Hearthpwn

very true bushelt- there are counters to everything.  Only practical thing to do against explosive traps is to attack first before playing any new cards... I suppose you could add a flare to the deck but there are better cards to stuff into a 30 deck limit that will provide better utility at a higher percentage of games.  Similar to explosive traps, aoe mages can be rough too.  But again- can't win em all and that's one of the nice things about the game.

thanks for the suggestions svargas.  I'm not a big fan of Animal Companion at all.  It's an ok card if you need -something- on the board, but the trade off to it's low cost-to-power ratio is it's unpredictability.  2 of 3 times, if you are looking to play a particular situation you will get the combo you aren't looking for.  I used to run this card a lot, but it just often becomes 'simply a beast' and that's not good enough.  I want a taunt when i need a taunt.  I want a charge card when the opponent does not have a taunt- especially if it will survive.  I want a +attack buffing card when i have a multitude of minions down able to attack that same turn and all take advantage of +attack.

Matches already have a ton of luck built into them and i think that's great.  Great decks will always loose at times, and crappy decks will always win here and there.  But in order to maximize consistency, i simply do not like adding an additional huge random thing like Animal Companion.  If you are going to play it as just another beast it's not a bad cost to power ratio... but then again there are other things with better utility at that point.  But try it for yourself- perhaps you will like it better- i appreciate your input on it.

Sea Giant could be a fair suggestion if that's your style.  There's plenty of situations where this would become pretty easy to throw down.  I prefer a little more utility with a 'big' card so i've been running ragnaros instead of illidan lately with good results.  little more in cost, but lots more in utility.  ghouls are ok i suppose, but they are basically the non-hunter, crappier version of a hyena.  +attack procs with any minion, but it's survivability remains pretty awful.  And the razorfen is an interesting idea, but a battlecry of a single 1/1 beast is maybe a little lackluster even with all the synergy..  that said i think this is an interesting card to try and i think i'll play around with adding one ore two- thanks for the suggestion :)

two diamond now with very casual play- not sure how tough that is and if that's an accomplishment or not but shiny new medals keep coming with ease

incorrect and that's a really limiting way of looking at things.

knife juggler procs with every beast- and in this case they are mostly low cost.  It also procs with snake trap.  questing adventurer procs with everything- specifically the stacked low cost cards.  defender of argus i think could be changed to somebody else's fav, but you need taunting things in there to keep your low cost high proc'ing cards alive.

3 star platinum was very easy to get with this deck and no sense of it slowing down

May reduce 2 jugglers to 1 and throw in an owl instead.  however having plenty of low cost minions = good damage (plus can remove divine shield).  but for the most part this is what i've been running with and having great results.  If you have any questions why something is the way it is or critique to add, please by all means.  illidan can be replaced quite easily for your fav mid-late game card- he's just my preference because he tends to be the big elephant in the room that must be killed at all cost- basically he's a taunt w/o the taunt

General strategy is to play multiple 'must kill' targets at once so they have to choose which to take out.  Aim to play 2-3 cards a round from turn 5 and on.  taunt creatures are in there to keep the high-proc'ing things alive for at least a turn.  lots of low cost cards to proc with adventurers (and illidan).  snake traps proc well with both buzzards and jugglers.  cult masters proc well with snakes and other low cost minions when they die (hopefully buffing a hyena too).  cast alpha's between a pair of things that are ready to attack that turn- ensuring they get the buff for at least 1 round of attacks.  few spells in there for cc that are flexible enough to use in multiple situations