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Hyena Hunter [Standard/Legend]

  • Last updated Oct 4, 2016 (Yogg Nerf)
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Wild

  • 20 Minions
  • 10 Spells
  • Deck Type: Ranked Deck
  • Deck Archetype: Midrange Hunter
  • Crafting Cost: 2600
  • Dust Needed: Loading Collection
  • Created: 6/23/2016 (Old Gods)
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  • Battle Tag:

    stelliferous#1192

  • Region:

    US

  • Total Deck Rating

    65

View 8 other Decks by Unfrkinbelevabl
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*NEW AND IMPROVED FOR THE META*

Edit: I actually removed Call of the Wild from the list entirely; after playing more games without them I realized how much you don't actually need them. In fact I think the deck is just better without even 8 mana Call of the Wild, because it's more consistent and no more bad draws early in the game. I put in double Stranglethorn Tiger because that's exactly the mana cost this deck needed for the mid game. Ragnaros is Barnes synergy yes, and good versus control warrior for example, but it's so bad versus Aggro. Call of the Wild is better than Rag, but not Stranglethorn Tiger (most of the time) due 100% to the mana cost. Just look how much better that blue graph of mana curve looks now! *points up*

When I first made Hyena Hunter, it was back a few metas ago when WotoG came out and people were playing completely different minions. I revisited the deck after Kharazan came out and I tried many things. It was a long process to optimize a new list for the current meta since there has been so many changes but I finally did it. This deck should be good for the rest of the meta. 

I don't recommend teching in cards to make certain matchups easier, because you want the quality of your cards to be consistent. Some matchups are bad and sometimes you get unlucky but it's just not worth putting in a card that works only sometimes. For example, Deadly Shot can sometimes be useful versus like Druid or Paladin but it's really bad versus Zoolock, Shaman, Hunter, etc. The reason Kill Command is in the deck is due to the flexibility of the card.. you can use it on face or on (most) minions. Whereas Deadly Shot can only be used on minions and it can only work sometimes when either the conditions are right or you can control the board. I think a lot of what makes Hunter decks "weak" right now is that people are using too many situational cards. It's just not the style of Hunter. Just the same as you want ramp in Druid, you want consistency in Hunter. Late game cards like Call of the Wild or Ragnaros, tech cards like Freezing Trap and Deadly Shot.. they are only useful when the situation calls for it. Perhaps in a tournament scene when you don't have to build a deck to beat 60% of every type of deck. 

On the Hunt: The purpose of On the Hunt is not only to gain 1 damage as a ping (which Hunter loves), but to also gain a 1/1 beast used for trading. The beast can also have charge when a Tundra Rhino is up. Since  the card is 1 mana, it can combo easily with Houndmaster and Kill Command in a pinch. Also since the card is 1 mana, you can thread it easily in your turns without impacting your curve too much.

Barnes: The purpose of Barnes is well... it's cheap and it's powerful. Pulling Savannah Highmane, Tundra Rhino, Infested Wolf, Scavenging Hyena, Kindly Grandmother, Stranglethorn Tiger, and even Huge Toad/Fiery Bat is really good. The only bad ones to pull are Carrion Grubs and Houndmasters. And Carrion Grub isn't the worst since it's a beast.

Tundra Rhino: The purpose of Tundra Rhino is mostly for enabling more powerful/effective trades. When you have cards such as Kindly Grandmother, Infested Wolf, and Savannah Highmane, Tundra Rhino can charge out the tokens upon death which really makes a significant impact on the quality of your cards. Also, any beast in your hand can charge out onto the board, even the Mastiff from On the Hunt and any of the Animal Companions. Tundra Rhino, being a 2/5, is also relatively difficult to remove from the board.

The rest of the deck: The purpose of the rest of the deck is to be solid value. Infested Wolf is a 4 mana 5/5, Carrion Grub is a 3 mana 2/5, Houndmaster is a 4 mana 6/5, Savannah Highmane is a 6 mana 10/9, Unleash the Hounds can be a 3 mana OP/OP (especially when buffing Hyena), Kindly Grandmother is a 2 mana 4/3, Animal Companion is a 4 drop for 3 mana, Scavenging Hyena is a huge 2 drop, Fiery Bat is a poweful 1 drop beast, Tundra Rhino is a lot of charge damage, Stranglethorn Tiger is really valuable, and only Huge Toad is a mediocre 3/2 for 2 mana (but necessary for consistency). The other strength of the deck is its resistance to removal. If you are smart, you can make it extremely difficult for your opponent to remove your entire board at once so you can get damage over time from simply (or rather, not so simply) resisting enemy removal. This is when the skill cap is increased, knowing what your enemy can and can't do to gain leverage. Knowing for example when to play Stranglethorn Tiger instead of Savannah Highmane in order to get the guaranteed (likely) stick versus Rogue to play around Sap. One time I even used Quick Shot on one of my 2/2 token minions from Savannah Highmane just to make it more difficult to remove my Scavenging Hyena, buffing its health up to 4 instead of 3 to play around Lightning Storm/Rockbiter/Lightning Bolt/etc. It's a pretty "next level" play comparable to casting Hex on your own minion for the taunt. There are a lot of small variables that can make a big difference when playing this deck, so don't be discouraged if you fail at first.

 

The future of this deck: There are only 2 cards in the deck that will be removed from Standard mode soon. They are Quick Shot and Huge Toad. Losing Huge Toad isn't the biggest deal since it's the most mediocre minion in the entire list and they will probably release something better to include but worst case scenario we have to put in something like a Flame Juggler just to make a good turn 2 play (Bloodfen Raptor is just not competitive). Though I don't know if Flame Juggler will be going too? Anyway, there will be something to replace it with. However, Quick Shot going away can really hurt Hunter if there is no alternative replacement card. Even Arcane Shot doesn't seem good because it's only 2 damage so it doesn't deal with the 3 health minions that win games. Also, they will probably eventually nerf Scavenging Hyena, not just because it has the best buff for a 2 mana card in the game (and the ease at which to do it), but because I notice inconsistency with the way the buff works in comparison to similar mechanics in the game. So at some point when they clean up the bugs they will take that opportunity to change the effect of the card (maybe making the buff +1/+1) due to the strength of its current iteration.