Gruul Sligh is trying to bury you under cheap creatures and burn before your value engine comes online — Wall of Blossoms and Wall of Roots are your best early plays, trading profitably and buying time for Ravenous Baloth to take over the life total race. Pernicious Deed is your most important card and should be deployed proactively at 0 or 1 to reset their board; don't hold it too long waiting for the perfect moment. Infest is a clean answer to their one-toughness creatures (Mogg Fanatic, Grim Lavamancer, Jackal Pup) and comes in alongside a third Smother and Diabolic Edict to increase your removal density. Hermit Druid is too fragile and irrelevant here — a 1/1 that dies to any burn spell is a liability, and Recurring Nightmare is too slow to matter before you've stabilized. Duress and Cabal Therapy remain in to strip Lightning Bolt and Incinerate before they can deal the final points of damage.