Hermit Druid Turn 1 WIN! (EDH / Commander)

Hermit Druid is so powerful as to be worth devoting an entire deck to finding, protecting, and activating him. The deck doesn't need much in the way of a backup plan, because what's going to win through a turn three Hermit Druid activation with two to three pieces of removal, protection, or countermagic? With this deck, you're letting your opponents know what you're up to almost immediately and daring them to stop you. They won't be able to most of the time.

How the combo works:

Activate Hermit Druid. This will put your entire library into your graveyard because you run no basic lands. Narcomoeba will trigger and be put onto the battlefield. Pay U to unearth Fatestitcher, tap Fatestitcher to untap a land that can produce black mana. Use this land to unearth Dregscape Zombie. You now have at least three creatures which you can sacrifice to Dread Return Angel of Glory's Rise. Angel of Glory's Rise's, trigger will return Azami, Lady of Scrolls, Laboratory Maniac, Sylvan Safekeeper, Imperial Recruiter, and Hermit Druid to the battlefield. Use Azami, Lady of Scrolls to tap Laboratory Maniac, Sylvan Safekeeper, or herself to draw a card and win the game (via Laboratory Maniac's ability). If someone tries to deal with Laboratory Maniac in response to drawing a card, give it shroud with Sylvan Safekeeper or tap another Wizard to win the game in response. About the only cards that can stop this once Dread Return resolves are Stifle on Angel of Glory's Rise's trigger and split second cards.

Now wait a minute...

"Isn't this combo easy to disrupt?" you might ask. Creature removal, countermagic, graveyard hate, and Pithing Needle all disrupt the combo. What happens if Hermit Druid gets exiled? Even a well timed bounce spell on a creature can prevent Dread Return from being cast.

It's a lot harder to disrupt Hermit Druid than you think.

Let's look at the worst case scenario --- after activating Hermit Druid your Dread Return is counterspelled, one of your three creatures to cast it is killed/bounced, or someone Faerie Macabres your Angel of Glory's Rise in response to your Dread Return. Your entire library is in your graveyard and you can't use your combo. It looks hopeless, right?

Not at all.

Pull from Eternity and Memory's Journey can save you from almost any situation. By using Pull from Eternity to bring back an exiled Memory's Journey, you can slowly draw any card in your 99 as many times as you need to post-Hermit Druid activation. It's not an ideal situation to be in, but you're never truly hopeless as long as you can cycle Pull from Eternity and Memory's Journey.

What if Hermit Druid is exiled? If Hermit Druid is exiled, you can tutor for Pull from Eternity to put him into your graveyard and then use Shallow Grave or Postmortem Lunge to combo without hardly missing a beat.

Let's look at some common cards that stop our combo and how many cards we run that get around them:

Tormod's Crypt: 8 cards (Abrupt Decay, Ancient Grudge, Nature's Claim, Beast Within, Force of Will, Mana Drain, Pact of Negation, Cyclonic Rift)

Relic of Progenitus: 9 cards (Abrupt Decay, Ancient Grudge, Nature's Claim, Beast Within, Force of Will, Mana Drain, Pact of Negation, Mental Misstep, Cyclonic Rift)

Nihil Spellbomb: 9 cards ([cards]Abrupt Decay, Ancient Grudge, Nature's Claim, Beast Within, Force of Will, Mana Drain, Pact of Negation, Mental Misstep, Cyclonic Rift)

Leyline of the Void: 3 - 6 cards (Nature's Claim, Beast Within, Cyclonic Rift, possibly Force of Will, Mana Drain, Pact of Negation)

Swords to Plowshares/Path to Exile: 11 cards (Force of Will, Mana Drain, Pact of Negation, Spellskite, Muddle the Mixture, Mental Misstep, Mizzium Skin, Vines of Vastwood, Ranger's Guile, Mother of Runes, Sylvan Safekeeper)

You get the idea. These counts don't even include cards that can tutor for answers. It's not uncommon for this deck to be able to play through 2-3 pieces of hate without breaking a sweat.

Give Hermit Dru--- err, Scion of the Ur-Dragon a whirl. You'll be surprised at how powerful, consistent, and resilient it is.