Hearthpwn

Hey guys!

First of all, let me introduce myself. I'm a 100% f2p player, I have been playing Hearthstone for about a year and I have never reached legend rank, but that is not even the point.

The highest ladder rank I have achieved is 4 but I feel that the deck has the potential to be piloted to Legend by a more skilled player or whoever plays more time daily than I am able to do (I work as a lawyer and I mostly play on my way to work and back home and sometimes during the weekend, so I would estimate I play around 7/8 games a day at most).

Since I started playing I have always had mixed feelings for the Hunter class, mostly (obviously) because I am one of many who utterly hate the Face Hunter playstyle (I deeply believe it is disrespectful to the community to simply not care about whatever your opponent plays nor try to interact in any way). At the same time I really like some of the class cards and the idea of playing a different hunter deck started with the release of Lock and Load.

I soon understood that no matter how cool the card can be it demands a deck built around it and a deck built around it, due to its randomness and to Hunter's lack of reliable board clears, just cannot be consistent enough to be competitive (though it can be really fun). At some point I stumbled upon a video of Dane playing a Lock and Load/Feign Death hunter. Even though it looked really great to play, my experiences with it confirmed that it still was as inconsistent as was claimed in the comments I read.

I did a bit of research and eventually found a guide by Kryptoos about the Feign Death (no Lock and Load) Hunter deck he used to climb to rank 5 Legend and that is mostly where this deck comes from after some weeks of experimenting and tweaking it to my personal taste. Anyway, props to both Dane and Kryptoos for their ideas.

Deck's general playstyle and win conditions:

In a nutshell, this is a Midrange deck. However, the inclusion of some cards like Feign Death, Dreadscale, Stampeding Kodo, Snipe and Syvanas take it a bit more towards a controlish style and farther from the beast sinergy centered standard Midrange Hunter. In any case, the deck does not have any burst and relies exclusively on trading and board control. It ends up winning with the accumulation of repetitive damage or with a late game threat that lives for more than a turn.

Card choices:

Hunter's Mark: essential as hard removal, can allow for some very strong tempo plays and has great sinergy with the tokens, Knife Juggler and Dreadscale.

Webspinner: for a lot of time I refused to play it because it does not really kill anything (rather than the eventual Leper Gnome) and dies to everything, including some hero powers. However, I decided to try to improve the early game with two of them and found that it really is useful as a ping, the deathratlle makes it less useless in the late game and has sinergy with Feign Death. Anyway, I just removed one of them recently to include the Stampeding Kodo, for the reasons I explain below.

Feign Death: even though it gives the name to the deck, I would not say the deck is totally built around it. It is just a very versatile card that can trigger many interesting stuff in your favour for two mana, whether it is the classic Sylvanas (Mind Control) or Sneed's Old Shredder combos against control decks, the Webspinner/Haunted Creeper/Mad Scientist combos against aggro or simply an occasional Piloted Shredder/Savannah Highmane/Boombots trigger play. With this deck you can almost always ensure you get value out of it.

Snake Trap/Snipe/Freezing Trap: Snake Trap has great sinergy with Knife Juggler and generates tokens that help fight for board control against Zoolocks and Paladins (especially if buffed with Houndmaster). Freezing Trap and Snipe are just great tempo plays, especially if played for free through a Mad Scientist. The first makes some strong early game minions (Mana Wyrm, Shielded Minibot, Secretkeeper, Mad Scientist, Tunnel Trogg, etc.) too expensive to be played again soon and removes opposition to your own minions and the second just deals unexpectedly with the occasional Flamewaker, Azure Drake, Grim Patron, Frothing Berserker, Imp Gang Boss and many others. Both these secrets just disrupt the opponent's tempo completely. I know most players like to play two of the same secret and another as a one-of but I really like diversity for the surprise factor and feel that all three have great utility in any stage of the game so I do not bother too much with which one comes out of the Mad Sicientist. This is also the reason why I do not play Explosive Trap (it was the only one I really did not want to see at times when it could just be triggered by a single token). Just be criterious when you have to play them from hand (knowing what you are playing against is key).

Haunted Creeper: staple card in Midrange Hunter, great against aggro (to the point it can sometimes eat an Ironbeak Owl leaving free room to all other deathrattles) and with strong sinergy with Knife Juggler. Sticky and mandatory. Oponnent always gets confused between removing it or leaving it alive.

Knife Juggler: even though I do not run Unleash the Hounds I still run two of these, allowing me to not skip turn 2 if need be. It still takes good value out of Creepers', Highmanes' and Shredders' spawns and can thus be a blast even in the late game (especially with a Feign Death play). Another preferential target for removal that then does not kill other more important minions.

Mad Scientist: not necessary to say anything. Just broken.

Eaglehorn Bow: always good to have a weapon, especially with this sinergy with secrets (opponent frequently triggers it without wanting to with Snipe). I have tried to play two but it seemed to slow me down more than it helped me. As this is mostly a board control deck and I do not run heals, the life total is too much of an important resource to be wasted in killing minions.

Animal Companion: one of the best Hunter cards in my opinion and a great fill for the 3 mana slot. The randomness may be painful at times but you always get a minion that is too good for the mana cost.

Dreadscale: essential against Paladins (Muster for Battle) and Zoolocks (Imp-losion), two of the most difficult match-ups. Won me too many games alone to take it out. Hunter's Mark just makes it more valuable even against control decks. May seem to have bad sinergy with Haunted Creepers and Snake Traps but it is really manageable, especially because you control its effect to some extent (e.g. by trading tokens the same turn you play it).

Mind Control Tech: one of the most recent additions. His slot used to be occupied by Big Game Hunter for a long time, but I felt the latter would just sit in hand waiting for an opponent's Boom for too long and too many times it just does not have a target against most decks. I think Mind Control Tech is better as its effect helps even games I was starting to lose control of and can be huge against most classes in the late game (again, board control is the key to win with this deck). I am still not sure of which of these should be played. I leave the decision to each of you.

Houndmaster: as the deck is not too beast centered I do not play two of these, but one of them still seems to always have a valuable target to hit and it felt like the best addition to the 4 mana slot. Feel free to choose any other card you like but remember that a taunted up Savannah Highmane wins games against lots of decks.

Piloted Shredders: arguably the best neutral 4 drop in the game, period. Sticky as hell.

Sen'jin Shieldmasta: the latest addition, in detriment of a Hunter's Mark. The deck really needed another taunt and between this one and Sludge Belcher, I felt it would be better to have more alternatives for the 4 mana slot (the Slime does not seem to make that much difference).

Loatheb: I just love this card. 5 mana for a 5/5 with this impact in the opponent's next turn is just amazing. Wins games against Druids, Freeze Mages, Face Hunters, Tempo Mages, Aggro Shamans and Oil Rogues. In general, it protects your board greatly against all classes. As the decision here was between him and Sludge Belcher, I chose Loatheb and have never regreted it. Sludge Belcher is a premium silence target (for 5 mana, he becomes just a useless 3/5) and even if not silenced, he seems to stall more than to change anything in the board state, which is not what this deck needs. At most, it needs a turn without being bursted down and Loatheb ensures that better.

Stampeding Kodo: a recent addition in detriment of a Webspinner. Thought a bit about why Control Hunters play it and realised that it is huge at dealing with some of the minions that cause this deck more problems (Flamewakers, Deathlords, Shielded Minibots, Imp Gang Bosses, Armorsmiths, Acolytes of Pain and, most important, DOOMASAYERS). It also helped fill the 5 mana slot. Half of the deck is composed of 2 mana cards or less, so removing a Webspinner for this one didn't seem to do much harm. Another option that should be completely open to each of you and that I am still trying out.

Savannah Higmane: one of the stars of the deck, it shines even without Feign Death. Very difficult for the opponent to deal with, sticky and very, very threatening.

Sylvanas Windrunner: even without the Feign Death combo, she fits the style of the deck perfectly. Very difficult for the opponent to ignore as leaving it for you to use the turn after may outright lose them the game.

Dr. Boom: "Dr. Turn Seven" would always be here, even if the Boombots did not activate with Feign Death. As they do, it is even better.

Sneed's Old Shredder:  amongst most of his companions from the "Late Game Threats League", he seemed to be the strongest one in this deck. Using Feign Death with him on the board is very cool 95% of the time.

Ragnaros, the Firelord: another of the most recent additions. I did not have this slot used with a huge threat some weeks ago, then I tried Kel'Thuzad but it felt like he had problems similar to Baron Rivendare. It is useless if you already lost the board and even though having Savanna Highmanes and Boombots back may be great, at some point you can lose control of what is summoned back and end-up losing those cards for the sake of some tokens (that thought process wastes your turn). Ragnaros is just something your opponent has to deal with immeadiately and can win you games against control decks but I agree that there may be other good options for his slot. I am very well impressed with him, though.

Other candidates (some I have experimented with):

Tracking: could be useful as a one-of for some emergencies but with this deck I don't think you can afford to simply discard two cards.

Glaivezooka: good at providing reach to your tokens in the early game but I don't think it justifies one card slot. Having a minion will always be better than having a 2/2 weapon.

Flare: a blast against Freeze Mage and Secret Paladin but useless against most other decks, even though it cycles itself for 2 mana. Loatheb is equally good against Freeze Mage and you have other ways to deal with Misterious Challengers.

Explosive Trap: one of the only Hunter's board clears but it forced me to use other secret as a two-of or to play 4 secrets, which is too much. As you are not the one controlling when it is triggered and it is the most expected secret by the opponent, it always seems to let you down.

Bear Trap: very good against aggro but as this is a board control deck, I'm more worried with my minions being hit than my face in the early game.

King's Elekk: Ran two of these for a long time but it always felt like a vanilla 3/2 that can be contested by Mad Scientist or Shielded Minibot. It could be mainly worth playing for the card draw (one of the deck's weaknesses) but the deck plays too many 2 drops for the joust to be profitable. Sacrificed it for the two Webspinners initially.

Kill Command: a good option for removal or as a burst finisher but I just can't find the space for it.

Unleash the Hounds: Irrelevant as burst and it also is not the board clear the deck needs so I don't think it is worth the slot(s). I do realise, though, that it has sinergy with Knife Juggler and Hunter's Mark, so feel free to try it.

Zombie Chow: it is stronger than Webspinner in stats, but it's a dead card in the late game and its deathrattle can be really counter productive.

Ironbeak Owl: all Midrange Hunters use it but it seems like just a weak pack of stats for 2 mana. It hardly does anything that Hunter's Mark doesn't.

Nerubian Egg: good with Feign Death but dead otherwise. Requires activators we do not have space for.

Cult Master: could solve the card draw problem but I don't think this deck wants to end a turn with a handful of cards and a 4/2 on board. Never even tried it.

Bomb Lobber: great tempo provider but the stats/cost relation does not look advisable for a deck you should play on curve.

Ball of Spiders: in terms of card advantage a "pay 6 mana, get 3 1/1's and six beasts in hand could be good, but it is terrible tempo wise. Just too slow for this deck and unnecessary.

Baron Rivendare/Feugen/Stalagg: too gimmicky, too slow and not at all necessary.

Mulligan:

Besides the occasional Eaglehorn Bow that can be kept against some decks, I do not agree with keeping Sylvannas of Highmanes here and there as I have seen suggested. You always end up having your big threats in hand by turn 5 at most. 

I always try to play on curve to the extent possible and thus always keep Webspinners, Haunted Creepers, Mad Scientists, Knife Jugglers and go from there (even against Control Warrior and Priest). The rest of the cards I get always seem to have an optimal time to be played so I don't worry too much with the curve from turn 4 on. The coin is really valuable in this deck, though, so don't waste it. It may be better to be able to play turn 5 Highmane into turn 6 Sylvanas or just turn 6 Dr. Boom than  Haunted Creeper into Haunted Creeper in turns 1 and 2. It is worse to not play on curve until turn 4 than from then on.

As you are a hunter, clicking your hero power is always good.

Final thoughts:

Please give the deck a chance and try it. I think it will not let you down, not only because it is competitive against all decks I have faced, but also because it is really, really fun to play.

Feel free to leave your thoughts, questions, card suggestions in the comment section as I really look forward for your feedback. As I said I have already taken it to rank 4, but I strongly believe it can be easily piloted to Legend with enough skill and time (which I don't seem to have). Furthermore, I don't even think the deck is optimal and believe there are enough open slots for tweaks that can make it stronger.

Good luck climbing to all!

LeGambit