With no warning,.. Arrows, traps, and trustworthy companions strike the fear in the hearts of your enemies before they even realize what is going on.
With wills of iron and wits to discern, only you shall determine when the hunt begin.

 

---

Table of Contents:

• Key Cards • Flavor Cards • The Traps • Tamed Neutrals • The Finishers
• Naxx • GvG • BRM • TGT
• Popular Decks
• General Strategy
• FAQ

---

Key Cards

       

• Hunter's Mark: The trusted removal that opponents always take into consideration before playing any big/important minion. Its 0 cost allows for more options and plays while using it as efficient as possible.
• Webspinner: Arguably the best 1 drop in the game. Synergizes with Undertaker and Feign Death for its deathrattle, handy for synergizing with all beast related Hunter cards, and gives you a beast upon death. Simply value in its genuine form.
• Animal Companion: Despite the randomness, it's still the best 3 drop for Hunter. A 4/2 charge for aggression, 4/4 taunt for protection, or 2/4 +1 buff for pressure.
  
• Eaglehorn Bow: Secrets ally and a huge tempo swinger that is great to take out small minions or target the opponent's face. A must have for efficiency and momentum.
• Kill Command: The strongest & most important straightforward spell for taking out threats or finishing off enemy heroes.
• Unleash the Hounds: They chase enemy minions whenever they go! A fearsome card that all other classes tend to play around. Used to be considered the best combo piece (with Starving Buzzard) Hunter has, the more cheesy your opponent's board gets, the more cards your hand fills. After the Starving Buzzard nerf, now it's used in combos with Knife Juggler, and Cult Master instead.
• Houndmaster: Beasts' guardian and best friend. To protect and serve!
• Savannah Highmane: Hunters' strongest late game win condition Legendary disguised in the form of a Rare!.. A must have for any midrange iteration.

---

Flavor Cards

 

• Timber Wolf: Decent for aggression buff while own board is at least half full. Or buff synergy with Unleash the Hounds for burst or taking out aggro decks' small minions.
• Tracking: Considered to be one of the most valuable cards in Hearthstone. Its ability allows for securing a current situation or even secure the win (not advised in most of the current non-combo midrange iterations though).
• Flare: Gives Hunter the advantage above all other classes to reveal all in play enemy secrets, expose all stealthed minions, in addition to cycling for a card. Great against Freeze Mage, mirror Hunter, and Secret Paladin.
• Scavenging Hyena: A miracle doer and deceased friendly beasts avenger. Has super synergy with Unleash the Hounds (best works in the beast synergy combo archetype that is not viable since the nerf of Starving Buzzard).
  
• Deadly Shot: More than efficient against control decks that mostly play only one big minion most turns.

---

The Traps

         

• Explosive Trap: Hunter's sole AoE. Considered by many as a 2 mana Consecration. Great against zoo and aggro decks (mind Nerubian Eggs).
  
• Freezing Trap: A tremendous tempo advantage spell that almost does away with the trapped minion. It puts the opponent in a hot water position, to go as planned and re-play that minion and lose tempo, or to play a less efficient option (Trapped Doomguard makes opponent mourn the game!).
  
• Misdirection: Used to be seen a lot in face Hunter. Since one rarely has that many minions on the field in this archetype, it helps reduce the damage directed to own face and assists in doing so to the enemy hero or their minions instead. But due to being very situational, it rarely can be seen after Naxx release. Best case scenario for this trap, own side of the board is clear, opponent has only one big minion that is going to hit your hero; it hits their own face instead of yours.
  
• Snake Trap: Basically a 3/3 stats for 2 mana. Even better, since the opponent triggered it (through attacking with a weapon or a minion into one of your minions) it implies that they most likely do not have a removal spell (not to mention AoE), and even if they have one, it forces them to waste it, or else, leaves you with a 3 bestial resources for many synergies. Used to have a valuable great synergy with Starving Buzzard in play.
  (Snake Trap has witnessed a renaissance contribution in Hunter after the Starving Buzzard nerf. It has an incredibly valuable synergy with Knife Juggler for damage, Cult Master for card draw, in addition to securing you a beast on board for Houndmaster or beast required spell cards).
• Snipe: A considerable choice for controllish midrange archetypes. The problem with this secret is the absolute unpredictable trigger occurrences. Its huge value can be seen when sniping an Azure Drake or Gadgetzan Auctioneer, however, the worst case scenario is sniping an Argent Squire (or hatching a Nerubian Egg).
• Bear Trap: A lovable new addition to the secret value arsenal. The Ironfur Grizzly it summons upon proc-ing helps in synergizing with a varied sorts of cards, in addition to adding another layer of confusion to the opponent's decision making- considering other Hunter secrets.

---

Tamed Neutrals

     

• Ironbeak Owl: Has always proven efficient to run x1, specially with the rise of more targets to silence. In addition to the nice bonus of being a beast itself.
• Knife Juggler: One of the renaissance contributors to the Hunter comeback after the nerf downfall. Has super synergy with Unleash the Hounds, sacrificed Haunted Creeper, and Snake Trap.
• Cult Master: Relatively efficiently replaced the unplayable over-nerfed Starving Buzzard. Synergizes well with every token on board including Hounds, Snakes, and Spectral Spiders.
• Stranglethorn Tiger: The lurked inevitable threat and Miracle Rogue's biggest nuisance. Punishes for 5, one bite at a time. Best fits more aggressive midrange iterations.
• Sea Giant: The surprise factor this card represents can sometimes close out games. Yet as a huge table flipper, it has to be considered to be included when there is a meta not that infested with Big Game Hunter. It synergizes magnificently with Unleash the Hounds, Snake Trap, Spectral Spiders, in addition to every single minion your opponent has. They barely can handle a Savannah Highmane, now they have to deal with an average of four mana Giant as well!
• Deathwing: He isn't really Tamed, but he likes destruction, and so do we. As previously mentioned, despite representing a huge surprise factor, yet a delicacy of choice has to be made where there isn't a metagame with almost a mandatory Big Game Hunter where your opponent expects Dr. Boom from your end as a midrange hunter. Deathwing has seen a lot of success after the nerf of Starving Buzzard and not being able to find an as efficient replacement to it for card draw. And since Hunter started to rely more on tempo, Deathwing represent a tremendous option to relatively comeback from a disastrous situation or clear the board for extra safety against combo decks as you approach to close out the game. That where it can be played on barely little to no board or card cost at all due to lacking card draw and only depending on top decking for the rest of the game. Just make sure not to play it while your opponent has Sylvanas Windrunner on board!
  (Worth mentioning that he doesn't really get along with Annoy-o-Tron).

---

The Finishers

• Leeroy Jenkins: Used to be the most reliable non-beast minion in both midrange and face Hunter. Aside from being one of the strongest Legendaries in the entire game by itself, its synergy with Unleash the Hounds is immense. Makes it the #1 best finisher for Hunter.
• King Krush: Despite having a special place in the hearts of Hunter lovers, KK's cost has always been the only problem of running it. Midrange cannot afford spending a whole late game turn on one minion (as even the weakest taunts prevent it from operating as intended), while aggro should never wait that much. However, when some -hard- conditions are met, it's the ultimate prestigious punisher to finish off your opponent.

---

Naxx Value

     

• Webspinner: Regardless of the Deathrattle randomness, its core value lies within the low mana cost. So, in addition to giving you a random beast (that requires some adaption on the fly), it greatly helps activate other beast synergy required cards, or simply fill a mana space.
  
• Haunted Creeper: Directly found its way to the 2 mana spot. Despite the fact that 1 attack / 2 health isn't really a big deal, opponents usually tend to leave it as it is, as killing it makes the problem worse (two 1/1 Spectral Spiders). So it sticks to the board as a beast for synergies, and gives you two tokens after death.
  
• Mad Scientist: Unbelievable in every single value aspect. Efficient mana cost, incredible tempo gaining, and deck thinning for more tangible draws. A must have. Irreplaceable. Literally insane.
• Sludge Belcher: One of Naxxramas' treasure most efficient pieces. Sturdy tempo tank, protects friendly low health minions and tokens, in addition to slowing down enemy aggro decks' rush.
• Loatheb: Ranked as one of the top 5 best Hearthstone legendaries. As a midrange Hunter, preserving both a healthy board and keeping on pressuring the opponent's lifespan is not an easy job. However, with the assist of this value king, he secures own board from AoE sweepers, pauses the opponent's progression, and in most cases, simply locking the game for your pre-finishing blast.

---

GvG Power

       

• Feign Death: Introduces to Hunter a new mechanic that is first to be introduced to the game itself, which from the first look, implifies a targeted intention to push Hunter towards a more controllish playstyle. This spell however, as previously mentioned, best works in the control archetype, as in the aggressive one, you wouldn't really find the luxury of having enough minions (that are mostly small) sticking to the board long enough to use it on them. Yet, in the control one, the huge value and unbelievable strength can be seen when casting it while having a decent board that includes Sylvanas Windrunner and/or Savannah Highmane or any other strong deathrattle minion such as Sneed's Old Shredder. Note that casting Feign Death doesn't kill your minions to trigger their deathrattles nor does it deprive them that effect afterwards, and that's the core insanity of how powerful it can get on a decent board of your own.
  
  
• Steamwheedle Sniper: Sustains the suggested concept of having a more controlling Hunters around, as one of the main reasons Hunter used to be a completely unviable control class, is that its heropower couldn't influence the board by any mean. The mana cost in addition to the stats distribution of this card make it handy and slightly sticky (compared to 2 mana 3/2) for its intended purpose (2 mana 1/4 would have been the real deal though).
  
  
• Gahz'rilla: Seals the deal for a control Hunter archetype. Aside from the effect, the health and attack stats distribution relative to the mana cost deserve an Oscar!.. The value it introduces (aside from being solid enough on board even if silenced) is requiring a huge effort from the opponent to get rid of it -as long as they don't have Big Game Hunter or direct hard removal-, or else it can simply conclude the game for you with a wide smile on your face. (Dr. Boom still provides more value than her though in both control and midrange archetypes thanks to the all mighty Boom Bots).
  
  
• Glaivezooka: On the contrary of the previous three cards, this weapon has been chosen to add some value to faster Hunter decks. Its low cost along side with the vanilla +1 attack to a minion, contribute to adding some extra pressure on the opponent, as every point of damage counts in these kind of decks.
  
  
• Piloted Shredder: One of the greatest neutral minions introduced in the Goblins vs Gnomes expansion. The value it presents makes it a must include in almost all midrange decks for utmost tempo efficiency. And it still holds its glorious position even after the release of Hungry Dragon in the Blackrock Mountain adventure.

---

Blackrock Heat

• Quick Shot: The latest 2 mana deal 3 damage spell blessing a class receives. Despite being more than decent to assist the always sought control Hunter, yet, to milk the most value out of it, it has to be run in faster Hunter archetypes. In face Hunter for example, there is always the high chance to empty your hand by the mid to late game specially against the sturdy classes that tend to put on some fight and refuse to just roll over and die. However, despite this value goodness of both dealing damage and drawing a card, it is not always going to be that comforting, since you most of the time are likely to hold cards such as Ironbeak Owl and Kill Command for the optimum chance and most efficient timing to use.
  Despite the fact that Hunter hasn't benefited much from Blackrock Mountain compared to Naxxramas and GvG, however, Hunter archetypes in general can't ask for more precious treat than this glamorous piece of diamond.

---

The Grand Tournament Push

         

• King's Elekk: A perfectly designed card to give Hunter some little push towards a more non-face playstyle. Its sheer value is rather tremendous: decent stats relative to cost, Beast tagged for synergy, in addition to the considerable possibility of actually drawing a card whenever winning its Joust. Value creep confirmed!
• Bear Trap: Even though its Bear isn't particularly the kind of teddy you would wanna hug, yet, it gives your opponent the kind of unease necessary to miss up bit of their plans and resources given other Hunter secrets- puzzled between attacking your hero, your minions, or simply not attack at all. Also perfect as a board beast resource for synergy with a wide variety of cards, or simply applying more pressure on the opponent's lifespan.
• Lock and Load: Had its share of hype due to the high value potential. Yet to see some solid play outside of the experiments here and there.
• Ram Wrangler: Jumps here and there every now and then in some midrange beasts-based decks. The value is more than considerable, but the issue lies within the cost and condition.
• Dreadscale: This is supposed to be a Hunter legendary for some reason. Well, the reason is actually trying to push some control iteration to rise. Can have some potential though when thought of out of the usual box like in synergy with Acolyte of Pain or Hunter's Mark. Anyways, at the end of the day, it is way WAY more reasonable and practical than its infuriatingly whimsical sibling Acidmaw.
• Powershot: A special mention to a cool card that might just take way longer time until seeing some solid play. It's just Hunter hasn't had the necessary tools yet to keep up with such cards when using them.

---

Latest Popular Decks

(Make sure to click on the name of the deck that appeals you to open its page for a detailed guide.)
(Decks are sorted from Newest to Oldest in each archetype.)

---

General Strategy

• Midrange: The core strength of this archetype is its ability to shift back and forth between control and aggro according to your evaluation of the current situation. Unlike other classes, Hunter's Hero Power (advantage) allows for altering to aggro without much fear if you ever decide to go for the face. That usually happens when you find yourself running out of steam, no longer realistic to control the board, or there is little or no hope to bring some combo pieces together (disadvantage), so you depend on the board resources you already have plus the Hero Power.
  The idea is to preserve tempo as much as possible, while preparing for the come back or finishing blast according to which iteration you run. That while keeping on pressuring and threatening your opponent's lifespan while only making the most efficient trades according to your evaluation.
  
  
  
• Face: Again, Steady Shot proves its high importance and efficiency for this class. Its nature along side with the strong Secrets and rechargeable Eaglehorn Bow allow for both being extremely aggressive (through mostly only targeting face, unlike zoo) while at the same time being able to preserve some tempo and slight control through Secrets (while keeping the opponent busy taking out your minions).
  But despite its strength (and after many Hunter class specific cards nerf), the playstyle has become even harder to operate. In other words, the previously dominant archetype has sat back allowing for the one originally made to best fit Hunter above all else to prevail (Midrange).
  
  

  "The biggest thing with face Hunter is getting the Hero Power off as much as possible. For instance, instead of playing a Wolfrider or Arcane Golem for 3 damage on turn 4, it would be better to hero power and play a 2 drop. You can't get the hero power of turn 4 back but that charge minion's damage can be used at any time, preferably in combination with a hero power.
  The only time you make trades is if it is something that will stop your damage later. For instance, a Wild Pyromancer or Knife Juggler could end up stopping more damage than the 1 or 2 that it takes to kill it off." - Quote from ur2ezchaos.

  
  
• Post-nerf strategies: After the nerf of Starving Buzzard (up from 2 mana 2/1 to 5 mana 3/2) it has become exceedingly difficult to have an appropriate draw mechanic with it, whether through Unleash the Hounds combo or any low mana beasts (specially for a class that heavily depends on the card draw for synergy -as its minions and spells are mostly useless by themselves-, and lacks versatile considerable answers and AoE to make a comeback) which has led to the catastrophic result of instead of encouraging players (specially new ones) to play the game of minion-trading and longer game strategies, it instead has done away with that aspect (along side with beast synergy concept based decks) and forced them to be directed to the aggro/face archetypes again.
  Starving Buzzard can currently be replaced by Cult Master (with a less efficient influence as you have to trade/sacrifice your minions and tokens first), or replaced by Acolyte of Pain+Wild Pyromancer+any spell combo.
  In some faster decks, neither of the previously mentioned replacements are actually used, instead, they only depend on tempo and reducing the opponent's health as much as possible (while only making the most efficient trades) and try to finish them off as fast as possible.
  Despite the lack of card draw, it has proven promising to relatively save Hunter from the abyss it has been thrown into.

---

FAQ

• • Q: Tracking: What is good about it?! It discards two cards!

  A: Hunter usually doesn't need its entire deck to do away with the opponent. The benefits of Tracking include:
  • Searching for a needed combo piece.
  • Looking for a card to eliminate a threat.
  • Mulligan for a card to play on turn 2 or 3 if you have a completely terrible hand.
  • Filtering your deck in the late game by getting rid of two cards that might be weak, for more tangible draws.

  Q: Can I just toss it as a turn 1 card draw or if I have a floating mana?

  A: Better not to. Tracking value is immense, and doing away with that advantage can cost you the game. Keep it as long as you do not need it.
  
  --

  • Q: Tundra Rhino, Stampeding Kodo, Stranglethorn Tiger: Which is the best 5 drop beast among these three? I'm really confused!

  A: Despite the effect of Rhino, it hardly finds the space and time to work efficiently as intended. Its cost doesn't allow for that many beast plays even on turn 10, and the attention it draws makes it the very first target to get rid of on the opponent's turn.
  Instead, Kodo has a considerable instant value, while Tiger can be used for a more aggressively solid play style.
  
  --

  • Q: Multi-Shot, Explosive Shot: Are they good enough to run?

  A: Not in constructed!.. These two cards are very costly for their effect. A whole 4 mana for randomly hitting two minions (and getting rid of them) is very situational, specially if either of the hit minions has above 3 health.
  And the same problem with the whole 5 mana Shot that is mostly used to hit a 5 -or more- health minion regardless of the adjacent ones, while Kill Command can gladly do that job for only 3 mana (while of course having any beast in play) and that includes the enemy Hero.
  
  --

  • Q: Starving Buzzard: It used to be in the Key Cards section, what happened?

  A: This is not even a playable card anymore.
  
  --

  • Q: Is control Hunter a viable option?

  A: Control certainly has seen better days!.. Control Hunter is fun to play but definitely not as efficient as other solid control decks of other classes. You can have a huge dose of fun and get a decent share of wins, but to have fun and actually hit legend with it- requires true mastery of the Hunter class.

---

Great post! I want to start things off by creating a discussion around a few cards, if the OP thinks it's appropriate for this thread.

With all of this Hunter nerfing going on, and the amount of crazy powerful legendaries out there King Krush really should be only 6, 7, or 8 mana cost.  It's a legendary, so it's cost scale is not the same as Epic/Rare/Uncommon/Common whatever.  How is Ysera 9 cost for 4/12 with BS crazy card draw, yet this is an 8/8 for 9 with only Charge to make it special? Someone over in Blizzard's Hearthstone department is a Hunter-hater.  Leeroy Jenkins is a 6/2 summons two 1/1 whelps for 4 cost... so make King Krush an 8/6 for 7 cost or even just an 8/8 for 8.  Hunter has no natural healing or armor how does a nine drop minion even pass as a viable class-specific unique? It doesn't! Who actively seeks out to craft King Krush to enhance their options as a Hunter? No one.  Kel'Thuzad brings everyone back to life all day every day is a 6/8 for 8... so maybe make King Krush a 6/8 for 8... maybe even 7!  This card definitely needs to be reworked to become actually viable.

And Explosive Shot can be an amazing turn five answer to aggro/zoo/face decks (especially combined with some type of spell-power increase).  Not too many Control Hunter decks exist, but Explosive shot would be a staple if people ever started using them.

Hey there! Another oft-neglected advantage of Tracking is that sometimes you want the discard. Tracking on Turn 8+? You probably have almost no need for that Haunted Creeper anymore.