Blizzard has released the full core set and we're in for a very different new year of Hearthstone! Today we're going to be taking a look at the Hunter class in the Year of the Gryphon by looking at their new set of core cards and giving the new ones a full review.
- If you want to see the full core set, you can check out our Core 2021 Guide.
- Want to see only the new cards? We have a dedicated article for that.
- You can build decks with all these cards in our deckbuilder - just select Year of the Gryphon as the format!
Let's get to it!
Selective Breeder
Hunter only has one completely new card for its core set - Selective Breeder. The very simple comparison for this card is Novice Engineer - both 2 mana 1/1s that effectively draw you a card. Novice obviously shines in decks that want to power through their cards as fast as possible, but Hunter has never been that kind of combo deck, really. Where Selective Breeder takes the edge is in giving you extra copies of cards in your deck, which with a little planning at the deck construction stage of the game will likely be some of the better cards you have.
We've seen a very similar effect in Hunter before on Stitched Tracker. Only hitting Beasts is both a boon and a burden; it allows you to narrow your selection without negatively impacting the number of minions you can run, but at the same time means that a lot of good cards to copy will get passed over. Consistently hitting King Krush is a decent way to improve your burst potential in the late-game. Not being able to hit something like N'Zoth, God of the Deep stings a bit - at least for jank players like myself.
I think this is a pretty good card overall. It has that spicy 'combo deck' potential that I like, but for the most part, seems like a good addition to a more aggressive Beast Hunter deck that might want additional copies of some of its better Beast options.
Tracking
Now, technically Tracking isn't a new card for Hunter, but I felt that the change to it was meaningful enough to warrant a little more in-depth inspection than the rest of the returning Hunter cards.
Before, Tracking would offer you three cards to pick from and the two you didn't select would be lost to you for the rest of the game. This was actually one of the first big lessons you could learn about playing Hearthstone. The natural instinct is to look at a card like that and despair at the loss of resources. Even after playing it for a while, you might only do so grudgingly due to a lack of better options (or because you saw the pros playing it and didn't bother questioning why).
Eventually, you come to understand how strong a card like that is for an aggressive class like Hunter; losing those two cards is meaningless if you would lose a game that goes to fatigue anyway, and oftentimes the choice you are offered can allow you to prune cards better suited to the early-game from your deck, leaving you with only your late-game threats. Grabbing a Savannah Highmane to slam down and making sure you don't topdeck a Snake Trap or Lock and Load can be invaluable.
Now, however, Tracking has received a modern makeover, one that might seem fairly obvious to do - Tracking was basically the beta version of Discover, after all. By comparing the wording to good old Selective Breeder above we know that it draws the card you select still instead of making a copy, so it's still a pretty good option for having a higher chance of getting a card you need from your deck instead of a dead draw. Perhaps counter-intuitively, however, by no longer destroying the other options the card likely becomes a fair bit worse for the reasons outlined above. Unless they can pivot into more Control or Combo styles of deck, this is a bit of a downgrade for this Hunter staple.
Hunter in the Year of the Gryphon
Looking at the entire package Hunter received, you might be concerned that their direction is a little sparse. All of their minions have a focus on Beasts, whether the be through being a strong Beast or synergizing with your Beasts. Their only weapon also highlights this, along with one of their normal spells and a Secret.
Their other spells have no explicit synergies with any particular strategies. There are certainly some strong spells there - both Freezing Trap and Explosive Trap are consistently strong Secrets that return, and Quick Shot is a very welcome card for aggressive decks - but it seems almost random.
To find the links, you need to look to the sets released last year that will help make up the new Standard format. There, you'll find two great additional Secrets along with a few Secret synergy cards; nothing major, but enough to see that Secret Hunter is something they have the option to expand into over the course of the year. Spell support is... more sparse, but they have a fair number of low-cost options already so I could see some additional support coming, especially with Lock and Load rotating back in. As an aside, I don't expect the new Spell Schools to have much of an impact on Hunter, as what we've seen from their core cards seems mostly done for flavour than for function.
Further Beast synergy abounds, from additional good minions to spell after spell that supports it. I was honestly a little startled at how Beast-focused Hunter will become with the rotation, but I can't say that I mind. It is one of the better fantasies you can have with the class and is something they've had since the very beginning of Hearthstone.
Deathrattle Hunter also has a chance to shine. There are a ton of good Deathrattles and Deathrattle synergies split across the last three sets, and a little early-game from Webspinner is a nice bonus for them from their new core cards.
Overall, I don't see Hunter straying too far from its roots this year. It will still manage to play the aggressor very well, and I expect Midrange Beast Hunter to be a popular choice to start the year out. I wouldn't be surprised to see some of the Deathrattle synergies make their way into decks as well, thanks to the fact that a lot of them happen to be well-statted Beasts. There's a splash of Secret and Spell support floating around there, but without strong options from the upcoming year, I don't see it making waves.
Those are just my thoughts, but I want to know what do you think of the new cards Hunter is getting and their outlook in the Year of the Gryphon. Let me know in the comments below!
View More Out of Cards Core Set Reviews
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Comments
From what we got in the core set for hunter, only 3 archetypes comes immediately to mind. Secret, midrange, and deathrattle hunter. All three, however, suffers from the same problem; establishing proper tempo. Headhunter's Hatchet is literally required to carry all hunter variants, because there are currently no follow up from a turn 1 play like Crackling Razormaw, and removal options for hunter are sketchy at best. With no Kill Command, even a spider tank (which incidentally would be part of standard) on 3 would threaten to sweep hunter off the midrange rug.
Barrens need to give hunter better 2 drops, or at least a rushing 3 drop because ignoring board is no longer possible for Rexxar. More draw/generation would be very helpful, or otherwise we'd have to start relying on stuff like Saddlemaster, and wouldn't that be pretty sad.
For the same reason, that discarding cards with tracking was no downside, keeping those cards is never a downside either.
The deck thinning argument just isn't valid since you basically can presume that tracking looks at the 3 last cards of your deck.
This change is 100% upside. (I'll give you 99% for Nomi decks)
The Tracking change in particular is something that is interesting to talk about. I almost feel that the card was changed so newer players would actually understand properly how the card works. Many new (and even some long time) players of the game tend to pass on the card due to the perception that discarding two cards in your deck will put you at a disadvantage.
This new design appears to just completely bypass that situation entirely. The card appears better than the current version to new players, but worse to more experienced players.
Actually, discussions about this card are pointless because there's no right or wrong answer. The utility of discard vs Discover depends largely on the archetype and deckbuilding. People go around and around for days because they can't even agree on what Hunter is "supposed" to be, but they don't ever address that because it's not the obvious question in front of them.
Even if you think Discover is worse, you can't pretend it's actually bad, so as a simpler card, the new version is much better for Core.
Almost everyone on Reddit argues that the Tracking change is a nerf, and the way they justify it just sounds like people who try to make themselves look better than they are because they understand the "difficult to comprehend" value of deck thinning.
Discarding or burning cards from your deck almost never has any influence on the outcome of the game, since it's as if you never drew the cards in the first place. Tickatus is different because it mills so many cards, so it has a very high chance of putting you into fatigue several turns earlier and getting rid of your resources. In the case of old Tracking, the two cards that are discarded are often inconsequential. It can be seen as if Tracking always looked at the bottom 3 cards of your deck.
Hunter doesn't have the capability to consistently reach the point of the game where those 2 cards matter in or close to fatigue anyways (if you are in that situation, you're Huntering wrong), so you can't necessarily say that the discard is always a downside either. As you said, it comes to the situation the Tracking is used in. If you use it while you are (somehow) close to fatigue, then of course the discard vs. discover will make a large difference. On the other hand, if you use it in Deathrattle Hunter for instance and hit Oblivitron, Tonk and Rinling's Rifle, then you've put yourself in a rough spot.
There's so much changing that it's hard to say whether or not the Tracking change is better or worse. If Blizzard wants a slower combo/midrange Hunter deck to be meta (which actually looks like the case), the change could be a buff.
If there's one thing that I think we can agree on regarding the changes to Tracking, it's that it looks very strange with a rare gem in the middle.
Yes, I get the feeling people have grown so accustomed to trying to convince people that the discard isn't hurting them, they've gone a bit overboard and started to believe it's the most important aspect of the card. In reality, the positive statistical impact of one or two cards' worth of deck thinning is super tiny -- literally exactly as tiny as the danger of "needing" the cards you lost.
This change doesn't make the card better or worse. It just makes it work the way they probably wanted in the first place.
I think the change to tracking makes sense, but I am a little sad to see the old version go. It definitely was a very interesting card to think about, weighing the pros and cons of searching for a card in your deck while also discarding other cards.
Yanno I was going to say it's weird that hunter loses animal companion but they really haven't since Open the Cages will still be in standard.
Dire Frenzy will be nice to see come back, it's super helpful for Hunters stuck in the late game, and it has some good synergy with Guardian Animals, which hasn't seen much play in Hunter decks...I think ever? Put a Dire Frenzy on a Trampling Rhino, and then Guardian Animals next turn for possibly 2 8/8's with Rush that deal chip damage to your opponents face.
Selective Breeder has multiple uses - if you wanna use Leoroxx as a finisher you can use it to fish for King Krush since Hunting Party and Ramkahen Wildtamer will be rotating out. Heck, even outside of a combo deck it's still useful - pull out a copy of Xizor Prime, or a minion that was buffed with Dire Frenzy. Heck, even discover something to play on curve like Bearshark.
Hunter seems pretty strong at the moment.
I'm glad we're finally back to traditional Midrange Beast Hunter that actually builds on synergy instead of just jamming the best curve cards available into a deck and letting Kill Command do all the work.
Maybe now that all the best 3--drops are finally gone there might be some actual design space for more interesting stuff.
Comments like this one remind me how great it is to have you back on the site.
don't jinx it, who knows what Barrens does to my sanity