You're braver than me, if you play this on ladder. To be honest, it's a Casual deck for me. But if the Reno decks try to Dirty Rat you on turn 2, that can be fatal... for them. Or if you just nail the turns 3+4 with Food Fight and a 4-mana rusher, and get a good summon, and follow-up with Revive Pet, you can get underneath some of those combos like paladin. There's probably not much you can do against the current crop of druid combos, without running a secret package (Snipe, Pressure Plate, etc.).
You could go to 40 cards, and include a bunch of tech, but that makes the overall consistency worse; probably not worth running Call Pet (already kind of a marginal card) and maybe not even Gilly/Food Fight. The deck would necessarily be very different in character; maybe for the better, and maybe not.
The cheaper Grunt is a very good choice, but if it needs to attack into a divine-shielded minion (or one protected by Amitus, the Peacekeeper), even though the trample damage goes through, it won't get another attack.
Whether Grunt is a better fit will come down to the decks you face in your pocket meta. If you face lots of swarm-y token decks, getting Grunt down a turn earlier, and possibly even able to attack into more than three targets (assuming it's necessary, and survivable) might be the way to go.
Edit: Another board state where Grunt might be better is where the opponent specifically plays around cleave by placing taunts on the outside and dormant minions/locations in-between. That can be really frustrating when you have a buffed hound in hand.
Thanks for the suggestion; I honestly hadn't thought of that card in a questline deck. Sounds spicy, but I'd worry about drawing the Eruptions consistently in a 40-card list, or in time to stabilize against pirate decks. Unless there's something else I haven't thought of. (Possible... aging brain ;-)
I think Ticking Module will count only friendly minions, and Hydration Station and Inventor Boom will res different taunts. I think Gilly's crocs will get rush.
The difficulty with Ryecleaver is not so much mana cost, as hand-size. A buff to 6 mana will make it easier to make room in the hand. I don't dare to dream that they put the bread on the left-side.
I'm not sure what 1-cost card hunters will want to repeat for 2-mana.
Now I'm wondering how Pet Parrot will work with buffed Adaptive Amalgam. 'Cause, that'd be a reason to play it in a hunter deck. It can't possibly work how I want it to...
This may be better in priest, but as a hunter-only player, I'm happy to have this in my toolkit. This is the kind of card you build memes around, and it may even just be solid tempo... in Standard, anyway.
"First, it is slightly cheaper."* And it's not limited to beasts, which is more generally useful. But then it's more difficult to tutor a specific beast -- if that's what you need -- unless you build your deck specifically for it. Also consider the various ways to duplicate (and counter) the effect of a spell vs. a battlecry.
As for Catch of the Day, there are enough must-kill minions on turn 1, that I love having a 1-mana, deal-3.
I'm not sure how Pet Parrot works with minions. Will battlecrys get repeated? Will minions be summoned? Will it re-equip a weapon? This probably will see more play in priest decks; I'm not sure what 1-cost card hunters will want to repeat for 2-mana.
So Blizzard is back to pushing hand-buff hunter, after killing it by rotating Selective Breeder out of the core set. This is slow, and hunter still doesn't have any deathrattle support besides Yelling Yodeler. (Maybe in the warrior set?) Can hunters wait until turn 7 for the payoff (assuming not stolen, transformed, silenced, poofed, etc.)?
Just a note for anybody following this deck: I'm experimenting with a one-hydra version of the deck. It's faster to grow just one hydra, and I've included Revive Pet and Nine Lives as backups. The danger is that if the first hydra is transformed, stolen or poofed, the game is kind of over.
Warrior has utterly twisted the meta. I'm now seeing so many Dirty Rats, not just played by warriors; however, warriors are now including a second Rat in their E.T.C., and running Frightened Flunky and Stonehill Defender to discover more Rats.
It's stupid, the degree to which warrior has warped the meta, and the degree to which they're tech-ing for the mirror just showcases that. The last time disruption became such a critical requirement for a competitive deck was when druids were terrorizing the meta with O.G. Sire Denathrius. Disruption may be even more important, and more common, today, and it's frustrating when you can't play your cards, for whatever reason.
I have no idea how to "fix" this meta, because even in the absence of warriors, there are half-a-dozen other stupid, frustrating game mechanics: plagues, warlocks' fatigue damage, ridiculous mana cheat, and it goes on.
0
You're braver than me, if you play this on ladder. To be honest, it's a Casual deck for me. But if the Reno decks try to Dirty Rat you on turn 2, that can be fatal... for them. Or if you just nail the turns 3+4 with Food Fight and a 4-mana rusher, and get a good summon, and follow-up with Revive Pet, you can get underneath some of those combos like paladin. There's probably not much you can do against the current crop of druid combos, without running a secret package (Snipe, Pressure Plate, etc.).
You could go to 40 cards, and include a bunch of tech, but that makes the overall consistency worse; probably not worth running Call Pet (already kind of a marginal card) and maybe not even Gilly/Food Fight. The deck would necessarily be very different in character; maybe for the better, and maybe not.
Something that might be worth trying is a package with a few more battlecries (Wing Commander Ichman?), and and a location package of Castle Kennels, Parrot Sanctuary and maybe Seaside Giant.
0
Keep goin!
2
The cheaper Grunt is a very good choice, but if it needs to attack into a divine-shielded minion (or one protected by Amitus, the Peacekeeper), even though the trample damage goes through, it won't get another attack.
Whether Grunt is a better fit will come down to the decks you face in your pocket meta. If you face lots of swarm-y token decks, getting Grunt down a turn earlier, and possibly even able to attack into more than three targets (assuming it's necessary, and survivable) might be the way to go.
Edit: Another board state where Grunt might be better is where the opponent specifically plays around cleave by placing taunts on the outside and dormant minions/locations in-between. That can be really frustrating when you have a buffed hound in hand.
0
Actually, ignore that deck; just Lock and Load spell hunter is a good time.
0
One game, one win, with King Krush, Abominable Bowman, and Flark's Boom-Zooka.
The code for the memes: AAEBAbv5Awb4CJ78ApuFA4/OA9uRBNP4BQy0E5DDAu3RAvKWA6mfBNejBJmtBJS1BIPIBI2SBa27BoLmBgAA
0
Thanks for the suggestion; I honestly hadn't thought of that card in a questline deck. Sounds spicy, but I'd worry about drawing the Eruptions consistently in a 40-card list, or in time to stabilize against pirate decks. Unless there's something else I haven't thought of. (Possible... aging brain ;-)
1
I think Ticking Module will count only friendly minions, and Hydration Station and Inventor Boom will res different taunts. I think Gilly's crocs will get rush.
The difficulty with Ryecleaver is not so much mana cost, as hand-size. A buff to 6 mana will make it easier to make room in the hand. I don't dare to dream that they put the bread on the left-side.
0
Now I'm wondering how Pet Parrot will work with buffed Adaptive Amalgam. 'Cause, that'd be a reason to play it in a hunter deck. It can't possibly work how I want it to...
3
This may be better in priest, but as a hunter-only player, I'm happy to have this in my toolkit. This is the kind of card you build memes around, and it may even just be solid tempo... in Standard, anyway.
0
"First, it is slightly cheaper."* And it's not limited to beasts, which is more generally useful. But then it's more difficult to tutor a specific beast -- if that's what you need -- unless you build your deck specifically for it. Also consider the various ways to duplicate (and counter) the effect of a spell vs. a battlecry.
Overall, it seems better.
* RIP Douglas Adams.
2
Birdwatching isn't equivalent to Selective Breeder, but getting a tutor is welcome; it will earn a spot in many decks, in Wild as well as Standard.
Trusty Fishing Rod is slow. 3-mana, deal-2, draw-2, play-2 ultimately cheats a couple of mana, but those 1-drops better be impactful enough for the tempo loss. Catch of the Day, Costumed Singer and Vicious Slitherspear seem like the likely pulls.
As for Catch of the Day, there are enough must-kill minions on turn 1, that I love having a 1-mana, deal-3.
I'm not sure how Pet Parrot works with minions. Will battlecrys get repeated? Will minions be summoned? Will it re-equip a weapon? This probably will see more play in priest decks; I'm not sure what 1-cost card hunters will want to repeat for 2-mana.
2
So Blizzard is back to pushing hand-buff hunter, after killing it by rotating Selective Breeder out of the core set. This is slow, and hunter still doesn't have any deathrattle support besides Yelling Yodeler. (Maybe in the warrior set?) Can hunters wait until turn 7 for the payoff (assuming not stolen, transformed, silenced, poofed, etc.)?
0
Cut Revive Pet and Nine Lives as too slow. Back to trying a two-hydra deck, but with Bargain Bins.
0
Just a note for anybody following this deck: I'm experimenting with a one-hydra version of the deck. It's faster to grow just one hydra, and I've included Revive Pet and Nine Lives as backups. The danger is that if the first hydra is transformed, stolen or poofed, the game is kind of over.
I'm also trying Adorable Infestation instead of Guardian Animals. Not just to buff hydra, but also to add some cheap beasts to hand, which can be used to play around various disruption (secrets, Dirty Rat, Blademaster Okani, Mutanus, etc.)
I'm playing only in Casual so far, and there is a shocking amount of disruption.
0
Warrior has utterly twisted the meta. I'm now seeing so many Dirty Rats, not just played by warriors; however, warriors are now including a second Rat in their E.T.C., and running Frightened Flunky and Stonehill Defender to discover more Rats.
Also in E.T.C., Band Manager, apparently, warriors are including Tony, King of Piracy to remove T.N.T. from their deck. Warriors are also now running Photographer Fizzle, presumably to recover key win conditions if they get blown up.
It's stupid, the degree to which warrior has warped the meta, and the degree to which they're tech-ing for the mirror just showcases that. The last time disruption became such a critical requirement for a competitive deck was when druids were terrorizing the meta with O.G. Sire Denathrius. Disruption may be even more important, and more common, today, and it's frustrating when you can't play your cards, for whatever reason.
I have no idea how to "fix" this meta, because even in the absence of warriors, there are half-a-dozen other stupid, frustrating game mechanics: plagues, warlocks' fatigue damage, ridiculous mana cheat, and it goes on.