The Budget or Fudge It Naga Hunter Deck Showdown - Two Budget Decks Compete in the Ring

Welcome to Budget or Fudge It, the Hearthstone article series that forces affordable decks to fight for dominance. Each episode of this series will feature two decks that each build around the same theme with different requirements. One deck will be completely budget-friendly: Only Commons, Rares, and Core Set cards. No Epics, No Legendaries (except for the free ones). The other deck will live on the fringes of the realm of "budget," with only its wits and either a single Legendary or a couple of Epics to help it survive those unforgiving wastes. We'd like to think that metaphor didn't get away from us.

In this installment of Budget or Fudge It, our competitors are a pair of Naga Hunter decks that take advantage of Hearthstone's newest minion type and their synergy with Hunter's spells. Yet each has their own way of capitalizing on these interactions to win the game without breaking the bank.

Grab some popcorn, because it's time to go Beyond Hunterdome. Two decks will enter. Two decks will leave because we aren't running that kind of establishment.

The Contenders

Welcome, Ladies and Gentlemen, to: Budget or Fudge It! In the red corner, with a weight of 1720 Dust, from the city of Nazjatar, it's Twinbow "The Terror" Terrorcoil! This lean, mean, spell-doubling machine makes a fast start with aggressive 1-Drops, then ends the game with some boosted Shots. Take your pick: Aimed or Piercing Shot, the opponent is in for a world of hurt!

And, in the other red corner (we need to think about doing some repainting), from Vashj'ir and weighing in at an impressive 4960 Dust, it's Raj "Nasty Jeans" Naz'jan! This 2-Drop troublemaker is ready to make its enemies feel the pain of every spell cast and forms a ferocious tandem with his partner "Dr. Wrecker" for some good, old-fashioned beatdowns!

So there you have it folks, a tag team matchup for the ages: "The Twin Terrors" against our Legendary duo "The Jeans Wreckers"! Yeah, we're changing that name.

The Core

Both decks utilize the powerful synergies of early drop Naga Vicious Slitherspear and Murkwater Scribe with Barbed Nets and other cheap spells to form an aggressive opener that spits out damage then reloads its hand with Furious Howl and Crushclaw Enforcer. They each use those tools to different ends, but these decks have the same DNA. Bloodseeker is a good, cheap weapon that can more easily trigger its Honor Kill thanks to cheap pings from Wound Prey. Rounding out the similarities are the solid curve of Turn 1 Irondeep Trogg into Turn 2 Doggie Biscuit.

The Budget: Twin Terrors

The Twin Terrors aren't messing around, bringing not only their own style of spell boosting to the fray but also the Spell Damage of Rainbow Glowscale. This Naga plays nicely with all damage spells, but especially well with Barbed Nets as an efficient answer to any aggressive opener that involves Amalgam of the Deep (which is most of them). Our budget contender also leans on the efficient tutoring of Conch's Call to get more Naga and spells in hand, making sure it can keep putting on the pressure.

Unique Package: Twinbow Terrorcoil, Rainbow Glowscale, Conch's Call

What It's Good At: Starting out fast, then pivoting to an explosive burn plan in the late game

What It's Bad Against: Healing, Divine Shields, Lightforged Cariel

The Fudge It: The Nasty Doctors

The Nasty Doctors (that's much better) focus more on keeping the board and winning the game with tempo and the boosted damage of Raj. This deck can play fair, but has a few tricks up its sleeves when it comes to getting on the board: it can either swarm with Drek'Thar and its supply of cheap Naga, or it can summon a pair of 3/3s with Naga's Pride. If those minions need to trade, it can protect them with Ramming Mount and Doggie Biscuit (which are also useful if the minions go face instead).

Unique Package: Raj Naz'jan, Drek'Thar, Ramming Mount

What It's Good At: Getting onto the board, using buffs to value trade, boosting face damage with spells and Naga

What It's Bad Against: Big Taunts, Freeze Effects, AoE Clears

The Showdown

Both decks are capable of getting off to a fast start with one of their aggressive 1-Drops curiving into a Doggie Biscuit, which gets followed up by a Crushclaw Enforcer.

But, once these decks hit 4 Mana, their games change.

First, the Twinbow Terrors throw down an activated Twinbow Terrorcoil to threaten 12 damage next turn from Aimed Shot plus Hero Power.

Nasty Jeans looks like he's on the ropes, but a blind side takedown from his teammate Drek'Thar summons a board of Naga that the Terrors can't ignore!

What a contest! Who's going to come out on top?

The Finale

With our combat in the ring coming down to the wire, there's no easy way for us to pick a winner. Is it the Budget deck that relies on doubled burn from Twinbow Terrorcoil, or the Fudge It deck that takes Raj Naz'jan's unique set of skills and adds them to a fearsome ground attack? Only time, and the meta, can truly give us that answer.

Which deck, in your opinion, is the winner? What contenders do you want to see fight it out in an upcoming episode of Budget or Fudge It? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Out of Cards would like to remind you that its cards are trained professionals.
You should never emulate what they do in the ring, unless it's really cool.