Highlander decks – decks that consist only of single copies of cards – are back with Saviors of Uldum, and one of the most eagerly anticipated Highlander decks is Highlander Hunter. All Highlander decks sacrifice consistency for a power spike provided by synergy cards, and Highlander Hunter has a very strong pair of synergy cards available to it in Dinotamer Brann and Zephrys the Great.
Dinotamer Brann summons King Krush on the board for mere seven mana, whereas Zephrys the Great is the most complicated card ever built for Hearthstone: a dynamic Discover effect that attempts to give you the perfect answer for your situation from the full Basic and Classic sets, such as Fireball to push for lethal, Flamestrike to clear the board, or Mass Dispel to deal with pesky Deathrattle minions.
Highlander Hunter’s synergy cards provide it with strong win conditions, but they still need a deck around them, and putting it together from 28 different cards is not a simple task. While Zephrys can be used defensively, Brann is a more straightforward finisher, so the deck naturally becomes an aggro or midrange deck. Control Hunter will have to wait a little longer.
You can think of the deck as consisting of various packages that you can mix and match.
One potential package is the Secret package. Secret Hunters already tend to run most secrets as single copies, because that way Subject 9 is able to draw most of them at once and thin the deck. Saviors of Uldum adds Hyena Alpha as a powerful secret synergy card, so the secret package is an attractive option for Highlander Hunter. With Secretkeeper, Hyena Alpha, Subject 9, and between five and seven Secrets, the package fills roughly one third of the deck.
Another potential package is the Mech package. Mech Hunter or Bomb Hunter has been a powerful deck in Rise of Shadows, and its aggression is a natural fit to the finisher provided by Dinotamer Brann. There are lots of Mechs available in the game right now, so you can build a singleton deck that consists almost solely of Mechs, or you can add them as a smaller package alongside Secrets.
Whenever you’re building a Hunter deck, Zul'jin is a card that you need to consider. If you go for a heavy Mech package, the deck might not have enough spells to make Zul'jin worthwhile, but the card goes nicely with Secrets. You can add a generic package of good Hunter spells – Animal Companion, Deadly Shot, Hunter's Pack, Unleash the Beast – and make Zul'jin a real powerhouse for the late game.
Beast package in general is a poor fit to Highlander Hunter: Dire Frenzy is the exact opposite of what you want, as you really do not want to shuffle duplicates into your deck. Master's Call works poorly with Dinotamer Brann, because Brann is not a Beast. As an upside, it can be used to tutor for Brann if you really want to find him. However, many of the most powerful Hunter class cards are Beasts, so you may end up with some even if you only try to put in good cards to fill up gaps in your mana curve. The big question is how many you are able to fit in and how much value do you want to go for. Big Beasts such as Savannah Highmane and Wild Bloodstinger can fit a more midrange approach to Highlander Hunter, and if there are enough Beasts in the deck, you can also use synergy cards such as Houndmaster and Scarlet Webweaver.
These are the basic building blocks of Highlander Hunter: Secret package, Mech package, Zul'jin package, and Beast package. At this point it is far from obvious which packages and combinations will be the best. I’d put my money on Secrets and Zul'jin, which leaves a few slots open to tweak the deck either more aggressive with finishers such as Leeroy Jenkins or more towards midrange with big Beasts such as Savannah Highmane.
Here are two examples of what Highlander Hunter could look like in Saviors of Uldum.
First, an aggressive Secret Zul'jin build:
11,540- 1Secret Plan1
- 1Shimmerfly1
- 1Springpaw1
- 1Tracking1
- 2Explosive Trap1
- 2Freezing Trap1
- 2Headhunter’s Hatchet1
- 2Misdirection1
- 2Pressure Plate1
- 2Rat Trap1
- 2Snake Trap1
- 3Animal Companion1
- 3Deadly Shot1
- 3Eaglehorn Bow1
- 3Hunter’s Pack1
- 3Kill Command1
- 3Unleash the Hounds1
- 4Houndmaster Shaw1
- 4Hyena Alpha1
- 4Marked Shot1
- 4Multi-Shot1
- 5Baited Arrow1
- 6Unleash the Beast1
- 7Dinotamer Brann1
- 10Zul’jin1
This deck survives the early game with Secrets, has Zul'jin for value, and includes multiple finishers to close out games. Replacing some of the more aggressive cards – Leeroy Jenkins, Baited Arrow – with big Beasts such as Savannah Highmane and Wild Bloodstinger could make the deck more midrange-oriented, if that is a better fit to the meta.
Second, a Mech build:
This deck attempts to mimic Bomb Hunter even though it suffers from less consistency in the early game. The big payoff cards Dinotamer Brann and Zephrys the Great are hopefully enough to make the sacrifice worthwhile.
As you can see from these examples, there can be many different types of Highlander Hunter. Next week we will find out which variants are the best!
Old Guardian
Ville "Old Guardian" Kilkku is a writer and video creator focused on analytic, educational Hearthstone, and building innovative Standard format decks. Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/OldGuardian Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/old_guardian
Secret list: I like Snipe over Misdirection, but that is probably personal taste. Also I feel like Zilliax and Siamat are too good not to jam into all singleton lists.