Hearthpwn

Introduction

60% win-rate from rank 11 to rank 5. I know this list is very similar to the standard HH deck, but I added a few techs that everyone should be running based off what is seen in the meta right now. I was happy to report that I saw a relative spread of class representation. Roughly 20% for frontrunners, 10% for Tier 2s, and about 5% for Warlocks and Rogues. Although the meta is extremely frustrating to me, at least everyone is being represented.

New Cards

Hungry Crab fixes your win-rate against Paladin and Shaman when they go murloc (I played against a Warlock and Mage Murloc too). Scavenging Hyena and the inclusion of Springpaw allows you to sweep on the rare occasion that there is no answer against full aggro as well. One copy of Spellbreaker should just be meta at this point. There are too many mechanics to ignore, and a 4/3 isn't the worst on curve play for a "Tempo" style. If you are going to play Dinotamer Brann then why not add the classic Leeroy Jenkins in too. I won plenty of rounds by playing these cards in succession. Houndmaster Shaw is just a good 4 mana play if nothing else, but it combos well with SN1P-SN4P.

Strategy

Your standard line is virtually unchanged from the top meta version. You generally want Secretkeeper on Turn 1, and then to follow it up with secrets and run over your opponent and top out with your charge. Against Mage I aggressively mulligan for this strategy, or at the very least the usual Hunter 1,2,3 play (beast, beast, companion) since I run those lines. In other control match-ups it is a value war where you look to bonk them with Brann when you get the chance.

With Shaman, Paladin, Warlock, and Rogue here is where things differ. I almost always go for Hungry Crab and wait for the first big Murloc to drop it on when I have mana to swing the board. From there a face race usually takes it. The classic Hunter cards come in handy here as well. I had plenty of Scavenging Hyena games where I coined it out against a Shaman or Paladin and then ran Springpaw copies in to start whacking face for 4 early. You almost always get to keep Hyena alive if you get it buffed early in the game. Paladin can't answer until turn 3-4, and Shaman can't reliably answer until 4. In this time you have already played companion, and maybe your weapon to put a Leeroy or Brann draw into lethal.

Conclusion

Once again it was a hard climb, but I made it back to my happy rank 5. (Hit legend before and no longer care to work that hard.) Some others have made an "Aggro Highlander Hunter" and other variations. I'm going to be bold here and say they are not better than the regular meta deck version, and nearly always lose in the mirror match (I only lost a few games and in my notes for matches they all out-tempo'd Secretkeeper and dropped Brann before me). Technically speaking, after roughly 60 games mine is still only on par with the meta version- not necessarily better overall. If you are hard-stuck in rank and keep getting mowed over by aggro, try this version.