Hearthpwn

The basic concept of this build is to generate advantage with Cult Master much like how the deck functioned before Starving Buzzard was nerfed. However, considering how late the combo would come out with Cult Master the focus has actually moved to trading small minions to generate the advantage. Trading small deathrattle minions gives you positive card advantage which may help you win those longer games. The goal is to play the first 3 turns exactly the same way you would play a common Hunter deck. On turn 4, you want to drop Cult Master and do some trades. On turn 5, you want to protect it by hiding it behind a Sludge Belcher. And on turn 6, you drop a Highmane. If they last to turn 7 you can do a combo of Cult Master and Unleash the Hounds but ideally you want to already have overwhelming advantage before you even get to that point.

This deck has undergone a lot of changes so I decided to replace the old write up. Plus, it was getting a little long with all the edits.

I recently came back to this deck to improve it based on the current meta. Changes made since the original build are:

-1 Hunter's Mark
-1 Freezing Trap
-1 Explosive Trap
-1 Unleash the Hounds
-1 Houndmaster

+1 Flare
+2 Leper Gnome
+1 Snake Trap
+1 Ironbeak Owl

The core has remained largely the same and it took Reynad playing a very similar build to bring me back to this one. I decided that I wanted to revise my build to fit how the meta has shaped over the past month, as my build was about a month old at this point.

The reasons for the changes are as follows:

Flare - With the onset of Face Hunter, Freeze Mage, Midrange Secrets Mage, and Aggro Mage I realized that the deck would need at least one copy. The one copy is clutch in all of these match ups and a single Flare could likely win you the game if you use it at the right time.

Leper Gnome - With Face Hunter's current popularity, and the easiest way to win a Hunter mirror being opening with the fastest hand, I realized I needed to add it to the deck. The simple change gives the deck a lot more potential in the early game and thus gives this build a chance to run head to head with Face Hunter. If you can avoid losing early on, this build should have a much better late game.

Snake Trap - This card jumped in popularity thanks to the common Face Hunter builds. People comboed this with Knife Juggler to put out massive damage and thus it started to find it's way into every build. In this build, you will likely aim to play a Sludge Belcher to protect your Cult Master. If your opponent has to go through Belcher, it will set off the trap and summon the snakes. You can then trade the snakes for better value.

Ironbeak Owl - The deathrattle engine with Undertaker is just too common these days and having access to a good answer is useful. Silence gives the deck a way to deal with all the big problems it may face and thus it deserves a spot in the deck.