Standard Memes

Hi Hunters,

I've been looking to freshen up my Rexxar gameplay lately and was wondering what off-meta builds folks have been experimenting with in Standard these days?

My main goal is to use under-played cards/synergies to generate novel problem solving opportunities for myself (and hopefully my opponent) in Casual mode (i.e. winrate <=50% is OK/expected). Below are a few examples of what I've been tinkering with for the last couple weeks. I'd love to see what people have theorycrafted for these type of archetypes as well as any other of your own crazy conctions!

Beast Highlander - Gives an excuse to play cards like Octosari as well as a super long-shot combo where Scarlet Webweaver hits King Krush and then you use Escaped Manasaber to play the discounted Krush + Dinotamer Brann on the same turn
Off-meta Unseal the Vault Hunters - I wish Licensed Adventurer enabled more combos for Quest Hunter in the late game, but so far I've really only built around Onyxia as a new threat with the coin. However, being able to play 3x SN1P-SN4P + Hero Power on Turn 10 is also a nice change of pace.
- Highlander Vault is pretty fun but Deathrattle Vault with Nine Lives and Deathwing is my pick at the moment.
- Has anyone tried a Mech Vault build? I could see one with Chopshop Copter having a little spice to it.
Chef Nomi / Mecha'thun Hunters - I like to try cycling with Arcane Fletcher each season and I think it might be in its best spot ever as the 1-drops aren't terrible at the moment (e.g. Dwarven Sharpshooter, Secretkeeper, and Springpaw).
- Add in a few other deck thinning options like Tracking, Phase Stalker, and Diving Gryphon and you're well on your way to Nomi or Mecha'thun!
- I also like to include a sidequest or two so I can run 1 copy of Licensed Adventurer and use that coin to play Archivist Elysiana + Baleful Banker on Turn 10 to experience the good ol' days :D
Token Beast Hunter - A token deck without Quests so I don't feel pressured to play all the quest cards. Instead we pump up our tokens with Spirit of the Lynx, generate value from them with Witch's Cauldron (replaying the spells via Zul'jin later), and draw from them with Cult Master.
- Fresh Scent and Veranus spice up the list a little from past seasons
Midrange Weapon Hunter - This archetype has been awful for me, but I always try to include Bloodscalp Strategist in a build each season.
- To mix things up I've tried using Skydiving Instructor to thin out weak draws like Dwarven Sharpshooter and Shimmerfly in the midgame and then use Mojomaster Zihi to keep things in the midgame.
Bad Luck Albatross Stuffer - After feeling the salt from a series of Embiggen Druid match-ups, I made something that has no intention of winning...you just stall and hope to frustrate their draws with as many 1/1s as possible. Naturally, this invovles removal cards + Albatross, Nine Lives, Ramkahen Wildtamer, Dire Frenzy, Revenge of the Wild, and Zul'jin.
- This deck also gave me the opportunity to play Tentacled Menace in the hopes of discounting two of my cards to 1-mana. As a result, I throw in a Colossus of the Moon for the super rare high roll.

Other builds I know I'll be experimenting with until the next expansion:

Typically try a couple Flark's Boom-Zooka decks - one with big beasts and revenge of the wild and another with deathrattle minions and Deathwing
I also really like the memes that Blatant Decoy enables with little-used cards like Colossus of the Moon, Big Bad Archmage, and Ysera.
- Unfortunately, when you combine the Decoy with Nine Lives it doesn't pull another minion from your hand. Instead, it gives you another copy of Blatant Decoy and then pulls that new copy into play. However, I've been meaning to try Nine Lives + Necromechanic to see if it will play the new Decoy and then pull a big minion from my hand.
And when I'm really burnt out I'll make a full Casino build featuring Drakkari Trickster, Mischief Maker, Transmogrifier, Wyrmrest Purifier, etc.

It's kind of crazy that, although I've listed a bunch of under-used cards, there are still a number of fun-looking ones I haven't touched this season like Dread Raven, Chromatic Egg, Body Wrapper, etc.

Please share any crazy Hunter theorycrafts you've been testing below!!

"I hunt [memes] alone on Out of Cards!"
- Rexxar

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RangDipkin LV.7
6 years, 1 month ago
Hi Hunters,
I've been looking to freshen up my Rexxar gameplay lately and was wondering what off-meta builds folks have been experimenting with in Standard these days?
My main goal is to use under-played cards/synergies to generate novel problem solving opportunities for myself (and hopefully my opponent) in Casual mode (i.e. winrate <=50% is OK/expected). Below are a few examples of what I've been tinkering with for the last couple weeks. I'd love to see what people have theorycrafted for these type of archetypes as well as any other of your own crazy conctions!
- Beast Highlander - Gives an excuse to play cards like Octosari as well as a super long-shot combo where Scarlet Webweaver hits King Krush and then you use Escaped Manasaber to play the discounted Krush + Dinotamer Brann on the same turn
- Off-meta Unseal the Vault Hunters - I wish Licensed Adventurer enabled more combos for Quest Hunter in the late game, but so far I've really only built around Onyxia as a new threat with the coin. However, being able to play 3x SN1P-SN4P + Hero Power on Turn 10 is also a nice change of pace.
  - Highlander Vault is pretty fun but Deathrattle Vault with Nine Lives and Deathwing is my pick at the moment.
  - Has anyone tried a Mech Vault build? I could see one with Chopshop Copter having a little spice to it.
- Chef Nomi / Mecha'thun Hunters - I like to try cycling with Arcane Fletcher each season and I think it might be in its best spot ever as the 1-drops aren't terrible at the moment (e.g. Dwarven Sharpshooter, Secretkeeper, and Springpaw).
  - Add in a few other deck thinning options like Tracking, Phase Stalker, and Diving Gryphon and you're well on your way to Nomi or Mecha'thun!
  - I also like to include a sidequest or two so I can run 1 copy of Licensed Adventurer and use that coin to play Archivist Elysiana + Baleful Banker on Turn 10 to experience the good ol' days :D
- Token Beast Hunter - A token deck without Quests so I don't feel pressured to play all the quest cards. Instead we pump up our tokens with Spirit of the Lynx, generate value from them with Witch's Cauldron (replaying the spells via Zul'jin later), and draw from them with Cult Master.
  - Fresh Scent and Veranus spice up the list a little from past seasons
- Midrange Weapon Hunter - This archetype has been awful for me, but I always try to include Bloodscalp Strategist in a build each season.
  - To mix things up I've tried using Skydiving Instructor to thin out weak draws like Dwarven Sharpshooter and Shimmerfly in the midgame and then use Mojomaster Zihi to keep things in the midgame.
- Bad Luck Albatross Stuffer - After feeling the salt from a series of Embiggen Druid match-ups, I made something that has no intention of winning...you just stall and hope to frustrate their draws with as many 1/1s as possible. Naturally, this invovles removal cards + Albatross, Nine Lives, Ramkahen Wildtamer, Dire Frenzy, Revenge of the Wild, and Zul'jin.
  - This deck also gave me the opportunity to play Tentacled Menace in the hopes of discounting two of my cards to 1-mana. As a result, I throw in a Colossus of the Moon for the super rare high roll.
Other builds I know I'll be experimenting with until the next expansion:
- Typically try a couple Flark's Boom-Zooka decks - one with big beasts and revenge of the wild and another with deathrattle minions and Deathwing
- I also really like the memes that Blatant Decoy enables with little-used cards like Colossus of the Moon, Big Bad Archmage, and Ysera.
  - Unfortunately, when you combine the Decoy with Nine Lives it doesn't pull another minion from your hand. Instead, it gives you another copy of Blatant Decoy and then pulls that new copy into play. However, I've been meaning to try Nine Lives + Necromechanic to see if it will play the new Decoy and then pull a big minion from my hand.
- And when I'm really burnt out I'll make a full Casino build featuring Drakkari Trickster, Mischief Maker, Transmogrifier, Wyrmrest Purifier, etc.
It's kind of crazy that, although I've listed a bunch of under-used cards, there are still a number of fun-looking ones I haven't touched this season like Dread Raven, Chromatic Egg, Body Wrapper, etc.
Please share any crazy Hunter theorycrafts you've been testing below!!
"I hunt [memes] alone on Out of Cards!"
- Rexxar
ARES LV.7
6 years, 1 month ago
Abominable Bowman works great in albatross hunter.. Nine Lives + Necromechanic for 2 birds is lovely.
Edit- I just noticed it said standard.. I mostly play wild and I have only one mechathun deck for standard.
Mecha C'thun Hunter *Standard version*
Wild · Control Hunter · by ARES · 6 years, 3 months ago
2 Corrosive Breath x 2

2 Explosive Trap x 1

2 Freezing Trap x 1

2 Galvanizer x 2

2 Goblin Prank x 1

2 Misdirection x 1

2 Pressure Plate x 1

2 Rat Trap x 1

3 Deadly Shot x 2

3 Master's Call x 2

3 Nine Lives x 2

3 Spider Bomb x 2

3 Ursatron x 2

4 Arcane Fletcher x 1

4 Dragonbane x 1

4 Halazzi, the Lynx x 1

4 Multi-Shot x 1

4 Wing Blast x 1

5 Rotten Applebaum x 1

5 Subject 9 x 1

5 Zilliax x 1

10 Mecha'thun x 1

10 Zul'jin x 1
13,400 Dust 1,191 0 Copy Deck Code

RangDipkin LV.7
6 years, 1 month ago

Thanks ARES!
For some reason I'd forgotten Necromechanic in my Albatross deck and have swapped it in for Revenge of the Wild which was underperforming; good call!
And I like how you included an Arcane Fletcher + Halazzi, the Lynx combo in your Mecha'thun deck! Subject 9 is a workhorse, but I always want more draw and have tried including Gadgetzan Auctioneer and Jepetto Joybuzz in previous seasons. I've been focusing on Chef Nomi lately, but I think I'll give Mecha'thun another try starting with something like this.
And no worries at all about the Standard vs. Wild distinction. If you have any crazy combos you've been working on I'd be happy to give them a whirl! For some reason, since Highlander builds returned to Standard I've played a lot less Wild (just for the Yogg, Reno, and The Marsh Queen nostalgia). But I really should return now that I'm getting a little burnt out from Standard, and having a fun deck to test makes that even more likely!
Btw, digging the new profile pic :)

ARES LV.7
6 years, 1 month ago

To be honest I was disappointed by hunter cards this expansion. Corrosive Breath looked awesome and seemed to hint towards some poisonous theme or something related to Emeriss..
Rotnest Drake is great and Diving Gryphon is useful but I really wanted an alternative Emeriss like what they did with Ysera and Alexstraza or I would've loved a legendary dragon with a fun effect but instead we got Veranus.. Equality on a stick! Yay!

Xarkkal LV.12
6 years, 1 month ago

Veranus is a very solid card. Better than Equality because it only hits your enemy minions. I will admit, I was disappointed when Veranus was announced, but now I'm very happy that he exists in the Hunter tool-kit.

RangDipkin LV.7
6 years ago

Quote From Xarkkal
Veranus is a very solid card. Better than Equality because it only hits your enemy minions. I will admit, I was disappointed when Veranus was announced, but now I'm very happy that he exists in the Hunter tool-kit.
Given how useful Veranus is in practice, I wonder if there were earlier versions that sounded cooler but performed worse so they settled on the current version.
I only bring this up becuase I remember an interview with Dean Ayala where he said that Reno the Relicologist went through several interations. The earlier versions were more "fun" in the sense of generating crazy spells or higher variance outcomes, but they shipped the current version, which could be viewed as a little boring, because it more consistently regained the board in the midgame which was necessary if Highlander Mage was going to be a thing.

RangDipkin LV.7
6 years ago
Quote From ARES
To be honest I was disappointed by hunter cards this expansion. Corrosive Breath looked awesome and seemed to hint towards some poisonous theme or something related to Emeriss..
Rotnest Drake is great and Diving Gryphon is useful but I really wanted an alternative Emeriss like what they did with Ysera and Alexstraza or I would've loved a legendary dragon with a fun effect but instead we got Veranus.. Equality on a stick! Yay!
Ugh, work suddenly classified OoC as a "gaming site" so it's blocked/I can't check in as often, but I definitely hear you on the fun element of this most recent expansion.
This may be selective memory on my part, but I honestly feel like there's been a noticeable shift towards more "useful" (in the sense of better synergies with competitive archetypes) but also more restrictive cards ever since they made that announcement of trying to build towards specific "class identities" (e.g. Hunters are bad at draw and healing). However, the problem may go back farther as I'm still bummed we went from the unlimited memey possibilities of Stitched Tracker to the more useful/competitive possibilities of Master's Call. MC made midrange beast Hunter super viable when released, but it wasn't flexible enough to enable anything other than the strongest of memes (e.g. Maly Hunter runs Master's Call). Obviously, in terms of game design, they should probably build more cards like Master's Call than Stitched Tracker, but I do miss the ones oriented more towards pure madness/fun (...OK, they did make Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron so I'm probably wrong, haha).
This is all to say that while I can see the usefulness in a lot of the of the DoD and GA Hunter cards, I can also see how you're having less fun with them. Here's how I think about the cards through the lens of Standard:
- Dwarven Sharpshooter - Fits nicely in ladder decks and also fits nicely into many memes as it helps you survive the early game to make it to your spicy combos (and can be part of spicy combos like Arcane Fletcher in Standard or Gahz'rilla in Wild)
- Corrosive Breath - All forms of Dragon Hunter <3 this and I agree with you that a poison theme would've been cool, especially considering this next little guy...
- Primordial Explorer - Love this card for both competitive and memey dragon synergies
- Clear the Way - Helps make Quest Hunter ladder-viable before things like Springpaw rotate and is the better of the two side-quests, in my opinion, for meme builds that want extra mana via Licensed Adventurer or card draw via Questing Explorer. However, the interaction with Swarm of Locusts is disappointing to say the least...
- Phase Stalker - Fits nicely in ladder decks like Secret Highlander Hunter but also helps the meme folks thin their decks (and survive the early game)
- Diving Gryphon - Helps competitive builds this season as card draw is always nice and there are strong Rush minions like Springpaw and Zilliax that you often want to run anyway. Meme decks <3 card draw as well and I currently run this instead of Marked Shot in many builds...though a lot of Rush minions will rotate so this might not be meme-viable in the long run
- Toxic Reinforcements - I can see the competitive appeal for face hunting, but this isn't a style that appeals to me so I never include it in memes
- Stormhammer - Really strong in competitive Dragon Hunter builds and will hopefully help keep memey Dragon Hunters afloat once they get weaker on the ladder...not a fun card itself though
- Dragonbane - Has found some value in competitive builds like Aggro Dragon Hunter and some Highlander builds, but I personally don't find mech builds all that fun meme-wise (i.e. don't see a lot of flexibility in how to build around the Mech tag) and I think this will get worse after SN1P-SN4P and Zilliax rotate
- Veranus - Competitively useful in Quest and Highlander builds, but not great fun to play. I would've loved a fun re-working of Emeriss!
- Fresh Scent - Not sure if it's being used competitively at the moment, but I definitely think it'll be useful in a ladder-worthy Beast Hunter before it rotates. I also think it has a decent chance of being a fun card for the simple fact that Hunter doesn't usually get buff spells and there are a couple ways to discount and charge with beasts
- Chopshop Copter - THE ULTIMATE MEME MACHINE! Doesn't look great for competitve play, but this card alone has caused me to dip into Token Mech Hunter with Witch's Cauldron and Cybertech Chip
- Rotnest Drake - love this card for both competitive and meme Dragon Hunters
Upon further review, I feel like most of this season's Hunter cards help fill out a lot of fun decks, but they don't generate a lot of fun in those decks themselves. Whether this balance is more out of line than in previous seasons is a question for another 3-page essay ;D

dapperdog LV.20
6 years ago

Scarlet Webweaver + King Krush + Hunting Party with Zul'jin for the reload.
This deck krushes nearly every slow control deck. It tends to die to nearly everything else though.

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