Hearthpwn

 

So what ? Just another Deathrattle-Hunter ??!

Not quite. Though the concept isn't new, I still never faced another hunter playing a deck this way. So I thought I'd share it.

The main difference lies in the selected minions. 

While most Deathrattle-Hunters use cards which are known to be quite strong by themselves, my deck purely relies on minions which summon more powerful minions as their deathrattle-effect, especially Nerubian Egg, Devilsauregg and Serpen Egg.

The aim is to trigger these effects as often as possible. This gives us the chance to build up a solid board with high speed and low mana-cost.

What I like most about this deck is the versatility. There are multiple ways to win the game, we have got amazing comeback-potential after boardclears - and Deathstalker Rexxar provides additional stamina far beyond midrange.

A first impression of the gameplay:

 

Mulligan

Since the overall tactic is almost identical against all classes, there are general recommendations for the mulligan:

You should always look for a combination of the smaller deathrattle-minions (Kindly Grandmother, Nerubian Egg, Devilsaur Egg) and at least one low-cost trigger-card (Play Dead, Feign Death, Terrorscale Stalker).
If you don't find trigger-cards, you can use the Glaivezooka to "activate" the eggs.
With these main "ingredients" a good start is almost certain.

Fiery Bat and Candleshot our only real 1-drops, so keeping those also is usually a good idea, especially against potentially aggressive opponents.

Class-specific Guide:

Priest:

Quite hard to play against, since he's got the most powerful boardclears and the silence-effects can kill our tactic.

Keep Deathstalker Rexxar, because the game might take a while... If possible keep the Nerubian Egg, since the 4/4 makes it harder for Priest to deal with. Hunter's Mark is also something I'd keep, because we will likely be facing high-health-minions.

Try to play around potion of madness (Don't use Egg+Glaivezooka combo. Leave single minions on board,instead of playing several small ones. Rather play eggs than Grandmother or Summoner. If you don't get eggs, try Grandmother as bait, so you don't lose a Twilight Summoner...)

Against priest we are playing kind of two different games: BEFORE and AFTER round 6... It will happen often enough that we are able to overrun a Priest before he is able to play Dragonfire Potion or Lightbomb. (For some reason they always seem to hold one of these by round 6...). So you can risk going "all-in" up until round 5.
If he is able to wash away our first wave, it gets harder. Don't be to greedy after that. Having 2-3 minions on board is usually enough to keep him busy. Save up at least one deathrattle-minion + trigger on your hand, so you can come back after a boardclear. Eliminate his minions as often as possible, so he can't destroy your deathrattle-minions before he plays a AOE.
The most important thing: Don't give up! If you're playing against Big Priest and he has resummoned an Obsidian Statue for the second time, frustration is usually running high. But if you throw some eggs on the board before killing the statue, its deathrattle-effect might actually pop an egg. Deathstalker Rexxar is really our life-insurance against priest.Being able to play a crazy Zombeast each round is something even Priest can't stand forever.
So: patience is the way!


Rogue:

Keep Powershot due to the high number of Aggro / Tempo-Rogues. If possible keep Hunter's mark to eleminate an early Edwin van Cleef.
Try to keep board-control. As soon as he loses momentum, you can usually turn the tide and knock him out within 2-3 rounds.


Warrior:

Since the nerfs almost no Pirate Warriors anymore, so it's mostly Quest Warrior or Enrage Warrior.

No special Mulligan-modifications. Warrior is an quite easy matchup at the moment.

Paladin:

Keep Powershot OR Explosive Trap. Fiery Bat OR Candleshot as 1-drops.

Currently our hardest matchup. Only way is: BE FASTER!

If we are able to set up a board and swipe away their first wave of minions, we actually got a chance. After Level Up! it's almost impossible to turn the tide...

Druid:

Mulligan against Aggro-Druid (Powershot, Deathstalker Rexxar to counter Living Mana).
Slower Druid-Decks are usually no problem. Even 2 x Spreading Plague + 2 x UI don't necessarily stop us.


Hunter:

Keep Powershot, maybe even Quick Shot to kill a Scavenging Hyena.


Warlock:

Currently almost only Demon-/ Cube-Lock. Keep Ironbeak Owl. Maybe Hunter's Mark to kill Mal'Ganis.
Mind Defile! Try to avoid a "Health-Ladder" with your minions (1-2-3-4)!

 

Cubelock is surely not easy, but possible! Usually we got the first rounds to build up a board. If we are able to silence the first Lackey / Caller, he's usually doomed.


Mage:

Keep Quickshot to knock out a possible Manawyrm. Throw in more eggs when he plays Doomsayer (if you can't kill him, that is...).

Many Tempo-Mages around currently, so tough run!


Shaman:

Our main problem is Even-Shaman or Aggro-Shaman. Quite strong in buildung up a board and countering our minions with cheap overload-minions.

Try to keep boardcontrol.

Devolve can disrupt our board, so don't play too many eggs, unless you are able to trigger them on time. (Getting the summoned tokens devolved usually doesn't hurt that much).



Explanations for certain cards:

Stitched Tracker: Actually not that much to explain. He's our joker to find missing puzzle-pieces. Probability is quite high to get the type of minion you are currently lacking.

 

Fiery Bat: As mentioned in the beginning, this card is in the deck to provide at least a chance for a real 1-drop. If drawn later on in the game, I would keep it on hand just to ensure a cheap way of always getting the full 5 damage out of Kill Command.

 

 

Why the following cards are NOT in the deck

I thought I'd write this passage in advance, in case anyone is wondering...

 

Spiritsinger Umbra: This is a deathrattle-deck! Where is she??

Actually I've been trying her out a lot. But her mechanisim kind of works against the overall "flow" of the deck. Usually you might want to put the deathrattle minions on board and trigger their effects afterwards. For 4 Mana, Umbra mostly sticks on your hand. It's risky to play her alone on turn 4, because she might get killed rightaway. And she keeps you from playing your other minions as well, because you are forced to hold the eggs to play them AFTER Umbra. In the end I found her to clunky, so I took her out again.

Sylvanas Windrunner: This is wild mode! Why not put her in???
I did. The two cards I've been swapping the most were Silvanas and Fiery Bat. In a phase where I've been facing many aggressive decks, Fiery Bat gave me a slight advantage. In the current "Priest-Meta" it's actually a viable tech-decision to put her in again...

Defender of Argus:He buffs your eggs and forces the enemy to pop them! Why don't you use him??

Exactly for that reason: We don't want the eggs to be killed. We want them to stay on board as long as possible, so we can trigger their effects again and again. There are so many trigger-cards in the deck that there's no place for the Defender.


N'Zoth: He brings back all your deathrattle-minions! He should be in the deck!

No. Because the deathrattle-minions I'm using aren't especially intimidating by themselves. And when the board is full of eggs, there's no space left for the summoned tokens. So N'Zoth doesn't fit in too well.

Savannah Highmane: It's THE hunter 6-drop! Why don't you include it??

Highmane is surely a strong card by itself. But the summoned deathrattle-minions aren't. We don't want to block our side of the board with 2/2s, so I decided that this card didn't fit in either.