Hearthpwn

Greetings fellow marksman! This is a control Hunter deck I created last week which allowed me to climb to rank 3 in no time. Legend would have been a matter of hours but unfortunately the season ended before.

*edit: therealfiggy managed to get to Legend with this deck! Great work and big congratz to him!

It´s a plain control deck that allows you to remove all your opponents minions and put some pressure on the board at the same time. I don´t like the very combo heavy Hunter decks that feature cards like Scavenging Hyena, Timber Wolf, etc. because most of the time those are just dead cards in your hand.

Card choice explanation:

Removal:

- Hunter`s Mark:  With Webspinner, Haunted Creeper and Unleash the Hounds in the deck you will always have the option to trade a 1/1 with a big minion.

-Deadly Shot: The wonder weapon against ramp druids or stealth Auctioneers.

-Explosive Trap: Your weapon against zoo and in combination with Hunter´s Mark very good even against big minions.

-Freezing Trap: Mainly used to protect your own minions or to get rid of an innervated turn 1 Chillwind Yeti.

-Kill Command: Can be used to finish an opponent or to get rid of anything that disturbs your board control.

-Flare: Very good card in mirror matchups or against those sneaky frost Mages hiding behind their Iceblocks.

 

Minions:              

-Webspinner: In my opinion: An AWESOME card! A 1/1 beast that gives you another free beast card and sometimes sucking up a silence instead of your Savannah Highmane is just great. Even if you get only some crappy Angry Chicken you can use it to activate Kill Command, buff it with Houndmaster, trade it against something big with Hunter´s Mark or draw another card in combination with Starving Buzzard.

-Haunted Creeper: A very sticky and annoying card. Trades most of the time 2 to 1 and gives you an early board presence.

-Ironbeak Owl: Silence is never a bad thing especially nowadays with those deathrattle minions getting at you from beyond the grave.

-Starving Buzzard: No big explanation needed. Your tool to draw cards mainly in combination with Unleash the Hounds.

-Animal Companion: In nearly all matchups a good card in your starting hand.

-Houndmaster: Good to buff up your smaller minions. Carefully used on big minions like Savannah Highmane to prevent the BIG BANG! by your opponents Big Game Hunter.

-Stampeding Kodo: In the after Naxx meta, just awesome! There are so many 2 attack minions, this guy is allways ready for a kill.

-Loatheb: Correctly played this is your ticket to win against Mages, Druids and Rogues! F*** up their "combo-turn" and they often auto-concede.

-The Black Knight: Probably the only really optional card in the deck. I like him and if your opponent plays taunts he can be a real game changer.

-Savannah Highmane: This is your big guy and you should only play him after your opponent has wasted some removal on your other minions (From a Hunter´s perspective there is nothing more crucial than when your Highmane gets instant sheeped :( )

 

Weapons:

-Eaglehorn Bow: This is no rush deck so use it to remove early game minions.

 

Why no...?

-Timber Wolf: It´s not a rush deck, so we only use Unleash the Hounds to draw some cards in combination with the Buzzard or to remove something with Hunter´s Mark. Just no need for a Timber Wolf.

-Scavenging Hyena: If you can´t combo it right away it´s a dead card in your hand. Also it´s easy to remove if you drop it without combo, so the Haunted Creeper is the better 2 mana choice in my opinion.

-Tracking: Two reasons for that: First of all it´s not a rush deck. Sometimes your match will go till fatigue (mostly against control Warrior) and you just can´t afford to lose 2 or even 4 cards this way. The second reason is, that this is not a deck that relies heavily on combos for which you have to dig through Tracking.

-Maexxna: With all the Kodos and Cabal Shadow Priest around, this card is most of the time 6 mana for nothing.

-Oasis Snapjaw: Same reason as Maexxna

 

 Mulligan vs...

-Warlock: You always mulligan to counter Zoo, because even if it´s a Handlock you still have time to draw the cards you need for that matchaup. Look for cheap minions like Haunted Creeper, Webspinner or Animal Companion. Make sure you have at least an Explosive Trap or Unleash the Hounds in your starting hand.

-Druid: Animal Companion is always a good choice as well as Haunted Creeper. The most important thing to mulligan for in this matchup is cheap removal like Freezing Trap or Deadly Shot so you can counter a big innervated minion.

-Warrior: In this matchup the Stampeding Kodo is your wonder weapon! Save your coin if possible to play it in round 4 to counter a round 3 Acolyte of Pain or an Armorsmith. Nearly all warriors are control so you don´t have to defend yourself right away. That gives you the chance to keep even a 5 mana Kodo in your starting hand.

-Mage: Mulligan for Explosive Trap, Flare and cheap minions. Explosive Trap to counter the early mage play with Mirror Image, Mana Wyrm, and Sorcerer's Apprentice.

-Hunter mirror match: Mulligan for Flare and cheap minions.

-Paladin: Most of them play the rush version so Explosive Trap to slow him down at the beginning is very good. Haunted Creeper is also very solid in this matchup to remove constantly those annoying little Stormwind troops.

-Priest: Deadly Shot or Freezing Trap are lifesavers in this matchup to counter the round 2/3 Injured Blademaster + Circle of Healing combo. Also the Eaglehorn Bow is very good to remove a Northshire Cleric or a non healed Injured Blademaster.

-Rogue: A Deadly Shot against those greedy concealed Gadgetzan Auctioneer is always handy but Miracle Rogue is becoming rare in the current meta. Cheap minions like Haunted Creeper, Webspinner or Animal Companion are the best way to go right now.

-Shaman: I always keep an Explosive Trap in case I want to get rid of some totem forrest.

 

Military Quarter update:  

Took the Eaglehorn Bow and one Freezing Trap out for two Spectral Knight!

Those two Spectral Knight give you a huge midgame threat. Drop one of them in round 5 and a Savannah Highmane on 6 and the game is won most of the time.

 

For me this is the best and most fun Hunter deck I´ve ever played with and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! :)

If requested I can write some gameplay and matchup tips later on.

Until then, happy hunting!