Every day there is a new thread about how much people hate playing against one deck more than any other. OTK or “One turn kill” has become so relevant in the current Hearthstone Meta that it spans both NA and the EU. The amount of hate people have for this combination of cards is so great that many expect a nerf to come in the near future, but why is it so hated? What makes it work so well? And what are the stats on it?
OTK decks work on work on the basic principle of getting a certain combination of cards in your hand and being able to survive long enough to play your combo and overwhelm you opponent and slam them directly in their face. There are many different variants to this combo and many have their own flavor. At the core of any OTK deck are the following cards. Starving Buzzard,Timber Wolf, Ironbeak Owl, Young Dragonhawk, and Unleash the Hound.
Starving Buzzard – one of two draw mechanics available to only hunters that when used in conjunction with other low cost minions in the mid-game can pull out other minions to boost the damage output or possibly the one required spell.
Timber Wolf – buffs minions that only affects beast giving them plus one Attack. These are core as they greatly improve the overall damage output.
Ironbeak Owl – is a card also serves an offensive goal in regards to the combination. Playing this minion in the combination can remove road blocks such as taunts to allow all your minions to attack the face.
Unleash the Hound is by far the most hated and despised card in Hearthstone. It’s extremely low cost and massive benefits allows for some great damage, and quick games.
We will take a deck off of Hearthpwns Deckbuilder and break it down. This is not the deck I play or made myself. This deck was made by Dursul.
Minion wise this deck runs the core combo set up with the addition of Novice Engineer for card draw, Animal Companion for early game damage or end game finisher, and Dire Wolf Alpha to give even more bang for the buck.
That we touched on draw mechanic a little. This deck runs the before mentioned Novice Engineer, Flare, and Tracking. Novice Engineer’s ability in early play help cycle your deck to help you draw out the combo needed for a win. Flare as a multipurpose with being able to draw you a card and remove secrets and stealth all for one mana. Finally we have Tracking. This card provides a huge advantage in terms of pulling a card needed to ensure victory.
Let’s break it down and give you some numbers.
Out of the 30 card deck you can reduce the number by one for every minion or spell that allows you to draw a card, with the exception ofTracking and Starving Buzzard. This means you have a 26 card deck. So in your opening hand you’re really looking at 22 card deck on turn one and 21 card deck if you go second. Since most OTK decks tend to activate on turn seven or eight, this means you’re looking at 13 to 12 cards. Tracking is not used in this calculation as it draws one but discards two in return. This may not seem like a good trade, and with RNG it can be horrible, but it does give you greater flexibility when you play it before you plan to launch a combo. Starving Buzzards are normally used in the combo to draw more of the combo to maximize the total damage. This seems unstoppable…but that’s not the way you should be looking at it. Even with solid deck cycling and accounting for cards drawn throughout the match the deck still has a fair chance to fail. This is the nature of card games.
Lets look at the best possible combo on turn seven or eight . Mind you, this is to say you have all these in your hand on the turn you choose to use the combo and your enemy has no taunts.
For a grand total of 38 damage on turn seven with the Coin or turn eight.
While this may seem massively overpowered there are many factors one must consider. RNG of what cards you get can play a huge factor and can in fact be a greater delay and Death for this deck. Also consider that in these are optimal conditions, which has a very small percentage of actually happening in a real game.
Since conditions in any match are not optimal you have to try and force them to be optimal. If your opponent goes taunt heavy on his turn seven then the combo will change up to remove the taunts via Ironbeak Owl. If the opponent puts down some secrets like Explosive Trap,Counterspell or even a Noble Sacrifice, it will force the hunter to play out a Flare to remove the secret which by doing so does not boost the durability in the Eaglehorn Bow.
Now in this build the goal is keep the board and your opponent on lock down while you get ready for the final move. This is a very common strategy in chess and a few other card games over the years.
This deck is composed of 50% spells, 6.667% weapons and 43.3333% minions. However, this kind of low minion count should not overlookAnimal Companion. Now because Animal Companion is a spell and not just a minion it gets around certain things such as Snipe and Mirror Entity and in a pinch can be used to check fo rCounterspell .
When you’re playing this deck you’re going to want to try for a balanced hand. One card draw, one removal, and one part of the combo. This way you can easily respond when needed. However, make sure to play your Flares smart. Against another Hunter, Paladin, Mage, and even Priest, that Flare could be the difference between victory and defeat. Animal Companion is a good opening hand card as well since it will throw off your opponent a little and give you a little bit of early aggression. You may have to eat a little damage before playing that Explosive Trap, so don’t pop it early. Unless your opponent has two or more minions do not drop the Explosive Trap.
Is this deck effective? It’s 50-50. This deck has a few elements that are slow in terms of removal when cheaper alternatives are available. The deck runs two Eaglehorn Bow’s but only two secrets thus the highest possible damage output of these bows is 18. This deck is 100% reliant on the combo and cannot win any other way. In general most OTK decks suffer from the same issue. Some of them actually use the standard beast galore concept from pre-wipe. Then on turn five or six pull out a miniOTK slam but since they were doing constant damage at the start the amount they needed to win is less. Another variant plays the like beast galore but on turn seven or eight they start dropping core hounds with unleash the hound. This, in effect, is a two card Pyroblast for the same mana.
We covered all the basics and some of the more advance theorycraft of these decks, but what really makes these decks so hated?
1. These decks tend to deny your removal spells and thus make them useless.
2. If you’re not prepared for them they will crush you, however this is standard in most archetypes.
3. They are a low cost option that denies the player from ever seeing Ragnaros on the board.
Are these decks so dangerous?
In competitive play these days thanks to sideboarding they are a one trick pony at best. Once you use this deck your opponent can easily taunt stack and play things like Defender of Argus orSunfury Protector and shut you down. They can even swap in a swarm or Murloc deck to counter this and shut the deck down. In play mode it’s not as easy to know due to the random nature of who you play.
10. BURN AGGRO – If you have a really aggressive deck you can take everything to the Hunters face and burn him down before turn eight.
In conclusion, while the OTK deck and its variants generally provide a strong showing in the play mode and ladder due to the randomness of who you face. In competitive mode it is a one win at best, and even then it requires that you don’t have a bad hand. The fact that it is easy to counter and everyone has seen it so many times really does make it less significant than other decks.
Every day there is a new thread about how much people hate playing against one deck more than any other. OTK or “One turn kill” has become so relevant in the current Hearthstone Meta that it spans both NA and the EU. The amount of hate people have for this combination of cards is so great that many expect a nerf to come in the near future, but why is it so hated? What makes it work so well? And what are the stats on it?
OTK decks work on work on the basic principle of getting a certain combination of cards in your hand and being able to survive long enough to play your combo and overwhelm you opponent and slam them directly in their face. There are many different variants to this combo and many have their own flavor. At the core of any OTK deck are the following cards. Starving Buzzard,Timber Wolf, Ironbeak Owl, Young Dragonhawk, and Unleash the Hound.
Starving Buzzard – one of two draw mechanics available to only hunters that when used in conjunction with other low cost minions in the mid-game can pull out other minions to boost the damage output or possibly the one required spell.
Timber Wolf – buffs minions that only affects beast giving them plus one Attack. These are core as they greatly improve the overall damage output.
Ironbeak Owl – is a card also serves an offensive goal in regards to the combination. Playing this minion in the combination can remove road blocks such as taunts to allow all your minions to attack the face.
Young Dragonhawk – is probably the real powerhouse behind the deck; Young Dragonhawk adds a real punch to the combo.
Unleash the Hound is by far the most hated and despised card in Hearthstone. It’s extremely low cost and massive benefits allows for some great damage, and quick games.
We will take a deck off of Hearthpwns Deckbuilder and break it down. This is not the deck I play or made myself. This deck was made by Dursul.
As you can see this deck runs a great amount of control elements with Explosive Shot, Arcane Shot,Multi Shot , Deadly Shot, Kill Command, Explosive Trap, and Eaglehorn Bow. These are used to keep the board mostly cleared while allowing the hunter to take pot shots at his opponent with his hero ability.
Minion wise this deck runs the core combo set up with the addition of Novice Engineer for card draw, Animal Companion for early game damage or end game finisher, and Dire Wolf Alpha to give even more bang for the buck.
That we touched on draw mechanic a little. This deck runs the before mentioned Novice Engineer, Flare, and Tracking. Novice Engineer’s ability in early play help cycle your deck to help you draw out the combo needed for a win. Flare as a multipurpose with being able to draw you a card and remove secrets and stealth all for one mana. Finally we have Tracking. This card provides a huge advantage in terms of pulling a card needed to ensure victory.
Let’s break it down and give you some numbers.
Out of the 30 card deck you can reduce the number by one for every minion or spell that allows you to draw a card, with the exception ofTracking and Starving Buzzard. This means you have a 26 card deck. So in your opening hand you’re really looking at 22 card deck on turn one and 21 card deck if you go second. Since most OTK decks tend to activate on turn seven or eight, this means you’re looking at 13 to 12 cards. Tracking is not used in this calculation as it draws one but discards two in return. This may not seem like a good trade, and with RNG it can be horrible, but it does give you greater flexibility when you play it before you plan to launch a combo. Starving Buzzards are normally used in the combo to draw more of the combo to maximize the total damage. This seems unstoppable…but that’s not the way you should be looking at it. Even with solid deck cycling and accounting for cards drawn throughout the match the deck still has a fair chance to fail. This is the nature of card games.
Lets look at the best possible combo on turn seven or eight . Mind you, this is to say you have all these in your hand on the turn you choose to use the combo and your enemy has no taunts.
For a grand total of 38 damage on turn seven with the Coin or turn eight.
While this may seem massively overpowered there are many factors one must consider. RNG of what cards you get can play a huge factor and can in fact be a greater delay and Death for this deck. Also consider that in these are optimal conditions, which has a very small percentage of actually happening in a real game.
Since conditions in any match are not optimal you have to try and force them to be optimal. If your opponent goes taunt heavy on his turn seven then the combo will change up to remove the taunts via Ironbeak Owl. If the opponent puts down some secrets like Explosive Trap,Counterspell or even a Noble Sacrifice, it will force the hunter to play out a Flare to remove the secret which by doing so does not boost the durability in the Eaglehorn Bow.
Now in this build the goal is keep the board and your opponent on lock down while you get ready for the final move. This is a very common strategy in chess and a few other card games over the years.
This deck is composed of 50% spells, 6.667% weapons and 43.3333% minions. However, this kind of low minion count should not overlookAnimal Companion. Now because Animal Companion is a spell and not just a minion it gets around certain things such as Snipe and Mirror Entity and in a pinch can be used to check fo rCounterspell .
When you’re playing this deck you’re going to want to try for a balanced hand. One card draw, one removal, and one part of the combo. This way you can easily respond when needed. However, make sure to play your Flares smart. Against another Hunter, Paladin, Mage, and even Priest, that Flare could be the difference between victory and defeat. Animal Companion is a good opening hand card as well since it will throw off your opponent a little and give you a little bit of early aggression. You may have to eat a little damage before playing that Explosive Trap, so don’t pop it early. Unless your opponent has two or more minions do not drop the Explosive Trap.
Is this deck effective? It’s 50-50. This deck has a few elements that are slow in terms of removal when cheaper alternatives are available. The deck runs two Eaglehorn Bow’s but only two secrets thus the highest possible damage output of these bows is 18. This deck is 100% reliant on the combo and cannot win any other way. In general most OTK decks suffer from the same issue. Some of them actually use the standard beast galore concept from pre-wipe. Then on turn five or six pull out a miniOTK slam but since they were doing constant damage at the start the amount they needed to win is less. Another variant plays the like beast galore but on turn seven or eight they start dropping core hounds with unleash the hound. This, in effect, is a two card Pyroblast for the same mana.
We covered all the basics and some of the more advance theorycraft of these decks, but what really makes these decks so hated?
1. These decks tend to deny your removal spells and thus make them useless.
2. If you’re not prepared for them they will crush you, however this is standard in most archetypes.
3. They are a low cost option that denies the player from ever seeing Ragnaros on the board.
Are these decks so dangerous?
In competitive play these days thanks to sideboarding they are a one trick pony at best. Once you use this deck your opponent can easily taunt stack and play things like Defender of Argus orSunfury Protector and shut you down. They can even swap in a swarm or Murloc deck to counter this and shut the deck down. In play mode it’s not as easy to know due to the random nature of who you play.
How do you shut these decks down?
1. Well played taunts – Turn six and seven
2. Well played secrets – Turn six and seven
3. Defender of Argus - Makes two taunts and gives them a buff.
4. Sunfury Protector - Same as defender but cheaper without the buff.
5. Mirror Image – Two little taunts that can easily mess up the damage output and give you one more turn to pull out the win or clear the board.
6. Murlocs – For the most part they can power down and shut down an OTK deck.
7. Thoughtsteal – pray for an Explosive Trap.
8. Explosive Trap - If they play their Flares early dropping this down will easily remove the threat of OTK or at the least stall them out.
9. Swarm deck – Minions like Harvest Golem, Razorfen Hunter, Dragonling Mechanic,Hogger, and Silver Hand Knight. These tend to get around a lot of control.
10. BURN AGGRO – If you have a really aggressive deck you can take everything to the Hunters face and burn him down before turn eight.
In conclusion, while the OTK deck and its variants generally provide a strong showing in the play mode and ladder due to the randomness of who you face. In competitive mode it is a one win at best, and even then it requires that you don’t have a bad hand. The fact that it is easy to counter and everyone has seen it so many times really does make it less significant than other decks.