NEW Gadgetzan Hybrid Midrange
- Last updated Dec 3, 2016 (Gadgetzan)
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Wild
- 21 Minions
- 9 Spells
- Deck Type: Ranked Deck
- Deck Archetype: Midrange Hunter
- Crafting Cost: 5160
- Dust Needed: Loading Collection
- Created: 11/21/2016 (Yogg Nerf)
- realblade430
- Registered User
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- 4
- 9
- 26
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Battle Tag:
blade430#1266
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Region:
US
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Total Deck Rating
94
For now, a simple theorycraft. Right now, (non-secret) hybrid/normal midrange hunter isn't doing so great. Secret hunter has become the new face of hunter, but I anticipate that when the Mean Streets of Gadgetzan expansion comes out, this midrange hunter will be THE deck to beat. Why do I think this? Well, if you look at the cards revealed already, we can see a lot of tempo potential within cards like Rat Pack which can swing the board state dramatically if it gets buffed by cards like Trogg Beastrager or even Houndmaster. Dispatch Kodo is another card with amazing tempo potential if it gets in-hand buffs.
The card I anticipate most to perform well in this deck is actually Rat Pack. The card is a toned down Infested Wolf with greater snowballing potential. The ability to summon more rats, I think, will probably make this card pretty good. But who knows? Only time can tell.
The other card I anticipate is Knuckles. I think Knuckles is such a great card because it allows you to trade AND go face. This ability is really good for the midrange plan, as it lets you better control the board and start heading towards the endgame. If Knuckles was a chess piece, it would be a knight, since it has the ability to "fork" your opponent and force him/her to make inefficient trades.
Stranglethorn Tiger is the card I replaced for Princess Huhuran since its a better tech card overall. The tiger does a REALLY good job with receiving buffs since it almost always survives to attack.
Overall, I'm really excited to see what the next expansion is going to bring for the Midrange Hunter archetype. I already have a good feel for Rat Pack and Knuckles, and I am sure that other cards like Shaky Zipgunner can help this deck come to fruition.
As soon as the expansion comes out, I will DEFINITELY be playing this deck. I hope to see results, regardless if they are good or bad. I also hope that other players will play this deck and give back (what I think to be) Rexxar's true identity. blade430 here, signing out... for now...
NOTE:
I will make sure to update this guide when new hunter cards are revealed, so that I can improve this deck.
Changelog:
Nov 20: -1 Infested Wolf +1 Barnes I almost forgot how good Barnes is in this type of deck
Nov 22: -1 Infested Wolf +1 Ragnaros the Firelord. This deck needs more lategame, and rag is the way to go. I'm not sure whether my decision to cut the infested wolf was a good one or not, but I think that it is better to have at least some late game value rather than more midgame.
Nov 24: -1 Princess Huhuran +1 Stranglethorn Tiger. Huhuran is not so good right now, so there's nothing that says it will be useful in the Gadgetzan meta. However, Stranglethorn Tiger is really good since it receives buffs and can usually survive to make use of them. Thanks to the people that suggested the Huhuran change.
Nov 26: -1Ragnaros the Firelord -1Barnes +1 Cat Trick +1 Don Han'Cho. These were calls I had to make primarily because of synergies. While Barnes does have a chance to hit something good, its probably not worth rolling the die, since although there is over a 50% chance you get a deathrattle, only five of those are really worth it. I am personally reluctant to make this change, since I think that even getting a beast token is worth it, but its probably for the better of the deck. Ragnaros the Firelord doesn't have synergy with the deck, so I replaced it with Don Han'Cho for the synergy. Cat Trick is a card I would like to add in another copy of, but right now, I don't know what to cut for it.
I also changed the title of this deck to "Hybrid Midrange" since that title accurately reflects the flavor of the deck. This deck is definitely more low-curve and more aggressive than normal midrange hunter, but it still retains a lot of midrange flavor.
Nov 28: -2 Fiery Bat +2 Alleycat. New card reveals today. 2/3 hunter cards revealed aren't going to be put in this deck because they don't fit into this deck. The Hidden Cache is probably the worst hunter trap I've seen. Usually hunter traps are supposed to be 1 or 2 more mana cost efficient with the drawback that your opponent can play around them. This is probably the first hunter trap that is explicitly trash. The other card, the Smuggler's Crate is probably good, but I don't know what to switch out for it. Anyways... the Alleycat is better than the Fiery Bat because Alleycat is more fit against ping classes like Mage and Rogue. I anticipate Alleycat as the new one drop choice in Midrange Hunter
Dec 3: -2Eaglehorn Bow -2Infested Wolf. After playing this deck, I am currently at rank 9. Its brutal there since literally every other match up is pirate warrior, which is stressful due to the fact that pirate + Patches opener is very annoying to deal with. My face hurts after playing against so many goddamn weapon swings to the face. I removed Eaglehorn Bow to reduce the amount of 3 mana cards in the deck and brought back Infested Wolf for more beast consistency. If you want to do well against pirate warrior, here is my advice: tech in Explosive Trap instead of freezing trap. This deck deals with pirate warrior fairly well, but I find that too many times that Freezing Trap is a literal dead card against aggro matchups.
I would personally replace Princess Huhuran with Ragnaros but will definitely be trying out this deck when Gadgetzan is released!
Good suggestion! I am planning on cutting the Princess from the deck sometime soon. I agree that Ragnaros is needed for this deck as a late game minion.
Barnes will not valuable when this deck contains 7 other minions with battlecry
I wouldn't be so quick to say that. 11/19 minions that can be pulled by Barnes have useful deathrattle effects, meaning thatBarnes is useful for more than half the time, which is actually a good enough reason to put him in, I think. I think of Barnes rather as a "win more" card. If you can pull off a savannah with him, thats fantastic! But this is without considering the fact that some of the cards without deathrattle (like Princess Huhuran) are useful solely because of the beast tag. I feel that Barnes is in essence a great card and should be used in hunter deck lists as long as there is a GOOD chance of the battlecry hitting something amazing.
If you have Savannah Highmane, Infested Wolf, and Rat Pack in your deck there is no reason why you should not have Scavenging Hyena or Knife Juggler.
Cards like Scavenging Hyena and Knife Juggler are probably too reliant on you getting lots of tempo, and usually that is not going to happen unless you use cards like Abusive Sergeant. Yes, cards like infested wolf do give some tokens that synergize with Hyena/Juggler, but those cards are too weak to play on curve. Being weak on curve means that the style you are suggesting is more (arguably) slower than midrange (midrange involves immediate pressure and on-curve plays). HOWEVER I think your suggestion is probably the best I've gotten so far since your idea introduces a more face/tempo oriented style of play. I actually think that putting in cards like Knife Juggler and Abusive could help a style of FACE hunter in maintaining pressure on board. I will keep your suggestion in mind and probably change this deck to fit a more value-based strategy.
This seems like a good deck. Can't wait to give it a try!
yeah me too! You know who's going to be playing with this midrange hunter when the expansion comes out (me!).
This deck looks good, but imo, your hyping up Rat Pack a bit too much. Rat pack is weak to aoe.
I guess Rat Pack is weak to things like maelstrom portal, but I think Rat Pack is a "win more" card. There is no detrimental effect when you play this card without buffs, and it only gets better as you buff it. If your opponent cannot deal with the rat tokens, then they are in deep trouble I suppose.