Hearthpwn

Hey again! Thought I would share a deck I’m having a lot of fun with right now. It isn’t the most optimal version of this concept, but it works with the cards I have at the moment and still kinda works well and is enjoyable! 

This is a midrange handbuff Hunter deck designed to swarm your opponent in the mid game with a stampede of buffed minions to kill them before late game threats can come down. Initially, I had visions of huge Trampling Rhino that would end the game, but in playing it more often than not you win with a swarm of at least 4/4 Wolpertinger with charge, thanks to Tundra Rhino and Dire Frenzy. Below are the considerations I had when making the deck:

Shan’do Wildclaw: Truth be told, this deck came into existence because I pulled a gold Shan’do and wanted to find some application for her. Her flexibility shines in this deck (in my opinion) because she can provide a solid buff if present in your opening hand or early game, or she can be a cheap copy of a buffed Rhino that can go face/trample to end the game later on. Yes, I know she is not a beast and therefore could theoretically mess up your Master’s Call which sucks, but in all honesty that has happened at most twice since every other minion is a beast. And even in those one or two instances, I chose her and used her in the next turn or two to go for lethal by copying a Rhino. Other people may not enjoy her as much, but I have been very happy with her performance so far. (Please note, I’m NOT a good player and I’m not keeping stats. Just trying to have some fun!)

Trampling Rhino: This was originally the designated target for all of my handbuffs, as I envisioned 12/12 or larger Rhinos attacking twice using rush and the Trueaim Crescent to clear a board while dealing massive amounts of trample damage as well. I have found this to be true roughly half of the time, which is still quite fun when it happens. I always throw them back into the deck at the mulligan, because ideally I’m either pulling them with Scavenger’s Ingenuity or buffing them with a Shan’do deck buff before applying handbuffs. Your mileage may vary!

Dire Frenzy: Dear god, this card is much more integral than I thought it would be. Either stuffing the deck with 8/8 Trampling Rhino or 4/4 Wolpertinger to us in conjunction with Tundra Rhino, you create a wave of threats with this card alone, and getting to play this before a Master’s Call to draw the buffed shuffle-ins is just awesome. I knew this card would be good but geez. 

Wolpertinger: I know I’m late to the party but holy hell. This plus Tundra Rhino late in the game after a Dire Frenzy is utterly ridiculous. I originally just thre them in here to be early drops and maybe a good early buff target for Crackling Razormaw but they have consistently turned into a game-ending stampede of their own. The last game I played before writing this featured a 7/10 Tundra Rhino coming out alongside a pair of 4/4 Wolpertinger which meant 23 damage that charged to face and ended things. I’m telling you, these guys are scary if they can land some buffs. Even in an early game setting, opponents seem to frequently leave them on the board on turn 1, allowing me to adapt them on turn two with a Crackling Razormaw usually for +3 attack so I can trade up or just get early damage in to face. Follow that up with a Dire Frenzy and all of a sudden you have an 8/5 with three 4/4 copies shuffled into the deck. It doesn’t happen all the time but again, quite fun. 

Smuggler’s Crate: This is my handbuff for now, I’m waiting to pull or craft Don’t Feed the Animals, so until then I’m running the crates. They’ve been solid so far! Even using them on turn 1 to buff a Wolpertinger still results in a turn 2 pair of 3/3’s on the board, and then usually one will survive to be adapted by a Razormaw. I’ll see how Don’t Feed works once I have them! 

Crackling Razormaw: Man, this card has been a surprise for me. This little guy usually ends up either receiving a bunch of buffs early or creating a monster out of a Wolpertinger or Helboar for a good trade or some sweet, unexpected face damage. Even if he gets the handbuffs you would rather throw on a Rhino, playing the Razormaw with a Tundra Rhino means usually a very good burst of damage as well. Today, both sat buffed in my hand until late game when I played them both. The Razormaw went face for 16 (had been buffed to 8/7) and adapted the Tundra Rhino (who was a 7/12) to have windfury, meaning a cool OTK amount of damage out of hand. That will probably never happen again, but it is a nice unintended combo. Overall though, I try to use the Razormaws to adapt early game minions to help me get to the later game buffed minions to close it out. 

I’m still gonna work on the deck, and add better cards as I pull them, but the most important thing so far has been that win OR LOSE, I’m having a lot of fun seeing what this deck can do. I take that as a sign I should keep going with the concept. Again, there’s better lists out there that I’m sure perform at higher ranks, but try this one out!