Hunter is really strong if you get the elekk, the arcane shot and the companion - so the early game cards. But my god, did I had to concede plenty of games where I had no plays to make before turns 5 or even 6, and it was infuriating.
I'm surprised, though, to still see many people play the mage as control, not realising that they are the beatdown against this lategame-strong hunter deck. They keep trading and trading and then surprised that the hunter takes the lategame.
It really isn't as clear cut as that; the haphazard way in which both decks have been constructed makes your role in the game heavily dependent upon your draws.
I think the Hunter deck requires more skill to play well, whereas the Mage deck can pretty much run on autopilot. People who say that Mage deck is better are just not good enough to pilot the Hunter deck properly.
My luck has been awful. Lost every match as mage and every time my opponent jousts they win. Managed 2 hunter wins then every time I jousted it came out bad for me.
Seriously though, who designed that Hunter deck? It's so poorly made, I think a basic hunter deck is better than that one. It's so unfair it has no 1 cost minions, but then it has that Elephant 3/2 that is really bad, other than that you are just sitting there praying your mage opponent got a crappy hand so you can stall until turn 5 and a up to actually start dropping good minions, if not, well, Well played because the mage is gonna have a bunch of buffed up inspired guys by turn 5.
Don't even get me started on that Legendary 4/2 Acidmaw... Wow, just wow.
Maybe you just suck at the game? I played 4 with hunter and didn't lose once. Also, Acidmaw + Unleash the Hounds is a great board clear.
A turn 10 combo for a creature that isn't that good? Amazing psynergy.
How hunter can beat a good mage player ( aka me ) Turn 2: Mandatory to have the 3/2 guy. Turn 4-5: First lock and load combo mandatory with unleash Turn 9-10: Second lock and load combo mandatory, again with uth.
Joust largely doesn't matter. The only times I've lose is when the hunter's draw was just BANANAS or through a randomly lucky Ram Wrangler making a king krush. No intelligence here.
I think the Hunter deck requires more skill to play well, whereas the Mage deck can pretty much run on autopilot. People who say that Mage deck is better are just not good enough to pilot the Hunter deck properly.
No, thinking the mage deck is "as good" means YOU don't know how to play the mage deck properly. The hunter deck is all combo, removal and garbage minions.
SO as mage all you have to do is just drop 1-2 minions at a time and use hero power a bunch. As long as the hunter's draw isn't completely insane, which is most games, you will slowly just gain too much value from him to deal with you. Then late game you get to just drop free 8/8s while hunter sits there with garbage 5/9s that die for free.
Mage has better minions, better removal, better synergy and a better hero power. If you play correctly, it takes a big bullshit sandwich to lose.
My record after about 40 games was 75% win rate with mage vs about 40% with hunturd.
I must be doing something horribly wrong, I've gotten Medievh 6 times in a row, and got completely crushed all six times. Pretty frustrating, no lies. Acidmaw + Unleash the Hounds has flat out turned a game from likely victory to a guaranteed loss three times in those six games.
The key to play this hunter is to play midrange/control instead of aggro. You have early and mid game removal, great card-draw-combo mechanic and late game finishers. Be patient, control the game and don't let the Mage develop board.
I won with hunter in the only brawl I did, but I agree on the hunter needing to play control. Mage has nothing if you keep playing control and trading.
the brawl seems slightly more unbalanced even than Ragnaros vs. Nefarian, but the OP made me facepalm pretty hard by wanting 1-drop minions and complaining about King's Elekk in the same breath...I don't even...
I don't mind premade brawl decks being unbalanced though. playing as Rag/Alleria is a fun challenge. I did win nearly half my games with Rag (about 46%) while I'm not doing as well with Alleria (currently about 39%) though. sample size with Alleria isn't as big yet (18 games vs 56), so things could change, but its still big enough that I expect the rate to remain relatively stable barring some streaks. winning nearly 80% with the stronger deck makes winning 40-45% with the weaker deck look both better and worse at once, somehow. it means both that I'm winning half as often with the weak deck as I am with the strong one, but at the same time I'm winning twice as often with the weak deck as my opponents are with that same weak deck.
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"Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear turns into a cat and eats you." - Anonymous Druid
it's actually quite balanced. and the 3\2 elephant is the best card in that deck.
Yup. Hard mulligan for that and arcane shot.
Probably keep lock and load. Not sure yet.
Basically with hunter you're hoping to go second, have arcane shot and draw into UTH + lock and load. Then you're hoping you get luck pulls from lock and load and from the mage's spellslinger.
Then you're praying for one single turn in the game where you get to stick one minion. Lol.
I won with hunter in the only brawl I did, but I agree on the hunter needing to play control. Mage has nothing if you keep playing control and trading.
It's the opposite actually. For instance mage has the 4/4 guy that gets +2/+2 with inspire. So if mage just drops that, hunter can only remove it with hunter's mark + something.
That's the general trend. So as mage, just drop 1 big guy at a time and it's not long until hunter runs out of cards or has to just lock and load for like ...2 things.
Mage has infinite big minion removal too so you can just sit there waiting for hunter to die. As mage you really just want to avoid flooding the board, basically. That's the only way you lose as then hunter can unleash + lock and load + hunter's marks and then later, acid maw + unleash your entire board.
But if all you do is just drop a Coldarra drake, hunter loses. Hunter's traps are all useless too and easy to play around. Just don't attack, he usually has to trade into you anyway because your minions are infinitely better. Hunter really needs an insanely lucky turn of events to start pressuring you while having a freezing trap up, for instance. Very rarely happens and it's usually the result of some insanely frustrating draw + RNG luckfest.
I won with hunter in the only brawl I did, but I agree on the hunter needing to play control. Mage has nothing if you keep playing control and trading.
It's the opposite actually. For instance mage has the 4/4 guy that gets +2/+2 with inspire. So if mage just drops that, hunter can only remove it with hunter's mark + something.
That's the general trend. So as mage, just drop 1 big guy at a time and it's not long until hunter runs out of cards or has to just lock and load for like ...2 things.
Mage has infinite big minion removal too so you can just sit there waiting for hunter to die. As mage you really just want to avoid flooding the board, basically. That's the only way you lose as then hunter can unleash + lock and load + hunter's marks and then later, acid maw + unleash your entire board.
But if all you do is just drop a Coldarra drake, hunter loses. Hunter's traps are all useless too and easy to play around. Just don't attack, he usually has to trade into you anyway because your minions are infinitely better. Hunter really needs an insanely lucky turn of events to start pressuring you while having a freezing trap up, for instance. Very rarely happens and it's usually the result of some insanely frustrating draw + RNG luckfest.
I had a few guys try this against me (dropping the 5 mana 4/4 and trying to ping). It got sniped once, ignored trice to set up a 2 turn lethal, hunter's maker'd once, and traded with twice. Frankly, I have only ever twice had the mage be able to win (crazy rng from spell slinger one time, and straight up out aggro'd the other). I'm sitting on 13 wins out of 15 games with hunter, all you have to do is save removal for real threats and out tempo the mage who requires their hero power to get value. It took some time to get the hang of it, but the hunter dck is just too strong vs this inspire mage deck with no healing and little burst.
As a side not, I'v played 2, TWO games as mage (remember, 15 hunters games). Blizzard plz, i just want to check out inspire mechanics, y u doo dis?
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"Terribleness is part of greatness: let us not deceive ourselves." - Millhouse Manastorm
This just isn't true. My first 5 games, all hunter, all wins. I actually have a much better record with the Hunter deck. What you have to realise is that the "lock and load" based hunter deck is heavy control, it actually plays like priest. You want to keep clearing the Mage's stuff while saving up a lot of the 1 and 0 mana spells to use in a big combo on turn 7/8 with lock and load. The quality of your lock and load turn really determines your chances in the match. I think people are losing on Hunter cos they are trying to Smorc with a spell synergy deck.
I have, in about 20 tries, never had a decent Lock and Load draw. I get Cobra Shot, Core Rager, Metaltooth Leaper (he I have gotten at least 6 times) Call Pet, Feign Death, Flare, Snipe, and Bestial Wrath. Pretty cool! Also, that 5 drop guy who gives you beasts seems to really favor crabs and parrots!
The key to play this hunter is to play midrange/control instead of aggro. You have early and mid game removal, great card-draw-combo mechanic and late game finishers. Be patient, control the game and don't let the Mage develop board.
And exactly which cards that the hunter has allows them to prevent the mage from developing their board or controlling the game? I haven't played enough to know the entire deck, but have seen zero AOE clear at all, and the cheapest minion is 2. How exactly can you control anything given that you are pretty much at the mercy of your draws until turn 5 or so when you can actually combo something?
For hunter you have to mulligan for cheap cards, but that's no guarantee that you'll get them. Even if you do draw the elephant thingie, you can end up losing the joust afterwards which puts you even further behind. I don't see any way of the hunter controlling anything prior to turn 5+.
... The entire hunter deck is built around early removal and control and turn 4 or less plays it make up 16 slots in this deck so the odds of you getting a shit mulligan are rather low (for comparison, the mage deck has at most, 19 four or less mana plays). Arcane shot, 3/3 taunt for 2 mana, freezing trap, snipe, animal companion (has a 2/3 chance of giving you board control), unleash the hounds. In comparison, the mage deck has one early game removal charge creature (2 damage for 3 mana). If a mage is somehow able to get and maintain early board control, it's not because the mage deck is "better", it's because the hunter failed to use their natural early game advantage before the mage had enough mana to actually use their hero power inspire effects. Alleria's removal options are simply too efficient compared to Medivh's.
Also, King's Elekk is a 3/2 beast that has a chance to draw you another minion. You don't fall "even further behind" as a 2 mana 3/2 beast is on curve already. So not only are you not behind in the first place, but you don't fall further behind if you lose the joust. You can only get further ahead if you win the joust.
I played Mage today, threw down that Coldarra Drake and my hero power didnt become infinitely useable :( i swear thats what it mean on the card page: http://www.hearthpwn.com/cards/22261-coldarra-drake#gold
It really isn't as clear cut as that; the haphazard way in which both decks have been constructed makes your role in the game heavily dependent upon your draws.
I've actually preferred playing the hunter deck. Guess I've had good rng in regards to jousts but hunter has won more for me.
I think the Hunter deck requires more skill to play well, whereas the Mage deck can pretty much run on autopilot. People who say that Mage deck is better are just not good enough to pilot the Hunter deck properly.
My luck has been awful. Lost every match as mage and every time my opponent jousts they win. Managed 2 hunter wins then every time I jousted it came out bad for me.
A turn 10 combo for a creature that isn't that good? Amazing psynergy.
How hunter can beat a good mage player ( aka me )
Turn 2: Mandatory to have the 3/2 guy.
Turn 4-5: First lock and load combo mandatory with unleash
Turn 9-10: Second lock and load combo mandatory, again with uth.
Joust largely doesn't matter. The only times I've lose is when the hunter's draw was just BANANAS or through a randomly lucky Ram Wrangler making a king krush. No intelligence here.
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No, thinking the mage deck is "as good" means YOU don't know how to play the mage deck properly.
The hunter deck is all combo, removal and garbage minions.
SO as mage all you have to do is just drop 1-2 minions at a time and use hero power a bunch. As long as the hunter's draw isn't completely insane, which is most games, you will slowly just gain too much value from him to deal with you. Then late game you get to just drop free 8/8s while hunter sits there with garbage 5/9s that die for free.
Mage has better minions, better removal, better synergy and a better hero power. If you play correctly, it takes a big bullshit sandwich to lose.
My record after about 40 games was 75% win rate with mage vs about 40% with hunturd.
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it's actually quite balanced. and the 3\2 elephant is the best card in that deck.
I must be doing something horribly wrong, I've gotten Medievh 6 times in a row, and got completely crushed all six times. Pretty frustrating, no lies. Acidmaw + Unleash the Hounds has flat out turned a game from likely victory to a guaranteed loss three times in those six games.
The key to play this hunter is to play midrange/control instead of aggro. You have early and mid game removal, great card-draw-combo mechanic and late game finishers. Be patient, control the game and don't let the Mage develop board.
My name is kokoseq.
Hear it and tremble.
I won with hunter in the only brawl I did, but I agree on the hunter needing to play control. Mage has nothing if you keep playing control and trading.
the brawl seems slightly more unbalanced even than Ragnaros vs. Nefarian, but the OP made me facepalm pretty hard by wanting 1-drop minions and complaining about King's Elekk in the same breath...I don't even...
I don't mind premade brawl decks being unbalanced though. playing as Rag/Alleria is a fun challenge. I did win nearly half my games with Rag (about 46%) while I'm not doing as well with Alleria (currently about 39%) though. sample size with Alleria isn't as big yet (18 games vs 56), so things could change, but its still big enough that I expect the rate to remain relatively stable barring some streaks. winning nearly 80% with the stronger deck makes winning 40-45% with the weaker deck look both better and worse at once, somehow. it means both that I'm winning half as often with the weak deck as I am with the strong one, but at the same time I'm winning twice as often with the weak deck as my opponents are with that same weak deck.
"Sometimes you eat the bear, and sometimes the bear turns into a cat and eats you." - Anonymous Druid
Yup.
Hard mulligan for that and arcane shot.
Probably keep lock and load. Not sure yet.
Basically with hunter you're hoping to go second, have arcane shot and draw into UTH + lock and load. Then you're hoping you get luck pulls from lock and load and from the mage's spellslinger.
Then you're praying for one single turn in the game where you get to stick one minion. Lol.
But if all this goes well, you win. Sometimes.
Balance.
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It's the opposite actually.
For instance mage has the 4/4 guy that gets +2/+2 with inspire. So if mage just drops that, hunter can only remove it with hunter's mark + something.
That's the general trend. So as mage, just drop 1 big guy at a time and it's not long until hunter runs out of cards or has to just lock and load for like ...2 things.
Mage has infinite big minion removal too so you can just sit there waiting for hunter to die. As mage you really just want to avoid flooding the board, basically. That's the only way you lose as then hunter can unleash + lock and load + hunter's marks and then later, acid maw + unleash your entire board.
But if all you do is just drop a Coldarra drake, hunter loses. Hunter's traps are all useless too and easy to play around. Just don't attack, he usually has to trade into you anyway because your minions are infinitely better.
Hunter really needs an insanely lucky turn of events to start pressuring you while having a freezing trap up, for instance. Very rarely happens and it's usually the result of some insanely frustrating draw + RNG luckfest.
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I had a few guys try this against me (dropping the 5 mana 4/4 and trying to ping). It got sniped once, ignored trice to set up a 2 turn lethal, hunter's maker'd once, and traded with twice. Frankly, I have only ever twice had the mage be able to win (crazy rng from spell slinger one time, and straight up out aggro'd the other). I'm sitting on 13 wins out of 15 games with hunter, all you have to do is save removal for real threats and out tempo the mage who requires their hero power to get value. It took some time to get the hang of it, but the hunter dck is just too strong vs this inspire mage deck with no healing and little burst.
As a side not, I'v played 2, TWO games as mage (remember, 15 hunters games). Blizzard plz, i just want to check out inspire mechanics, y u doo dis?
"Terribleness is part of greatness: let us not deceive ourselves." - Millhouse Manastorm
I have, in about 20 tries, never had a decent Lock and Load draw. I get Cobra Shot, Core Rager, Metaltooth Leaper (he I have gotten at least 6 times) Call Pet, Feign Death, Flare, Snipe, and Bestial Wrath. Pretty cool! Also, that 5 drop guy who gives you beasts seems to really favor crabs and parrots!
And exactly which cards that the hunter has allows them to prevent the mage from developing their board or controlling the game? I haven't played enough to know the entire deck, but have seen zero AOE clear at all, and the cheapest minion is 2. How exactly can you control anything given that you are pretty much at the mercy of your draws until turn 5 or so when you can actually combo something?
For hunter you have to mulligan for cheap cards, but that's no guarantee that you'll get them. Even if you do draw the elephant thingie, you can end up losing the joust afterwards which puts you even further behind. I don't see any way of the hunter controlling anything prior to turn 5+.
... The entire hunter deck is built around early removal and control and turn 4 or less plays it make up 16 slots in this deck so the odds of you getting a shit mulligan are rather low (for comparison, the mage deck has at most, 19 four or less mana plays). Arcane shot, 3/3 taunt for 2 mana, freezing trap, snipe, animal companion (has a 2/3 chance of giving you board control), unleash the hounds. In comparison, the mage deck has one early game removal charge creature (2 damage for 3 mana). If a mage is somehow able to get and maintain early board control, it's not because the mage deck is "better", it's because the hunter failed to use their natural early game advantage before the mage had enough mana to actually use their hero power inspire effects. Alleria's removal options are simply too efficient compared to Medivh's.
Also, King's Elekk is a 3/2 beast that has a chance to draw you another minion. You don't fall "even further behind" as a 2 mana 3/2 beast is on curve already. So not only are you not behind in the first place, but you don't fall further behind if you lose the joust. You can only get further ahead if you win the joust.
"Terribleness is part of greatness: let us not deceive ourselves." - Millhouse Manastorm
This isn't remotely true. The Mage deck is complete garbage. Even with a sub par draw, hunter just runs it over.