Hearthpwn

Wow, this deck just hit 200k views! I want to thank the community for the overwhelming support. I didn't expect my first deck on Hearthpwn to have such positive reception. I will continue to produce quality content in the future so definitely look forward to that!

I've also started streaming. Video guides were something many people requested. I plan to stream the decks I've made on Hearthpwn and new creations so that people who are struggling with my deck can get help. If you are interested in watching me play please give me a follow at http://www.twitch.tv/talionhs

Once again, huge thank you to all those who supported me. This deck would not have been made popular without you :)

Here is the VOD to my latest stream: http://www.twitch.tv/talionhs/v/24599148?t=1h37m15s

NEW DECK ALERT!! Check out my new rogue deck. It's a lot of fun so give it a try. Thank you ^^

[Now with VIDEO] Talion's Midrange Hunter Deck

Thank you to Khristophesaurus Dinosaurus for his video on the deck!

"The Solution"

Hi my name is Talion and I’m a Canadian hearthstone player. My biggest hearthstone achievements to date are 2 top 100 ladder finishes in May and August respectively and a most recently a top 50 ladder finish in September. Today, I would like to share a midrange hunter deck (dubbed “The Solution”) that I used at the end of the September season to great results. The deck is still working very well in the October season. I hit legend in about 120 games from rank 13 in the first few days of the season.

There are many variants of hunter which are all very similar so I feel it’s getting increasingly hard to accurately name and differentiate them. I believe the hunter deck that I’m presenting plays like a true midrange deck; having the ability to play the aggressor against more controlling decks and the control role against aggressive decks. The biggest strength of this deck is the synergy between the cards. All the cards work well with one another in addition to being individually powerful cards themselves.

Because the core of midrange hunter is around 20 – 25 cards, most of these decklists only differ by a few cards. I would like to discuss some of my more unique card choices instead of explaining why Mad Scientist is a busted card.

Cards I chose to include:

2 Hunter's Mark: This card, in my opinion, is severely underrated and underplayed. Most midrange decks play between 0-1 copies of this card and rarely 2 copies. This card is best used when you want to use a small minion, which this deck has plenty, to kill one of their big minion while saving your mana crystals to develop your own big threat and generate a massive tempo swing. In the current metagame, Mysterious Challenger and Fel Reaver are excellent targets for this card in addition to the usual suspects such as Sludge Belcher and Giants. This deck is probably the best shell for Hunter’s Mark because of all the positive interactions between Snake Trap, Unleash the Hounds, Knife Juggler and Haunted Creeper, which is why there are two copies.

2 Snake Trap: Snake Trap isn’t uncommon in midrange hunter. Most lists only feature 1 copy of this trap and 2 copies of Freezing Trap. Aside from the positive interactions with Hunter’s Mark, Knife Juggler and Houndmaster the biggest reason for playing snake trap is that it’s aggressive in nature. Hunter can often run into the problem of running out of a steady stream of threat in the face of multiple removal spells and/or weapons. Snake Trap fixes that problem and allows you to continue your SMOrcing. Being a trap, it also has the added benefit of misleading your opponents to play around other traps when you have it in play. There is the danger that your opponent just never triggers snake trap by racing you but it can still function as a protection for our must kill threats such as Knife Juggler. We also have more taunts than the average hunter deck to force a proc.

1 King's Elekk: This is just a Bloodfen Raptor with a potential upside which can be huge. This card’s main purpose is to have an extra 2 drop in addition the staple hunter 2 drops to compensate for the lack of 1 drop creatures in the deck. In topdeck mode, this card offers a possible means for you to draw an impactful creature. It doesn’t hurt that it’s also a beast for Kill Command and Houndmaster. However, we are only playing 1 copy of this card due to its inconsistency.

2 Sludge Belcher: This card really fits with the plan of the deck as it’s one of the best anti-aggro options while being good at protecting your board against a control deck. This deck can be prone to an aggro rush and Sludge Belcher will be your best tool at turning the game around. As such, it’s one of the best cards at changing the pace of the game. Also, it has synergy with the aforementioned Snake Trap.

Cards I chose to omit:

Webspinner: While this is a fine card, I don’t think it’s a staple in midrange hunter. It helps fix holes in your mana curve but is only decent on turn 1. Even if you draw it in the late game, you will most likely have to wait a turn before you proc it and play the potentially useful beast you got for your trouble. It is very low impact and slow. Not having it makes King’s Elekk’s joust hit more consistently in our deck.

Ironbeak Owl: This card is rarely bad but is very reactive in nature. Having multiple reactive cards in your hand and not having a good start is one of the easiest ways for hunter to lose. There is also enough overlap between Ironbeak Owl and Hunter’s Mark to leave this card out.

Quick Shot: I would like to have access to 1 copy of this card but unfortunately I can’t see a card I’d play this over in the current list. It’s also worth noting that this deck curves higher than most hunter decks and it wouldn’t be easy to get the draw effect from Quick Shot.

Second Freezing Trap: Simply put, I think Snake Trap is better in this deck than Freezing Trap, and that 3 traps feels like the right amount of traps to me. #3traps :)

Flare: This card is just way too situational. Most of the time it’s just going to be a 2 mana redraw which could cost hunter the game because you don’t want to be spending 2 mana for a redraw in the early game. By the time you can use it you’ve been working with fewer options in the previous turns because you had a Flare in your hand instead of a real card. Even the best case scenario against secret paladin leaves you with a 6/6 on their side of the board that you have to make up with 4 mana to be even.

Ram Wrangler: This card is very good if you can get it to proc and is downright embarrassing if you cannot. We already played 2 copies of Houndmaster. Having more situational cards like this one will lead to a lot more inconsistent draws. Ram Wrangler should be played with Webspinner so that you can proc it more easily, but we do not have Webspinners. Also the 5 drops in the deck are all more suitable than Ram Wrangler and playing more 5 drops will make the deck clunky.

Ragnaros the Firelord/other big threat: Seeing the King's Elekk in the deck might make people want to add another big threat such as Ragnaros the Firelord, but it’s not worth building your deck around 1 of the filler cards. Furthermore, this deck is already on the verge of being too clunky. We simply do not need additional big threats.

How the deck plays out:

To be successful with this deck you want to know what your role is at all points in the game so that you can have a consistent and effective plan of attack. In general you want to be trading against decks that can outrace you and racing decks that are slower than you but that could change based on the cards in your hand. You could have get a very aggressive hand that makes it better for you to race, or holding cards like Unleash the Hounds which incentivizes you to go face instead of trading or maybe you have a very late game hand that you want to survive long enough to play those cards. Your role can change during a game so it’s important to be able to recognize when you need to switch from the aggressor to the controller and vice versa. It’s very common for this deck to be fighting for board control for the first couple of the turns of the game and then have huge burst that kills your opponent in 1 or 2 turns with your board, hand and hero power.

Mulligans:

In general you should try to mulligan for a strong curve out and keep cards that work well with each other. On the play I would mulligan everything for a 2 drop if I don’t already have one. If I have a premium 2 drop for the match up, I would also keep a 3 drop and possibly a premium 4 drop for that match up. If it’s a bad match up and I have a premium 3 drop but no 2 drops I will still keep the 3 drop and hope to find a 2 drop with the remaining 2 cards. This can also be true if my opponent kept multiple cards in his opening hand. Basically, if I feel my opponent has a good start and/or the match up is unfavorable, I will take more risks with my mulligan. I’m reluctant to keep any reactive cards or cards that cost more than 4 on the play because you have the initiative so it’s better to have proactive cards and cards you can cast early in the game.

On the draw I would mulligan everything if I don’t have a 2 drop. I will always keep a premium 3 drop if I already have a premium 2 drop because on the draw you really want to aim for the curve of 2 drop, 2 drop, 3 drop. Depending on the match up another reasonable curve out is 2 drop into 4 drop into 4 drop. Because you start with an extra card on the draw, I think it’s okay to keep a reactive card on the draw if it’s stellar in the match up (such as Unleash the Hounds vs paladin or Hunter’s Mark vs handlock).

Mad Scientist and Animal Companion are the premium 2 and 3 drop in almost every match up. Other than the premium 2 drops you should keep cards that work well together such as Knife Juggler and Haunted Creeper or Knife Juggler and Snake Trap. I will go into details about what other cards are also good keeps in each match up when you don’t have Mad Scientist and Animal Companion. But these are the cards you really want to start with.

Match-Ups:

Vs. Combo Druid: Even to Favorable

Vs. Midrange Hunter: Even

Vs. Tempo Mage: Favorable

 Vs. Secret Paladin: Favorable

Vs. Dragon Priest: Unfavorable

Vs. Oil Rogue: Even to Unfavorable

Vs. Midrange Shaman: Even to Favorable

 Vs. Zoo Warlock: Even

Vs. Handlock: Favorable

Vs. Control Warrior: Favorable

 Vs. Patron Warrior: Even to Slightly Unfavorable

Replacements/Substitutes:

Because of the synergies in this deck, I would suggest playing it card for card if you want the optimal results. Even something as small as replacing the second snake trap can potentially weaken the deck by a lot. If card availability is an issue, you can consider some of the cards I chose to omit as a potential replacement. The fact I mentioned them means they were very close to making the deck and are likely the next best thing. For more specific replacements and suggestions to potentially improve the deck feel free to discuss them in the comments section and I will try my best to respond.

Sequencing:

In my opinion sequencing with hunter is very important because the hunter is much better while it is ahead. Knowing which 2 drop to play first when you have multiple 2 drops for every match up is absolutely crucial if you want to do well with hunter. Unfortunately because there are so many scenarios and match ups the section on sequencing can be extensive. If you have any specific scenario feel free to post it in the comments and I will try my best to answer them. If there is enough interest in the community, I will also post some of the common sequencing scenarios against the popular decks in the metagame.

Thanks for reading! I'd appreciate any feedback or suggestions you have on the deck. If you like the deck please give it an upvote! :)

- Talion