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Since the Hermit Druid was banned some players have opted to put the almighty Hermit Druid back into their binders to collect dust. With that in mind, I think it’s time to dust off this graveyard diggin’ machine and put him to good use. And thus my ode to Hermit Druid. Today were going to make a deck based around this powerful card. I plan on using the a similar concept with a different execution and different feel as well. First, lets start of with the essentials:
Hermit Druid, the star of this article is a must. Since I want the deck to do fun things with the Druid, 19-25 non-Basic lands are also a must. That an the deck wouldn't be so quick without a pair of Anger (Argh!) and a mountain. With that said, let's move on. I need a win condition. Since adding Sutured Ghoul to the deck would make this deck “just another Angry Hermit/Ghoul deck” I opted for an alternative finisher; the oft used Terravore.
All this deck needs to win is Terravore and Hermit Druid, both green and both creatures making Worldly Tutor a worthy addition. Another excellent creature finder is Wood Sage (as mentioned by Death by Beebles on Monday). Wood Sage has the added ability of putting land into your graveyard further boosting Terravore.
I feel that card drawing is essential in this deck given the combo nature of it. Tolarian Wind fits this quite well considering the whole land graveyard theme of the deck. It both fills up the graveyard and digs deep into your library. Even though this card provides no card advantage the deck cycling is just too good to ignore.
Land -- in this type of deck land is both the strength and weakness. In the interest of economics Rare lands are non-existent; which means TAPLANDS! First the basics (sort of): Tree of Tales and Seat of the Synod. They are both like basic land except they aren't -- they are artifact lands without a major drawback (except being an artifact if that counts as a drawback). Also, Centaur Garden is a mono colored pain land but at threshold it is a giant growth. Since the deck is two colors Gemstone Mine allows multi colored mana and is rarely used 3 times. Havenwood Battleground and Svyelunite Temple go in as basically a bad basic land. Treetop village goes in as another tapped forest with the ability to animate into a 3/3. A pair of Hickory Woodlots rounds out the mana base.
Add the land to the deck and poof the deck is done! Almost. The eagle eyed among you might notice the deck is lacking 60 cards. Just like the original, the kill mechanism takes up only a portion of the deck and the rest is just fluff. Cards like Duress, Cabal Therapy, and Living Wish polished off the deck’s weaknesses. The deck I've made so far just needs more “stuffing.” One glaring weakness appears to be against black decks. Almost all black decks are a packin’ kill spells. Running head first into Rend Flesh, Dark Banishing, Terror and the like can be devastating when Hermit Druid just frittered away you deck.
Another problem is if you draw THE Mountain then the next Hermit Druid activation will knock yourself into the next Stone Age (or Ice Age).
In keeping with the druid theme Nantuko Blightcutter fixes up the weakness against black decks and also acts as an alternative finisher. Krosan Reclamation provides an emergency escape pod; if you mill yourself well into the red zone Krosan Reclamation can be flashed back in the nick of time. The mentor can provide a berserk like boost for Blight Cutter, Terravore, even an animated Village when ever you might need it.
And thus the final deck - finally! I call it Terra-Hermit!
Playing the deck With this deck third turn kills are possible. The true strength lies within the ability to win instantly (one or two turns) and just catch an opponent by surprise. This is when it pays to put on your poker face, hardly any opponent would expect a hasty Terravore swinging for 20. The goal is to activate Hermit druid and play Terravore but things can go horribly wrong. The three main problems are drawing a mountain, the second is if activating the druid doesn't discard an anger (you would have to activate the druid a 2nd time or loose the element of surprise with the Terravore), and the third is if an activation reveals a mountain too early. A second activation and a Krosan reclamation can get you out of most situations. I hope you enjoyed my deck and my ode to Hermit Druid. Please let me know your thoughts of this in the forum! -Kishiesties Editing by Streetz. You can discuss this article in the MDV forums here. Most Popular
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Hermit
druid had his 15 minutes of tournament fame paired along with Sutured Ghoul in
the Extended season not too long ago. Packing only one basic land, Hermit
Druid usually milled it’s controller well into the red zone. Packed with fat
creatures in the deck, Sutured Ghoul could be reanimated into play to remove all
of the creatures in your graveyard from the game to give the Ghoul lots of beef.
The lone basic land (mountain) enabled Anger to give the ghoul haste and swing
for 20+ the same turn you reanimated it. 
Since
Terravore’s power/toughness is based on cards in the graveyard, I found it to be
a perfect fit for the deck I'm making. Plus, it has trample. 
With
little creatures on defense this deck needs staying power. Again, following a
land-’yard theme Constant Mists allow the deck a recurring fog-like effect at
the cost of what else, a land! Keeping goblin swarms at bay and ravager fueled
hate away is a must in any competitive and/or casual environments.
Terra-Hermit.