Hearthpwn

Hey all. Well like many before me, this is my first foray into writing up a deck of my own creation that I have come into great success so far with the introduction of WotoG. I wanted to share my list with other hunters who may be looking for something to climb the ladder with at any level. I created this deck day 1 of patch and have only swapped out 1 card so far and this has taken me from rank 14 to rank 8 in 20 game with a record(so far) of 15-5 starting off at 8-0.

I will admit there is a lot of room for card swapping in my current list, but I will also say every card in this deck has seen the board, and has had a major impact on my games. So far my only "meh" card when I do draw it has been Princess Huhuran as I struggle to find a decent time to trigger another worthy battlecry, or even have one present when shes in hand. I'll go over some of my choices and what I have experienced as some of the stronger cards for hunter so far.

N'Zoth, the Corruptor - MVP

N'Zoth is an absolute monster when he hits the board unless you are incredibly unlucky in your draws of the key deathrattle minions in this deck. Before I saw hunters full list and N'Zoth was revealed, this was going to be the guy I built around. I don't treat any game like I need him to win, though he is an absolute late game win condition hunters lacked previously(much like most of our old gods). The only thing lacking is the omission of any taunt deathrattle minions in the deck which either are too weak in stats for their cost, or don't have a beast tag.

With Jeweled Scarab and Ram Wrangler in the deck you sometimes can hit other deathrattle minions to fuel the late game N'Zoth bomb. So while the deck is not a pure deathrattle, it has enough to give you punishing board presence when your old god comes down.

Call of the Wild - MVP

This card does not need an introduction at all. This is exactly what hunters needed as a late game option. I loved trying to get Gahz'rilla and King Krush to work in previous decks and was always disappointed by hunters lack of good end game in class legendaries. This card has probably won me almost every game I have played that wasn't me dropping N'Zoth for a comeback win. It's freaking insane. The only downside is that it gets crushed by Flamestrike but at least you know when you need to play around it. This late game addition was sorely needed as a high cost threat hunters currently lack in class.

Some additional notes about other newer cards:

Infested Wolf

The new 4 drop has been performing well as while the body stats at 3/3 may seem weak, even when destroyed it almost always sets up for a follow up Houndmaster when killed. I also included 1 Carrion Grub to help smooth out the curve and give more targets for Houndmaster. I have found that (in my opinion)our turns 3-5 are most critical in not letting the board get out of hand for our opponents. Having a bigger version of haunted creeper that leaves beast minions just has so much synergy in this deck. Which leads me to me next card.

Bestial Wrath

Yup, while I understand this is not a "new" card, it sure feels like it since this card has never really seen play and performed way above expectations. I originally had this as a 1 of with Giant Sand Worm to try out the dream combo, and while yes I did manage to pull it off 1 time, the worm was usually just a dead card. I went to 2 copies of this and have not regretted it since. Turn 1 Firebat, and opponent drops turn 2 Totem Golem? Yeah game over with this in hand. This card turns your little beast tokens into useful removal options. It always ends up creating huge board swings due to the immunity. Right now it has been a really good option against aggro locks Darkshire Councilman due to the 5 health being somewhat annoying to hit with no on board buffs like Leokk.

To wrap up my initial thoughts on some other optional cards I'm running, I'll briefly go over why I included them, and how I feel they are doing so far.

Twilight Summoner - Mixed feeling on this. Its very powerful right now with the lack of silences running around, and your opponent almost always has to trade into it unfavorably. I wanted another 4 drop deathrattle with more impact than Infested Tauren though if I was to replace it, it would probably be with the tauren as taunts are always welcome.

Explosive Shot - Has been huge in a lot of games since I added this card late. It can sit in your hand for awhile too. Mixed bag here. I could see Harvest Golem replacing this for more early board control. It does combo extremely well with Hunter's Mark though. Same goes for Powershot. I can't stress enough how critical it feels getting multiple trade value out of a single card right now is.

Ram Wrangler - Well, lol this guy has actually been really sick as a 1 of in this deck. No captain's parrots yet friends! To be fair I've been pretty lucky with him, but running 1 in this deck feel just right especially when you curve from carrion grub-->Infested Wolf-->Ram Wrangler. It's very hard for your opponent to completely rid your board of a beast before he will come down.

Princess Huhuran - Sadly, the woes of competitive hunter legendary minions continues. Yes i have hit on Highmanes with this, but it still feels underwhelming for the cost. Shes a big body which is nice, but I think shes easily replaceable with Sylvanas Windrunner as she will probably end up having more impact.

That's about all i want to cover for this deck right now. I hope some of you give this deck a try and also give some feedback on changes you may think about doing, or have even tried and tested yourself. This deck feels powerful, and performs very well right now against most matchups. I have yet to drop a game to aggro or evolve shaman, reno and zoolock. You never feel like you are out of the game late with Call and N'Zoth. Give it a try and let me know what you guys think. Good luck!

- Hakai