Hearthpwn

---

Contents: 1. Introduction | 2. Deck Packages  | 3. Mulligan Guide | 4. Match Ups | 5. Tips | 6. Replacements 

---

1. Introduction
I built the core of this list some months ago and clocked around 150+ games or so. I decided one day to revisit Recruit Hunter with one of my favourite cards Kathrena Winterwisp as the highlight for the deck. The deck was fun but I wanted to explore around the card further. Since there hasn't been many highlander hunter lists around the meta, this gave an opportunity to explore around the archetype utilising big beasts. Remembering decks such as KnC Recruit Hunter, Boomsday Deathrattle Hunter and Wild Egg Hunter I landed on a list utilising the deathrattle mechanic to merge these lists together to reasonable success and lots of fun! I decided recently to update the list as Ashes of Outlands gave this deck a number of strong cards which gave me reason to tinker around the list again and here are my findings :)

I'm not entirely sure on win rates of the deck as I play without a deck tracker, however I've easily managed to reach D5 (and rank 5) with the list in multiple seasons (Currently rank 3). I want to make a push to legend but due to the aggro meta in wild right now the deck revolves too much around drawing the eggs. Pre-Quest Mage nerf I climbed to rank 1 but only just missed out on legend. Probably not  a meta breaker due to inconsistency of drawing early game pressure but its extremely fun to play.

The most rewarding aspect of the deck is the game plan of the deck varies largely depending on what you draw, as of all of the cards synergise well this opens up a number of win conditions. Its important to tempo out cards to fill the curve of the deck even if we miss out on value. I’ll give examples in specific match ups below. 

Simply put we're a play on curve midrange list with preference towards an aggro game plan aiming to kill the opponent around turn 10 or so.  We steam roll Control decks but the win rate balances due to aggro match ups. With good mulligan rng it can feel strong against aggro too.

---

Deck Packages/Card Choices

Eggs
Eggs generate early game threats which spirals into victory. Some of the deathrattle activators in this package elsewhere for any other deathrattle minion. For the minions to activate it depends on your hand and the match up.

- Serpent Egg, Nerubian Egg, Devilsaur Egg - How we cheat mana in the early game to snowball into victory. Plays around AoE in the mid/late game.
- Play Dead - cheap deathrattle trigger
- Feign Death - extremely useful trigger when cubes are involved
- Glaivezooka - great anti-aggro early game tool and pseudo deathrattle activator when it buffs an egg
- Terrorscale Stalker - Extremely strong card following an egg on turn 2
- Mok'Nathal Lion - Fantastic deathrattle activator and suits the curve well. Slight antisynergy with Kathrena Winterwisp but 5 damage rusher isn't terrible
- Teron Gorefiend - acts as both a deathrattle activator and a minion which can be activated. Great new addition from AOU.

Big Beasts
Here is the meat of the deck. Its extremely satisfying recruiting King Krush for lethal or for constantly generating large threats to contest face or board. As well as the raw power of mana cheating, it feels really consistent as the big beasts feel great to play at normal mana cost anyway with each providing their own utility. Feel free to play any beast you feel, 4 is optimum amount for Kathrena Winterwisp consistency but favour a lower mana cost to prevent dead hands.

- Kathrena Winterwisp - Cheat out big bois extremely easily. Great at generating hard to deal with threats. Core to the decks success
- King Krush - The sMorc god himself fits perfectly in this deck. If he's not cheated out its just a fantastic finisher
- Wild Bloodstinger - Perhaps one of the top 5 cards in the deck, it just fits so well. As well as being a huge body which can be duplicated, its battlecry has won a large portion of games by pulling out key cards or win conditions if we don't snowball early game.
- Witchwood Grizzly - Fantastic defensive body, game winning if cubed
- Savannah Highmane - Hunter's OG second basic legendary, lots of hard to deal with stats

Mech
The inclusion of these cards act as binder in the deck. Each minion adds a lot of consistency in its own right to the overall game plan of the deck.

- Zilliax - Unity. Precision. Perfection. Well for us: Removal. Lifesteal. Taunt. Rip aggro.
- Ursatron - Solid 3 drop with potential to be magnetised with Zilliax. Card draw for hunter is a plus
- SN1P-SN4P - Extremely flexible hard to deal with stats. Can be a strong play on turn 3, 6, 9. Provides a platform for magnetic
- Spider Bomb - Solid big threat removal, can be played on curve for tempo

Highlander
Extremely powerful cards which balance the inconsistency from the singleton builds.

- Zephrys the Great - Very important card in the deck, only form of large AoE we have if needed in a match up
- Reno Jackson - all the heals
- Dinotamer Brann - all the damage

Deathrattle
These minions are cards which work the rest of the deck for more consistent plays.

- Carnivorous Cube - Amazing on a number minions depending on match up. Don't be too greedy with him, activating an egg, any big beasts or minion suited to a match up go for it
- Sylvanas Windrunner - Kind of a tech card versus slower decks, can be useful in other match ups too. Casting a 3 mana mind control with Nine Lives feels amazing. Great tempo with any cheap deathrattle activator
- Nine Lives - Extremely useful card for the deck mid/late game. If an egg is traded before activation: Nine Lives. Need a minion to fill the curve 3 turns from now: Nine Lives. Need to duplicate a sn1ip-sn4p to counter aggro: Nine Lives. Need to generate removal with Spider Bomb: Nine Lives.

Strong Hunter Cards
Generally strong Hunter cards which fit the curve and enable other parts of the deck.

- Deathstalker Rexxar - Used mainly versus aggro match ups for its battlecry and generating lifesteal. Be wary playing him if the opponents is low as the game can be won by tapping hero power every turn rather than through the board with build-a-beast.
- Tracking - extremely useful card for consistent egg openers. Great mid/late game to fill the curve or find an answer
- Animal Companion - solid curve card with the potential for Huffer sMorc, egg buffing with Leokk or a big defensive body with Misha
- Stitched Tracker - High utility card to find answers, fill the curve or for pure value by copying highlander cards
- Dwarven Sharpshooter - In this aggro meta its a great card for early board control
- Deadly Shot - tech removal card

---

General Mulligan Guide
Hard mulligan for eggs/triggers unless a specific card relevant to the match up is present in the mulligan. We're following an aggro start but tend to take trades around turn 3-5 to enhance the threat of the Big Beast package later on in the game.

Always Keep:
- Nerubian Egg, Serpent Egg and Devilsaur Egg - core cards
- Animal Companion - Early game tempo card
- Zephrys the Great - Keep in all starting hands but use it differently depending on the match up

Sometimes Keep:
If there is an egg in hand, mulligan all cards for a deathrattle activator.
- Play Dead - Coin 2 cost egg into Play Dead is a very strong opener.
- Terrorscale Stalker - Egg turn 2 (coin + Devilsaur Egg is the strongest start we have possible. This is potentially a game winning opener.
- Tracking - If egg is in hand instantly play for an activator to play on turn 3 after the egg has been played the turn 2
- Kathrena Winterwisp - Always keep versus Priest
- Dinotamer Brann - Always keep versus Priest
- Reno Jackson - Always keep versus DH, Paladin, Hunter and Warrior
- SN1P-SN4P - Very good good early game minion versus board flooding decks, potentially game winning in match ups like aggro druid and odd paladin
- Dwarven Sharpshooter - A recent addition so I'm still testing but it gives us a very proactive start and with the number of 3 drops we can often develop after. With an egg in hand, never keep.
- Witchwood Grizzly - Always keep versus DH, Paladin, Hunter and Warrior

Matchup Guides/Mulligans

Demon Hunter
Odd DH is a very difficult match up, it essentially revolves around drawing Reno Jackson. I have won 2 matches with early egg shenanigans but double Consume Magic is tough. Also Mana Burn can be really disruptive as we're often using all of our mana on 1 or max 2 cards in a turn. In winning scenarios playing for the board was key, then recovering with heals once they're in burn mode. Deathstalker Rexxar could have potential in slowing them down but I'm yet to draw it in the match up. It's very difficult.

Versus normal DH we have a good chance with the aggro egg mulligan/curve.

Druid
Jade druid, Spell Druid and Malygos druid are all prey for this deck. Even without an egg opener we just overpower them with the number of big hard to deal with threats. Eggs are a clutch draw even mid game to play around AoE like Poison Seeds. If it's any form of combo list, Wild Bloodstinger battlecry can be game winning.

Aggro druid/token can be a difficult match up. SN1P-SN4P has won me the game with deathrattle activators producing microbots to contest board for tempo. Paired with Nine Lives we can constantly play defensive on board to eventually over power with a huge tempo swing from Zephrys the Great, Kathrena Winterwisp, Witchwood Grizzly or egg activation.

Hunter
The game I did play against a Reno Hunter we out valued them by playing around secrets to generate tempo for them. Slotted in minions here and there to keep on board to eventually pressure them with power swing turns.

For Face Hunter drawing heal is the way. Try stick mechs for big lifesteal pay off with Zilliax

Mage
I managed to maintain around a 50% win rate against secret mages by playing around their secrets. If you sense an Explosive Runes use eggs/deathrattles as triggers. One game I managed to steal Cloud Prince with Sylvanas Windrunner to play around his Duplicate. Deathstalker Rexxar is also great for fringe armour gain and generating lifesteal.

We steam roll any other form of control mage, be it Quest, Reno Quest, Reno Control as we keep up pressure and play around removal with eggs. Quest Mage often resort to using flamewalker as removal mid game, try to develop boards which can immediately trade it away. 

Paladin
Mech Paladin is quite a polarised match up. We really want to emphasise board control throughout the game. even if it involves trading a big beast into a microbot, preventing magnetic wins us the game. Often we run him out of resources and we play around divine favour naturally reasonably well anyway. Don't be afraid to use Zephrys the Great to kill off a mech its the only one on board on turn 3 or so.

Versus Odd pally its reasonably similar, without any reach if we win board we win the game. There was an amazing game were SN1P-SN4P and Nine Lives constantly generated minions for me to trade until eventually Witchwood Grizzly shut the door. Whirlwind from Zephrys the Great on turn 2 followed by a mech 3 drop for magnetise can be a game winning route without an egg opener.

Priest
Big Priest is also a very easy match up. With a fast start its relatively straight forward. The turn they decide to remove your board put your foot down and strongly develop so they constantly have to remove until they run out. Often we bait out removal so turn 8 Kathrena Winterwisp can be played uncontested. If they play Archmage Vargoth ignore him and develop/sMorc until turn 5 with coin or turn 6 due to Shadow Essence. If it gets later in the game use hard removal with Spider Bomb or Deadly Shot.

Reno Priest is even easier due to their lack of second Convincing Infiltrator and Obsidian Statue. Similar game plan to Big Priest.

Rogue
Played against a couple of Odd Rogue and it's similar to the Aggro Druid and Paladin match ups, can be difficult to win at times.

We do deathrattle better than Deathrattle Rogue. 

Shaman
In this meta I haven't played many shamans, maybe around 4 games of battlecry highlander shammy. All times I won with a standard eggro curve. Wild Bloodstinger was very strong delaying Quest. It was useful at the end of the game too, it pulled a Reno Jackson but can also hit a Shudderwock and kill it.

Versus Big Shaman play on curve as bait out removal, save Deadly Shot and Spider Bomb strictly for scrapyard collossus.

Warlock
Cube warlock was a little bit of a problem primarily because of Voidlord and Bloodreaver Gul'dan and we have very limited AoE. The games I did win were standard egg shenanigans before they had a chance to play these cards, highlander cards were extremely useful. Be mindful of Defile and Lord Godfrey with SN1P-SN4P or eggs on the board. We can play around their removal reasonably well with eggs. Trying to stick big beasts for Carnivorous Cube later in the game is the way to win.

Disco Zoo has been relatively even, if we draw eggs early game we snowball. Otherwise we utilise highlander control tools and defensive cards like Witchwood Grizzly and Zilliax. One game I managed to stick a Witchwood Grizzly then absorbed it with Teron Gorefiend to trigger the release of 4 4/13 taunts.

Reno Control lock is a favoured match up for us too, play around removal. Versus Mecha'thun with a slow start, drop Wild Bloodstinger for an ez win.

Warrior
Unfortunately Pirate Warrior is a bad match up again, try contest board and slow them down as much as possible until we swing back with a huge tempo turn by copying Witchwood Grizzly or Zilliax.

We beat Odd Warrior relatively well, haven't played many but like other control match ups I expect we just steam roll them. There's always Deathstalker Rexxar.

---

Extra Tips

- A great win condition versus aggro is setting up the board such that a mech can survive for Zilliax to magnetise onto.
- This deck really rewards smart play if we don't draw the early eggro curve. As you play more you find it easier to evolve the play style to push tempo on certain turns by setting up the board before. As we don't play many reactive cards this is important. If we miss out on value it's worth it to kill threats/set up.
- Be wary in use of Play Dead in case of over extending with Kathrena Winterwisp etc. It may be stronger to wait for her to be removed then following up with a Carnivorous Cube or Teron Gorefiend trigger.
- In the early game versus aggro trade with the minions from the egg triggers to stabilise the board for stronger minions in the mid game. Going pure aggro may or may not work depending on your hand.
- Stitched Tracker is very useful card as it can be used to fill the curve, or search for power cards which are useful in the matchup, or search for a minion which enables your hand. Consider all the possibilities it presents and merge it with your game plan. Best of all its a copy!
- Teron Gorefiend and Mok'Nathal Lion are great additions from AoU. I had board state were my opponent couldn't deal with Kathrena Winterwisp which pulled out a King Krush and they were left on board. I played Teron Gorefiend into Mok'Nathal Lion into Feign Death to OTK.
- Sylvanas Windrunner enables some very satisfying and funny game moments but replace her with a tech card versus aggro
- Duplicating King Krush always makes for some interesting OTK turns or recruiting with Kathrena Winterwisp may be one of the most satisfying lethals in HS history.

---

Cards I've tried/Replacements

- Marked Shot - Too slow for aggro removal as by turn 4 we often lose. However its decent at filling out the curve.
- Cairne Bloodhoof - Was in the first build of the deck, insane tempo with a deathrattle activator but its too inconsistent
- Dragonqueen Alexstrasza - Could replace a high value card such as Deathstalker Rexxar. Not in the optimum build as its too clunky and is generally just a lot of stats
- Houndmaster Shaw - Certainly playable card, cubing him can game winning with triggers. Great replacement for missing cards. I may swap him out for Sylvanas Windrunner
- Flanking Strike - Was in the build for a while, an all round strong tempo card that can fill up a slot in the deck.
- Unleash the Hounds - Tech for Pirate Warrior, Odd Pally and Aggro druid
- Gluttonous Ooze/Acidic Swamp Ooze  - Tech for DH and Cubelock. 

---

Conclusion
I hope you have fun with the deck :) This isn't built for super high win rates and easy legend, its built as a homage to Hunter's long term affinity with the deathrattle mechanic with a sprinkle of the new expansions. Although it does reward increasing winrate as you get the ins and out of the deck with more play time. I'm yet to make it to legend at all but I'd like to pilot this deck up there. If you have any questions or suggestions I'll answer in the comments. Don't forget to like/upvote if you enjoy the deck!

Credit to Bl4ckGh0st's Big Shammy for a loose template for this write up :)