Guide to the Face

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Decklist: https://twitter.com/firebat/status/936363134813704194

VODS: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/205632793



Mulligans

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The most important aspect of almost any deck in Hearthstone is the mulligans, so I will start the guide out with that. The general strategy is to play minions and hit your opponent in the face, and you play the minions with the best stats earliest when board control matters and play the minions with worse stats but have effects later when the board control no longer matters. This concept dictates our mulligan. These are the cards which take advantage of early game and why/how they do it.

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Cloaked Huntress - 3/4 body which is great for controlling the board in the early stages and an ability with an upside, but the longer the game goes on the less impact the ability to make secrets cost 0 becomes. The reason why is because a free secret is a smaller percent of the players available mana as the game progresses. So, 2 mana for free when you only have 3 available is awesome (66.67% extra mana!), but when you have 10 mana it is not likely to be as strong (20% extra mana). Therefore this card is a card you should always consider keeping.



Bearshark - 4/3 body which is not very good at controlling the board. But, has an ability "Cannot be Targeted" which gives it upside in match-ups where your opponent is not trying to develop on to the board. Decks like Highlander Priest, Big Druid, Jade Druid, Miracle Rogue, and other control/combo decks, do not play (many) minions on turns 1, 2, or 3 and rely on their spells to clean-up your development. This means Bearshark is almost immune, setting up your buffs and dealing massive uncontested damage. But, later on in the game this ability does almost nothing because of the late-game "Deal damage to all" effects, and because this deck eventually surrenders board control and your opponent can trade into Bearshark's poor stats. If you think your opponent will not play minions turn 1, 2, and 3 then this is the best card you can have in the mulligan.



Crackling Razormaw - 3/2 body is bad at controlling the board in the early game. But, if your opponent is a deck that doesn't play minions turn 1, 2, and 3 then it is something to develop and has the upside of potentially snowballing an Alleycat. Also, it can be kept if you are going first and have Alleycat already. Or, if you are going second and have Golakka Crawler or another Crackling Razormaw. But, should not be kept against decks that play minions if you do not have the support already there.



Golakka Crawler - 2/3 body is underwhelming unless specific conditions are met. Either you are playing vs a deck that runs Patches, or you are going second and have Crackling Razormaw. Do not keep this card just because it is a 2-Cost card. There are 10 turn two plays in this deck and 6 extremely powerful 3-Cost cards, so don't settle for Golakka unless it is good in the match-up.



Alleycat - 1/1 body that creates an additional 1/1 is crazy strong while going first, but much worse going second. Against decks that you believe will play no minions turns 1, 2, and 3 this card is great going first or second. Against decks that will play minions in the early turns this card is amazing going first because you get to chip damage and decide trades, but while going second your opponent often already has a Firefly or some other 1-X minion in play. So, then your Alleycat gets cleaned up by the Firefly and a heropower or any number of value trade options with buffs and you are behind. Only keep going first or against decks that play no minions turns 1, 2, and 3.



Tracking - The ability to look at 3 cards and pick one discard the other two for 1-Mana. This card can be kept going first. You wouldn't keep it if you already have Alleycat. If you are going second vs a deck that does not play minions turns 1, 2, or 3 then you would keep tracking if you did not already have a curve (1-Cost play, or Coin + 2-Cost play into 2-Cost play).



Cat Trick - The 2-Mana secret that makes a Jungle Panther if opponents cast a spell. A 4/2 body with stealth that beats up decks that do not play minions turns 1, 2, or 3. If they are not playing minions then they must be playing spells, so this card activates and is amazing stats for punching the face. Keep going first against decks that do not play minions turns 1, 2, or 3 and play it on turn 2. If they coin something like Arcane intellect, Jade Blossom or a secret, then they lose the game. If they do not, then they will play a removal spell on your next minion and you will get the cat the next turn, so it is worth setting up. Do not play your minions, get them removed and then play Cat Trick. Keep going second against Druid. Most Druids are Big/Jade/Miracle Druid so they play Wild Growth on turn two and if you played Coin + Cat Trick then they are dead if they Wild Growth.



Snake Trap - a 2-Mana secret that creates three 1/1 snakes when your opponent attempts to trade minions is the best early game board control tool in this deck. This card should NOT be kept against decks that do not play minions turns 1, 2, and 3. Because, they have no minions to activate this with. Against Druid sometimes you won't even play this card because it exposes you to Spreading Plague. However, against the board control decks like Rogue, Warlock Zoo, Hunter, Aggro Druid, and Murloc Paladin this card is crazy powerful. The reason why is because this card is essentially a 3/3 with charge for 2-Mana and if your opponent doesn't activate it then if they are a board control deck they have to allow your minions to stick, so you can Houndmaster, or Crackling Razormaw. But furthermore, you decide the trades so you can value trade your opponent and crush them on board control. This is the best card in the deck against aggressive decks and you should try and play it turn two or one against board control decks.

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That is kind of the basics of what to keep and why to keep them. But I will briefly list out some of the combos explained that make certain card keeps good.



Snake Trap + Bearshark + Houndmaster - This is a powerful combo against Mages, Rogues, and Control Warriors that often results in a Houndmaster landing and an instant win.



Coin + Cat Trick - If they Wild Growth they lose.



Coin + (2-Cost Beast) + Crackling Razormaw - Just a lot of stats.

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Specific Match-up Plans



vs Highlander Priest - This deck runs a non-druid amount of healing so you need to understand your kill window is large to play optimally. The plan is in a few phases:



Phase 1: Build a Board - Curve out with minions that play around their removal (BEARSHARK). Be aware of effects such as Wild Pyromancer and Spiritlash. However, the big one is Potion of Madness a Golakka Crawler into a Crackling Razormaw. That hurts. Remember their cards are singleton, so exploit that knowledge to stick a board. (Shadow Word:Death, Shadow Word:Pain, Holy Smite). If your play is really bad into their removal then it may be best to Hero Power instead. Example if you have a 3/1 injured Crackling Razormaw and your only play is Wolfrider on turn 3 and the board is empty then it is fine to Hero Power. Their kill combo is slow, and they don't push minion damage so take your time and kill them slowly.

Phase 2: Push the Board - Priest won't kill you until around turn 9-12 usually. So, if you have won the board (their minions are dead, and yours are alive) then you want to start using your Hero Power instead of getting blown out by Dragonfire Potion, Auchenai + Circle, or Pint-Size + Horror, then you should Hero Power. And force them to board clear a smaller board because their life-total is in danger then repopulate and cause the same situation. You are not a Tempo deck, you are a Burn deck so you cannot snowball a big board into a victory because you will be out of stuff and lose. You generate additional threats by pressing the Hero Power button. It may feel weird to float 4 to 5 Mana as an aggro deck, but it is necessary to control the state of the game to a point where you can push little bits of chip damage.

Phase 3: Throw everything and the kitchen sink into their face twice - The board has been lost you have few cards and your minions will never stick. Hold a beast for Kill Command if mana and life permits and send everything upstairs. Do not hold a beast for kill command if there is a decent chance it can connect on board, or if them trading it away is likely to buy you another turn.



vs Jade Druid/Big Druid/Miracle Druid - This deck runs a Druid amount of healing so you need to understand your kill window is smaller than vs Priest to play optimally. The plan is in a few phases:



Phase 1: Build a Board - Cat Trick this silly Druid. Don't Wolfrider into a swipe turn with a swipe target in play. Otherwise, go nuts and try your best to setup for Spreading Plague.

Phase 2: The Window Closes - When the druid is at a high mana you will likely get shut out by (SOME TAUNT EFFECT) into Ultimate Infestation. To prevent this and really maximize your damage you have to identify when adding more minions to the board won't add additional damage and using Eagle Horn Bow, or Wolf Rider is better than playing minions. Or simply when Hero Power is stronger than adding a minion. If the druid is on 6 mana (turn 2 probably?) and they have 20 life then you will not deal 20 damage before turn 10 over taunts so you have to develop the board more. If however they are at 10 life and you have a kill command then if you Hero Power instead of playing your Bearshark you can win over the top before turn 10 without getting shut out by taunts. Because their Life(10) - (Kill Command(5)+(HeroPower(2)*TurnsBeforeUltimate(4))) = -2 and -2 < 0 so they die. This way you can play around the taunt minions and it is a bit tricky to do properly, but I suggest checking my VODs on top of page to kind of see.

Phase 3: If you've gotten this far and their not dead then you've lost.

vs Rogue/Other Board Control Deck - These decks run no healing and in the meta game I choose to play this deck, limited amounts of taunts (People started cutting Tar Creeper from Rogue and Stonehill from Paladin). If you win the board you can transition to a smooth close.



Phase 1: Win the Board - Going first or second if you have no snake trap then keep tracking to try and find Snake Trap for turn 2 or Golakka for a big tempo swing on a pirate if they play pirates in their class.

Phase 2: Identify when to Race - If you are winning by so much that if you go all face and setup lethal you don't die then probably do it, pretty simple. But the tricky one, if you think you will the board then you can try and punish weaker hands from the opponent by going face and playing into removal and hoping they don't have it. (Not playing around Bonemare when the board is slipping and it beats you anyway).

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Hope you enjoy. Burn decks like Face Hunter are a type of aggro deck that often losses to other aggro decks, but beats up on combo decks (Highlander Priest). Because it is essentially a combo deck in its own right but its combo happens quicker. The combo is of course damage + damage + damage + damage + damage = lethal. None of this fancy DK Velen RazKaz shenanigans. So combo vs combo the quicker kill turn wins. So that is why it does well vs Priest. It also has been strong vs Rogue because of Golakka Crawler + Tracking consistency, and Snake Trap punishing Rogues garbage area clears. But, this archetype is not a style that typically does well vs Rogue which is why 4 card slots are dedicated to tech vs it. Lastly, it performs well vs Wildgrowth style Druids because Cat Trick and Bearshark are amazing and can help close the game before turn 10. However, if people start playing Tar Creeper in Druid again, and Greater Healing Potion + Tar Creeper in Priest again then this deck will obviously go down in success rate, but for now everyone has been shifting to greedier variations of the Rogue, Druid, Priest to win mirrors vs each other. This farmed them nicely without having to play boring mirrors.