Jotun Grunt, how is it used?

[dskippy0]

Jotun Grunt   1W
   
Creature Giant Soldier
   
Cumulative upkeep-Put two cards in a single graveyard on the bottom of their owner's library. (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
4 / 4

I am seeing a lot of buzz around Jotun Grunt and I initially thought it was really niche card but it seems like a lot of people are considering it auto includes in WW and UW-fish decks. I am wondering how this card tends to play out against the typical land scape. Particularly, how many turns does it usually last. Do folks play the card as soon as they can or do they wait until they think they'd get more hits out of it? What decks does this card perform particulalrly well on and are there decks that you just can't get more than one attack off with? I imagine other weenie decks won't allow you to keep this guy alive for very long since they only really allow instants and sorceries to go to the yard.

Thanks,
-mike

[OfficeShredder]

What other weenie decks?  You're mostly going to see drain and ritual based combo/combo control decks, that easily place 2 cards in their graveyard on turn one.  By turn three you can see 5 or 6 without trouble, between tutors, fetchlands, draw cards and counterspells.  Then of course you have the counters and fetchlands in your graveyard

[Largent]

Jotun Grunt   1W
   
Creature Giant Soldier
   
Cumulative upkeep-Put two cards in a single graveyard on the bottom of their owner's library. (At the beginning of your upkeep, put an age counter on this permanent, then sacrifice it unless you pay its upkeep cost for each age counter on it.)
4 / 4

I am seeing a lot of buzz around Jotun Grunt and I initially thought it was really niche card but it seems like a lot of people are considering it auto includes in WW and UW-fish decks. I am wondering how this card tends to play out against the typical land scape. Particularly, how many turns does it usually last. Do folks play the card as soon as they can or do they wait until they think they'd get more hits out of it? What decks does this card perform particulalrly well on and are there decks that you just can't get more than one attack off with? I imagine other weenie decks won't allow you to keep this guy alive for very long since they only really allow instants and sorceries to go to the yard.

Thanks,
-mike

you dont play jotun grunt on turn 1, thats about it though. on turn 2 there should be enough fuel to get a few beats in because you will putting stuff in the yard as well as your opponent

not only does he help hose yawg wills but he can put your arecall and fow's etc back into your deck with a quick shuffle effect you're back in business

he is insaely good.

[wethepeople]

In a deck using fetches, Wastes, and any other kind of non-permanent spell, [UW Fish]Jotun Grunt is real easy to keep in play. As Larget pointed out, it can't be played on turn one, but rarely do you ever need to do this because it is more common that you have a one drop of some sort.

The card is just insane because the CU doesnt even come as a drawback, really, and it swings for four each turn also.

[memnarch]

Yes. As a combo player I can tell you the Grunt is one of my bigest fears. Not even Massacre will kill him. It hoses Yawg's Will wich is a key combo piece as well as posing a major threat.

[Zarathustra]

Yes. As a combo player I can tell you the Grunt is one of my bigest fears. Not even Massacre will kill him. It hoses Yawg's Will wich is a key combo piece as well as posing a major threat.

I don't know which combo deck really worries about Grunt.  Sure, he CAN pose a problem, but combo is usually too fast to care.  Gifts can dump it's winning combo into the grave at the end of your opponent's turn, so those cards are safe and you can win.

Pitch Long and other Long variants are too fast and Grunt should rarely be a threat.

I'd be more worried about Meddling Mage than Grunt.

-DShell

[memnarch]

True I am more worried about Medeling Mage. Somtimes after Fish kills your land with wasteland and gets a little control over the board and you cant go off as fast as you would like. When that happens the Grunt is a savage beater and is much to be feared indeed. The fact that he cant be killed with Massacre makes him even more of a threat then say Dandân.

[wethepeople]

Come to think of it, some decks use Grunt's "drawback" as a bit of a combo, which just goes to show that it's CU isn't bad at all.

See: Gruntaminator.
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