Hearthstone

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
That's a bummer :eek: Getting to legend is really hard because of how the bonus stars suddenly disappear from level 5 onwards...
 

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
Data Driven Laddering

Okay, I got frustrated stalling out on the ladder and not reaching Legend, so I decided to use my big boy brains and pick a deck to just shit all over this meta.

Exhibit A:
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On Rank 1-2 EU I was facing all Mage, Paladin, Pirate Warrior and, Token Druid, and Quest Rogue. The occasional Priest and but no real shaman to be seen.

Turns out Midrange Hunter takes a big dino-dump all over the represented decks. According to the data...

2 hours later...

SAXogzcl.png


Heyo... suck my dino-dong, meta. The one Priest loss could have been avoided were it not for a tragically optimistic misplay on Turn 1. My opponent had a card-diddling 1/3 on the board and I had these options on my plate.

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Obviously I'm not going to play my 1/1 out into the girl, but I thought I'd go for max value by coining out the crawler and going for a dope adapt on it. The adapt whiffed and my opponent healed on 2, second girl + heal on 3 then drew into their entire dragon package. Don't dino-drop games like that, Jason.

The Outcome

Turns out going 15 - 6 nets you nine dino-doinks, which pushed me over the threshold.

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The eagle eyed will note a 8/5 charging windfury Scavenging Hyena finishing off the job against an empty boarded quest rogue.

And that's how you dino-do it ladies and gents. Shoutouts to all the golden cards I dino-disenchanted to craft decks that didn't work.
 

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
Congrats! Got a decklist?

(I know it's in the spoiler, but which two cards are singletons? The Crab and the Rhino?)


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I also think Bittertide Hydra would work pretty well, but I don't have the card.
It feels almost impossible to lose a game where you draw a relevant hate-crab, and the beast synergy makes them not completely dead in other matchups.
 

Chris Taylor

Contributor
Double bow and rat, interesting,

I always found pack rat really awkward, though maybe I was just undervaluing his base powerlevel

Edit: wait what rhino??? DOUBLE RHINO???
 

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
Double bow and rat, interesting,

I always found pack rat really awkward, though maybe I was just undervaluing his base powerlevel

Edit: wait what rhino??? DOUBLE RHINO???

Rhino works great with all the deathrattle minions. It's a huge tempo swing to get to attack with the tokens right away.
 

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
Tell me about it, Rhino is a must kill target in Hunter matchups. It's probably the second most scary card, after Scavenging Hyena.

Double bow and rat, interesting,

I always found pack rat really awkward, though maybe I was just undervaluing his base powerlevel


Edit: wait what rhino??? DOUBLE RHINO???

Also, Rat Pack got a lot better with the 3/2 adapt a beast. Give it +3/+0 and suddenly your opponent has a big problem!
 

Chris Taylor

Contributor
Tell me about it, Rhino is a must kill target in Hunter matchups. It's probably the second most scary card, after Scavenging Hyena.


Also, Rat Pack got a lot better with the 3/2 adapt a beast. Give it +3/+0 and suddenly your opponent has a big problem!

I even played huntmaster as well, and I was still like "Eh, I guess he's probably still worth it"

Rhino I only played in older versions of hunter when fewer cards were available, with the idea that if you ever got to attack with a Highmane, you won.
Haste is obviously great with that logic :p
 

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
Running Jason's list -2 Hungry Crab, -1 Golakka Crawler, -2 Rat Pack, +1 Fiery Bat, +1 Raptor Hatchling, +2 Knife Juggler, +1 Unleash the Hounds. I had to craft both Alleycats, but I think that card is more important to the deck than the five I'm missing? Anyway, even with my changes this is still a frighteningly effective list. Been hovering around rank 8/9 for a week now with Miracle Rogue and Secret Mage, went up to rank 7 in no time with the Hunter. I fittingly lost to Murloc Paladin and Pirate Warrior (see, that's what you get for not having the hate cards) plus one of two Taunt Warriors (the second one gained upwards of 15 armor and dropped taunts, that was a bit harsh for my deck), but the Jugglers and the extra Unleash were amazing against all the Hunters I faced. That combo owns 1- and even 2-toughness boards!

I faced a very curious amalgam of Quest Rogue and Miracle Rogue tonight, by the way. Opened on quest, so I just tried to be as aggressive as possible while keeping the board clear, when suddenly he drops Backstab into Evis on my two dudes, then Fan of Knives, then Vilespine Slayer. Then he completed the quest on turn seven or so and still had a bunch of 5/5 Fireflies. What. Barely managed to win by using the hero power at the right time and drawing both Highmanes, but that was weird.
 

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
Yeah, Taunt warrior is a tough matchup. I went 1 - 1 in it during my run, with the one win coming from Dirty Rat pulling a Highmane on Turn 2.
 

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
Yeah, Taunt warrior is a tough matchup. I went 1 - 1 in it during my run, with the one win coming from Dirty Rat pulling a Highmane on Turn 2.
I had t1 Alleycat, t2 Razormaw (adapt poisonous), t3 Coin, Hyena, Hyena, trade both cats into his Tar Creeper and he didn't find the brawl.
 
How good is that?

Very, very good. Almost single handedly wins control mirrors. She's better than Cairne because you can play her on 2 and gain tempo against the aggro decks. People are starting to catch on, though. A week ago, I was the only one running her as far as I can tell. Now I see Reno Mages with her constantly.
 

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
Tweaked the Hunter list a bit this morning (+1 Hunter's Mark, -1 Infested Wolf and briefly +another Hunter's Mark, -1 Unleash the Hounds) and reached rank 5 today at the expense of a Warrior Taunt list!

Played some very tense matches, including

vs Pirate Paladin (say what?), where I stabilized at 1 life and he failed to draw a weapon (clearing the board with all the sticky minions)
vs the aforementioned Taunt Warrior, where I managed to clear his board the turn he completed the quest thanks to the lucky Hunter's Mark, and he couldn't play the weapon because he needed the armor to survive my hero power
vs Warlock Zoo, where Knife Juggler and Hunter's Mark did a great job of controlling the board

I wonder if I should add the second Hunter's Mark. I don't miss the Infested Wolf, but I don't quite know what to pull for a second copy of Mark. Maybe the Golakka Crawler? Cutting the second Unleash didn't feel right, as it's such a big play alongside Juggler and Hyena.

Anyway, the deck is way more fun than I anticipated. Lots of interesting matches, tense but generally quick games, and sweet interactions. Would recommend!
 
I think I'll try the wild ladder next season. What decks are people liking?

Reno Mage - This is the list I hit legend with this season. My go to bread and butter.
Secret Anyfin Paladin - This is a pretty sweet midrange list that has an insanely powerful combo finish.
Malyrogue - What I switch to to punish Reno Priests and Warlocks and Jade Druids if I queue into them multiple times. Ridiculously powerful unless you happen to be running into aggro or Ice Block.
Dragon Priest - Nice classic Priest list capable of generating a ton of late game value.
BloodBloom Renolock - This is the list I've been experimenting with lately. BloodBloom has proven to be incredibly powerful, letting you Kazakus for a 10 mana potion and firing it off in the same turn. The tempo is unreal.

BONUS CONTENT
Quest Jade Shaman - This list is super unrefined, but it's an experiment I've been brewing with.
 

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
I opened the Shaman quest but have never really played with it. Does this list suck without Murkeye? Is it getting caught in the crossfire of Murloc hate that's popping up? Or is that only a thing in Standard?
 

Jason Waddell

Administrator
Staff member
For your Renomage list, I have everything except:
Deathlord
Healbot
Sludge Belcher
Pyros

Obviously those first three are cheap crafts, but what would you recommend as a Pyros replacement for the short term? Is Bloodmage Thalnos an awful replacement?
 

Onderzeeboot

Ecstatic Orb
Hahahaha, I just Freed from Amber into Ysera against Dragon Priest! That was hilarious :D 4 power, a dragon, and an unhealthy amount of toughness :D
 
I opened the Shaman quest but have never really played with it. Does this list suck without Murkeye? Is it getting caught in the crossfire of Murloc hate that's popping up? Or is that only a thing in Standard?

The list doesn't suck without Murk Eye, but he's suuuuper powerful and he steals games, which is something you're going to need playing Wild at a high level. There is a bit of incidental Murloc hate going on, though not to the extent that there is in Standard, which is why I abandoned the deck for the time being. I'll come back to it when the meta is a little less hostile.

For your Renomage list, I have everything except:
Deathlord
Healbot
Sludge Belcher
Pyros

Obviously those first three are cheap crafts, but what would you recommend as a Pyros replacement for the short term? Is Bloodmage Thalnos an awful replacement?
Pyros is not essential, though as I stated she is powerful. Ultimately she's a value minion. You can get away with all sorts of replacements. Thalnos isn't bad, though you don't really need spell damage as much as you'd think. You could also try Cairne, Echo of Medivh, a Babbling Book... whatever your heart desires. That's one of the nice things about Reno decks... they're super customizable so missing a single card won't break them. Hell, you could tech in a Golakka Crawler if you want.
 
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