Greetings traveler! Sempok here, bringing you another insane deck. This is my own take on the traditional Midrange Hunter list that has been floating around for a while. I used this deck to hit Legend this season with an astonishing 78% winrate (32-9). My winrate dropped in the later ranks when I faced several Aggro Shamans in a row but in my first fourteen games, I had a massive 100% winrate as can be seen in my Track-o-Bot Stats.
Legend Proof can be found here.
Introduction
I built this deck because for a really long time I felt that most Midrange Hunter lists were really unoptimized. Cards like Tundra Rhino and Tracking were being playing which were only really situationally good, which is something Hunter as a class really does not play for since your aim is to out-tempo your opponent while simultaneously playing high value cards on curve such as Savannah Highmane and Call of the Wild.
Enter Azure Drake and The Curator. I noticed that most Hunter builds primarily had two weaknesses: Either you ran out of cards extremely fast due to not being able to draw Highmanes or Call of the Wild to close out games, or you were unable to play strong minions on curve due to not having any strong 5-drops or 7-drops. The Drakes and Curator just slide right in to fix these weaknesses.
In the late game, Midrange Hunter focuses on directing most of its damage to the opponent’s dome to close out games as it is running out of steam. With the advent of Azure Drakes and The Curator, you can actually try to simply outvalue your opponents. They can also be used to supplement the aggressive strategy by providing you with a refill to keep on going face.
Card Choices
The deck features many of the popular cards that Midrange Hunter generally runs such as Eaglehorn Bow and Savannah Highmane. I’ll be talking about some of the more curious card choices that I made, both inclusions and exclusions.
Azure Drake: This card is the glue that holds the deck together (apart from Call of the Wild of course). Azure Drakes fill the empty 5-drop slot so elegantly that it’s beautiful. The provide the card draw that Hunter needs so badly. They also have really strong synergy with Kill Commands and Quick Shots.
The Curator: Fairly self explanatory. The Curator fills the role that Ancient of Lore filled in Midrange Druid pre-nerf. It helps in both slowing down aggressive decks and also in refilling after running out of steam. It’s also the only playable 7-drop present for Hunters currently. Another slight synergy that The Curator provides is that it taunts up right before the Call of the Wild turn, which helps keep your board wider for the Call of The Wild.
Huge Toad: While Kindly Grandmother has become a staple in all Hunter decks, there is often debate over which other 2-drop to run. I usually prefer King’s Elekk in Hunter but since we already have draw present in this deck, Huge Toad fits perfectly. The 1 damage can be relevant very often such as against Totem Golems.
Tracking: The inherent problem with Tracking is that often you have to discard good cards to reach the card that you want in the particular situation. Discarding one of your Highmanes to reach a Call of the Wild against a Control Warrior is simply not worth it. With the amount of draw that this deck features, tracking becomes redundant.
Tundra Rhino: This is the 5 drop that most lists have been running due to the lack of any other good alternatives. However, it seems like a win-more card to me. It definitely has potential, but playing a 2/5 on turn 5 goes against the strategy that Hunter generally wants to go for. Azure Drakes are generally superior in most scenarios, which is why Rhino does not make the cut.
Playstyle and Tips
The most important thing with Midrange Hunter is knowing when to trade and when to go face. The most common problem with players is that they make too many trades and end up losing because of it. You want to only make favorable trades and force your opponent to make poor trades.
Always remember that you are the aggressor in most matchups and that you should always try to put your opponent on the back foot and force them to play reactively. Understand the importance of pushing in as much damage as possible as often as possible.
In the late game, try to weave in the Hunter Hero Power (Steady Shot) as often as possible in order to maximize your damage per turn.
Remember to not overextend onto the board. I fairly common mistake many players make is to always play Call of the Wild of 8. Often, it is a suboptimal play to play this card on 8 if you’re already way ahead of board, since at that point you’re simply overextending and playing into board clears. A more consistent approach is to maintain the board control and use Call of the Wild to expand upon it rather than simply playing it for the sake of it.
Conclusion
I definitely feel that this is the best Midrange Hunter build out there. It further strengthens the aggressive strategy of Hunter while also minimizing the decks weaknesses. Feel free to ask me any questions in the comments below or over at @Sempok_HS on Twitter. GLHF!
