[Spark] Beasty Zoth (Legend S41)
- Last updated Aug 28, 2017 (Frozen Throne)
- Edit
- |
Wild
- 23 Minions
- 4 Spells
- 2 Weapons
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: N'Zoth Hunter
- Crafting Cost: 8280
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 8/24/2017 (Frozen Throne)
- Sparkaz
- Pro Player
-
Country:
-
Tournament Decks:
0
-
Ladder Decks:
29
-
Submitted By:
I'm now offering coaching services! Contact me directly if you're interested in booking lessons with me ;)
Hello everyone! I'm Spark, Legend player from France. It's been awhile and today I'm sharing yet another guide on Hunter with my latest iteration of N'Zoth Beast Hunter for the KFT expansion. I reached Legend using the deck, along with some Demon Handlock and Murloc Paladin games here and there to playtest the decks, scoring a solid 64% winrate. You can find my current KFT decklists with deck codes in this neat album: Spark's KFT Decks
Here are my winrates with the deck:
Now that the meta has stabilized, I feel like the deck has a harder time performing consistently. It is somewhat vulnerable to more aggressive decks, like the popular Token Druid, but remains pretty solid against slower decks, like the even more popular Jade Druid. If you manage to pilot it properly, it is still a decent pick to climb the ladder while having some good times with the Deathrattle synergies and the Build-A-Beast hero power from Deathstalker Rexxar.
Deck Breakdown
Alleycat, Kindly Grandmother, Crackling Razormaw, Animal Companion, Rat Pack, Houndmaster and Savannah Highmane – Staple Beasts that you generally want to play on curve. Those are your bread and butter minions to fight for board control and pressure your opponent throughout the game.
Kill Command and Eaglehorn Bow – Control tools to keep your momentum when ahead or try and comeback when behind. Eaglehorn Bow is very useful in the midgame and can add some face damage while Kill Command can deal with mid-sized body or burst your opponent for lethal damage.
Mistress of Mixtures – It might seem conter-intuitive to run this card in a Hunter deck but it is actually very useful in this one because the gameplan is much slower than usual. As evoked earlier, the deck is vulnerable to Aggro decks, so it's pretty much a mandatory inclusion to fight for board control in the early game. The 2/2 body helps a lot dealing with aggressive decks and the healing effect can help you survive smorc strategies. Against slower decks, it is still useful to have an early board presence and deal with their first few minions. In some rare scenarios, you might want to consider holding on it if you're close to lethal and slowly getting out-valued by your opponent.
Loot Hoarder – As the deck runs a slower and more value-oriented playstyle, the draw mechanism helps a lot fishing for your late game threats while the 2/1 body is still a decent way of contesting the board early on.
Barnes – Considering the amount of deathrattle minions in the deck, Barnes feels like a natural inclusion. The Lich King is obviously another great target and Corpse Widow can be a good one as well if you have a deathrattle to play right away. The 3/4 and 1/1 bodies are already pretty decent for a mid game play anyway. Replaced with Stitched Tracker to get the small body earlier while still generating value.
Arfus – This one feels a bit slow as the 2/2 body isn't so good at contesting the board but it still has the Beast status to trigger the synergies you need and the deathrattle can be life-saving as the Death Knight cards are generally pretty powerful. Also note that Army of the Dead can be an incredibly powerful up-tempo play compared to other decks running The Lich King. Replaced with Stitched Tracker to get the small body earlier while still generating value.
Corpse Widow – This card synergizes extremelly well with the deck while coming in with very solid 4/6 Beast body. You can combine it with Kindly Grandmother and Loot Hoarder on turn 5 but you shouldn't wait for this scenario to drop it as the body itself is already pretty pressuring. The threat of getting a 4-cost Savannah Highmane will frighten your opponent and it can potentially open up a free way for an unswered turn 6 Savannah Highmane if your opponent wastes resources and tempo on Corpse Widow.
N'Zoth, the Corruptor – N'Zoth gives you the last breath you need to beat Control decks if the game extends for too long. Reviving Savannah Highmane is obviously huge and the rest of your sticky deathrattle minions can swarm the board for a quick lethal. Note that it can also revive some powerful Zombeast you built previously.
Deathstalker Rexxar – This card fits the slower playstyle perfectly as the hero power will give you infinite value to make sure you can have a powerful play each turn. The Battlecry is also very useful to deal with swarm strategies or unfavorable board states as Hunter lacks board clear options. You generally don't want to play too early if you can keep up your momentum instead as it doesn't generate much tempo when it comes to play, aside from the Battlecry. So generally you want to drop it when there is a good spot for the Battlecry, as an answer to Living Mana for example, and then use the hero power to out-value your opponent turn after turn.
The Lich King – Another nice late game threats that can generate value with the Death Knight cards. The fact that it has taunt also comes in handy as you don't have many taunts to wall off aggression and prevent lethal in the late game aside from Houndmaster and the potential Zombeasts you can have.
The Black Knight – An incredibly strong tech card in the current meta as most of the decks are playing valuable taunts and/or The Lich King at the moment. It basically acts as a Deadly Shot against lonely taunts while generating tempo with the 4/5 body. I honestly feel like it is a very important tool to have in order to beat Jade Druid and Murloc Paladin. If you don't have it and don't want to craft it, Spellbreaker is a fine replacement but you can also consider one of the cards listed below ;)
Considerations & Replacements
If you're not a big fan of the slower playstyle of the deck or facing too many aggressive decks, or simply missing some of the cards, you can consider some of the swaps below. Hungry Crab and Golakka Crawler are especially useful if you face too many Murloc Paladin and Pirate Warrior while Bonemare is a very strong card overall if you want to go for a straightforward Midrange gameplan.
Potential cut
Mistress of Mixtures, Loot Hoarder, Rat Pack, Stitched Tracker, The Black Knight, The Lich King, N'Zoth, the Corruptor.
Potential inclusion
Jeweled Macaw, Hungry Crab, Golakka Crawler, Dire Wolf Alpha, Bearshark, Arfus, Barnes, Infested Wolf, Princess Huhuran, Tundra Rhino, Nesting Roc, Bonemare, Swamp King Dred, Tracking, Hunter's Mark, Deadly Shot.
Mulligan Strategy
As always, Hunter revolves on getting a good curve to fight for board control and keep up the momentum until the late game. You desperately need to mulligan aggressively for 1-drops and 2-drops, especially against aggressive decks. You can go for some 3-drops as well against slower decks or if you have The Coin, or simply if your hand is good already. I still tend to keep one 3-drop against faster decks when I have to re-roll the rest of my hand, just to make sure I can at least drop something on turn 3.
Always keep
Alleycat, Mistress of Mixtures, Kindly Grandmother, Crackling Razormaw, Loot Hoarder.
Situational keep
Eaglehorn Bow, Animal Companion, Rat Pack, Stitched Tracker.
I hope you'll enjoy the deck as much as I do and maybe it can help you reach Legend this season while having some good fun. Don't forget to show your support by upvoting the deck if you liked and don't hesitate to discuss about it or ask any question in the comment section below ;)
Follow me for more content and updates!
- Twitter : SparkazHS
- Facebook : Spark Hearthstone
- Youtube : Spark Hearthstone
- Twitch : SparkazHS
- Hearthpwn : Sparkaz's Decks
- Coaching: Sparkaz Sensei
The deck is indeed unfavored against those, it doesn't mean you can't win against them though (see my winrates..)
What about switch loot hoarder for infest? it will help with amount of cards later
You don't have enough minions on board to get good Infest value, you don't want to rely on it as well, and you need to cycle your deck to get the Deathstalker Rexxar, Highmane, Lich King and Zoth. Moreover Loot Hoarder gives another 2-drop to the deck.
Infest is just bad for this deck.
i really liked the idea too, but seems not reliable at the end
I dont have the rat pack and the black knight what can i replace those with?
Rat Pack can be replaced with Bearshark, but you'll lose on the deathrattle synergies unfortunately =/ You could go for some more early Beasts suggested in the replacement section as well. Infested Wolf could work to keep the deathrattle synergies but it's a bit slower.
TBK can be replaced by anything from the list honestly. See what fits the best for you. Deadly Shot if you need the single target removal, Bonemare if you want a solid late game threat + taunt, etc..
I replaced Rat Pack with Shaky Zipgunner. I found it to be a better replacement than the Bearshark as I often find myself choosing a bearshark body when crafting zombeasts.
Good to see another Sparkaz deck! I loved your prior Beast master decks, been wanting to try my DK Rexxar, I will let you know how it goes, thanks for sharing...
P.S. 1st match was against a Jade Rogue with Valeera DK and my opponent got DK Rexxar of a Huckster was a fun match, I had my Rexxar out early so was able to win.
Thanks for the support mate :) I'll probably come up with another Hunter next season that is more straightforward full Beast oriented (still using DK).
Haha must have been a very fun match indeed!
Just wanted to chime in Spark that I have too have always followed you from your early days of the beast master decks. You have a great mind for Hunter.
Oh! Thanks for the love, very much appreciate. It's always a pleasure to read comments like that, I'll keep this up :D
man I wish I had the rexxar dk.. but I just dont want to craft him :/
Yeah he is so much fun, but since Hunter is not that good overall I wouldn't recommend crafting it if you're on a budget :(
Sparkaz, I've always loved your decks since I first played your Demonlock way back in GVG(?). This one is yet another big hit for me as N'Zoth has always been one of my favourite cards and Deathstalker Rexxar is the coolest of all the DKs. Although I've had plenty of legit wins against smart players and strong decks, lemme recount a hilarious game I just had.
I'm up against a rogue. I play Mistress T1 knowing rogues have tempo shenanigans and maybe I can bait out a backstab. The rogue coins out Thalnos against me T1 and Backstabs. No idea why. He then proceeds to Cold Blood it and use Razorpetal Lasher petals and Eviscerates to race my face while Sapping the minions I put down. I'm in huge trouble and he manages to bring me to 1 health all the while telling me that it was a good game instead of realizing his absurd luck.
Well anyway, I'm not out yet. Ram my Rat Pack into Thalnos and Houndmaster one of the rats. He has double hallucination and draws tracking. Surely I'm screwed. He gets a Fiery Bat with the other hallucination and hopes to high hell that RNG will smile on him and the deathrattle will hit my face when it inevitably dies, all the while not attacking my taunt with his Lasher. Well it turns out that the DR does hit me in the face. Unfortunately for him, it only does so due to my playing Deathstalker Rexxar. Now with my 4 armor to hide behind and a 3/3 taunt, I swing the tempo with a massive Corpse Widow turn and finish him off the next turn.
Dammit I love this deck. Thanks for it!
Thanks a lot for the love and support, I'm glad you enjoy my decks <3
Haha this Rogue, seem to play really weird games xD Deathstalker Rexxar can bring some good comeback against aggressive players indeed thanks to the board clear and armor up :)
Hey Sparkaz, what would you drop for +2 Bonemare?
Probably N'Zoth and The Lich King but as evoked in the guide, I would probably swap out more of the early deathrattles (mistress, loot hoarder, rat pack etc..) for more aggressive minions (crabs, bearshark etc..)
I find once I begin crafting zombeasts, I don't have mana to play any further large cost creatures like the Bonemare.
Deathwing is good here - helps much in latter stages. Try swapping it instead of one Mistress or something cheap.
I've considered running The Curator + Deathwing at some point and playtested a bit, can be nice if you want to beat Jade Druid late game but it's harder to justify with all the late game package. Could be an idea to explore further ;)