Big Boom-Zooka Hunter

Hi everyone!

As a huge fan of recruit hunter, I wanted to try and create a new version of it in the Boomsday meta. Although the deck only features 2 new cards (Spider Bomb  and Hunter’s new legendary spell Flark's Boom-Zooka), the deck now includes more deathrattle synergies. As such, the deck’s early game can be quite similar to Deathrattle Hunter’s – play eggs, trigger them and hit face. However, this deck also provides a strong mid-to-late game, with cards like Kathrena Winterwisp able to pile on the pressure with the help of several big beasts. Card choices, substitutes (its quite an expensive deck) and omissions will be outlined in this deck guide. 

A note before I get started on the guide: this deck is still a work in progress. IT IS NOT A DECK TO RELIABLY CLIMB THE LADDER; its just a bit of fun (trust me, clearing your opponents board with a bunch of giant deathrattles is soooo much fun!)

Card choices

Secret package:

• Secrets – I’ve found that a lot of these spells are excellent counters to a number of decks. For example, Explosive Trap is great against Odd Paladin as it prevents them from building up board control early on. Similarly, Wandering Monster  is also great against aggro decks, as it prevents damage, kills a minion and often leaves a potential threat for your opponent to deal with.
• Eaglehorn Bow – Helps establish board control and provides some reach in the late game to close out the game
• Lesser Emerald Spellstone – Is a great mid-game tempo swing that can often win you games on the spot if your opponent cant deal with it.

Recruit-ers/ Big Beasts:

• Savannah Highmane – Not only is a good minion to pull from your recruit-ers, it can also be played on curve if need be.
• Charged Devilsaur – Can be cheated out early, and a perfect target for your cubes
• Kathrena Winterwisp is there to pull out those Big Beasts. She also works nicely with Flark's Boom-Zooka, the new Hunter Legendary spell – dealing 6 damage to an enemy minion and then summoning a 7/7 with charge or a Savannah Highmane is a great play in the late game.
• Flark's Boom-Zooka – The star of the show. Sort of. Whilst it’s not actually needed (more on that later), it does provide a means of getting back into the game if you’re falling behind on board control, or if your opponent has a large minion that can’t easily be killed. The deck is partly designed around it; most of the minions chosen are great/ok minions, with the exceptions of cubes, Terrorscale Stalker and Charged Devilsaur, but the deck can work perfectly fine without it.

Deathrattles:

• Devilsaur Egg – Can be played early on with Terrorscale Stalker or Play Dead to put early pressure on your opponent. Also a target for Cube and, if at the bottom of your deck, not a bad card to pull from Flark's Boom-Zooka
• Spider Bomb – Great card to help establish board control or to get rid of any big minions in the way. Don’t be afraid to cube this if you need to clear a minion – whilst not optimal, it can help you to retain board control whilst putting your opponent in a sticky situation

omissions

• Prince Keleseth – I didn’t include this infamous prince for 3 reasons: a) I find the secret package too good to replace; b) reduces the chances of summoning a good minion from the Boom-Zooka; and c) I don’t have the dust to craft him :/.
• Mechanical Whelp – Now, I’ve been thinking a lot about this card recently. Whilst on paper it may not seem great, it could be insane in a deck like this. With multiple ways to trigger it’s deathrattle, you could easily end up flooding the board with 7/7 mechs. It also works well with Flark's Boom-Zooka. However, I just don’t know what I would drop. The most obvious candidate is Savannah Highmane, but I feel that Highmane is better simply because it can be played on curve. Dropping a 2/2 on turn 6 and ending turn is a huge tempo loss, and your opponent is likely to take full advantage of this. Also, Highmane is a Beast, so it also works with Kathrena. Feel free to prove me wrong though, if you feel that what I’m saying is complete shit.
• Mossy Horror – Great tech card right now, especially against Giggling Inventor. Could also be used to kill your own Devilsaur Egg. However, I can’t find the space for it – maybe drop 1 Flanking Strike? Hard to say, but you’re welcome to try it out.
• Silver Vanguard – In my first version of this deck, I played 1 Silver Vanguard along with a number of high powered 8-cost minions, including Lich King and Deranged Doctor. The idea was that if SV was pulled from Flark's Boom-Zooka, it would then die and summon a bigger minion in its place. Sounds cool, right? Turns out this didn’t always work for a few reasons; a) if drawn early on, I was a dead card for most of the game and b) it wasn’t always summoned by the Boom-Zooka. I have seen some other similar decks using this card, but from my experience, it just isn’t consistent enough.
• Abominable Bowman – Would be great to re-summon those Charged Devilsaur, but runs the risk of summoning 3/3 wolves from the spellstone.

Card Substitutions

I do appreciate that this deck is expensive, especially for F2P players like myself. The only reason I was able to create this deck is because I’m a hard core Hunter player, and as such, already had a number of rare’s, epics and legendary’s. Having said that, there are a few cards that CANNOT BE REPLACED. By this I mean they can be replaced, but the deck will be a lot worse and a lot less fun.

Irreplaceable:

• Carnivorous Cube – Acts as a way of triggering deathrattles, and provides a win condition if your fortunate enough to cube a Charged Devilsaur. 
• Deathstalker Rexxar – One of the best Death Knights printed. Provides insane amounts of value in the late game. Crafting a Beast with Lifesteal, Poisonous, Taunt etc. can often win you games, especially in grindy match ups. If new to the game, I would only craft this if you are 100% sure you are going to use it, as it is set to rotate to Wild in the new year.
• Kathrena Winterwisp – Able to recruit not just 1, but multiple big beasts from your deck due to it’s deathrattle. If you tend to play as Hunter a lot like I do, I recommend crafting as this card is likely to see more play between now and when it rotates.

Replaceable:

• Flark's Boom-Zooka – Surprised? Whilst the new legendary hunter spell is a great card, it’s not actually needed as you can often win the game using some early deathrattles followed by Kathrena. The only reason I chose to play it is because I opened it in a pack and decided to play around with it. However, if on a budget, it can be replaced with another big beast or even a tech card of your choice (weapon removal, Mossy Horror, silence etc.) depending on what decks you come across on the ladder.
• Charged Devilsaur – Whilst great for a number of obvious reasons (charge, big stats, beast tag etc.), it can be replaced if your on a budget. Just sub in any big beasts, including Violet Wurm or Giant Mastadon.

I think I’ve covered all the expensive replacements, but if you want to know any specific replacements, just let me know in a comment and I’ll get back to you asap.

Enjoy and please comment any suggestions below.