Hearthpwn

Managing to get onto the field before the enemy Hunter will help a lot at preventing their quick ramp-up. Watching out for Houndmaster on turn 4 if they go first or turn 3 if they have the coin is also critical in avoiding poor trades. When flooding the field, it’s important to keep the UTH/Scavenging Buzzard combo in mind and allow for the extra damage of Timber Wolf if it’s late enough in the game that they have mana for it. Strong defense cards like Sunfury Protector and Defender of Argus are invaluable if you find yourself playing many Hunter opponents in your matches. Earthen Ring Farseer can also be included in a deck if you find yourself running out of health 1 or 2 turns too soon. 

Zoolock also has a better chance to defeat this deck than most, although it is quite risky and the Hunter still keeps advantage. Because this Hunter deck doesn’t run Explosive Trap, its only source of wave clear is Unleash the Hounds. As a Zoolock, your greatest chance to win would be to ignore the Unleash the Hounds combo and accept that it is going to happen. With this mindset you will want to flood your board as usual and go full rush mode, focusing on beating the Hunter as quickly as possible. As soon as he is able to gain board control and play his bigger minions you have very little chance of coming back.

Cards to consider swapping for King Mukla: 

Chillwind Yeti
A 4/5 Creature for one additional mana seems like a similar option for filling Mukla’s slot. however, it doesn’t play in the 3-drop slot that hunter has difficulty filling, and it’s not a beast that can take advantage of Houndmaster’s Buff.

Ironfur Grizzly
While clearly not as efficient as a 5/5 for the same cost, Ironfur does manage to fill the 3 mana slot and is a beast to leave Houndmaster options open on the board. Additionally, it can provide some other options to protect the Highmanes in the late game. However, this is not the focus of the Hunter deck and is not a significant benefit.

Jungle Panther
A much more vulnerable minion overall, the Jungle Panther does at least manage to fill the 3 slot, and can use stealth to stay protected until it can be used with Houndmaster. It is still more vulnerable, however.

Arcane Shot
A cheap card that can either be used to go to the face or early removal. It also can have excellent results when paired with Hunter’s Mark to reduce the enemy’s health to 1. However, on its own it will struggle to clear larger threats like Sen’jin or Fen Creeper. 

Explosive Shot
Much more mana-intensive than other possible cards, Explosive shot still is great at removing any high-priority targets as well as the possibility of removing weaker adjacent minions. However, it does not allow much flexibility in playing any other cards that turn, and can still struggle against higher health minions.

Emperor Cobra
A minion that is great at 1-for-1 removal, though keeping it alive for a turn when you would need removal makes the card difficult to use efficiently. It does manage to fill the 3 cost slot and is still a beast, which does still provide some options.


Dire Wolf Alpha
As a beast that fits in well with the low-mana curve in this deck and functions as a small buff for adjacent minions as well, it can be a replacement for any of the hunter-specific blues such as Scavenging Hyena, Flare, or even Timber Wolf.