Hearthpwn

Hello!

A while ago, I made a Control Hunter deck. However, it was missing a number of important tools that TGT had perfectly added in - mainly my favourite card, Dreadscale

Mulligan Guide:
Generally fish for: King's Elekk, Glaivezooka, Animal Companion
Against aggro, you might want to consider keeping: Antique Healbot, Sen'jin Sheildmasta, Explosive Trap
Against Secret Paladin, Mage, other hunters: Flare

Choice of cards:
Hunter's Mark: Combos well with Unleash the Hounds, Dreadscale, Powershot

Webspinner: Gives extra cards as fillers, making up a tiny bit for the Hunter's lack of draw

Glaivezooka: Serves as a cheap weapon for clearing the enemy’s early drops, and the extra attack buff to your minions also is nice for pushing damage/trading up against higher cost cards

Explosive Trap: Solid against aggro

Flare: Nice against Freeze Mage as a surprise, against Face Hunters to stop extra damage, and of course against Secret Paladin.

Quick Shot: Can often be used as a quick clear against early drops - not just for that last bit of damage

King’s Elekk: A key component in this deck. It allows you to draw into important minions like Sludge Belcher and Antique Healbot, or perhaps a threat like Savannah Highmane or Dr.Boom.

Kill Command: Allows for removal on your opponent’s bigger creatures, and also serves as a finisher, should it be needed.

Powershot: Comes as a surprise to many people, as most do not take notice of the positioning of their minions to avoid this underused card.

Unleash the Hounds: Perfect against aggro as board clear.

Dreadscale: A key component to this deck. He serves so well as an anti-aggro tool. Drop him against Muster for Battle, Implosion etc.

Sen’jin Sheildmasta: This card can be replaced by almost anything. I am in no lack of cards to fill this position, but I prefer to use an early game taunt.

Loatheb: Can be replaced with Sylvanas or whatever suits your style of play, but I personally detest mages, and loatheb can help to slow down their burst just a lil

Other cards you may consider putting in:
Second Webspinner - Strengthens card “draw” but weakens King’s Elekk. Replace one Glaivezooka

Second Freezing - Strengthens late game, but weakens early game. Replace one Explosive Trap

Eaglehorn Bow - Gives a durable weapon, but increase damage done to yourself. Replace one Glaivezooka

Second UTH - Provides extra clear against aggro, but weakens matchup against control. Replace one Powershot.

Ragnaros, Sylvanas, King Krush - Serves as late game boosters, but generally weakens early game. Replace Sen’jin Sheildmasta.

Thanks for 1k views guys!

Deck Matchups (1k Celebration :D):

 

Face Hunter: A matchup entirely reliant on draws. They will definitely draw well due to their low cost cards. Fish specifically for Explosive Trap, Dreadscale, and consider keeping Antique Healbot and Sludge Belcher in your hand. DO NOT POP THEIR  EXPLOSIVE TRAP! One good tip is to always assume they have lethal, so try to play around it. Should you be facing tons of face hunters, you may want to consider switching out Hunter's Mark and other control tools in favour of more board clear and spells (Pyromancer, Arcane Shot, etc) Overall Matchup: 5/10

Midrange Hunter: Similar to face hunter, curving out against Midrange Hunter is very important. Should they realise you are playing a slower deck, they may ignore trading and go face to try to rush you down. Use Glaivezooka to clear their early minions and Flare to clear Freezing Traps. It is very important to wait for their game-winning drop - Savannah HIghmane with Freezing Trap in your hand. It will delay their onslaught and allow for YOUR better late game to pan out. Overall 6/10

Midrange Paladin: A potent opponent, with threats like Sheilded Minibot, Murloc Knight, and some healing. Attempt to pop divine shields ASAP, and save KC for Murloc Knight, as it can be a game-changing card. Fishing for DREADSCALE can also be devastating against a turn 3 Muster For Battle, as their weapon will not be able to kill Dreadscale, potentially allowing him to stay on board to wreck more havoc. Be decisive in your plays - does he have a good start? You may want to go face if he doesn't. Oh, and always remember about that Tirion! (Hoot hoot) Overall - 5/10

Secret Paladin: A matchup that relies on draws, once again. Getting board clear against this cancer deck is very important. It will not allow avenge to proc should you kill all their minions. You will wreck their turn 6 if you play flare to counter Mysterious Challenger. Using Hunter's Mark on cheaper minions here is perfectly fine should you have flare to answer Dr.6. However, should you not find flare and board clear, the matchup can be a complete nightmare. Overall 5/10

Mech Mage: My second most hated matchup. The mech mage's Goblin Blastmage and Archmage can seriously demolish the play style that we revolve around. Getting rid of mechwarpers with Quick Shot is important. Fishing for flare can also be game changing. However, an overall poor matchup for Control Hunter. 4/10

Tempo Mage: My most hated matchup. Tempo mages run that damned Flamewaker with beautiful 2/4 stats. Glaviezooka, Powershot, Explosive Trap will not kill it if played by themselves. Using Hunter's Mark or silence on this nuisance is an absolute MUST, while saving some other clear for Archmage. Their early spells and Mirror Images can be very tough to deal with. My best advice? SMOrc or lose. 4/10

Freeze Mage: A surprisingly good matchup. Silences and Hunter's Mark work well against their Doomsayer, Archmage and Alex. Due to the nature of the Control Hunter, you will NOT be flooding the board. Hence, Freeze Mages may be hesitant to use removal on a small amount of minions. One thing you can look out for that I have personally done - Dreadscale to proc your own boom bots for lethal (Their Ice Block will not proc, and hence will kill the Mage!) 7/10

Patron Warrior: My third least favourite matchup. Your clears will not work against their patrons - with the exception of a Dreadscale + UTH (Make all patrons 1 hp, and then end) that may apply in some situations. However, you can apply the same strategy as when facing control warrior - SMOrc. Silencing armorsmith is very important to keep the warrior from gaining armour. With whirlwind effects. With RNG on your side and not on his, you can kill him fast enough before the patron/berseker combo arrives. 5/10

Control Warrior: Much like Patron Warrior, you have to SMOrc to win this matchup. Not very much needed here to explain the warrior's insane armour gaining potential. 5/10

Zoo Warlock: One of the best matchups for Control Hunter. The zoo locks now are more aggro than ever - running things like leper gnome. Dreadscale, explosive trap, and UTH are extremely important in this matchup. Face this deck as if you were facing face hunter. 7.5/10

Handlock + DemonHandlock: Situational Matchup. The use of Hunter's Mark in combination with UTH, Dreadscale and Powershot is very important for when they drop their giants. Saving your burst for when you are aiming to kill them in two turns is important. KC, KC, QS and Hero Power does 15 in one turn. Only use those cards on big threats that may kill you faster. 5/10

Midrange Druid: A hard matchup, should the druid start with Darnassus Aspirants and Wild Growths. However, should they over commit with their Innervates into a Big creature, a Hunter's Mark combo will instantly destroy their tempo and gain you a good amount. 5/10

Control Priest: 100% Draw dependant. Killing their Clerics and saving a Hunter's Mark for Ysera are the two most important things to take into consideration. If you curve out, it is not hard to completely dominate against this slow deck. Don't overcommit due to Lightbomb, Holy Nova etc. 6/10

Dragon Priest: 100% Draw dependant. Should they have a perfect curve + dragons in their hand, it is near impossible to beat with any class. Wyrmrest agent and Twilight guardian and very annoying to your minions. Hunter's Mark early Twilight Guardians, should you plan on killing the priest fast. If you want to play into the late game, hold one Hunter's Mark in your hand to kill his late game threat(s). 5/10

Alright guys, that’s it for my control hunter guide! Please feel free to leave any comments/suggestions/questions below!