Badass Midrange Hunter - Ladder Climber
- Last updated Feb 18, 2016 (Explorers)
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Wild
- 18 Minions
- 10 Spells
- 2 Weapons
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Unknown
- Crafting Cost: 4000
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 1/8/2016 (Explorers)
- GiordyBear
- Registered User
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- 9
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- 29
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Battle Tag:
Giordy
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Region:
EU
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Total Deck Rating
482
Hi guys, I'm Giordy, Italian legendary player and former Hearthstoneplayers writer.
Today I want to present you a formidable deck which gifted me with the longest win streak I have ever experienced: it brought me from rank 10 to 5 without ever loosing a match and I'm currently rank 3.
* Meta Changes * :
I tried different cards in this deck, but I eventually chose to keep it in its original form.
I tried adding Jugglers, and while they combo well sometimes, they're still no beasts, and I wanted to base this deck on beasts synergy.
I tried replacing Ragnaros with Flare, and even if it's really good against freeze mage, that is usually a favorable matchup anyway, and I haven't had many occasions to use it against secret paladin to be honest. Ragnaros is always good, no matter what.
I am considering trying a Gladiator's long bow instead of Ragnaros for extra reach, but that's just an idea, I'm gonna have to test it first.
Is This Deck Legend Material?
It surely is. Here is a video of legend player Nat bringing honor to our cause.
It took me a lot of play time to edit the original deck and sand out the rough edges, but now it has the perfect balance I was looking for in a midrange deck.
Strengths of the deck:
The deck is optimal against midrange, combo and control decks. Even though it struggles a little against aggro/burn decks, it still has a lot of tools to get back on track against those matchups. The strength of the deck is its great mana curve, which grants a valuable play every turn, except on turn one. Matter of fact, the curve is so good that you don't ever feel the need to draw cards.
The value you get from turn 2 to 7 is huge, though, and the enemy will have a hard time dealing with all your minions, traps, weapons and spells. If you fall behind, you can still make it thanks to Unleash the Hounds and Explosive Trap. If your opponent is playing very difensively, you can pull out the big guns: Savannah Highmane and Dr. Boom.
I believe a good deck is a deck which has a little bit of everything, and this one certainly does. There are various ways to win the game, and various secrets to trick the enemy into misplaying.
Deck Wicknesses:
The deck struggles against extremely aggressive decks such as Secret Paladin and Zoo. Since it's a midrange deck, it shines from turn 2 to 7, allowing you to make valuable trades in that time span. This is why it's so important to try and keep board control.
Mulligan guide:
Mulligan is pretty standard with a midrange hunter, hence it doesn't change much in the various matchups: remember that priority n° 1 is board control, at least at the beginning.
You want to try and get Webspinner if you don't have the coin, otherwise 2-drops are welcome.
All 2-mana drops are welcome, though try to keep the ones which most fit your current matchup (Haunted Creeper against secret pally, King's Elekk against druid and priest, Mad Scientist versus everyone.
I generally keep 3-mana-cost cards such as Eaglehorn Bow or Animal Companion, provided that I hold at least a 2-mana drop as well.
Throw back secrets and try to get Mad Scientist, unless you get a secret that is specifically good against the deck you are facing, like freeze trap against druid, Explosive Trap against paladin, or Bear Trap if lacking other 2-mana drops.
Favorable Matchups:
- Control Warrior, Control Priest, Control Paladin, Ramp Druid.
60/40 Matchups:
- Midrange Paladin, Dragon Priest, Midrange/Control/Reno Warlock.
50/50 Matchups:
- Zoo, Tempo Mage, Face Shaman, Combo Druid, Patron Warrior, Mech Mage.
40/60 Matchups:
Secret Paladin, Face Hunter.
How to win against Secret Paladin:
Even though the match is pretty hard, if you play smart enough you can beat secret paladins, too. The key to winning in this matchup is to trigger as few secrets as possible and to leave as much crap as possible on the board (your opponent's minions). If you go face most of the time your opponent won't be able to benefit from the incresed buffs of the secrets, hence he won't be able to overwhelm you on the board. If you just go face and he does, too, you can outdamage him anyway, for as a hunter you have more burst damage.
When the Mysterious Challenger is played you can wait one turn before triggering the secrets, provided you have Unleash the Hounds or Dr. Boom to play on the following turn. Again, if you play smart enough you can totally beat them.
Gameplay:
If you are eager to watch the deck in action here is a video of our friend Kristophesaurus Dinosaurus playing it:
Possible Replacements:
-2 Piloted Shredder, +2 Tomb Spider; or -1 Ragnaros, +1 Flare.
FAQ
Is King's Elekk worth running?
In this version of the deck I choose to run King's Elekk for two reasons:
1) King's Elekk is a nice draw source and, even if not reliable, it still nets you some good late-game cards sometimes.
2) King's Elekk is a beast and it comboes with Houndmaster.
Isn't this deck the same old same old?
It certainly is. If you are looking for a deck that will blow your mind with quirkiness and originality you will not find it here. However, I tried to revive a good old archetype which seems to be forgotten nowadays and make it playable on today's ladder. If that disappoints your eagerness for creativity, I'm sorry, but I'm just offering a viable and reliable deck.
Discussing Traps:
I chose to play three different traps for two reasons: for one, the enemy will have a hard time figuring out which trap will be next; that often leads to misplays on his part. Secondly, the variety of traps helps you use the one which fits better your current needs.
The traps I included in the list are the most efficient ones in my opinion. I tried running a Snake Trap, but in high ranks my opponent would figure out it was a snake and would just go face the whole time. On the other hand, all the traps I have included trigger no matter what when they hit face and they can often save you from crazy combos.
Conclusions:
I'm glad you guys like the deck, I know it looks pretty standard but it took me a lot of grinding to try and perfect it, so it would mean a lot to me if you remembered to upvote it. If you have any questions or comments feel free to drop your thoughts below!
I'll catch you later, fellas!
Giordy
I think the mana curve would be too high. Houndmaster is the only taunt the deck has, removing one could compromise its survivability. You could replace Flare maybe, but I honestly wouldn't include Jones in this deck; there's already King's Elekk for drawing.
Id suggest acidic swamp ooze before H. Jones. Thinks it fits better in current meta
Made it to rank 5 with this deck. I took away 2 webspinners for 2 knifejugglers and kept 1 creeper so I could still run Rag. Wins me a lot of games.
Deck is eaten alive by combo drood fukctursd who seem to populate the ladder atm
Lost vs control warrior, control priest and ramp druid in a row. Favourable matchups indeed.
Oftentimes it's not about the matchups, it's about the player. People at rank 20 play the same decks played by Trump or Kibler at top 100 legend, but if they're at rank 20 there's a reason.
Just because you lose to them doesn't mean it's not a favorable matchup.
It's not possible remplace mad scientist...
Good deck, i change - 1 Unleash the hounds for second Flare, feels great - easy wins vs secret pals and mages(especially frezze)
The priests are destroying me, Entomb is use 100% of the time over Highmane, Light Bomb obliterate Dr. Boom and almost every single monster beacuse they have more Atk than def, Deathlord and Zombie Chaw are incredible hard to get off in the early game, frezzing trap favor them, northshire cleric make hard to play the juggler.
Any advice????
Priest shouldn't be too hard for a Midrange Hunter. It's important that you mulligan for Hunter's Mark or Owl, and that you also have a 2-drop with 3 points of attack, so it can kill Northshire Cleric. Use freezing trap only when you can gain tempo from it and try to hit face when you can, but don't let him draw cards.
I try to never keep more than 3 friendly minions on board so 1 not gets taken.
Kill of the card draw as fast as possible, if that fails unleash the hounds have saved my behind several times making leathal with 1 or 2 kill commands.
Just one question, which Trap would you replace for a Snake Trap?
Great deck, many thanks!
Thank you for liking the deck! Personally, I'm not a great fan of Snake Trap, because in high ranks they always manage to not trigger it. Anyway, if you think it will work for you it could replace a freezing trap, since there are so many token-based decks around.
To be honest, Mad Scientist is key in this deck, and Steamwheedle Sniper doesn't work as well. If you don't have the scientists, you should probably remove all secrets and bows and play a couple of Webspinners and a couple of Huge Toads maybe.
Let see... he is missing some 2 mana cards, are these cards good replacements???
Jeweled Scarab
Powershot
Glaivezooka
I like the deck and want to help to improve it :)
Jewled Scarab is too weak for 2 turn, that minion is only good in control decks, and the same goes for powershot. Glaivezooka could work, but as it usually buffs other minions, the whole mana curve would need to be lowered a little. All in all, he is better off playing face hunter xD
Went to win streak really easily ! This deck has an insane control of the board and a nice burst !
the only change that i made is -1 elek +1 webspinner.
I win so many secret pala with flare it's not even funny :D
proud to see an italian like me doing well :)
I've made the same swap of 1 Elekk for 1 Webspinner, and it's working well enough. I've won plenty of games without a Turn 1 play, or using the Coin on Turn 1 for any 2-drop minion; this deck handles either option well.
This is just what i need with Rexxar. Thanks buddy, gonna try this one for sure! Looks preeeeeeeetty good.