Spellz

Really proud to share my Spell Hunter deck.
I've reached Wild legend with it during the August 2022 Ranked Season. (Diamond 2 or 3 the season before that and currently Diamond 4) with a 56% winrate over approx 180 games. (Sorry for bragging, but I don't hit legend much because I like to do my own thing)

The deck is very dear to me as I've enjoyed the original version by Thijs back in the year of the Raven very much. (Back in the days when I was still very new to Hearthstone.) I've from time to time tried to revisit the deck and the play experience, however the Wild format has not been very forgiving to it.

The Wild Seeds package was a god sent and gave new life to this beautiful deck.

Please be mindful that this deck is a very tactical deck and is not super easy to play. It requires you to really plan ahead and read your opponents gameplan, so it might not be for everyone.

So enough nostalgia, let's get started.

Gameplan:

The deck is a midrange deck, that is able to shift gears quite well. And off course Deathstalker Rexxar can take you deep into control territory.
As you can see the deck has no minions, but has some great way of generating them. Having no minions enables you to take advantage of To My Side! and Rhok'delar the cards that enabled this archetype in the first place.
There is a substantial secret package in the deck for the purpose of controlling your opponent and protecting your face.

The gameplan is to take advantage of an early Dun Baldar Bunker to get the secrets out of your deck and into your hand. It gives you cheap secrets that can amplify Petting Zoo, but more importantly it improves the quality of your draws in the mid game.

In the mid game is where the magic happens. Turn 3-5 you're setting up Striders and Wild Seeds and protecting them as much as possible. On turn 6 To My Side! does its magic to either add more lethality to your board or to setup a new one ore catch up when falling behing.

From there on you can either keep summoning beasts or finish your opponent off with a well placed Rapid Fire or Improved Explosive Trap from Beaststalker Tavish (a truly amazing card as well!)

The deck performs well against slightly slower opponents that let you develop a board in the early game, but it also has great board renewal potential.

Mulligan:

Always, and I do mean ALWAYS mulligan for Dun Baldar Bunker. One exception and that is Rogue (or any token aggro strategy) where you should keep your protecting secrets (Explosive Trap, Wandering Monster or maybe even a Freezing Trap.

If you have Beaststalker Tavish in hand think  twice before mulliganning him away (especially on the Coin) as he is often game winning due to the infinite board pressure he provides with the Hero Power.

Early Game:

Play Dun Baldar Bunker as soon as you are able (use Tracking if you need to still find it or Coin it out if you can), but not dying is off course always more important so be ready to get flexible here.

If you need to fight for the board, fight for the board that's what this deck does. Only decks you want to race down are Combo Decks.
If you can spare your Rapid Fire, do so as it will give you (lethal) damage from hand later in the game.

Use you secrets wisely, there are synergies and dis-synergies between them.
When dealing with wide boards, play Explosive Trap first and Freezing Trap second, that will prevent your opponent testing your Freezing Trap with a low health minion.
Misdirection and Wandering Monster don't work well together.
Keeping a 1 mana secret in hand on turn 3 even if you can play it, to guarantee a secret in play when casting Petting Zoo can be a better play that simply filling your mana curve.

Mid Game:

Wild Spirits, yes please! keep putting stuff on the board and hang on to it as best as you can. If you are able to win it there and then, try and finish your opponent off, but if you see your opponent stabilizing, start planning and spreading your resources to prevent over extention.

Some highlights:

Big Priest loves Freezing Trap *evil grin*.
Even Warlock and Misdirection are a match made in heaven.
Against Mages dig for your Flare I've stolen many matches with that.

Going to the late game:

You need to figure out if board pressure will ultimately win you the game, in which case refrain yourself from playing Deathstalker Rexxar as long as possible. (sometimes you need the healing, so no choice). In fatigue games though he is really your friend.

Final thoughts:

I'm really happy with the list, only card up for discussion at present is Rinling's Rifle. I keep it in for flexibility, but it sits in hand akwardly quite often.

Do you need Rhok'delar? Probably not, but it is the reason for playing this deck. (And who can refuse a 7 mana 4/2 weapon :-D) It's just a a great way to end a game.

You can argue roughly the same about Deathstalker Rexxar by the way.

I hope you have a fun playing this, sorry that the guide isn't better, please let me know your feedback if you take it for a spin.