Hearthpwn

Hi guys f2p legend player Atralb here. You can see other of my own decks on my page. 

So, what is it ? This decks is a new Quest Hunter build that takes advantage of the new cards provided by the Witchwood expansion in the name of Ravencaller, Toxmonger, and Houndmaster Shaw (i'll explain this one later).

The full deck is basically one half of cards that help completing the quest (Fire Fly, Raptor Hatchling, Stonetusk Boar, Ravencaller, Tol'vir Warden) or synergize with those (Toxmonger, Cult Master, Houndmaster Shaw) and one half of classic midrange hunter cards that help not loosing the early game (Crackling Razormaw, Freezing Trap, Explosive Trap, Eaglehorn Bow, Animal Companion, Unleash the Hounds, Lesser Emerald Spellstone, and Deathstalker Rexxar for the late game)

The general plan of this game is to stall out the early game with efficient midrange tools centered on defense (freezing trap, explosive trap, eaglehorn bow, unleash the hounds, deathstalker rexxar) while in the process drawing your quest tools in order to fight back with the powerful value and tempo rewarded by playing Queen Carnassa, which at the same time gives you enormous card draw that will consistently fetch your Deathstalker Rexxar or simply let you stall while waiting for it, for infinite value in late game.

Quest completion

The deck can provide with a total of 12 one drops, 4 from both Fire Fly, 2 Stonetusk Boar, 2 with the single Raptor Hatchling, and 4 from both Ravencaller.

Tol'vir Warden is here to help you with that too, and Cult Master too which is a very efficient card draw with all those 1 drops.

After some considerations and calculation, the quest should be complete on turn 7-9 on average. 

For those interested in some math, here it is. There are 6 cards that single-handedly provide with 2 one drops : Fire Fly, Ravencaller, Tol'vir Warden. 6/30 is 1/5 so by turn 7, having drawn at least 10 cards from your deck, you should have 2 of those in average which is already 4 one drops. Besides, you still got 8 other cards from your deck at the very least + potential card draw with Cult Master or tol'vir, and being second is a possibility, which i will account for 2 additional cards in average. In those cards you can easily have a stonetusk board, a raptor hatchling, or another one of those mentioned above. All this makes me believe the quest should be completed by turn 10 the wide majority of the time.

Early game and defensive tools (Midrange part)

This part of the deck is basically all the tools you have to control the board (as a hunter yes).

At the start of the game, you have 4 defensive secrets (freezing trap and explosive) to slow your opponent down, Eaglehorn Bow for removal and synergy with those, and later the Lesser Emerald Spellstone which we all know is huge value and tempo for 5 mana, that we won't use to rush down our opponent but for board control. And you also have Animal Companion and Unleash the Hounds.

Besides are the "destroy a minion if there isn't a taunt or divine shield in the way to your target" combo effect with Stonetusk Boar and Toxmonger which cost 5 cards, a fair price, and gives you an additional 2/4 that needs to be removed at the cost of an additional card compared to a normal destroy effect. This seems very reasonable to me, not even talking about the fact that Toxmonger becomes a real threat in late game with a lot more mana to spawn 1 drops and of course even more when Queen Carnassa has been played.

Houndmaster Shaw is also here to provide you with board control tools, as it synergizes very well in mid-game with cheap minions. We have to take for a fact that 6 health is very hard to remove on turn 4.

Crackling Razormaw is also here to either provide a body on turn 2, adapting a beast on the board in mid-game, or even with some luck become a third Toxmonger for only 3 mana :).

Combos

Stonetusk Boar + Toxmonger for destroy effect

Unleash the Hounds + Cult Master for big card draw

Houndmaster Shaw + Queen Carnassa on turn 9 for basically a King K[rush] (haha hope you get it) + a 3/6 that absolutely needs to be removed.

Houndmaster Shaw + Toxmonger(/cultmaster) + 2 one drops in late game for 2 destroy effects (/2 card draw)

For example if you manage to have Houndmaster Shaw survive one turn in late game after completing the quest, it's an infinite loop til your opponent board is destroyed with Cult Master + Carnassa's Brood.

Deathstalker Rexxar + your warlock opponent's soul  for a... hmm... oh yeah, win the game.

Late Game

In my opinion, the late game phase starts exactly when you finished your quest. Now you have only two missions.

1. Fetch Deathstalker Rexxar. For this you want to rely on card draw combos with Cult Master and Carnassa's Brood.
2. When it is found, win the game with the hero power. As soon as you're in this position, a typical turn i see is 1 zombeast at a turn + hero power + Carnassa's Brood for each mana left. Change only this when the enemy board needs to be answered quiclky with Toxmonger and such.

 

Keep in mind this is not your usual hunter deck, you don't want to rush down your opponent (out of my sight Smorc) but control the board, and as hunter midrange tools are wonderful for face, it is so because they are lots of sturdy minions and not direct damage spells like a mage, thus I really believe they could be used efficiently for board control. (A full spellstone against a paladin is a real pain for instance). 

And for this reason, since not much has been experienced already for a slow hunter archetype, a lot of testing has to be done yet to determine the best possibilities and the viability of the deck. Many changes can made and have to made to determine the best build for this archetype.

For example :

•  Houndmaster Shaw could be replaced by Tundra Rhino for the ME GO FACE addition since many of the minions are already beasts. But keep in mind it has 1 less health, cost 1 more and unlike usual hunter decks, there are still a non negligible part of minions that aren't beasts. And of course, there is the "new card aspect" that added to my choice, but the pros and cons were analysed still.
• maybe remove 1 or 2 secrets to add a Candleshot, a 2nd Animal Companion, or a 2nd Unleash the Hounds.
• if we experience that the quest is completed consistently easily, maybe remove a Ravencaller or the Raptor Hatchling for a better midrange card.

That's it for me guys, hope you like it, and we will see the outcomes when the expansion release, and will make a complete guide with mulligan and matchups if this receives attention.

See ya guys !