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Introduction to the Hunter

Mostly based around the Beast subtype – the minions of which come in all shapes and sizes – on first sight the Hunter is all about aggression. One of the few tribal decks out there, the other one being Murlocs, the Beast menagerie is suitable for players who like to deliver pain in quick and big doses while utilizing the tribal synergy with cards like Starving Buzzard, Timber Wolf and Tundra Rhino

Though aggression is in the nature of the Hunter, this is not the only playstyle that fits him. His class-specific collection includes direct damage spells, direct removals, secrets that hurt enemy’s tempo or his board and great weapons to go with said secrets. The variety of his non-creature cards thus allows some Hunters to venture into control/combo decks, such as the Unleash the Hounds one-turn-kill (OTK).

The Hunter's hero power is not the most versatile out there so in a way your opponents will always know where you are going to spend your extra mana. On the other hand, though, it's very efficient in nipping your opponents’ health down. It deals damage past taunters and gives you a good way to finish your opponents in late game. Its biggest downside is that you are not going to impact the board with it.



Basic deckbuilding

Building your very first beginner deck for Hunter should be fairly easy and putting all the class-specific cards as well as the neutral beasts is a good place to start. Even without expert cards, the Beast tribal features good synergies through Starving Buzzard, Houndmaster, Timber Wolf and Tundra Rhino but it gets even more powerful when it’s supported by the necessary board control cards.

Said board control should also be your first crafts as a Hunter (detailed breakdown can be found in the next section). The Beast deck has the incredible potential of beating down opponents but it’s vulnerable to taunters or to decks that can match his board presence. As such, make sure to spend your dust wisely and get yourself a set of Explosive Traps, Snipes and Deadly Shots. Unleash the Hounds is also a must have and so is the Young Dragonhawk for its windfury.

The deck below is an example of what your first budget deck could look like. It features mostly basic cards supported by five sets of commons (for a total of 400 dust) and should be able to win you most of the games in the lower constructed ranks. Tested against every Expert AI twice, the deck won 16 out of 18 games, its only two losses being to Warrior and Paladin.





Crafting for the Hunter ​

I. Commons

Unleash the Hounds Unleash the Hounds

No doubt the most impactful card from the Hunter's pool, UtH alone allows the existence of the OTK combo hunter deck. It's able to turn a relatively small on-board presence into a killing stampede by being cast at the end of a series of cheap beasts which can then attack immediately. In addition of giving charge to all beasts, it also buffs all of them with +1 attack, which is often devastating for the enemy.

Explosive Trap

This trap offers very good damage-to-cost ratio and it's perfect to keep your opponent's board clean, which is especially valuable in the current meta, filled with fast aggro decks whose board presence quickly goes out of control.

Explosive Trap is also not as easily to play around as the other traps and the only thing that the enemy can do if he suspects it is reduce the damage his board takes by triggering it first and playing other minions after. Another good side of this card is that it hits the opposing hero as well, bringing him closer to death. All this makes Explosive Trap downright the best secret the Hunter has and is a must-have in every deck.

Deadly Shot

This might look a little too random of a removal but it shines when board control is established and the opponent plays his big threat after a board wipe or a series of good trades. It's a perfect card versus control decks (even through those are scarcer than they were a few weeks ago) as it will counter their big expensive finishers. Additionally, the Deadly Shot bypasses divine shield, the untargetability of the Fairy Dragon and doesn't care about the health of the creature.

Scavenging Hyena

This is one of those snowball creatures that could go out of control very quickly if your opponent doesn't kill it fast. This hyena always come into play with big target on its head so do not be surprised if it ends up dying quickly. Because of its trigger effect, it's favored by aggro Hunter decks more so than by OTK combos.

Snipe Snipe

This trap is one of the weaker ones but it could still do good things if played right. 4 damage for 2 mana is a tempting offer and the only problem is that it's easy for the opponent play around it. Being the only Hunter trap that doesn't trigger on attack, it can be easily identified by sending a minion or two to scout for Explosive, Freezing or Misdirection traps and then wasting it by triggering it with a weaker minion.

Despite its drawbacks, you might still want to play one copy of Snipe as in some situations the secrecy behind the green question mark is valuable. In other cases, the opponent might not have a weaker target to draw away Snipe's hit and the 4 damage will bring even the tougher minions within Arcane Shot or Multishot range.

II. Rares



Eaglehorn Bow Eaglehorn Bow

This weapon might not be as mana efficient as Warrior's Fiery War Axe but the possibility to make it more durable makes it incredible. It's a weapon that counteracts a big portion of the currently played aggro creatures and used it together with some traps it'll keep your opponent's board clean. Its effect triggers even when an enemy secret is revealed which makes it shine in the Paladin match-ups and Hunter mirrors.

Explosive Shot

This is the big Hunter removal that easily cleans the opposing board. It requires a bit of "aiming" so that its damage can be maximized, which is also its biggest drawback. If they expect an explosive shot coming, skillful opponents will arrange their board

in such a away as to minimize the splash damage (i.e. put their tougher creatures at the end and the weaker in the middle).

Still, even a suboptimal Explosive Shot is good enough to turn the game around. 5 damage will dispose of most of the mid-game threats, making Beasts' stampeding job easier.

Savannah Highmane

The finisher of choice for some midrange Hunter decks, this lion offers solid body which will trade well against a lot of the minions currently in fashion. He even leaves you two hyenas after he dies, which increases its value even further. Think of him as a bigger Harvest Golem, with the added bonus that it's a Beast and receive all the benefits of the tribal.

Flare

When the Hunter OTK and the Secret Mage decks were on the top of the food chain, Flare was the card in Hunter combos. Its impact was so big that games were won or lost depending on if it was drawn or not.

Now that the current meta doesn't feature secrets-heavy decks, in most of the games you'll play it to thin your library. Though the draw effect is always welcomed, Flare's potency has been severely diminished so some Hunters prefer to leave it out of their decks, replace it with more removal/secrets or other forms of draw, or sideboard it against Paladin decks to negate their Noble Sacrifices.

Misdirection

With the rising popularity of fast decks full with small minions, Misdirection is not among the strongest traps and that's why it's on the bottom. It still works well against slower decks and can help combo Hunters to clear the board or chip down opponent's health but it must be played in the right moment to get the best value and that's hard to do.

III. Epics and neutral cards

Snake Trap Snake Trap

This trap has many synergies in the midrange Hunter decks. It draws three cards through Starving Buzzard. The snakes can be sacrificed to buff the Scavenging Hyena. It deals three damage through Knife Juggler. It being an epic (meaning a crafting cost of 800) makes it difficult to obtain and with lower priority compared to the other traps but if you get a set of Snake Traps do try them out and find what else you could do with them.

Young Dragonhawk

This is the other key card in the Unleash the Hounds combo Hunter. For just one mana, this beast could do tons of damage when combined with Timber Wolf and Unleash the Hounds. Many of your games will be finished by attacks Dragonhawk so don't hesitate to craft it as soon as possible.

Dire Wolf Alpha

This wolf is played in some variations of the Hunter decks. He offers additional buff to your Young Dragonhawks which translates to a lot more pain for your opponent.

Ironbeak Owl

This minions is often underrated, because of his weak stats. While this is reasonable to some extent, for mere 2 mana you get some last minute removal for the opposing taunter before you go trigger your combo. As a bonus, the Owl shares the Beast subtype and receives all the benefits associated with that such as UtH's buffs, the card drawing via Starving Buzzard and so on. Test this card in your builds before you dismiss it.

Advanced deckbuilding

After you've grown your Hunter collection, you'll want to build your higher tier deck. As mentioned in the introduction, the Hunter arsenal allows for two distinct playstyles - the control-oriented OTK and the standard aggro beatdown.



I. Unleash the Hounds OTK



The most popular hunter deck is the one-turn-kill combo deck with Unleash the Hounds. Its goal is to kill your opponents in a single swing around turn 7-8 or to put his health to a low enough total that a few Steady Shots finish him off. The OTK is achieved by playing many cheap beasts in a row – such as Young Dragonhawk, Timber Wolf and Stonetusk Boar – and giving them charge and +1 attack with Unleash the Hounds.

This deck relies heavy on board control. It utilizes Eaglehorn Bow, traps (mainly Explosive Trap, Misdirection and Snipe) and removal (Kill Command, Deadly Shot and Multi-shot) to be able to survive until his combo is ready. It's very important to know which enemy minions you need to kill and when to do that and it's key to play your traps at the right time so that you can get value out of them (for example don't play explosive trap on turn 2 or 3).

Card draw and deck filtering are also essential for this build. More often than not, you won’t get all the OTK pieces in hand so you’ll have to drill deep through the Buzzard to find what you’re missing and for that you need a library that’s already been thinned out. Flare and Novice Engineer come in as standard draw mechanics and are backed up by the invaluable Tracking which a three-cards-for-one-mana digging card. Simple mathematics shows that a T8 Starving Buzzard followed by five beasts (leaving one mana for an UtH cast) and preceded by one Tracking, one Novice Engineer and one Flare will leave just nine cards in the deck (eight if you play second), meaning an OTK is almost guaranteed provided you’re still alive.

Although it might seem an easy deck to play when you’re on the receiving end of its combo, the OTK Hunter is relatively hard to use. While he’s still good against control decks, aggro builds make his life incredibly tough and a single misuse of a secret card can lead to death. When it wins games, it’s usually when the Hunter is down to its last digits of health meaning that a miscalculation in opponent’s board damage or trades through the Eaglehorn Bow can also be detrimental.

II. Mid-range tempo

This is a more straightforward, typical aggro deck where you play minions every turn and aiming for board control. You should take advantage of Starving Buzzard card draw ability and to keep your hand reasonably full at most times. Snake Trap has amazing synergy with the Buzzard, allowing you to refill your hand if he gets attacked.

Other important minions in this type of deck are Scavenging Hyena, Animal Companion, Houndmaster and Thundra Rhino. Instead of finishing the opponent in a single blow, here you try to keep the tempo of the game in your favor by removing your opponents minions with spells instead trading with creatures so don't forget your Kill Commands and Explosive Shots. You might want to use Savannah Highmane as a finisher or even King Krush if you get him from a booster pack (don't craft him, though, he's otherwise not worth your dust).

While this type of deck is considered somewhat weaker to the OTK combo, it does offer more variety in its decklists. Some versions feature Bestial Wrath instead of Arcane Shot for additional attack bonus and costless trading, run Gladiator's Longbow as end-of-the-curve weapon, put in Dire Wolf Alpha for additional synergies or even feature solid, non-Beast minions like Dark Iron Dwarf or Shattered Sun Cleric.

Photo: Hearthpwn