Hearthpwn

This is a midrange list i decided to create myself and which i have been playing through season 28 (july 2016), getting as far as rank 3 (season isn't over yet, so i might be able to get past that).

Card choices

First of all i'd like to note that i wanted to add my own flavour to the deck, being this the reason for some unusual picks. Here i will explain some of the cards' role in the deck and why some others weren't included.

-King Krush : i honestly added it because i got it in a pack mid-season. It is a great surprise factor and deals a lot of damage but it migh seat in your hand for too long before it can be used. For a more optimal deck, I would swap it for Carrion Grub. Ragnaros the Firelord might work as well.

-Harrison Jones : helps a little bit with hunter's card draw issue and it's not too bad on itself. With the current meta flooded with warriors (in my experience at least) and other popular decks such as shaman it becomes really useful. If you play Harrison the turn after a shaman plays Doomhammer you will win 99% of the time.

-Tracking : again, more card draw never hurts. Use it to find lethal or, in some cases as a play for turn 5/6/7 if your hand is not too good. Despite it's mana cost, i would recommend to never play it in turn 1 and t hold it for as long as possible. Also very useful to get rid of low mana minions you don't want to draw into in the late game.

-Infested Wolf : i simply didn't find this card good enough. A 3/3 for 4 mana that does nothing upon being played. The majority of hunter players keep it as it seems to guarantee Houndmaster value thanks to those 1/1 spiders. However, in my experience, my oppenents always have an easy time removing it: Fiery War Axe into Ravaging Ghoul, Frostbolt with Flamewaker / Arcane Missiles ...

-Two copies of Quick Shot instead of one: more consistent, can help with card draw towards the end of the game, can remove a vast amount of early to mid-game minions, and it can be thrown face if needed

-Stranglethorn Tiger : too slow. Good stats, difficult to remove thanks to stealth and a guaranteed Houndmaster target, but too slow in the current meta in my opinion.

-Explosive Trap: not good enough, against shaman only basic totems die, warrior minions survive it, bad against control in general and zoolock will always work around it without too much trouble.

-Freezing Trap : works well against everything but aggro (most of the time). Be wary that shaman can trigger it with basic totems thanks to cards like Flametongue Totem Abusive Sergeant or Rockbiter Weapon

-Unleash the Hounds : i honestly think one copy is enough as you will rarely get full value out of it. Can be comboed with Leokk/Houndmaster so it's good enough, and i prefer having at least one AoE in the deck, and Explosive Trap, Powershot and Explosive Shot don't quite do the job for me.

-Desert Camel : in my experience, it is always difficult to find a good situation to play it: in the early game you'll probably need to have Eaglehorn Bow equipped before using it, in  mid and late game you'll probably have better cards to play.

-Tundra Rhino : there are not too many good 5 drops for hunter, and since i already explained why i don't like Stranglethorn Tiger i think this card has a place in this deck. At the very least it's a 2/5 with charge, which might be played on turn 5 for tempo or out of need, but it's always better to hold onto it to get charge value. It also makes 2 drops drawn in the late game useful, and you will often find yourself playing it in turn 7 with a Huge Toad or a King's Elekk. It has also the added value of being a card that your opponent cannot let unmanaged.

 

Matchups and specific mulligans

Shamefully, I haven't been carrying out any statistics, so this will be a general overview.

In general, try to go for 2 drops  and keep Animal Companion. Always keep Eaglehorn Bow against aggro. Against other decks use your own criteria. Some classes, like hunter, warrior or druid, have trouble dealing with Savannah Highmane, but despite this i recommend to never keep it in your starting hand. Don't keep Houndmaster in your starting hand unless you have a good early curve, and even then you'll have to consider if your beasts will survive up to turn 4.

-Zoolock: very bad/bad. Mulligan for Eaglehorn Bow and 2 drops, and keep Unleash the Hounds if you get it in your mulligan. Your strategy will be to destroy every single minion on board rather than going face in order to prevent Abusive Sergeant / Dark Iron Dwarf / Dire Wolf Alpha / Defender of Argus / Power Overwhelming / Sea Giant /Gormok the Impaler value

-Renolock: very good. Most of the time they will be forced to use Reno Jackson in turn 7/8 and won't be able to destroy your board in the same turn, so you will be able to bring them back again to low health thanks to Call of the Wild

-Tempo warrior: normal. Watch out for Ravaging Ghoul and try to save a low cost beast to use with Houndmaster rather than playing it and see it get slaughtered by Fiery War Axe.  

-Dragon warrior: bad/normal-bad. If you can stop the aggression early on you can still win, but it mainly comes down to each player's starting hand

-C'thun warrior: good/very good. Brann Bronzebeard plus Twin Emperor Vek'lor / Ancient Shieldbearer is something to watch out for, try to end the game earlier than that. You might want to save Deadly Shot for C'Thun

-C'thun druid: good/very good. Brann Bronzebeard plus Twin Emperor Vek'lor is something to watch out for, try to end the game earlier than that. You might want to save Deadly Shot for C'Thun

-Fandral/Yogg druid: normal. Try to keep the board clear and let them run out of resources.

-Aggro hunter: good. Try to have a strong early game to dominate them.

-Midrange hunter: normal-good. Many times it comes down to who plays Call of the Wild first. Remember to watch out for Unleash the Hounds and Call of the Wild and try to negate Houndmaster value.

-Aggro shaman: normal-bad. You might want to keep Deadly Shot in your starting hand in case Flamewreathed Faceless drops, but you might not get the perfect oportunity because of totems or wolves decreasing your chances. Always keep Harrison Jones. You should win the late game thanks to Call of the Wild

-Midrange shaman: good. You might want to keep Deadly Shot in your starting hand in case Flamewreathed Faceless drops, but you might not get the perfect oportunity because of totems or wolves decreasing your chances. Always keep Harrison Jones. You should win the late game thanks to Call of the Wild

-Control shaman: good? haven't faced enough, but this deck does well against control in general.

-Freeze mage: very good. Just go face.

-Tempo mage: normal-bad. You want to keep Quick Shot in your hand to kill Mana Wyrm as they can protect itfrom your weapon thanks to Mirror Image. General strategy is to kill all their minions at any price and win the late game. However, a good start from the mage will ruin you, and they tend to have it.

-Aggro paladin: normal-good. Control the agression early on with Eaglehorn Bow and 2 drops. If you survive to turn 8 you've won.

-N'Zoth paladin: good. Be wary of removal combos (Pyro + Equality/Equality + consecration)

-N'Zoth priest: good

-Miracle rogue: normal-bad. Save Deadly Shot for stealthed Gadgetzan Auctioneer / Edwin VanCleef

-Combo decks (Velen/Malygos/Worgen/leeroy windfury): very good. You'll finish the game before they can draw all teir combo pieces.

Final notes

This is a deck that doesn't allow for misplays and requires great planning and choice-making. If you're looking for an easy deck to climb the ladder try a different one. Don't get desperated if you get stuck in some ranks for a while, you'll eventually make it through. Thanks for reading the description and post any questions/feedback about the deck below.

Proof i got to rank 3:

http://imgur.com/a/d6v5s

(Sry, first time posting and I just couldn't figure out how to upload screenshots)