- Deck Guide -

Budget Midrange Hunter

Dire Frenzy | Master's Call | Hunter's Pack

Strengths:

• Cheap (1920 Dust)
• Reasonably high card quality.
• Powerful minions that can be drawn reliably.

Weaknesses:

• Highly dependant on applying pressure.
• Losing Tempo oftentimes results in losing a game.

Summary

It doesn't feel right labelling this a budget deck since it includes two copies of Master's Call. However, it so happens to be that the remaining cards are just very cheap and allow for including the most powerful draw engine currently available to Hunters. It is quite surprising how well this deck performs, given that it lacks powerhouses like Zul'jin.
I wouldn't say that this is a Tier 1 deck, but just while testing it out I climbed from Rank 5 w/ 2 stars to Rank 4 w/ 1 star, so I would (carefully so) say that there is a chance that this deck could potentially take you to Legend. Midrange Hunter did have a reputation back in Rise of Shadows, so this shouldn't come as a surprise.

Sadly most of the new Saviors of Uldum cards either just cost too much dust to craft or they don't seem to fit this deck, so the only addition from the new expansion is Hunter's Pack, which, however, turns out to be a very useful card that allows you to generate value without having Zul'jin. I wish there were ways to include more new cards, but at this point in time it doesn't really seem feasible. The Locust package just doesn't seem to perform all that well and Hyena Alpha belongs into a Secret Deck, which, without expensive cards, doesn't seem to be very good either. Ramkahen Wildtamer has an interesting effect, but the card not being a beast is a big downside.

The game plan is usually to make use of Dire Frenzy to create a big beast and to draw it via Tracking or Master's Call. While your early game will mostly just revolve around keeping your opponent's minions off the board, the mid- and later stages of the match will require you to apply pressure and to overwhelm your opponent. Steady Shot and Kill Command are potent finishers in this regard.

Mulligan

You should always keep:

• Shimmerfly
• Headhunter's Hatchet if you have a 1-Mana Beast
  • If your opponent is likely to remove your beast straight away, wait a turn and, e. g. use The Coin to play both the beast and Headhunter's Hatchet on the same turn.
• Tracking if your hand doesn't look like you can pull off a great opener

Generally, though, different opponents require different approaches. Look at the cards you are offered and consider the following points:

• Do I face an aggressive deck and need to hard-mulligan for early removal?
• Can I afford to keep my draw engine?
• Is there any way how I could get an early Scavenging Hyena on the board and prevent it from being killed instantly while ensuring I can grow it immediately?

The biggest challenge is to actually gain foot on the board. Controlling your opponent's minions will only work for so long, and if you don't play big minions on time you will usually not be able to come back. However, if everything goes according to plan you should be able to stick your hard-hitters to the board and pressure your opponent's HP every single turn.

Useful Tips

• Hunter's Pack can get you a variety of high-quality minions, secrets and weapons that, if you're a budget player, you wouldn't have access to otherwise.
• If you can, try to avoid playing small minions on their own; they can easily be dealt with and you won't have them at later turns where they might make an impact.
  • The exception here is Shimmerfly. Drop it whenever you can.
• Try to drop Tundra Rhino in situations where you are sure your opponent can't remove it. If it sticks you will be able to inflict massive damage the next turn.
• Consider that Unleash the Hounds can find Lethal.
• Don't feel bad about dropping high-quality cards when using Tracking if another card will help you a lot more in a given situation. Just pretend that the dropped cards are at the bottom of your deck, which you will most likely not get to anyway.
• If you have Unleash the Beast in hand and don't have any other play, it is fine to play it on an empty board as a simple 5/5.
  • Be mindful with this, though, as in certain games you will need to use this card as removal.

Non-Budget Alternatives

Note: These are recommendations and not necessarily definite upgrades. It is up to you if you, e. g., want to drop Savannah Highmane or Hunter's Pack.

• If you have Zul'jin:
  
  
  • - 1x Hunter's Pack
  • + 1x Zul'jin
    
    
• If you have Wild Bloodstinger and/or don't like Hunter's Pack:
  
  
  • - 1x Hunter's Pack
  • + 1x Wild Bloodstinger
    
    
• If you have Scarlet Webweaver:
  
  
  • - 2x Savannah Highmane
  • + 2x Scarlet Webweaver

Other Alternatives

• If you don't like Hunter's Pack:
  
  
  • - 2x Hunter's Pack
  • + 2x Marked Shot*
    
    
• If you prefer another Springpaw:
  
  
  • - 1x Vicious Scalehide
  • + 1x Springpaw

* This change will leave you with a deck that runs absolutely no cards from Saviors of Uldum, which is a bloody shame!