Hearthpwn

Hello there,

I am Versicherung, a casual f2p player who enjoys building and playing hunter decks in ways hunter usually isn't intended to be played. This also happens to be true with this weird version I came up with. It is an early-game-dominant control value combo (?) hyper late game-ish deck (I told you, it is weird). Thus It is hard for me to find a good starting point for this guide.

Disclaimer: Since I am not a very competitive player (I don't like playing in higher ranks because you usually need to play a meta deck there in order not to have a disadvantage right from the beginning of the game. The highest rank I got to was rank 3 while secret hunter with curator was a thing and you had to face nothing but midrange shamans with tunnel trogs, totem golems and pre-nerf spiritclaws in high ranks ... what a terrible time this was ...) but more fun-oriented, my winrate only comes from rank 20-12. Therefore I don't claim that this deck is a tier 1 deck, but it surely is a lot of fun! In addition to that, this is my first guide here and I'm not a native speaker. So please, be polite and focus on the deck rather than the language here.

But now let's dive into the action and let me give you some general thoughts about playing hunter before pointing out why this deck is great and fun to play:

The class of hunter and the challenges you face:

1. Hunter is alone by its hero power a more aggressive class. Since it has not that much burn (like i.e. mage) its playstyle usually resolves around controlling the board and overwhelming your opponent by having a strong board presence and pushing constant damage by attacking as well as using your hero power. Many games you finish by skill-commanding their face to death after getting a lucky Huffer and so on ... you probably all know the typical hunter experience.
2. Hunter lacks consistent and reliable control-tools (like warrior or priest have). This includes reliable single target removal as well as area of effect damage.
3. Hunter by itself has (apart from the now two hero cards) no forms of healing and very little ways to avoid taking damage. As a result of that, you normally cannot sit back but are the aggressor.
4. Hunter tends to run out of cards frequently and thus struggles to close games out when your hand is empty. This mainly has to do with above mentioned fact that you have to control the board early (because you need board control to win and you have little ways to regain board control after you lost it). Therefore, naturally you have to build your deck with early curves to consistently control the board or you'll lose most of the time. In addition to that, card draw was (was!) a pretty scarce ressource of hunter. This also leads to
5. Hunter tends not to have a great late game because you cannot afford to put that many high cost threats into your deck. Its quite a paradoxon to put high cost minions into hunter (except in big recruit hunter maybe which also is pretty fun but inconsitent and weak to aggro) since you won't reach late game to play them most of the time.  This is one aspect why Deathstalker Rexxar is such a good card and wins you some match ups single-handedly because not only does it give armor and rare aoe-damage, you also get free late game threats without having to start them in your deck.

Strenghts of hunter:

1. Strong stand-alone cards (such as Savannah Highmane) and really strong synergies without big situational effort, especially with the beast-tribe. Not much to add.
2. In most cases a pretty easy to execute game plan. Play cards, control the board, mostly only do value trades and go face otherwise, finish the game with burst damage.
3. High tempo plays (Freezing Trap, Houndmaster, Lesser Emerald Spellstone) that quickly can overwhelm combo decks or control decks that drew badly.
4. The strongest secrets in the game. Why the strongest? Because while some traps are better than others your enemy can never be 100% sure what you just played since a lot of secrets are viable and actually see play. This is a big asset to outsmart your opponent (and of course there's Lesser Emerald Spellstone)
5. Deathstalker Rexxar. Yep, this card is pretty good as Kripp would say. It is a great swingcard in some matchups, it saves you in aggro-matchups so that you can come back and it outvalues most control/value decks with ease.

To sum up:

• Naturally a hunter has to take the initiative and start controlling the board.
• Hunters usually need to win fast before ultimately losing board control or be lucky and draw Rexxar.
• Hunters' natural enemies are classes that control the board early better as you do (especially Zoolocks, other hunters and Odd Paladins, to some extend Odd Rogues)
• Hunters are about even against classes that can be outtempoed effectively but have access to tools that control the board (priest, warrior, to some extend warlocks, mages and druids)
• Hunters excel at killing other classes that don't have healing (rogue), many control-tools (rogues and to some extend druids due to their lack of AoE) or deal damage to themselves (mostly rogues (lel) and warlocks). Yes, rogues are very tasty pray for hunters.

With this in mind - why this deck is good:

This deck opts to tackle your challenges well while using your given strengths:

1. Strong early board control due to Springpaw, Dire Mole and Crackling Razormaw
2. Use of the secret package (Traps, Lesser Emerald Spellstone and Eaglehorn Bow) for tempo plays and outplaypotential
3. Use of the beast tribe (Crackling Razormaw, Master's Call,Kill Command)
4. Strong stand-alone cards (Animal Companion, Flanking Strike)
5. Deathstalker Rexxar
6. Strong drawing power by playing only a few minions which are all beasts (Master's Call) as well as having Subject 9 to be drawn which then draws your secrets. This combination ensures drawing all your bad late game draws earlier as well as getting Halazzi, the Lynx to finish your quest.
7. Insane Lategame-Value by having The Marsh Queen, Deathstalker Rexxar and Zul'jin
8. Being quite resilient to dying to fatigue due to possibly finishing the quest two times.
9. Having a lot of "wtf"-moments for your opponent because you are playing a lot of archetypes in one deck, maybe even leading to them underestimating your deck.

Gameplan:

Your general gameplan is to adapt according to which class you are facing. Hence, there is no set gameplan but you are very flexible with what you're doing.

• When facing Zoo/Aggro - you are on your backfoot and only have to control the board while trying to avoid that much damage. You are something like a zooish-control deck here.
• When facing Combo-Decks or fragile classes - you are the aggressor and should try to finish them off before they can fulfill their gameplan (regular hunter play.  No risks will be taken here).
• When facing Control/Value-Decks - make them think you are a spell hunter and bait them into thinking you are overextending on the board so that they use their AoE. Outvalue them late with your late game power.

Card Choices:

Dire Mole - just a great 1-drop that also sometimes helps you to finish the quest. It's 1/3 stats usually guarantee that it survives until your second turn so that you can adapt it with Crackling Razormaw. It's a beast (so it gets drawn by Master's Call) and it is great to kill off paladin's dudes. In addition to that playing this on turn one leads your opponent into thinking you are some sort of aggro-beast-hunter which might lead them to throwing out board clears too early.

Springpaw - a very flexible 1-drop that even gives you a second 1-drop to finish the quest. You are not playing Candleshot so this is your "ping" to finish of minions (i.e. Eaglehorn Bow + 1 Springpaw to kill a Misha and so on). In matchups where you are the aggressor its even okay to play this alone on turn 1 in order to adapt it with Crackling Razormaw next turn. It also might be the edge damage you need to finish off something which you can reliably draw with Master's Call.

The Marsh Queen - Now this is one of the core fun parts of this deck. Before Rasthakans, you needed to invest heavily into finishing the quest which then gave way too few benefits because after finishing it by maybe turn 5-6 most of the time you then happened to draw a weak 1-drop instead of Carnassa's Brood way too often. Now with Halazzi, the Lynx, you actually can finish it without playing "a real" 1-drop. This will be your fuel in the late game and surprise many foes when you are suddenly playing the quest and finishing it in 2 turns + having a 5 mana 8/8. And again, Master's Call is your best friend to draw Carnassa's Brood to keep going in the late and avoiding topdecking traps alone. Oh, and did I mention that you re-play the quest if you Zul'jin after you have completed it once and that you are able to finish it a second time just by playing Carnassa's Brood?

Crackling Razormaw - great card overall. Great in combination with any of your beasts but especially with all of your Lynxes that are easily turned into 1/1 Rush+Poisonous to quick draw kill big minions or value-trade. Gets drawn consistently by Master's Call. Can even be played alone on turn 2 if you need the tempo.

Explosive Trap - A hunter's core card in probably every deck. It gives you much needed AoE against Zoodecks, it improves your Lesser Emerald Spellstone and refills your Eaglehorn Bow. Play two of those if you are facing a lot of zooey decks/aggro.

Freezing Trap - one of the most broken cards in hunter's arsenal. Its insane against control decks and okay against aggro decks to stall for your Rexxar. It improves your Lesser Emerald Spellstone and refills your Eaglehorn Bow. When anticipating your enemy's play, you can easily ruin their game plans.

Rat Trap - A surprise for sure but a welcome one. There's almost always a situation where your opponent plays 3 cards a turn (Swingturns of rogues, casual Zooturns etc.). However, good players will play around it so it might be a dead secret. As a 1-of its still often surprisingly good and at worst it improves your Lesser Emerald Spellstone. At best, it can swing the game in your favor or win it by itself.

Venomstrike Trap - Having a poisonous minion the turn after your opponent tried to clear your minions is usually a good thing. Not the best trap but a solid one and therefore more than good enough to maximize your Subject 9 value. Of course, it improves your Lesser Emerald Spellstone and refills your Eaglehorn Bow.

Wandering Monster - A hell of a good secret. Notibly one of the only ways to avoid taking damage so if used wisely you can block a lot of harm to your pretty face. This almost never is a bad play but can sometimes be a "dead" card because everyone plays this secret and therefore people only attack your face when they can deal with the 3-drop you get. Still, it improves your Lesser Emerald Spellstone and refills your Eaglehorn Bow.

Animal Companion - Pretty standard hunter card in every hunter deck. Only a fool would cut it (as I did once ..). It's just straight forward good. Huffer is people's darling, Misha will safe your butt against aggro and make priests cry and Leokk can easily turn your Lynxes into board-clearing machines.

Deadly Shot - A good tempo card that admittedly is unreliable in many cases. But in these cases, taking a 50/50 or a 33/66 might be the key to winning an otherwise lost match. It is great to kill off minions with lifesteal so that your opponent won't heal from it. It can also target minions in stealth such as the spirits which might be relevant sometimes. If you can manage to hit only the target you want, it is a great tempo swing in your favor and usually means that your opponent's last stand will fall. Also note that it adds some "reliable" board swing to your Zul'jin.

Eaglehorn Bow - Mighty tool to control the board and gain a tempo advantage. Can also be used to hit your opponent for reasonable amounts of damage, especially if you manage to refill it with your secrets. It even gets played in decks that don't play secrets at all ... yes, it's that good in hunter.

Kill Command - One of the most iconic hunter cards. It's just a very versatile damage tool to either clear a threat or have the necessary reach to finish your opponent of your setup lethal the next turn.

Master's Call - A card I mentioned a lot already and its absolutely insane. Hunters always lacked good card draw and now they have an exceptionally good one. Helps you to carry your early board control to a midgame board control or ensures you draw Carnassa's Brood in the late game. 3 mana draw three ...

Flanking Strike - An overall powerful card. It's a small control-tool with a build-in board-swing. It also fills your curve a little bit since it is the only 4 mana card and can also clear bigger minions when combined with your Rush minions.

Halazzi, the Lynx - The card that enables your quest and is even able to finish it by itself. While being a bad tempo card itself, it also refills your hand with "pings" that you can use to protect your already existing minions on the board from damage. Therefore, in some matchups where you don't need to finish the quest but have to invest heavily into the board, this is a nice card.

Lesser Emerald Spellstone - One of the best cards of hunter and a card that statistically improves your winrate the most (or at least improved during the last expansions). While other decks need this card to seal the deal, you can use it mostly to bait board clears which will deffinitely come. However, if your opponent cannot clear these pesky wolves, you can just run away with the win.

Subject 9 - An awesome card and one of your key draw engines. By getting this from Master's Call, you can ensure to keep rolling and confronting your opponent with a lot of different secrets they have to figure out. In addition to that, you thin out your deck to draw more important topdecks in the mid to late game since you do not need to worry about running into fatigue because of the quest.

Deathstalker Rexxar - A win condition by itself, as already stressed quite a bit. Great against every kind of deck and many times the last hero you will be keeping up in order to win the game. Your only real source of healing as well as poisonous rush minions or taunts. Its just crazy how good this card is.

Zul'jin - Hunter's latest overall high powerlevel card. No wonder that it is great in this deck as well. To sum up what you can possibly get from this bad boy: A second The Marsh Queen, a full christmas tree of secrets, 2 Animal Companion, 2 big Lesser Emerald Spellstone, one Deadly Shot, Master's Call to draw Carnassa's Brood, as well as 2 Flanking Strike and 2 Kill Command. Since the targets are chosen randomly, you can Kill Command your own minions/face as well as Flanking Strike your own minions but trust me, the board will be more in your favor after playing Zul'jin than before.

Mulligan Guide

will be added if there is some resonance because up to this point it took me quite a bit of time to write my thoughts down.

Additional tips and tricks to playing this deck

See above

Why you don't insert card xyz ?

If there is a demand, you can collect card choices in the comments and I will answer why I didn't or would'nt insert them.