Hearthpwn

Card Choices:

*Note: These cards are not the absolute final, but rather my current choices (Updated for August 30th, 2016)*

Hunter’s Mark: Just a given removal card in any Control Hunter deck. Has excellent synergy with Wild Pyromancer and Unleash the Hounds.

 

Sir Finley Mrrgglton: An excellently adaptive card. This card can help you draw cards, heal up, and clear minions, depending on the situation. Also, it synergizes with The Curator as well.

 

Bloodmage Thalnos: This card synergizes with many of your damage spells to give you that extra “umph” when clearing minions or dealing damage to the face. It helps you cycle, as well as have synergy with N’zoth, the Corruptor.

 

Explosive Trap: One of the main ways to clear the board. One tip with this card is to try to not be so obvious that you’re setting up a board that clears with this card.

 

Freezing Trap: I found this card an excellent way to deal with powerful minions (or really buffed up ones). This includes cards such Flamewreathed Faceless, Sylvannas Windrunner, and Tyrion Fordring.

 

Kindly Grandmother: As I stated to play out my games, I started to realize that having a somewhat stable early game is absolutely crucial in order to keep the board state in check. Also, it has beast synergy, it's sticky, and has synergizes with Barnes.

 

King’s Elekk: With so many high-cost cards in this deck, it’s quite likely that this early-game beast will help you cycle through your cards. It can give information about your opponent’s deck. An overall solid choice.

 

Loot Hoarder: An early-game deathrattle minion that helps you cycle through your deck. Also, it has some synergy with N’zoth, the Corruptor.

 

Quick Shot: Two mana deal three damage removal card is just good.

 

Wild Pyromancer: With so many spell cards, Wild Pyromancer gives that board clear that this deck needs so desperately. I rarely just drop this as an early game minion, but it is a possibility.

 

Animal Companion: Three mana spell, beast synergy, and a solid early game minion.

 

Deadly Shot: This card was a surprisingly efficient way to remove big minions, or minions which are difficult to clear. Solid choice.

 

Eaglehorn Bow: This is a staple three mana weapon that almost all hunter decks run. It also has synergy with two traps.

 

Powershot: An efficient, cheap board removal. A very prized card in this deck.

 

Unleash the Hounds: An effective means of clearing zoo type boards. It can also serve as a nice damage boost for a potential lethal situation.

 

Barnes: With so many deathrattle cards along with cards with powerful effects such as Ragnaros the Firelord. Also, it’s a four drop, which this deck lacks.

 

Houndmaster: Another recent addition with the realization of so many beasts. I noticed that this deck severely lacked four drops, as well as an effective means of gaining taunt. This card seemed like an excellent way to gain both options.

 

Infested Wolf: A solid, sticky, four-drop beast that synergizes with The Curator, N’zoth, the Corruptor, as well as Houndmaster.

 

Azure Drake: The main reason I added this card was because it had not only spell damage and card draw, but it also came with the “dragon” tag. It synergizes well with The Curator, but it would’ve been a solid choice even without the “dragon” option.

 

Harrison Jones: With so many weapons being played in the game, this card has seen a lot of light in the game. Though it tends to be a weak stated minion on its own, it still is a big enough card to serve as somewhat of a threat.

 

Corrupted Seer: WHAT? This deck seems troll now. Hear me out. With the absence of Baron Geddon, I desperately needed some reliable board clear. I considered many alternatives such as adding Explosive Shot back, and I even pondered adding Abomination at one point. This card is actually very good when you think about it. For six mana, you will be able to reliably recover the board advantage and play a 2/3 minion at the same time. The Curator will be able to pull this card from your deck, which adds overall consistency to the deck. 

 

Reno Jackson: This card is what makes the deck so special. I have considered many other control options such as Soggoth the Slitherer and Alexstraza, but they were just simply too expensive for their effects. Reno Jackson is probably the best way to make aggressive decks give up.

 

Savannah Highmane: This gigantic beast is such a large threat, and a sticky minion to deal with. Synergizes with Barnes, The Curator, and N’zoth, the Corruptor, so I just couldn’t resist putting it in.

 

Sylvanas Windrunner: Does this card need much of an explanation? A very popular and powerful deathrattle card that can boggle your opponent’s mind as they try to deal with it. Often times, they’ll run two large minions into this card in order to avoid it from getting anything stolen away. Simply a solid card.

 

Chillmaw: Why is this card in the deck? There's only one other dragon! Yes, although it seems very unorthodox, this card has some other aspects which make it a great addition. Firstly, it's a dragon. This means that The Curator can draw it, and you can get more value from the card. Secondly, it has potential board clear deathrattle. Having a deathrattle means synergy with Barnes as well as N'Zoth, the Corruptor. Last, but certainly not least, this card has taunt. One of the key ingredients of a Control deck which this deck lacks is a fair number of minions which will forcefully prevent your opponent from attacking your face. Add those components all in one, and you get an awesome card to add in the deck EVEN IF you may not have the number of dragon cards to proc the deathrattle. 

 

Gladiator’s Longbow: Having weapons in a control deck is really important. Gladiator’s Longbow helps to remove some really large threats, as well as destroy powerful five health minions such as Sylvanas Windrunner, Fandral Staghelm, and Violet Teacher. I really like having this card, as you don’t really need to worry about how much damage you’re going to take when trading with a minion.

 

The Curator: It’s like the pre-nerf Ancient of Lore, but situationally better! It offers a taunt, as well as excellent card draw, which makes it a solid card to add in this deck.

 

Call of the Wild: This card is just really, really good. For eight mana, you can deal five damage right off the bat, and still have two reasonably powerful minions on the board. An excellent choice of a card.

 

Ragnaros the Firelord: This large minion can single-handedly win games if left alone. A huge threat on board if left alone, and can be used to even deal eight damage straight to the opponent’s face.

 

N’zoth, the Corruptor: This card is a major win-condition. Don’t wait until you have all six deathrattle minions to proc off of this card, as just two or three really powerful deathrattle cards can help you win the match.

 

Some Honourable Mentions/ Cards to Ponder About:

 

Elise Starseeker: This four drop can help this deck win more consistently against many control match ups. If you’re facing a lot of control, then this card is definitely a solid addition.

 

Explosive Shot: This large removal is really good at taking out big threats as well as clear some small minions off the board. It also acts as a nice substitution for Gladiator's Longbow. However, it has had the downside of being too expensive for most situation, so I have chosen to not put this card in. 

 

Cairne Bloodhoof: This minion was mainly not added in this deck because it lacked the threat component. Though it is really good, it ONLY has synergy with N’zoth, the Corruptor, and did not offer an immediate threat that many of the other cards had.

 

Kill Command: I'm not really sure whether this card helps out or hurts this deck archetype. Though Kill Command can really give a boost in damage, as well as an option for removal, it's just far too expensive and conditional for it to be consistently good. However, if you're really lacking cards, then this may be a cheap alternative. 

 

Baron Geddon: This card has been a notorious board clear/ threat card in Control Warrior decks, so I originally thought that this was an excellent card. However, the more games I played, the more I realized the threat that this card posed towards the Control Hunter archetypes. Control hunters are unable to heal up or regain their health, so every bit of it matters. Paying a seven mana cost along with the expense of two health is way too costly for the desired effect of a two damage board clear. It is an effective threat against other Control decks, though.

 

Stampeding Kodo: This beast was originally a must-add in this deck. It offered decent stats as well as a nice effect against some decks. However, I have realized that usually, minions with two attack or less should not have survived the board until turn five, and if they have, you need much more drastic turn arounds then simply clearing one minion off at a time. It can be a good card in some situations though.