Hearthpwn

*WORK IN PROGRESS*

Intro:

Sup, I'm Randage, your average HS player. I've never achieved Legend before, but I have been Rank 5 every season and pushed up to Rank 2 so far this season. This is the deck I've been using & will (hopefully) push to Legend with.

Everybody knows that Hunter is the *best* deck to play right now, and there are many variants that perform well at the highest levels of play. To no surprise, the META has adapted to the spike in popularity and success Hunter decks bring to the Hearth.

Such changes include the rise of OTK control decks, namely, Paladin and Priest. To combat this, Hunter players, especially myself, have been tweaking deck lists to compete with the ever-growing amount of OTK players.

The main issue Hunter players have, is watching their board of beasts being removed by the likes of Mass Hysteria, Psychic Scream, Equality, and Consecration, to name a few. This has led many Hunter players to retreat from using Emerald Spellstone based decks, and lean towards more aggro-based variants. Including cards such as Scavenging Hyena, Timber Wolf, and Dire Frenzy with Master's Call as a way to re-fill their hand.

The problem in doing this, is without Master's Call and a near-perfect Mana Curve, the aggro-variants lose steam very quickly. OTK players are usually able to stabilize, deeming Aggro Hunter unable to keep up, due to consistency issues.

Now, iff Secret Hunter and Aggro Hunter are both thrown out of the mix, you may ask yourself, "what is left?"  My answer to you is quite simple. Recruit Hunter.


The Deck:

**Original Deck credits to Dracochaos83 https://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/1218278-87-winrate-from-rank-5-zero-stars-to-legend

**Deck Modification credits to Arczisan

You may call it Recruit Hunter, or Deathrattle Hunter, but it really all boils down to the same idea. Utilizing the Deathrattle card effect to create big minions to overwhelm your opponent.

Cards like Seeping Oozeling, Play Dead, Kathrena Winterwisp, and Silver Vanguard are the key elements to making this deck work.

Stitched Tracker helps with consistency, by being able to search out Seeping Oozeling, or situational cards like Mojomaster Zihi and Swamp King Dred, (but we'll get more into matchups later.)

Cards like Fire Fly, Tar Creeper, and Saronite Chain Gang help in the early game and can stall out most aggro decks.

Flanking Strike, Hunter's Mark, and Candleshot are staple Hunter cards that provide options for removing enemy minions.

Charged Devilsaur, King Krush, Oondasta and Witchwood Grizzly are the main beasts of the deck.

Swamp King Dred is the final beast of the deck, and is used to prevent Mecha'thun from touching the board. With a +1/1 buff from Prince Keleseth, Swamp King Dred will become a 10/10, and trade into Mecha'thun. However, this is not the sole purpose of Dred, ss he is a viable option VS many decks. He can force your opponent to make awkward trades, or burn removal.

Mojomaster Zihi's purpose is to help prevent Priests from using Psychic Scream on turn 7. Zihi is also helpful when avoiding burst finish from Shadowreaper Anduin with Mind Blast after Alexstrasza is played. Like Swamp King Dred, Zihi is especially useful after the Druid player has drawn their deck and plans to resolve Mecha'thun's effect.

The Lich King is probably the best 8 Mana neutral minion in the game. He is able to be summoned off of Silver Vanguard, and provides a very impactful card effect that grants you extra reach and removal options, not to mention his 8/8 body. If he is not removed quickly, you can snowball the game pretty quickly.

Deathstalker Rexxar needs no introduction. This card is the easy button to defeating Odd Warrior. Rexxar is also fantastic when removing low health boards, especially from Odd Paladin and the occasional Zoo or Even Shaman. It's also a great removal for Zilliax (as is Flanking Strike).

How it's Played:

Now that we've gone through the deck, it's time to explain how to play it. First things first, you have to understand the combo(s). Your ideal combo is playing Seeping Oozeling on turn 6, and Play Dead the following turn, or if you started with The Coin, the same turn.

The card that Ooze copied will determine how you should approach your next move.
If Ooze copied Kathrena Winterwisp, expect a beast. If Ooze copied Silver Vanguard, expect an 8 Mana minion. Always make sure of what's still in your deck and use that to your advantage.

If Witchwood Grizzly is summoned off of Kathrena Winterwisp, or Oondasta, its health will stay at 12 (or 13 with Prince Keleseth). If Charged Devilsaur is summoned in the same manner, it WILL be able to attack your opponent's face since its Battlecry effect will not apply.

When facing Control decks, try to flood the board with Saronite Chain Gangs, Fire Flys and Wolfs from Flanking Strike. Combined with chip-shot damage from your Hero Power, you may be able to force your opponent to burn some removal early on.

When facing Aggro decks, rely on your Fire Flys, Candleshots, Tar Creepers and Saronite Chain Gangs to help you survive until the mid-late game where you can comfortably play Seeping Oozeling with your combo to swing back. Don't be afraid to use Hunter's Mark on weaker minions early on VS Aggro. Most Aggro decks won't play a lot of huge minions and an extra 3-4 damage saved might be your silver lining.

The Mulligan:

Now it's time for the most important part of any HearthStone deck: understanding your matchups and mulligan.

When facing ANYTHING:
Keep: Prince Keleseth

When facing Priest:
Keep: Stitched Tracker, Play Dead (If Ooze), Seeping Oozeling, Mojomaster Zihi
With Coin: Saronite Chain Gang

When facing Paladin:
Keep: Fire Fly, Candleshot, Tar Creeper
With Coin: Saronite Chain Gang, Flanking Strike (If 2 Keeps), Deathstalker Rexxar (If 3 Keeps)

When facing Rogue:
Keep: Fire Fly, Candleshot, Tar Creeper
With Coin: Saronite Chain Gang, Flanking Strike (If 2 Keeps)

When facing Shaman:
Keep: Fire Fly, Candleshot, Tar Creeper
With Coin: Saronite Chain Gang, Flanking Strike (If 2 Keeps) Deathstalker Rexxar (If 3 Keeps)

When facing Hunter:
Keep: Fire Fly, Candleshot, Tar Creeper
With Coin: Saronite Chain Gang, Flanking Strike

When facing Warrior:
Keep: Stitched Tracker, Play Dead (If you have Ooze), Seeping Oozeling, Deathstalker Rexxar
With Coin: Saronite Chain Gang

When facing Mage:
Keep: Stitched Tracker, Candleshot, Fire Fly, Play Dead (If Ooze and Coin)
With Coin: Saronite Chain Gang, Seeping Oozeling, Flanking Strike

When facing Druid:
Keep: Stitched Tracker, Play Dead (if Ooze), Seeping Oozeling, Saronite Chain Gang
With Coin: Doesn't make a difference

When facing Warlock:
Keep: Candleshot, Stitched Tracker, Play Dead (If Ooze), Seeping Oozeling, Hunter's Mark (If you have Candleshot)
With Coin: Saronite Chain Gang, Flanking Strike

Matchups:

Knowing how to Mulligan is one thing, but understanding your matchups is another. This is how you should approach each hero.

Paladin:
You are favored. Probably.
If it's OTK Pally, you should win. If it's Odd, it'll depend how each of you curved out.
If it's Odd and he has Unidentified Maul and rolls Divine shield, you're more than likely going to lose. If he doesn't, you might survive. Contest his board as much as possible. Stall with Candleshot, Fire Fly, Tar Creeper, then swing with your combo.
The key to beating OTK is simple. Play around his Equality and Consecration, combo on him, and be aware of Holy Wrath hitting your face for 25 by drawing Shirvallah, the Tiger combo'd with Baleful Banker. He will also use Time Out! to stall.

Priest:
You are favored.
Both the OTK Priest & Dragon Priest are approached in the same manner. Your goal remains the same no matter what. Get your combo online ASAP, and stick it to the pretty boy's face. Create early board with Saronite Chain Gangs, and use your Hero Power often. This will force him to use his, and possibly burn a Mass Hysteria. Drag the game on until you can tempo your plays with Mojomaster Zihi and prevent him from resolving Psychic Scream. If he has The Coin he can still use Scream, so be careful when you play Zihi. If he runs Stoneskin Gargoyle, don't forget he gets coins off those too. If it's Dragon Priest, watch out for Shadowreaper Anduin. If it's Dragon Priest, try your best not to play Zihi too early, and wait until he plays Alexstrasza after Shadowreaper. That will give away that he has double Mind Blast in hand and plans to kill you next turn, and Zihi will mess up his mana for the finish.

Hunter:
You are unfavored.
Sadly, this is not a mirror you want - it's one of your toughest matchups.
Since Hunter is generally such a fast and pressure-oriented deck, we lose big time in the early game, because our lack of health restoration puts us too far behind. It is however possible to win this matchup, but it requires a lot of sequences.
If you open all of your anti aggro early game, and draw into your combo, you have the chance of stabilizing and swinging back. If it's pure aggro Hunter with Master's Call, you're SOL kid. If it's a Emerald Spellstone variant, your odds of stabilizing and winning go up. The only issue is actually surviving the bombardment of Wolf's. We have a really hard time of removing all of them efficiently, and in the best case scenario, leave 2 of his Wolves on board. That's still 6 damage uncalled for. Your best options are to hang tight onto your Witchwood Grizzly's and hope he doesn't have Hunter's Mark and laugh at you. Getting The Lich King on board is also huge for you. It runs into the same problem as Grizzly, but can have the possibility of gifting you Army of the Dead or Death and Decay.

If it's a pure mirror match, and he is playing a Deathrattle variant, it will all come down to who gets their combo off first.

Rogue:
You are unfavored.
Again, this is the same scenario as Hunter. Rogue starts super strong early on and we don't. 
Muscle memory all of the work around sequences from Hunter, and save me the write-up.
Rogue does however struggle dealing with Taunt minions, and we run a bunch. Rogue has less removal options than Hunter does, so keep that in mind. But the thing to really look out for are Vilespine Slayer's, because they can completely ruin your Witchwood Grizzly's or The Lich King. You also have to be careful of their burst finish. They run Leeroy Jenkins and Cold Blood, and also Myra's Unstable Element to search for the finish when you're near death.

Shaman:
You are unfavored.
Sigh, third time now that I have to say we start too slow to deal with constant face damage, but you get the idea. Same. Thing.
If they have a Sea Giant early, you're in big trouble. Literally. Your only way of removing him is Hunter's Mark and even then we can't mulligan for it because if we do, we probably won't survive the early onslaught from all of the buffed totems. Deathstalker Rexxar is a potential huge swing play in this matchup, so use him wisely. You can roll some really nice Build-a-Beast's off him too that deal with Shaman boards very well, like Exploding Bloatbat or Cave Hydra with charge or rush. 
If you play Witchwood Grizzly, watch out for Hex. If you can remove Even Shaman's board, you will win the game. Hagatha the Witch is worth pointing out not because of how good the card is, but that it actually doesn't hurt our deck too badly. Don't be afraid of it.

Druid:
You are favored.
They key to beating Druid is all about denying him as much card draw as you can from his Acolyte of Pain's and Gadgetzan Auctioneer's. Kill them immediately. If you can resolve Prince Keleseth while Swamp King Dredis still in your deck, you can win this matchup without a problem. As I explained before, Dred will trade into Mecha'thun. Just be careful not to waste Dred, because he can remove it with Lesser Jasper Spellstone. If you are unable to setup Dred, that's okay. You still have huge minions to overwhelm him with that he can't remove constantly. Just be careful not to play too many Fire Fly's or Tar Creeper's since they only do 1 damage and fill your board. A smart Druid will not remove them. If he has used his 2nd Gadgetzan Auctioneer and has nearly thinned his whole deck, preserve it. Play Tar Creeper so he can't remove it himself, he will start to take Fatigue damage and you can use that to help you finish him. Just be sure he has used both Moonfire's and Lesser Jasper Spellstone's before setting this up. If Wild Pyromancer is on board and he has not played both Acolyte of Pain's, kill it.