Hearthpwn

Hey there,

I'm no legend, however I can call midrange decks my passion, while I also keep up with what's going on in the meta. Turns out that as much as I love the hunter class, I HATE SMORC!!! so I decided to experiment with my deck, shifting into an almost-control style with decent results so far.

My hope is that this deck will have success in the hands of more experienced players, also I'm really interested into your feedback, so let's discuss what this deck is about and how it is meant to play out.

General behaviour

Like basically any hunter deck ever, this is meant to steamroll as early as possible. Don't get the "control" theme wrong - definitely no heropower-pass-mode here!

However you will find yourself with some decent (and quite underrated) tools to exploit the reckless tempo game that defines the recent meta. While in the first few turns you will play pure value trades (perplexing the opponent) it is important to note that you won't lose too much tempo. For example, a turn 3 Steamwheedle Sniper + Coin + heropower onto some Knife Juggler's face will slow down the enemy quite a lot, but still provide some board presence, especially because your snipers have semi-taunt. Also, never a bad draw in the mid and even lategame (which you should see frequently) - it can activate your Gahz'rilla for example.

A very similar play consists of Illuminator + Freezing Trap on turn 5 while basically throwing all your garbage into their garbage, making it as hard as possible for the enemy to trigger your secret. As you play control, removing their stuff each turn is definitely consistent with your win condition. Keep this in mind when valuing the Illuminator, which is absolutely core to this deck!

Despite the cut of Haunted Creeper, you should have a decent board position in the midgame or at least one you can work with. Because your true strength comes with turn 6 as it is Savanna Highmane time! Just play all your heavy hitters without overextending - thanks to the value, you will not run out of steam very fast, but with Cult Master as the only card draw, it's not like you can keep up with let's say control warrior!

In the end, it may become a race, but you still want to take your time. Your Steady Shot will definitely deal much more damage on to minions than on to the opponent's face, and each time you value trade, their situation should become a little bit more desperate. Use Loatheb to seal the deal, rather than throwing him out as a mediocre threat.

Tech Cards

Your midgame consistency is considerably lower with situational cards like BGH, the already mentioned Cult Master and even a Hound Master which may look greedy in a deck with so little beasts but can be a real nail in the coffin lategame-wise. However, note that you have much more survivability than pretty much anyone would expect from a hunter. Hold your situational cards back unless you already have the lead or know that you won't find time to play them later on. You will be happy to throw out your Hunter's Mark for tempo spikes as well as sheer value - it will never be a dead draw, no matter what's the state of the game.

There are some cards that may look obscure to you, especially Gahz'rilla and Gladiator's Longbow instead of just Dr. Balanced or Ragnaros. I keep them in because noone plays around them. People have no clue how to respond to the lategame of hunter because it's not seen in general. But in a slow deck, they do extremely nice work - Gazhrilla turning a situation where a Flamestrike would have lost you the game into a situation where a Flamestrike suddenly would be suicide, while Gladiator's may remove their Thaurissan while setting up lethal on the same time.
Do not use Thaurissan btw. He doesn't reward you much as you will, technically, be able to play your entire hand lategame - you simply don't want to do it. That's why Quickshot is not in the list either.
Finally, why Worgen Infiltrator over Abusive or Webspinner? They will give your opponent the reading of a full face mode hunter, which is a considerable advantage - while in reality they are expected to just trade into some 3/2, supporting the stable early game that you need so desperately.

What's the purpose of a Value Hunter?

Any midrange hunter struggles against facetard the more aggressive ones. They usually have some options to turtle, such as Sludge Belcher, but the clock is real so it only delays an inescapable - and horrible - death.
The value game solves this problem: Heal, taunt, carddraw and a much better mage hero power will more often than not make a difference. You will feast on face hunters, unless you draw really bad. And you can still expect to pressure decks like Freeze Mage, Handlock or even Grim Patron (because you won't offer him a ton of garbage minions)
Last, but not least, you will always end up with some spells like Unleash or Animal Companion when the race has begun, which hints that Lock and Load may be an excellent choice in this deck once TGT is out!

Not much more to say at this point, so that's gonna be it for my first guide.
Please tell me your thoughts on it - and to what extend it seems viable!

Thx =)