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Mulligans
General Mulligans
Always mulligan for an early curve, you can't afford to fall behind on board since Dire Wolf Alpha + Unleash is your only pseudo-board clear. If you have an early curve, it's correct to keep Cult Master since you badly need the draw. I think it's correct to keep Thaurissan in your opening hand since it enables so many degenerate combos and it's hard to win without him.
Aggro Mulligans
You always want Juggler + Unleash to generate a huge board swing on turn 5. Only keep 3-drops if you're on the coin.
Avoid playing Dire Wolf Alpha on turn 2 if you can help it, but if your only other option is Hero Power, it's better to play it than fall behind on board. In a ideal world, save it for a turn where you can make value trades or combo with Unleash. I will often keep Houndmaster if I have a turn 2 and turn 3 play.
Control Mulligans
Only keep Infested Wolf and Cult Master if you have a curve. I will keep Thaurissan if the rest of my hand is good since he enables degenerate combos.
Gameplan
This deck aims to establish early board control, make value trades, and set up opportunities to draw a ton of cards with Starving Buzzard and Cult Master. Once you’ve collected enough combo pieces, aggressively go face to bring your opponent low enough to kill them with Tundra Rhino + Scavenging Hyena.
Card Choices
- Starving Buzzard
Remember when this guy used to be a 2 mana 2/1? Nerfed to the point of unplayability, he rises from the ashes like a mighty phoenix. This card sucks on paper, but it’s pretty strong in this deck. Play him on the same turn you’re popping your Rat Pack or Infested Wolf to draw a ton of cards. The old school Buzzard + Unleash combo is still great for drawing into combo pieces. On turn 6, you can play Starving Buzzard + Alleycat to draw 2 cards in a pinch.
Also keep in mind it doesn’t always come down as a 3/2; sometimes Grimy Goons buffs can land on it, and it becomes a serious threat. I used to play two, but now i only run one since it’s such a situational card that the second copy would often get stuck in my hand. With the addition of Tracking, it’s easier to find when I need it anyway.
- Cult Master
With this deck, you’ll often have a lot of trash minions lying around. Put them to use by turning them into cards!
After playing extensively with this deck, I’ve come to realize that you want to keep this card in your opening hand if you have other early plays to go with it.
The combo
The combo involves playing Tundra Rhino + Scavenging Hyena, and trading off as many other Beasts as you can. The math can get quite complicated when Grimy Goons hand buffs come into play. ALWAYS trade your 1/1s away, since they represent +2 damage on your Hyenas. Beasts with 2 attack can go face, unless you need to trade them away to make room for more beasts.
Tips
- Against aggro decks, don’t be afraid to liberally play out your combo pieces. Trading your turn 1 Alleycat with a turn 2 Scavenging Hyena on board is a strong play as you’re generating a big threat they’ll have trouble dealing with
- Against control, try to save both of your Hyenas for a big burst finisher they’ll never see coming
- It’s fine to use one of your Tundra Rhinos to make value trades with token-generating minions. Tundra Rhino + Kindly Grandmother deals 4 damage to a minion, 5 damage with Infested Wolf and at least 4 damage with Rat Pack, but often more
Hope you enjoy the deck, I’m happy to answer questions and am always looking for suggestions on how to improve the list!
