Hearthpwn

Introduction

Hi all! My name is Custt and I just reached Legendary in Wild with this Face Hunter deck. If you like quick matches, a good win rate, want to jump into Wild or if you just enjoy hunting Face, this might be the deck for you.

Goal of the deck

Over the years there have been several versions of the Face Hunter archetype around. Some of you might remember my 2019 guide Custt’s Reinforced Face Hunter which impacted and changed the meta. Face hunting decks generally had as a goal to do consistent damage to the face against a 1 damage per mana benchmark, thus aiming to win on turn 7.

My premise when creating this deck was that this would not be enough for Wild however. In the Wild format players have acces to a large pool of cards, creating all kinds of powerful decks. My goal was to create a Face Hunter deck that consistently wins by turn 6 and I therefore nickname this deck Turn 6 Hunter.

This means that we have 21 mana to do 30 damage. The benchmark therefore becomes to consistently do almost 1.5 damage per mana to the face. This goal is quite a gamechanger compared to turn 7 Hunter and impacts our card  selection.

How to play the deck

To reach lethal by turn 6 it is crucial to plan ahead and spend all of your mana every turn. It is also important to use your hero power every turn. Otherwise you will run out of cards very quickly. Your mana curve will then look something like this:

Turn 1: 1-drop or 2 1-drops with the coin

Turn 2: Hero Power

Turn 3: 1-drop + hero power (unless you have 2 weapons)

Turn 4: 2 1-drops + hero power

Turn 5: 3-drop + hero power

Turn 6: 3-drop + 1-drop + hero power

When you have several choices it is often best to play the slower cards first. That means you save the chargers and especially the spells for turn 5 and 6.

While playing, keep track of how you're doing compared to the 1.5 damage/mana benchmark. For example, after turn 4 your opponent should be at or below 15 health. 

The cards

When choosing my cards, I calculated for every card a minimum damage amount, a maximum damage amount and selected the cards with the best average. For 1-drops the min scenario was that they are killed off in the first turn and the max scenario is that they would stay around for 1 more turn. I assumed 3-drops not to stay around.

Baku the Mooneater is the motor behind this deck. He improves your hero power to 3 face damage for 2 mana so your hero power now meets the new benchmark. By using your hero power from turn 2 to 6, you already do 5x3 = 15 damage to the face and you’re already halfway lethal. The high price this serpent demands is to only use odd cards in your deck - no Hunter secrets this time around.

Toxic Reinforcements is your other most powerful card. This card effectively does (at least) 6 damage for 1 mana. Play it on turn 1 or 3.

Tour Guide gives you a free hero power. Powered by Baku the Tour Guide does 3 damage for 1 mana. I prefer to play this on turn 1 for an extra shot and to avoid screwing up my mana curve.

Leper Gnome is another great 1-drop, with a min of 2, max of 4 and average of 3 damage for 1 mana.

Worgen Infiltrator is a solid card that generally hits the face for 2 damage due to his stealth protection.

Intrepid Initiate becomes a 3/2 for 1 mana when combined with one of your spells or the coin. This card is a bit more risky, with a high upside/downside.

Southsea Deckhand becomes a 2/1 charger when you have a weapon equipped. Plan ahead when to use him. Good for turn 4 or 6.

Arcane Shot beats the benchmark by doing 2 damage for 1 mana.

Emerald Reaver, Stonetusk Boar and Wound Prey fulfill the same roll. They consistently do face damage, leave a body on the board and can power-up Kill Command. We need 1-drops for turn 1, 3, 4 and also one that inflicts instant damage for turn 6. They can perform all of these roles.

Our weapons Eaglehorn Bow and Stormhammer will not be able to use their extra power as we have no secrets or dragons in the deck. However, they still do 6 damage for 3 mana which is great! I love weapons in general due to their high damage and tempo. Your weapons are best played on turn 5 (or on turn 3 and 5 if you have 2 of them).

Arcane Golem, Kill Command and the great new Aimed Shot do quite some damage and are our finishers for turn 5 and 6.

Mulligan guide

• Keep at least 1 1-drop
• Look for Toxic Reinforcements, Tour Guide and Leper Gnome
• Keep 1 weapon

Advice vs other decks

A nice thing about playing Wild is that you encounter a high variety of decks. Here are some specific tips though on decks I encountered more often and require some difference to your usual playstyle.

Murloc decks: can outrun you if you’re unlucky. Don’t let the amount of Murlocs get too big and kill their troublemakers that boost the whole group.

Pirate decks: can outrun you if you’re unlucky. Kill their 3/1s and 2/1 with your Wound Prey and do some favorable trading.

Self-damaging Warlock: while his self-hurting helps you to a quick finish, your Leper Gnomes help him reach his Quests. Don’t use Toxic Reinforcements and you will win most of the time (unless he throws down too many of those 8/8s).

Other face hunters we can generally outpace that side quest Hunter. Toxic Reinforcements is your friend.

Quest Mage: will try to get you with a 1-turn kill combo. You can often outrace him unless he uses the immunity secret twice. Kill the minions he needs for the combo.

Offer all their decks to the great serpent!

Other cards considered

Unleash the Hounds,Flare and Ironbeak Owl can improve your winrates against certain decks. But I chose to sacrifice everything to consistently finish the game by turn 6. 

Adorable Infestation, Abusive Sergeant and Acherus Veteran are good, but feel a bit less consistent as they need a target.

Leeroy Jenkins does not meet the new benchmark. Your finishers + hero power do more face damage.

I hope you liked my guide. Enjoy hunting faces and your trip up the ladder! 

- Custt