[Deck] Time Grunt

[netherspirit]

At request from various replies on the Time Bazaar thread, here is my Hermit Druid deck. It is nowhere near tier 1 yet, but is brilliant fun to play and packs a punch!

Time Grunt

Mana:
7 SoLoMoxen
1 Chrome Mox
1 Lotus Petal
1 Tolarian Academy
4 City of Brass
4 Gemstone Mine
1 Strip Mine
4 Wasteland
1 Archaeological Dig

Disruption:
4 Duress
4 Force of Will
1 Trinisphere

Bounce:
1 Hurkyl's Recall
1 Rebuild

Creature Removal:
2 Swords to Plowshares

Draw/Tutor:
1 Ancestral Recall
4 Brainstorm
2 Impulse
1 Frantic Search
1 Demonic Tutor
1 Vampiric Tutor

Essentials:
4 Hermit Druid
4 Jotun Grunt
1 Time Walk

Utility:
1 Fastbond
3 Crucible of Worlds

Sideboard:
1 Echoing Truth
1 Burning Wish
3 Pithing Needle
2 Diabolic Edict
1 Tormod's Crypt
1 Withered Wretch
1 Yawgmoth's Will
1 Tendrils of Agony
2 Misdirection
2 Xantid Swarm

Well that's the deck. So, how does it work?

Using Hermit Druid I can dump my whole library into my 'yard, Jotun Grunt can then be used to put Time Walk back on top of my library, giving me infinite turns. When Grunt has two or more counters on it, if I have enough mana I can put Ancestral Recall on top, allowing me to get Time Walk plus two other cards.

I'll now explain the card choices (many cards were in the Time Bazaar deck, as this is an evolution of that deck I will just copy and paste those explanations from that thread.)

Duress: The best turn one distruption card in my opinion. It's easy to play and can prove fatal against many decks.

Force of Will: Turn 0 disruption... Need I say any more?

Trinisphere: Gives me shelter from Force of Will when I'm comboing out. It's also just plain brutal as I can easily play around it.

Hurkyl's/Rebuild: Gets rid of Chalice.

STP: The best creature removal ever!

Frantic Search: Allows me to filter through dead cards for free. It also provides FoW fodder.

Fastbond: Speed boost that works very well with the Crucible lock.

Crucible of Worlds: Great against Fish and Stax and lets me go insane with Strip Mine and Wastelands.

Well that's a brief explanation of the deck and cards involved. The SB is built of cards to answer specific problems, such as Xantid Swarm and MisD to stop control.

I'm short on time, so I'll have to cut it short, but I've observed many trends in the deck:

1) A turn 2 or 3 combo is quite common, but 4 or 5 is more regular.
2) The disruption totally destroys the opponent's game plan or at the least gives me a chance to really get around their counters and threats.
3) My draw package is brilliant, so finding the combo pieces is very easy.
4) The Wasteland/Strip Mine package gives me a much needed tempo boost.

Well that's it for now! Any help would be appreciated and I hope you like the deck!

netherspirit

[WilD]

Done a couple of games, and I just couldn't get over the horrible manabase. Perhaps I'm not playing it correctly, but I'm going balls to the wall for the combo and it just isn't working for me. Every match I lost (admittedly only 5 or 6) was because somehow my manabase crapped out on me. For a start, is there a better card than grunt for this deck? Cutting white would make it 100x easier for this deck to work.
EDIT: With the two main combo pieces of this deck being creatures, why would we not play living wish? I'm leaning towards a mainly blue deck (tundras and trops) splashing for the main combo pieces. Black doesn't help an already atrocious manabase

[wethepeople]

A while back, when I was fairly new to Vintage, I tried to create a Hermit Druid-based deck, using zero basic lands. The idea was to get rid of your library (except Darksteel Colossus), and use Flashback Krosan Reclamation, returning Yawgmoth's Will. However, I later chose to use a new win condition, that would reanimated Sutoured Ghoul with Dragon Breath enchanting it. This required me to use 2-3 creatures that I would RFG to pump the Ghoul's attack to a lethal quantity.

This idea was provided by a few different posters. It was apparently a very popular deck in Extended a while back. Also known as "Celaphid Breakfest", because it originally mulled it's library away using some strange Celaphid, but used the same idea.

[angrychilla]

Hi.  Long time lurker.

I was actually thinking about the hermit skeleton.  I think it gets quite a boost with a future sight card:

Narcomoeba    1U
Creature - Illusion
Flying
When Narcomoeba is put in a graveyard from your library, you may put it into play.
1/1

Activate druid.  4 Narcomoeba into play.  Flashback 2 cabal therapy. Flashback Dread Return for the Ghoul.  Win.

Doesn't seem too shabby for 2 turns and 3 mana.  Can probably pack the rest of the deck with free counters or more discard and some utility.

[netherspirit]

For a start, is there a better card than grunt for this deck? Cutting white would make it 100x easier for this deck to work.

I've looked for alternatives to Grunt, but it's the best I can find. It provides you with part of your combo, graveyard hate and beats; I think that's actually pretty good.

[wethepeople]

Hi.  Long time lurker.

I was actually thinking about the hermit skeleton.  I think it gets quite a boost with a future sight card:

Narcomoeba    1U
Creature - Illusion
Flying
When Narcomoeba is put in a graveyard from your library, you may put it into play.
1/1

Activate druid.  4 Narcomoeba into play.  Flashback 2 cabal therapy. Flashback Dread Return for the Ghoul.  Win.

Doesn't seem too shabby for 2 turns and 3 mana.  Can probably pack the rest of the deck with free counters or more discard and some utility.

Wow, I feel like you've read my mind. After reading Narcomoeba on a spoiler list, I thought of that exact idea not-long after. I am currently trying to put together the deck, but the problem is that it must activate Hermit Druid atleast once to win. It may seem easy, but the great amounts of creature removal, Stifles, and graveyard hate make it much more difficult than would appear.

[WilD]

Haha, I was thinking about that last night as well. I think it would be best served as a purely B/G deck packing a full disruption package - Duress, Therapy, Unmask and maybe even Hymn. Anyway, this isn't a thread for discussing the uses of hermit druid, so let's get it back on track.

[LotusHead]

A long long long long time ago (think '97ish), someone built a deck with Soldevi Digger, Strip Mine, Lightning Bolt and Demonic Consultation to get the library removed.

Basically, Soldevi Digger puts a card in grave on bottom of library for 2 mana (no tap),  and (at the time Strip Mine was unrestricted), Demonic Consultation for one or the other (that you knew was on bottom of library) let a player pwn their opponent via Strip Bolt Strip Bolt  (maybe Howling Mine was in play).

Since you run a 5c  base, would Demonic Consultation somehow help your deck?

Just a thought.