Hearthpwn

Introduction

Demon Hunter has always been a class which thrives on an aggro playstyle. With the addition of Glaivetar and the Going Down Swinging + Eye of Shadow combo it seems like Blizzard wants Demon Hunter to take a trip down the memory lane and go back to a playstyle similar to the one they used to use when they were released during Ashes of Outland. The new core set appears to fit that perfectly as well, considering the reintroduction of one of the most annoying cards of its cycle - Kayn Sunfury. While I am almost sure, that aggro DH in some form will be a tier 1-2 deck, I decided to use the outcast package from March of the Lich King. As usually, the theorycraft character of the list means that it's not refined, so I don't recommend crafting it immediately and if you do so, you do it at your own risk.

Deck Description

The gameplan should be quite simple. With no data or experience with the deck I cannot really write a guide for it yet, but if you have ever played aggro DH in some form, I suppose it should not be a big problem to navigate it. 

First of all, I included most of the basic aggro stuff from the core set, like Crimson Sigil Runner, Chaos Strike, Spectral Sight, Aldrachi Warblades and Eye Beam. As you can see, most of these cards have some outcast support, which will come in handy, when you reach your payoff cards, which I will write about later on. Additionally, Kayn Sunfury comes back into standard and I believe, he will be a very strong finisher, like he used to be before he rotated to wild. Another finisher I included, which should be no surprise at all, is the one and only Illidari Inquisitor.

With the rotation of the sets from 2021, I believe the outcast package introduced with March of the Lich King, might finally get the attention it deserves. Here we've got early game tempo cards with some value generation, like Calamity's Grasp, Fierce Outsider, Wretched Exile, Felerin, the Forgotten and Vengeful Walloper. They are all pretty straightforward and revlolve around tempo and value generation. Ideally, I can imagine a world, in which you generate a lot of cheap outcast cards and just overwhelm your oponent with it. However, similarly to most aggro decks, the gameplan may be easily countered, if your oponent simply manages to clear you board consistently enough. 

And that's when Demon Hunter's identyty gets to shine and as you probably know, their identity is - hitting with your hero. That's what the cards from Festival of Legends will help with, specifically - Glaivetar and the combination of Eye of Shadow and Going Down Swinging. 

Possible Changes

• Battlefiend - a historically strong minion, which on paper fits the archetype perfectly. The reason I didn't put it in the deck is that there's no space for it in my opinion. Technically though, you could sacrifice a little bit of your outcast support and replace Fierce Outsider with it. To my mind however, it would be a bad change.
• Multi-Strike - theoretically it could work, but after the many nerfs the card has recieved, it just doesn't strike me as a good addition to the deck.
• SECURITY!! - while the card does have outcast, I don't think it fits the playstyle we're aiming for with the deck. However, there might be a good alternative to the deck, in which you could replace my outcast package with the rush/token package (maybe I'll try to build that deck later)
• Wayward Sage - the card is clearly intended to be played in an outcast deck, but it's effect is extremely underwhelming. I know it's supposed to be played with other naga cards from Voyage to the Sunken City, but historically it's never seen any play and I don't think it will anytime soon.
• Gan'arg Glaivesmith - initially I put the card in the the deck, but ultimately decided to replace it with Eye Beam, as I believe having a 0 mana outcast spell (with a historically strong effect) is more benefitial for the deck. 
• Metamorphosis - this spell used to be one of the core elements of the annoyingly powerful aggro DH during Ashes of Outland. However, I don't think it really makes the cut anymore, as there are just better alternatives, even despite the slight buff. In theory though, you could put it in without much harm to the deck, so it's a matter of taste, I guess.

There might be other possible changes, which I forgot about and of course, since it is a theorycraft list, it is not refined yet. Feel free to share your oppinion on the deck in the comments and discuss your thoughts on how to improve it.

Thanks for stopping by ;)