decks is just cluttered with Goyf, potentially Ooze and sometimes BTE and Flinthoof Boar in RG-based aggro. In burn spell decks you'd obviously want Dark Confidant. In recent Zoo lists, Noble Hierarch and DRS make it possible to skip the 2mana slot altogether and go straight to Smiter/KotR. While this guy is good against opposing Bolts, I'd rather have Voice of Resurgence 99% of the time since he's just good against opposing...many things.
That's the problem, he is not a 2 mana attacker, or at least that is not the role that he fits best. He is the 2 mana grave destroyer that happens to be a creature that can also attack/defend really well for a few turns and cannot be removed by a single bolt/helix. You should never add him to a deck so that he can beat face and take out some of the graveyard- he is a grave destroyer first, face beater second.
As an additional factor once he is in the grave then you can pump Ooze with him if you get to it fast enough.
I was thinking G/W Hatebears might use/want a card like this guy (even if only out of the SB as a 1-2 of). Most decks in the format make some use of the GY, but Hatebears really doesn't care to use it so much as to get rid of it. For the record, he also plays well with Experiment One to give the deck more of an aggro slant.
I want to revisit this card's (jÖtun grunt) discussion a bit. With DRS out of the format since it was last discussed, and delve coming in big, the 'yards are fuller than they have been in modern.
That being said, are grave yards filling up fast enough to start jamming this guy turn 2 and just assuming the 'yards will support him? I've been considering running this guy over Scavenging ooze in a brew.
I'm really thinking that now might be the time for this card to come out of the shadows and bust down graveyard strategies in an aggressive and non-mana intensive way
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I've been running one or two of him in my GW Hatebears and Naya Zoo decks. As you say, I think he's very strong in a field full of Delver and Delve spells. That said, I never run more than one or two, because you often can't just run him out on turn 2, because the graveyards often aren't full enough. I've never lost one to a failure to pay the upkeep, but I have had to hold back on playing one for the same. I've found if you just run him out, they can hold back and let him expire, then resume. But if you hold off a turn and let them play their game, you can usually easily get enough turns worth of "food" for him.
Do you run it alongside scooze or instead of scooze? How does it compare as a draw or card in your opener?
AFAIK Hatebears doesn't really stack its yard very fast, so that deck overall won't have great synergy with the jotun grunt. I'm playing a bant brew that has a few cantrips to get at couple things in the yard. Scooze often seems too mana intensive.
I was thinking of trying out 3 jotun grunts instead of the 3 scoozes I'm running atm - they have better synergy with Restoration Angel, drop fatter and don't demand you spend mana. Scoozes benefits are the life gain and growth potential.
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Do you run it alongside scooze or instead of scooze? How does it compare as a draw or card in your opener?
AFAIK Hatebears doesn't really stack its yard very fast, so that deck overall won't have great synergy with the jotun grunt. I'm playing a bant brew that has a few cantrips to get at couple things in the yard. Scooze often seems too mana intensive.
I was thinking of trying out 3 jotun grunts instead of the 3 scoozes I'm running atm - they have better synergy with Restoration Angel, drop fatter and don't demand you spend mana. Scoozes benefits are the life gain and growth potential.
I run 1 maindeck Grunt and 3 maindeck Scooze. I do not fill up my own graveyard very quickly, but usually my opponent does. If I draw him in my opening hand, I usually end up playing him on turn 3, as by then I usually have at least 2 turns worth of food in the yards. (Important side note: Keep in mind that you can split the upkeeps (in pairs of cards to be removed) between the graveyards.) Basically, I run him as an efficient beater that does splash damage to my opponent's graveyard. I've been happy with him.
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UBW Oloro, Ageless Ascetic
Modern - Mono U tron / Polymorph / NFTW (ninja for the win)GR tron GR
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Create tons of EDH Decks!!!
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Get her Pregnant only Once!
Teach my Son/Daughter Sports and magic cards!!!
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He's got a use in aggro, I'm sure...
I suppose he could be used as some sort of Keldon Marauders with the bonus of messing up Tarmogoyf, but not too many decks want that nowadays. Even Gruul Zoo prefers its threats to stick around and won't play Marauders (that I've seen).
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I love the Grunt, and I've been a huge supporter in the past, but he is certainly outclassed in this metagame. If your opponent has a Scooze then Jotun Grunt is basically worthless.
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In the matches I mentioned I was playing GW D&T, and Grunt did more to deny gy resources than Scooze was ever able to manage. My green sources were vulnerable to removal (being non-basic), and I was facing a lot of low creature archetypes so my gy removals were not actually pumping my Scooze. Don't get me wrong, Scooze is a fantastic card, as is DRS and Rest in Peace- my point is that that there are metagame and deck pressures that make each a better choice than the others.
Reprint Opt for Modern!!
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As an additional factor once he is in the grave then you can pump Ooze with him if you get to it fast enough.
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FREE DIG THOROUGH TIME!
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That being said, are grave yards filling up fast enough to start jamming this guy turn 2 and just assuming the 'yards will support him? I've been considering running this guy over Scavenging ooze in a brew.
I'm really thinking that now might be the time for this card to come out of the shadows and bust down graveyard strategies in an aggressive and non-mana intensive way
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
Modern: GW Hatebears/midrange, WGU Knightfall/evolution midrange stuff
Standard: nope
Legacy: W Death & Taxes
EDH (not Commander!): W Avacyn, Angel of Hope, GR Ruric Thar, the Unbowed, WGB Anafenza, the Foremost, WU Hanna, Ship's Navigator
AFAIK Hatebears doesn't really stack its yard very fast, so that deck overall won't have great synergy with the jotun grunt. I'm playing a bant brew that has a few cantrips to get at couple things in the yard. Scooze often seems too mana intensive.
I was thinking of trying out 3 jotun grunts instead of the 3 scoozes I'm running atm - they have better synergy with Restoration Angel, drop fatter and don't demand you spend mana. Scoozes benefits are the life gain and growth potential.
KnightfallGWUR
Azorius Control UW
Burn RBG
I run 1 maindeck Grunt and 3 maindeck Scooze. I do not fill up my own graveyard very quickly, but usually my opponent does. If I draw him in my opening hand, I usually end up playing him on turn 3, as by then I usually have at least 2 turns worth of food in the yards. (Important side note: Keep in mind that you can split the upkeeps (in pairs of cards to be removed) between the graveyards.) Basically, I run him as an efficient beater that does splash damage to my opponent's graveyard. I've been happy with him.
Modern: GW Hatebears/midrange, WGU Knightfall/evolution midrange stuff
Standard: nope
Legacy: W Death & Taxes
EDH (not Commander!): W Avacyn, Angel of Hope, GR Ruric Thar, the Unbowed, WGB Anafenza, the Foremost, WU Hanna, Ship's Navigator