Midrange Hunter (anti Control)

A very consistent Midrange Hunter list targeting Control decks. For a slightly slower version see my anti-aggro Midrange Hunter. Together these two decks took me to Legend this season (June 2017).

The playstyle of this deck is relatively straightforward: you wish to curve out and win through overwhelming board presence. In general your goal during each turn should be to play the hardest to remove board as possible, and snowball from there into gradually bigger boards. Most games will end around T7-T8 with this deck (for better or for worse).

One notable issue with this style is the lack of comeback mechanics, for this you are relying 100% on a single copy of Unleash the Hounds. Against Control decks this is not much of an issue since you are most likely always ahead on board, but against other Midrange or Aggro decks this is a serious weakness. Therefore curving out perfectly starting at turn 1 is absolutely vital for this list.

Tech choices:

1x Fire Fly – While most Hunter lists run 6 one-drops this list has room for a 7th thanks to Tracking and Tol’Vir Warden. 2x Alleycat and 2x Jeweled Macaw are really strong in Midrange lists, so the question is which three one-drops will fill out the deck best. Personally I think 1x Fire Fly is a very solid inclusion. The obvious downside is that Fire Fly is not a beast, but in return you get a little bit of immunity from Maelstrom Portal through the 2 health, and the extra token makes Fire Fly a decent topdeck around turns 3-5 to help fill out your curve.

1x Fiery Bat – This card is kinda meh, and one of the first to consider switching out for another Hungry Crab. While Fiery Bat is very strong in a vacuum (as a 1-drop Beast with aggressive stats and a convenient deathrattle) the large amount of pings and Patches in the meta make this card weak. Still, it is very strong against Rogue, Jade Druid and any Paladin that missed its opening.

1x Tracking – This card makes your Highmane on turn 6/7 much more consistent, and usually you have 1 mana to spare somewhere around T5-T7 anyway. It’s a bad card in the opening hand though, so don’t run two of these.

1x Tol’Vir Warden – Initially I thought this card was shit, but it has been consistently overperforming for me. Usually you’ll draw one copy of Jeweled Macaw with the Warden, which gives you a lot of juice to keep the game going a while longer. It also does a bit of deck thinning, increasing your chance of topdecking Highmane in the late-game. A possible replacement for this card is Knuckles.