Deck primer / combo / graveyard

Premodern hFEB primer

Hermit Full English Breakfast: two combo engines, one graveyard. A field guide to its Survival and Hermit Druid kills, using a recent 60-card tournament reference.

At a glance

Plan

Use Survival or Hermit Druid to put the right creature on top of the graveyard, then let Shapeshifter convert it into lethal.

Two engines

Druid is the faster route. Survival is slower but more flexible, especially through interaction and after boarding.

Choose it when

You want proactive combo with meaningful pivots and are willing to manage mana, graveyard order, and priority closely.

Core decision

Use Therapy and the board to choose an engine first. Then take the shortest line that crosses the fewest live answers.

Deck introduction

Hermit Full English Breakfast—hFEB—wins through either or . Both engines turn into the creature on top of its controller's graveyard while it retains its own discard ability.

The HFEB Guide by Biel and MoxlessGuy offers the clearest model: each kill needs an engine, a creature that grows Shapeshifter, and a creature that converts that size into damage. Survival pairs Devourer with Triskelion; Druid pairs Psychatog with Akroma. Battlefield Scrounger can bridge the two.

Current evidence: a Galen Lemei's Lobstercon 2026 Top 8 and the 40-player event win that supplies the reference 75. Results show the deck is active, not its matchup win rate.

Deck stock list

MoxlessGuy, a co-author of the HFEB Guide, piloted this list to first place on July 13, 2026. The guide also documents other configurations, so use this 75 as a tested reference point rather than a universal stock list.

MoxlessGuy — July 13, 2026

60 main / 15 sideboard

Main deck — 60

Creatures

Other spells

Lands

Sideboard — 15

How to read the supporting cards

Mana: Birds, Wall of Roots, Spirit Guide, and Vineyard compress setup and combo into the same turn. Wall is especially useful because it produces mana without tapping.
Information: Cabal Therapy clears the answer to the chosen line, then turns a spent mana creature or a useful graveyard body into a second discard spell.
Survival fuel: Squee makes one creature tutor available every upkeep, giving the slower engine time and resilience.
Recovery: Unearth, Animate Dead, and Karmic Guide move Shapeshifter or another missing body back into play; Krosan Reclamation protects the next draw after Druid.
Configuration: this list uses two main-deck Vineyards to accelerate mana-heavy Survival turns and resist land denial. The effect is symmetrical, so deploy it when the extra green mana advances your line more than the opponent's. Enlightened Tutor in the sideboard adds another route to Survival when that is the engine the matchup demands.

Cross-check: the current HFEB Guide and Galen Lemei's Lobstercon list keep the same engine and combo core while changing the mana creature mix, Shapeshifter count, Vineyard or discard slots, and sideboard. The plans below stay tied to MoxlessGuy's July 13 list.

Deck explanation

Choose the engine before the line

Hermit Druid is usually the faster engine: untap with it, load the graveyard, and convert that setup with Shapeshifter and reanimation. Survival takes more mana but turns every creature into the exact next piece, builds through attrition with Squee, and finds creature answers after sideboarding. A hand can begin on Druid and pivot to Survival as soon as removal or a permanent answer makes the fast route unreliable.

Battlefield Scrounger is the bridge. After a Druid activation it can rebuild a small library for Devourer, turning the Hermit setup into Triskelion damage when combat is unsafe. It also gives Survival lines a way to recover cards from the graveyard.

Bookkeeping before either engine

Discarding a creature pays Survival's activation cost, so Shapeshifter changes before the opponent can respond. A Druid activation mills this entire list in one event, and its owner chooses the order of those cards in the graveyard. State and preserve the relevant top-card order. is not infinite: its power-seven sacrifice trigger goes on the stack, and the finish spends the counters before that trigger resolves.

Devourer–Triskelion: classic Survival kill

Inputs: Survival and Shapeshifter on the battlefield; Devourer available to discard; two green activations; and at least 20 total mana value left in the library. This kill does not require attacking.

Activate Survival, discard Devourer, and find Triskelion. Shapeshifter is now copying Devourer.
Activate the copied Devourer ability one at a time until the first power-seven sacrifice trigger is on the stack. Keep that trigger pending, then continue resolving Devourer activations above it until the counters are lethal.
With that trigger still on the stack, activate Survival again, discard Triskelion, and find any creature. Shapeshifter now has Triskelion's text but retains the counters.
Remove the counters one at a time for lethal damage before the sacrifice trigger resolves.

Use it when: Survival plus an established Shapeshifter is available, combat is unsafe, or Druid is exposed to removal. The cleanest version has Devourer and Triskelion in hand: both Survival discards are costs. If Survival must tutor Triskelion, the opponent gets a response window after Devourer is discarded, so check for graveyard interaction before committing.

Survival fallbacks 2 lines

Devourer–Triskelion: Palinchron-assisted Survival kill

Inputs: Survival; Palinchron in hand; Unearth; two green plus black mana available before the untap trigger; and enough total mana after it resolves. This is the rebuild line when Shapeshifter is not already on the battlefield.

Discard Palinchron to Survival for Shapeshifter, then discard Shapeshifter to Survival for Devourer. Palinchron is now on top of the graveyard.
Cast Unearth on Shapeshifter. It enters as Palinchron and its copied enter-the-battlefield trigger untaps up to seven lands.
With refreshed mana, discard Devourer to Survival for Triskelion and take the classic Devourer–Triskelion finish.

Use it when: the mana is genuinely there and the opponent has already answered an earlier Shapeshifter. Do not call it a two-land line: pay the two green activations and black Unearth cost before the untap trigger resolves.

One-creature Survival chain: recover Triskelion

Inputs: Survival, one creature in hand, and enough mana for three green Survival activations plus Shapeshifter's {1}{U}{U} casting cost. This is the HFEB Guide's core route when Triskelion must begin in the graveyard rather than in hand.

Discard the creature to Survival for Triskelion, then discard Triskelion for Devourer.
Discard Devourer for Karmic Guide, then discard Guide for Shapeshifter. The graveyard's creature order is now Guide, Devourer, then Triskelion from top downward.
Cast Shapeshifter. It enters with Karmic Guide's text; target the real Karmic Guide. When Guide enters, return Triskelion.
With Devourer now exposed on top, add lethal counters to Shapeshifter. Have the real Triskelion deal 1 damage to itself, putting it on top of the graveyard, then remove the copied Triskelion counters for lethal.

Use it when: Survival is active but one creature is all the hand can spare. The line is mana-heavy and opens more response windows than the classic kill, so prefer the shorter route when Triskelion is already accessible.

Devourer to Akroma: the combat fallback

With Devourer on top, activate the copied ability enough times for lethal while retaining priority. Before those abilities resolve, discard Akroma—ideally through Survival—so Shapeshifter changes form. The abilities now resolve while it is no longer a Devourer, so its sacrifice ability does not trigger. Attack with the enormous Akroma Shapeshifter.

Use it when: Triskelion is unavailable or a one-turn combat kill is safe. Do not choose it through credible Maze of Ith, a Fog, a profitable blocker, or removal that turns combat into a losing exchange.

Hermit Druid: board-state combat kill

Inputs: active Druid and a Shapeshifter that can legally attack are already on the battlefield, and combat is clear.

Declare Shapeshifter as an attacker. It does not need to be Akroma yet, but it cannot be summoning sick.
Before blockers, activate Druid. Put Psychatog on top of the graveyard, Akroma immediately beneath it, and leave enough cards for 14 Psychatog activations.
Shapeshifter copies Psychatog. Activate the ability 14 times, removing two cards each time. On the last activation, remove Psychatog itself to reveal Akroma.
Shapeshifter becomes Akroma while the +14/+14 effects persist, making the already-attacking creature a 20/20 flier with trample before blockers.

Use it when: both creatures are already active and the opponent cannot profitably interact during the Druid activation. It is the cleanest, most mana-efficient Hermit line. Akroma's haste does not let a summoning-sick Shapeshifter attack after attackers have been declared.

Hermit rebuilds and noncombat finish 2 lines

Hermit Druid: Unearth–Karmic combat kill

Inputs: an active Druid, Shapeshifter in the graveyard, black mana for Unearth and Therapy flashback, and Karmic Guide, Psychatog, Akroma, and Cabal Therapy in the post-Druid graveyard.

Activate Druid in the first main phase with Karmic Guide on top. Keep Shapeshifter in the graveyard and reserve Akroma beneath the cards Psychatog will remove.
Unearth Shapeshifter. It enters copying Karmic Guide and returns the real Karmic Guide, which returns Psychatog.
Flash back Cabal Therapy, sacrificing the real Psychatog. When Therapy is exiled, Psychatog becomes the top creature card.
Pump 14 times and reveal Akroma on the final Psychatog activation. Unearth gives Shapeshifter haste for the 20/20 attack.

Use it when: Druid can activate but Shapeshifter is in the graveyard, newly cast, or otherwise unable to attack. It is the practical rebuild line, but it exposes more graveyard and stack windows than the board-state version.

Hermit Druid: Scrounger to Devourer–Triskelion

This is the noncombat Hermit finish. It is longer, but it matters when an attack is not dependable and 20 Triskelion damage is the clean conversion. Start with an active Druid, Unearth and black mana, Shapeshifter and Psychatog in the graveyard, and a post-mill order of Karmic Guide, Battlefield Scrounger, Devourer, then Triskelion from top downward.

Activate Druid and Unearth Shapeshifter as Karmic Guide. Return the real Psychatog rather than Karmic Guide.
Use the real Psychatog to exile Unearth and Karmic Guide, revealing Scrounger for Shapeshifter to copy.
With threshold, use copied Scrounger to put Scrounger, Palinchron, and Akroma on the empty library's bottom in 5, then 7, then 8 mana-value order: exactly 20 total.
Reveal Devourer, exile Scrounger for five counters, then Palinchron for seven. In response to the sacrifice trigger, exile Akroma for eight more counters.
Exile Devourer and one spare card with the real Psychatog to reveal Triskelion, then remove all 20 counters for damage before the sacrifice trigger resolves.

Use it when: combat is unavailable and the graveyard is clear. It is the least forgiving line; practice it with physical cards, do not shortcut its order, and ask a judge before an event if a priority detail is unclear.

Hermit damage above 20

The 20-mana-value Scrounger package is a floor, not a ceiling. If the opponent is above 20, Animate Dead can return two Shapeshifters so two copied Scrounger abilities rebuild six cards, or a single Shapeshifter can use Scrounger once on your turn and again after it untaps on the opponent's upkeep. Recalculate the exact mana value placed into the library before revealing Devourer, and leave Triskelion available on top of the graveyard.

Use it when: life gain or prevention makes the normal 20-counter finish insufficient. Do not improvise the arithmetic mid-resolution: name the target damage, count the returned cards, and identify how Triskelion reaches the top before committing.

Choosing the engine

Choosing the engine by current game state
Game state	Recommended line	Why
Survival + established Shapeshifter; no safe attack	Classic Devourer–Triskelion	Unblocked damage; no haste required.
Survival, Palinchron, Unearth; Shapeshifter absent	Palinchron-assisted Survival	Turns reanimation into a mana-positive combo turn.
Survival; only one creature to pitch	Triskelion–Devourer–Guide chain	Builds the full kill from one initial creature.
Survival + Devourer; Akroma in hand; combat safe	Devourer–Akroma combat	Avoids needing Triskelion and can grant haste.
Active Druid + attack-ready Shapeshifter	Board-state Hermit combat	Shortest, most mana-efficient full-graveyard kill.
Active Druid; Shapeshifter in graveyard	Unearth–Karmic Hermit combat	Unearth grants haste; Therapy makes the Psychatog top.
Active Druid; combat unsafe; graveyard clear	Scrounger–Devourer	More complex, deterministic noncombat damage.

The engine is not a commitment made at deck registration. Use Survival when shown interaction makes Druid unreliable; use Druid when speed matters and it can activate before the opponent develops an answer. When both are live, choose the line with the fewest mana payments, graveyard changes, and priority windows.

Playing through hate and removal

The guide calls a Devourer activation covered when graveyard interaction placed above it forces a sacrifice or exiles the card needed to finish before that lower activation can resolve usefully. This matters most after Druid, when Scrounger has returned only a few known cards to the library and every mana value counts.

Stack first, then change form: retain priority and put every needed Devourer activation on the stack. Use a Survival activation, Psychatog, or Shapeshifter's discard ability to put a non-Devourer creature on top before resolving them. With no Devourer text, the power-seven trigger cannot be created by those resolutions.
Or pre-trigger the sacrifice: use Psychatog or Scrounger to make Shapeshifter at least 7 power before revealing Devourer. The sacrifice trigger goes on the stack once; place all copied Devourer activations above it, then reveal Triskelion and spend the counters before the trigger resolves.
Protect the finisher, not only Devourer: a Furnace activation aimed at Triskelion or a Crypt activation can cover the whole finish. Start with Triskelion in hand when possible, or use Scrounger to rescue it into the library and Survival or an active Druid to put it back on top.
Hold priority with Survival and Scrounger: discard Scrounger to pay for Survival, then activate a copied Scrounger before the tutor resolves. Return the buried creature to the library and let that same Survival activation find it.

The PDF's advanced Shifter–Hermit lines through live Crypt, Furnace, or Withered Wretch and its repeated Wall of Roots loops are not promoted here as deterministic tournament shortcuts. They depend on unusually tight tap, priority, and text-changing-effect questions; the guide itself marks some repeated-activation cases as judge-dependent. Confirm the intended sequence with the event's head judge before relying on one.

Permanent hate changes the route

Null Rod: Devourer and Triskelion are artifact creatures, so use the Hermit–Psychatog–Akroma combat line. Rod also turns off Crypt and Furnace activations while it remains on the battlefield.
Ensnaring Bridge: prefer Triskelion damage. A combat line is possible only if Shapeshifter can be declared as an attacker under the opponent's current hand size and grows after attackers are declared.
Cursed Totem: it shuts off the creature abilities that power both engines as well as Birds and Wall. Find Uktabi Orangutan with Survival only when the mana lets you cast it; otherwise shift to hard-cast or Karmic Guide threats.
Engineered Plague: if it names Druid, remove it before using that engine. If it names Phyrexian or Construct, keep a differently typed creature on top while pumping, then change form only for the lethal step.

When a combo piece is missing

How to pivot when an hFEB combo piece is unavailable
Missing piece	What is lost	Pivot
Psychatog	Instant-speed graveyard cleanup.	Stockpile reanimation or establish Survival plus Shapeshifter; for a Hermit FEB finish, reanimate Scrounger and Triskelion separately.
Akroma	Haste and the clean flying, trample combat finish.	Use Triskelion damage; if rebuilding a Scrounger package, replace the missing 8 mana value explicitly.
Devourer	Every FEB kill.	Pump through Psychatog or Scrounger and win in combat.
Triskelion	The normal noncombat finish.	Use Akroma combat, including attacking before a Psychatog pump through Bridge when legal.
Karmic Guide	The cleanest reanimation bridge.	Use Palinchron with Survival, Krosan Reclamation into a cast Shapeshifter, or two reanimation spells.
Both Shapeshifters	All deterministic combo lines.	Stop assembling the combo; cast or reanimate Akroma, Palinchron, Triskelion, or Psychatog and play for combat.

Timing details that prevent self-inflicted losses

Animate Dead and Karmic Guide: Guide's protection from black makes Animate Dead fall off. Put Guide's return trigger on the stack first, targeting Shapeshifter, so Animate Dead's sacrifice trigger resolves first and places Guide on top before Shapeshifter returns.
Unearth and copied enters abilities: Shapeshifter enters with the top creature's text and creates that enter-the-battlefield trigger. Unearth moves to the graveyard only after it finishes resolving; changing the top then does not erase a trigger already on the stack.
Discard timing: Survival and Psychatog discard as a cost, so the opponent cannot respond before Shapeshifter changes form. Shapeshifter's own two-mana discard ability must resolve before the card reaches the graveyard.
Empty library: after Druid resolves, account for the next draw and any forced draw. Krosan Reclamation returns up to two cards; each legal Scrounger activation returns three in the order you choose.

Mulligans, pivots, and land sequencing

The HFEB Guide's matchup framework starts with eight true engines: four Druid and four Survival. In an unknown field, a hand without either is normally a mulligan. A keep should also cast its engine and have a next step—mana, recursion, discard, or a clear conversion turn.

Keep: City of Brass, Yavimaya Coast, Birds of Paradise, Survival, Cabal Therapy, Squee, and Unearth. It supports turn-two Survival, mana development, and interaction.
Keep: Llanowar Wastes, City of Brass, Hermit Druid, Wall of Roots, Shapeshifter, Therapy, and Unearth. Druid arrives on turn two with recursion and information.
Mulligan: three lands, Therapy, Unearth, Karmic Guide, and Triskelion. These are real spells, but not an early engine or a credible plan.
Against Burn: usually return a slow Druid-only hand with no acceleration, discard, or immediate conversion. A Druid that simply dies is not an engine.
Switch when the board changes: a Druid hand facing an early Mogg Fanatic is no longer a clean Druid hand. If Survival is available, make the opponent's creature removal irrelevant and build the other engine.
Sequence lands for the turn you need: Reflecting Pool cannot cast a turn-one spell by itself, but it can lead when there is no turn-one action and a colored second land is ready. Against red decks, avoid painland damage or extra Survival activations that do not improve the line.

Matchup analysis against format tiers

Tier labels are a dated field-share snapshot, not permanent power rankings. On July 23, 2026, the MTGDecks Premodern page listed Stiflenought, Burn, Enchantress, Goblins, Landstill, Mono Black, and Replenish as Tier A by its selected-list methodology. The guidance here is a starting point drawn from the specialist HFEB matchup guide, not Premodern Archive win-rate data.

Matchup posture against format tiers
Tier A opponent	Starting posture	What matters
Stiflenought	Race with information; either engine can work.	Therapy or Duress the specific Stifle, graveyard, or clock card that stops your actual line.
Burn / Sligh	Prefer Survival and mana-efficient kills.	Protect life total, value Wall of Roots, and do not offer Druid to removal without a reason.
Enchantress	Race while aiming discard at the selected engine's answer.	Seal attacks Survival; Swords attacks Druid; Abeyance punishes a full-mill upkeep plan.
Goblins	Respect the early board, especially on the draw.	Do not keep a hand that simply loses to turn-one Lackey; retain information when it changes the race.
Landstill	Alternate fast deployment with a prepared discard turn.	Build one protected engine turn; after a full Druid mill, breaking Standstill can draw the remaining cards and lose the game.
Mono Black	Choose the route that crosses the fewest shown answers.	Keep a balanced hand through discard. As hate rises, Survival and castable creatures provide a real midrange pivot.
Replenish	Race with route-specific discard.	Respect Seal, Swords, Parallax Wave, Mage, and Abeyance; aim for one clean window, not a long fair game.

Tier B: name the resource under attack

Mana denial (Terrageddon, Oath Ponza, Ponza): develop with purpose and force an engine before Wasteland, Port, Sphere, or Armageddon takes the window.
Blue permission or prison (Psychatog, Stasis, Gro-a-Tog): discard and Xantid Swarm manufacture a resolution window. Keep Wall of Roots against Stasis.
Creature aggro (Zoo, Elves, Madness): decide whether it can kill Druid or only race it. Pyroclasm buys time, but also kills the deck's small creatures.
Black attrition (The Rock, Deadguy Ale, BW Control): Therapy tells you whether Survival or Druid is safer. Do not overextend into Pernicious Deed.
Fast combo and graveyard decks (Iggy Pop, Reanimator, Dream Halls): race with informed discard. This 75 has no dedicated graveyard-hate shortcut.

Sideboard guide

Provisional and tied to the reference 75. Counts are starting ranges, not a fixed matrix: confirm the opposing build, then bring out exactly as many cards as you bring in.

What each card changes

Clears counters, combo pieces, sweepers, and noncreature hate—not creatures.
Finds Survival, Animate Dead, or a boarded artifact or enchantment; the card goes on top, not to hand.
Protects a combo turn from spells after it attacks; activated hate remains live.
Resets small creatures, including your Druid, Birds, Swarm, and toolbox bodies.
Searchable two damage for Lackey, Mage, or Wretch; the echo cost is real.
Answers artifacts or enchantments at instant speed, but Survival cannot find it.
Answers enchantments from hand or graveyard; flashback needs white.
Searchable enchantment removal; it has no trigger if it enters under Humility.
Searchable artifact removal; narrow when there is no target.
Recovers Survival or Animate Dead in attrition, but does not remove hate.

Tier A starting packages

Stiflenought

In: +2 +2 +1; add +0–2 for spell-heavy builds.
Out: Match 5–7 cards: −3, then exposed reanimation or excess mana bodies.

Naturalize and Uktabi answer Dreadnought as well as hate. Swarm stops spells, not Crypt activations.

Burn / Sligh

In: +1; add +0–3 and +0–1 for creature-heavy builds.
Out: −1, then −1–3 to match the removal added.

Survival is the primary engine. Tutor raises access to it; count pain and Price of Progress.

Enchantress

In: +2 +2 +1 +1; add +0–1 for Crypt.
Out: Match 6–7 cards from extra acceleration and slow defensive bodies.

Match each answer to a permanent actually shown.

Goblins

In: +3 +1; add +0–1 for expected artifact hate.
Out: Match 4–5 cards: slow recursion first, then −0–2.

Keep enough creatures and information for Survival to remain an engine.

Landstill

In: +2 +2; add +1–2 or +0–1 for Humility, and +0–1 for confirmed Mage.
Out: Match 5–7 cards: −0–3, then defensive mana creatures.

Monk Realist cannot answer a Humility already in play. Do not break Standstill after milling the library.

Mono Black / Rock

In: +1; add +0–3 or +0–1 for creatures, plus only the permanent answers matching shown hate.
Out: −1 and −0–2 first; trim Birds when bringing in Pyroclasm.

Do not become an answer pile. Balanced mana, Survival, and castable creatures are the post-discard plan.

Replenish

In: +2 +2 +1 +1; add +0–1 for confirmed Mage.
Out: Match 6–7 cards: −0–3, then bodies that do not solve the revealed problem.

Aim for a clean one-turn window, not a longer fair game.

Tier B and broader field 4 plans

Terrageddon / Ponza

In: +2; add 1–4 matching artifact or enchantment answers only for shown targets.
Out: Match 3–6 cards from slow recursion, then the engine shown to be most vulnerable.

Keep permanent and burst mana to act through land destruction.

Psychatog / Stasis

In: +2 +2; add 0–3 relevant permanent answers.
Out: −0–3, then −0–4 before Wall against Stasis.

Count forced draws and the exact turn Swarm must protect.

Zoo, Elves, Madness

In: +0–3 for width; +0–1 for one key creature.
Out: Release the same 1–4 cards from slow recursion or discard with no target.

These decks pressure different resources; do not copy the Goblins package automatically.

Fast combo

In: +2; add +0–2 only if that build interacts on the combo turn.
Out: Release the same 2–4 creature-removal or permanent-answer cards with no target.

Race with information. This sideboard has no graveyard-hate shortcut.

Exact play/draw exchanges still require validation by an experienced hFEB pilot against current lists.

Credits and further reading

Show 9 references

The specialist foundation of this primer comes from the work of hFEB players and writers Biel, MoxlessGuy, Carl Winter, and Galen Lemei. Premodern Archive condensed, cross-checked, and clearly bounded that material; it does not claim credit for their original deck knowledge, results, or explanations.

HFEB Guide: deck, lines, and matchup frameworkCreated by Biel and MoxlessGuy
Primary specialist source for the deck structure, combo lines, matchup framework, and technical cautions.
MoxlessGuy's July 13, 2026 decklistMoxlessGuy
The 60-card main deck and 15-card sideboard used as this primer's reference configuration.
Lobstercon 2026 event recordTCGplayer event archive and participating players
Event size and standings for the 326-player North American Premodern Championship.
Playing hFEB at Lobstercon 2026Galen Lemei
Primary pilot report for the Top 8 finish, configuration choices, engine pivots, and tournament preparation.
Premodern metagame snapshotMTGDecks
The July 23, 2026 tier labels used only to organize the matchup section.
Premodern hFEB primerCarl Winter
Additional specialist strategy context consulted while developing the guide.
Hermit Full English Breakfast masterclassGalen Lemei and the Premodcast team
Named-pilot discussion used as supplementary strategic context.
Premodern banned and watched listPremodern Magic
Format-authority reference for the current card pool and ban-list boundary.
Magic rules and Oracle referencesWizards of the Coast
Authoritative rules baseline; event-specific edge cases should still be confirmed with the head judge.