I wonder whether Blizzard is afraid to give Hunters the cards which could handle all the imba cards the other classes receive all the time.
Don't get me wrong, Hunter is the class with which I have the most win by far, and I really enjoy playing it even though since several expansions we didn't receive cards which would synergize with the Hunter heropower. Rat Pack, Kindly Grandma, Corpse Widow, these are all fantastic cards but it can't change the fact that certain op cards counter the whole class immediately.
For example Spreading Plague is extremely crushing for the Hunters, even if you don't have that big of a board, if you have 3 minions which is solid but not that great, the Druid can still Plague than play Innervate and the Taunt buffer minion he has which can win the game immediately. Hunter simply doesn't have a good board clear or hence a single target removal. But even if you would have a removal try to kill 3x 3x7 taunt minions. And this is just one card, I don't even want to get started with Defile which is always there for Handlock Warlock, hence the other removals.
Sorry if I come of as bitching about the class, I know many players hate Hunters, especially because they still have PTSD from the Face Hunter era, but I think we could have some love as well. If you see that a class in Tier 4-5 for 3 expansions you clearly did something wrong Blizzard.
To don't just make my post complaining I post the deck that I use. It's nothing spectacular, a bit above 50% winrate but still some op decks counter it hard with just 1-2 lucky draws. In case you have suggestions how it could be improved I am all ears, especially because I am interested in what my Hunter brothers are running atm.
It's totally true. I like playing hunter because I like minion based games. But the amount of spell damage and AOE damage now is so massive that you can have a board wiped every turn. It's a shame. Blizzard wanted a "minion battle" game but then, because of their own balance issues, needs to keep punishing aggro and control
That's why they didn't made Toxic Arrow :"Give a minion poisonous and then deal 2 damage to it". It would've been extremely strong and also explosive bloat bat at least 3 mana. Also, every weapon class received a weapon this expansion but hunter has to struggle with 3 mana Fiery War Axe. As you can see, Rexxar is really strong and if he would've got some better tools hunter would dominate KFT easily. Also, if only Defile was in hunter class or Roll the Bones.. those seems more suitable for Hunter, while Toxic Arrow's text sounds just like a Warrior card...
Maybe Hunter is the worst class but it is by far the most fun class and this is why I like this class the most!
I am a hunter main as well. It's a little frustrating how Blizzard has made exactly 1 really powerful hunter card since the release of the game (call of the wild) and then nerfed it just a couple months later, yet has no problem released overpowered and broken card after card for the more control focused classes. Priest was weak for a couple expansions, Blizzard unloaded extremely powerful dragons and dragon synergy stuff on them to make priest playable again. Way back in the day when shaman was the worst class, Blizzard gave them lots of love in the next couple expacs and they were tier 1 after not too long.
I don't understand the lack of love for hunter. The class hasnt seen a single dominant deck since the undertaker nerf really, and that's been a long damn time.
I dont really see a problem...but thenagain im not playing very mainstream decks so...idk hunter seems balanced to me (im playing reno hunter, secret hunter and discard hunter)
I'm having a lot of fun with Reno hunter in Wild - the new DK really out values any other deck in the long run, maybe not Jade druid, but that deck is pretty dead.
Hunter lacks control cards there is not a single reliable board clear and taunt to hold opposite player back
Tho Hunter Dk is amazing I experimented with it and saw that literally every card is like crazy top deck but if you cannot draw the card it just sits in the deck while you are lacking minions.
I'm having a lot of fun with Reno hunter in Wild - the new DK really out values any other deck in the long run, maybe not Jade druid, but that deck is pretty dead.
You...i like you :D
Also question what do you use for card draw?
I don't run any card draw, which is probably bad since you often loose if you don't draw DK, but I use a lot of card generating cards - Jeweled Macaw, Webspinner, Grimstreet informant, Jeweled Scarab, Stitched Tracker (Great when you have double reno), Stonehill Defender, Arfus, The lich King. The problem I often encounter when I have the DK out is that I can't play my hand because it is full of 5+ cards. I use Emperor Thaurissan for more hand space xD
They tried to make hunter better, lock and load was one card they expected it to be a great one. They simply miscalculated the meta.
Hunter never will be a control hero, the hero power does not support that. They tried a few cards which change that, but it is simply not good enough. Hunter's weakness is the lack of AOE, you cannot play control without it.
Thanks, I will try it out for sure. I've had matches where my hand was full of 3 drops, however I really like Stitched Tracker. He can make sure your hand is not empty of threats. Usually I mulligan it at the beginning, later on however it can be game winning. Not sure about Unleash though.
Have you tried Toxic Arrow? Seems bad to me because most of the Hunter breasts can't take that 2 damage, and the Black Knight seems slow for what it does. The main problem is not a single Taunt for me, but several taunts at the same time like with Spreading Plague. My best handling for that is the lategame when Deathstalker Rexxar can fill my hand with Charge+Silence zombeasts. They are epic. :)
While I fully support Rexxar (my third favorite hero, behind rogue and warlock), I don't really think he is in such a bad spot now (Bloatbat should have been 3 mana or have charge, tho). I'm really looking forward to toy with Deathstalker Rexxar. Somehow, hunter is one of the funniest and dynamic classes in the whole game, a lot better than the always similar priest and their 11 steal control decks, or the mage, whose main difference is "when do you want the fireballs?"
It has pure aggro (which i played for a while), midrange aggro (don't like it much), midrange with real lategame (my favorite so far), and if you are a bit of a looney you can always make a control (like my reno'shaarj hunter, which I had lots of fun with in Karazhan and Gadgetzan).
Yeah, deathstalker rexxar is pretty bad compared to other DK's. His ability is just too slow and takes too much mana to build some decent counters. I think that the Zombiests should have at least 2 mana discount by default, that way it would actually feel like your hero does something besides brewing 6-8 mana beasts that are killed pretty easily and you just lose so much tempo. Compared to Warlock, Druid, Priest or Rogue - Rexxar DK feels really underwhelming. No real quick low-cost AOE and non-RNG removal really hurt this class, now especially.
Rexxar is fine, his ability is big fun, but he is too slow for current hunter decks. And all new hunter cards are control oriented, yet they still not make control hunter viable.
I agree with everything in this thread so far, and while blizzard kind of sucks they are trying. A big complaint about hinter has been a lack of draw, and for the past two expansions their legendaries have been draw oriented--though they havent really worked out.
I agree that it seems like they are afraid to make hunter too good while they feel free to dump whatever into other classes.
And about the criticisms about the hunter hero power dictating the style of play--warrior has the best aggro deck ever and its hero power does nothing to support that.
You are right, I think the problem is not related to the hero power. But for a viable control you need board clears removals, and heals. None of these are present at Hunter. And you have an Aggro hero power.
Warrior doesn't have an Aggro hero power, but he has OP weapons (any of them would be fantastic in Hunter, 2 mana 3/2 weapon? 5 mana, 5/2 weapon? Yes please. Also imba Pirates buffing the weapons.
Hunters really need some love, they are not even viable as Aggro since Warrior, Shaman, Druid all do a better job at the moment and they have Control variants too. I don't say that Midrange Hunter is not cool and can be pretty strong, but some of the classes can shut you down completely and I think this is not fair.
if Deathstalker Rexxar made zombeasts out of your own graveyard, then one could build a deck to optimise those beasts... instead it's full random. that cannot carry you through lategame, at all.
this is the best mix of fun & effective that i could build in these few days, but it is Wild only, and not that strong, compared to other decks.
As others already said, it is utterly annoying that classes that already have strong Control or Midrange builds, and are constantly supported in that, can also severely beat Hunter at Aggro.
I could understand if Hunter was a jack of all trades, master of none, but in fact he is jack of no trades and underdog of all...
I wonder whether Blizzard is afraid to give Hunters the cards which could handle all the imba cards the other classes receive all the time.
Don't get me wrong, Hunter is the class with which I have the most win by far, and I really enjoy playing it even though since several expansions we didn't receive cards which would synergize with the Hunter heropower. Rat Pack, Kindly Grandma, Corpse Widow, these are all fantastic cards but it can't change the fact that certain op cards counter the whole class immediately.
For example Spreading Plague is extremely crushing for the Hunters, even if you don't have that big of a board, if you have 3 minions which is solid but not that great, the Druid can still Plague than play Innervate and the Taunt buffer minion he has which can win the game immediately. Hunter simply doesn't have a good board clear or hence a single target removal. But even if you would have a removal try to kill 3x 3x7 taunt minions. And this is just one card, I don't even want to get started with Defile which is always there for Handlock Warlock, hence the other removals.
Sorry if I come of as bitching about the class, I know many players hate Hunters, especially because they still have PTSD from the Face Hunter era, but I think we could have some love as well. If you see that a class in Tier 4-5 for 3 expansions you clearly did something wrong Blizzard.
To don't just make my post complaining I post the deck that I use. It's nothing spectacular, a bit above 50% winrate but still some op decks counter it hard with just 1-2 lucky draws. In case you have suggestions how it could be improved I am all ears, especially because I am interested in what my Hunter brothers are running atm.
It's totally true. I like playing hunter because I like minion based games. But the amount of spell damage and AOE damage now is so massive that you can have a board wiped every turn. It's a shame. Blizzard wanted a "minion battle" game but then, because of their own balance issues, needs to keep punishing aggro and control
That's why they didn't made Toxic Arrow :"Give a minion poisonous and then deal 2 damage to it". It would've been extremely strong and also explosive bloat bat at least 3 mana. Also, every weapon class received a weapon this expansion but hunter has to struggle with 3 mana Fiery War Axe. As you can see, Rexxar is really strong and if he would've got some better tools hunter would dominate KFT easily. Also, if only Defile was in hunter class or Roll the Bones.. those seems more suitable for Hunter, while Toxic Arrow's text sounds just like a Warrior card...
Maybe Hunter is the worst class but it is by far the most fun class and this is why I like this class the most!
I am a hunter main as well. It's a little frustrating how Blizzard has made exactly 1 really powerful hunter card since the release of the game (call of the wild) and then nerfed it just a couple months later, yet has no problem released overpowered and broken card after card for the more control focused classes. Priest was weak for a couple expansions, Blizzard unloaded extremely powerful dragons and dragon synergy stuff on them to make priest playable again. Way back in the day when shaman was the worst class, Blizzard gave them lots of love in the next couple expacs and they were tier 1 after not too long.
I don't understand the lack of love for hunter. The class hasnt seen a single dominant deck since the undertaker nerf really, and that's been a long damn time.
I'm having a lot of fun with Reno hunter in Wild - the new DK really out values any other deck in the long run, maybe not Jade druid, but that deck is pretty dead.
Hunter lacks control cards there is not a single reliable board clear and taunt to hold opposite player back
Tho Hunter Dk is amazing I experimented with it and saw that literally every card is like crazy top deck but if you cannot draw the card it just sits in the deck while you are lacking minions.
Funny thing is, just at the lower ranks hunter is the strongest class according to Ben Brode
I like this idea. Mind to share the deck? 🙂 Btw have you thought about Cult Master?
Since the 3 drop slot is packed, you should take out Stitched Tracker and Unleash the Hounds. Also, I always use two Eaglehorn Bow. Five drop slot can be filled by Nesting Roc (and Menagerie Magician with Finja, the Flying Star if you are running Murlocs). Lastly, you probably get some room to put in Toxic Arrow or The Black Knight to punch through those taunts.
My greatest achievement yet:
Not disenchanting my double Shadowbomber
They tried to make hunter better, lock and load was one card they expected it to be a great one. They simply miscalculated the meta.
Hunter never will be a control hero, the hero power does not support that. They tried a few cards which change that, but it is simply not good enough. Hunter's weakness is the lack of AOE, you cannot play control without it.
Thanks, I will try it out for sure. I've had matches where my hand was full of 3 drops, however I really like Stitched Tracker. He can make sure your hand is not empty of threats. Usually I mulligan it at the beginning, later on however it can be game winning. Not sure about Unleash though.
Have you tried Toxic Arrow? Seems bad to me because most of the Hunter breasts can't take that 2 damage, and the Black Knight seems slow for what it does. The main problem is not a single Taunt for me, but several taunts at the same time like with Spreading Plague. My best handling for that is the lategame when Deathstalker Rexxar can fill my hand with Charge+Silence zombeasts. They are epic. :)
While I fully support Rexxar (my third favorite hero, behind rogue and warlock), I don't really think he is in such a bad spot now (Bloatbat should have been 3 mana or have charge, tho). I'm really looking forward to toy with Deathstalker Rexxar. Somehow, hunter is one of the funniest and dynamic classes in the whole game, a lot better than the always similar priest and their 11 steal control decks, or the mage, whose main difference is "when do you want the fireballs?"
It has pure aggro (which i played for a while), midrange aggro (don't like it much), midrange with real lategame (my favorite so far), and if you are a bit of a looney you can always make a control (like my reno'shaarj hunter, which I had lots of fun with in Karazhan and Gadgetzan).
Click to see my Hearthstone projects:
http://www.hearthpwn.com/decks/899109-reno-dk-hunter
This is my Reno deck - Don't know how to insert just the deck list. Some of the cards are just for the random lols and could be subbed for more relevant cards like Ooze, Colakki crawler or cult master.
Yeah, deathstalker rexxar is pretty bad compared to other DK's. His ability is just too slow and takes too much mana to build some decent counters. I think that the Zombiests should have at least 2 mana discount by default, that way it would actually feel like your hero does something besides brewing 6-8 mana beasts that are killed pretty easily and you just lose so much tempo. Compared to Warlock, Druid, Priest or Rogue - Rexxar DK feels really underwhelming. No real quick low-cost AOE and non-RNG removal really hurt this class, now especially.
Rexxar is fine, his ability is big fun, but he is too slow for current hunter decks. And all new hunter cards are control oriented, yet they still not make control hunter viable.
I agree with everything in this thread so far, and while blizzard kind of sucks they are trying. A big complaint about hinter has been a lack of draw, and for the past two expansions their legendaries have been draw oriented--though they havent really worked out.
I agree that it seems like they are afraid to make hunter too good while they feel free to dump whatever into other classes.
And about the criticisms about the hunter hero power dictating the style of play--warrior has the best aggro deck ever and its hero power does nothing to support that.
You are right, I think the problem is not related to the hero power. But for a viable control you need board clears removals, and heals. None of these are present at Hunter. And you have an Aggro hero power.
Warrior doesn't have an Aggro hero power, but he has OP weapons (any of them would be fantastic in Hunter, 2 mana 3/2 weapon? 5 mana, 5/2 weapon? Yes please. Also imba Pirates buffing the weapons.
Hunters really need some love, they are not even viable as Aggro since Warrior, Shaman, Druid all do a better job at the moment and they have Control variants too. I don't say that Midrange Hunter is not cool and can be pretty strong, but some of the classes can shut you down completely and I think this is not fair.
if Deathstalker Rexxar made zombeasts out of your own graveyard, then one could build a deck to optimise those beasts... instead it's full random. that cannot carry you through lategame, at all.
this is the best mix of fun & effective that i could build in these few days, but it is Wild only, and not that strong, compared to other decks.
As others already said, it is utterly annoying that classes that already have strong Control or Midrange builds, and are constantly supported in that, can also severely beat Hunter at Aggro.
I could understand if Hunter was a jack of all trades, master of none, but in fact he is jack of no trades and underdog of all...