Hunter Myth (GvG Legend Control Hunter Guide)

Overall the matchups are favorable with the primary weakness currently Mage. If you are facing a mech mage and they roll a good start and you don't have immediate answers/board presence then it's very unlikely you will come back (although this is the case for most decks). That said, if you also have a good start with Steamwheedle/Animal Companion/Shredder and a weapon/removal then you may be in good shape. Additionally, Freeze mage can be somewhat of an issue with this deck as there is no mechanism to burst them down quickly. It's still a better matchup than mech mage though.

Face hunter isn't much of a problem unless you completely whiff on your mulligan + first/second draw. You should be able to keep a board and keep up the damage to eek out a win (Healbot can often be MVP). If you can keep a Sniper on board against an aggressive deck then it can often single-handedly win games.

The slower matchups are all generally favorable because of 2 reasons 1) they'll mulligan wrong 2) cheap removal and value-providing minions can clinch the game. I've often considered ditching the single Feign Death but even without Sylvanas it can provide a fair bit of value.

The current paladin is about 50/50 and hinges on Pyro clearing out muster before you have a ton of 3/3 dudes in your face. If you do, it's not too terrible difficult. Save Owl for Tirion or Sylvanas (though not all paladin decks run her).

Both Handlock and Zoo are dealt with fairly efficiently and I have a 60+% winrate against both at the moment. Use your hard removal + combo removal against handlock, and early game minions, weapons, and removal vs zoo and it should go fine.

The general flow of the early game consists of utilizing Arcane Shot, Sniper, Pyro, and Weapons to control the board. You can effectively draw off of Acolyte with the Pyro ability. Animal Companion is as solid a 3 drop as ever and rounds out the early game.

Your mid game will consist of keeping up with removal, Shredders, and Belchers.

Important Note on Efficient Use of Removal: If you have multiple methods for removal in hand it is important to use the most conditional removal first. Take the following examples into consideration:

Scenario 1: Handlock drops Mountain Giant on an empty board on turn 4. You have Deadly Shot and Big Game Hunter in hand. (Use Deadly Shot)

Scenario 2: A Control Warrior drops Ragnaros on turn 8. You have Steamwheedle, Big Game Hunter, and Hunter's Mark in hand. (Use Big Game Hunter)

The reason for these choices is that you want to use the removal that has more limited options later on. In Scenario 1 if you hold onto the Deadly Shot then you run the risk of having to roll the dice with RNG later if they have more than 1 minion on board. In Scenario 2 if you use Steamwheedle + Hunter's Mark then you might not have an answer for a <7 attack threat later.

Your lategame will hinge on your ability to maintain board presence in the early and midgame and come in the form of Highmane, Sylvanas, Dr. Boom, and Kel'Thuzad. A turn 8 Sylvanas + Feign Death is fairly game ending in most control matchups. However, if you can Feign Death a Belcher + Highmane or even a Shredder then consider that as an option to apply pressure as well (but don't over commit if they still have board clear options). Healbot can give you a bit more staying power and Jones + Black Knight will allow you to keep tempo against some of the more popular matchups.

Keep in mind that the current version of the deck is very much a work in progress and runs several tech cards (Big Game Hunter, Harrison Jones, The Black Knight, and to a degree Loatheb). These cards can be subbed out and will likely vary depending on the meta. For example, due to the high number of Strifecro paladin and smattering of Burst Shaman, Control Warrior, and Rogue/Hunter...I feel Harrison is worth a spot. Similarly, most druids have gone back to Ramp style instead of 2x Roar. That plus Handlock and all the Belchers gives good cause for TBK. As Kel'Thuzad is not a tech card he will likely be the first change made. Be on the look out for changes to come.

Keep: Animal Companion, Piloted Shredder, and Deadly Shot

Generally speaking, the 2 drop minions are not very good against Druid as they'll likely end up on the opposite side a wrath. That said, if you have Steamwheedle or Wild Pryo AND Hunter's Mark then you should keep them. If you know the opponent is a fast Druid then avoid keeping anything over 3 mana.

Keep: Arcane Shot, Steamwheedle Sniper, Wild Pyromancer, and Glaivezooka

The vast majority of Hunter's are aggro/face. That in mind, mulligan exclusively for your Sniper/Pryo/Arcane Shot. Glaivezooka can do some work but avoiding face damage is always priority.

Keep: Steamwheedle Sniper, Wild Pyromancer, Eaglehorn Bow, and Animal Companion

When you mulligan you should really only assume Mech Mage since it's tremendously popular at the moment. That in mind, stay away from any 4+ cost minions and look for weapons and early board presence. Arcane shot doesn't do much work against mech since they're all 3+ Health (other than the 1 drops and Annoy-o-Tron). Acolyte is too slow to keep but will at least cycle if it's your only play (and if it's your only play you're probably very far behind). It is still quite possible to clear the board with Wild Pyro and pull back (I've done this a number of times) -- so resist throwing it out to trade 1-for-1 if possible.

Keep: Acolyte of Pain, Steamwheedle Sniper, Wild Pyromancer, and Animal Companion

Against Paladin you'll want to keep the Acolyte to punish their dudes or even the minibot. The other early drop minions are good at making 2 for 1 (or better) trades with the Paladin's.

Keep: Steamwheedle Sniper, Acolyte of Pain, Animal Companion, and Piloted Shredder

I tend to keep Acolyte against Priest to draw off of greedy Cleric plays. Otherwise, early board presence and removal is good to have on hand as you enter the mid-game.

Keep: Loatheb, Eaglehorn Bow, Acolyte of Pain, Piloted Shredder, and Animal Companion

Rogue is in such a weird place that I'm still never sure what to expect. It seems that almost everyone has finally started to run the same deck though (although I still don't think it's that great). Keeping the 3 drop minions (other than BGH) is fine as is keeping the bow to deal with common 3 drops from Rogue. You may keep the Sniper although it will usually just be a 2/3 2 drop that trades 1 for 1. With coin I'll hold onto Loatheb in the event things get #dicey.

Keep: Eaglehorn Bow, Animal Companion, and Steamwheedle Sniper

Shaman is another weird matchup because it's in such flux since GvG was introduced. Lately it seems almost everyone is running Firebat's aggro weee-bot Shaman. If that's the case then I'd ditch Dr. Boom and go for more early board presence. Against the traditional slower Shaman you can keep a slower minion since you shouldn't be under real threat.

Keep: Arcane Shot, Steamwheedle Sniper, Wild Pyromancer, and Glaivezooka

Generally it's safe to assume you're up against a Zoo deck; however, lately with the undertaker nerf there's a lot more Handlock and even combo-demonlock out there. That said, if you're not sure, err on the side of zoo and go for early game removal, weapons, and minions. It's okay to keep Big Game Hunter as well since he can still trade against Zoo and if it is a Handlock you'll be happy to have it.

Keep: Acolyte of Pain, Animal Companion, Piloted Shredder, Savannah Highmane, and Dr. Boom

Virtually the only Warrior deck anyone plays is Control Warrior. With that in mind, it's not really necessary to hold onto your early game minions as they'll just get axed down unnecessarily. You can hold onto Acolyte to draw off of his 1-attack minions (or tragically get axed down). Otherwise, keeping mid-game minions and using your hero power to cancel his out isn't terrible.

1): Arcane Shot / Hunter's Mark + Wild Pyro: This fairly obvious combo is one of the primary tools for removal vs either a small board or single big minion respectively. Wild Pyro + Hunter's Mark is a simple tool for removing Dr. Doom if you don't have your BGH. If you're lucky you might even keep your minion and make it a simple 1-for-1 trade. Also keep in mind that Animal Companion triggers Pyro so that, against Zoo for example, a turn 4 Pyro + Coin + Animal Companion will sweep for 2 damage and give you a minion. It does more work than you might think.

2): Hunter's Mark + Steamwheedle Sniper + Hero Power: This is one of my favorite combos out there. For 4 mana and 1 card you can remove any single threat and put a 2 drop into play. Obviously less effective against deathrattle but great against most legendaries, giants, or otherwise difficult to deal with minions.

3): Feign Death + Any Deathrattles: Obviously you want to at least get 2 mana worth of value out of this card so using it on a single Sludge Belcher isn't the best. However, using it on turn 9 after playing Dr. Boom can sometimes help out considerably. A scenario I've found myself more than once is as follows:
- Turn 6 I play Highmane
- Opponent can't remove and plays Taunt or 5 Attack Minion
- Turn 7 Belcher + Feign Death
- Turn 8 Kel'Thuzad

Now obviously, that turn 7 board is fairly weak against a 2+ damage board clear but the potential threat it represents is enormous. It's possible that the opponent would have lost anyway since they couldn't immediately deal with Scar, but the sudden surge of minions makes the situation dire.

Additionally, you always have the Sylvanas + Feign Death combo for a mind control + Sylvanas if you can land it (looking at you Tirion). Otherwise, you don't always have to use the spell for that reason.

A final consideration is that Feign Death can be used to trigger Wild Pyro in a pinch. There are times where it's ugly but necessary.

4): Acolyte of Pain + Wild Pyro + Any Spell: If you're in need of card draw and damage on the board then this does nicely.

5): Steamwheedle Sniper + Hero Power: I want to call out this minion specifically to talk about how I've found him to be best used. Against any matchup where the opponent commonly has a 3 damage removal (Shaman, Warrior, Mage, Druid, Handlock, and sometimes Rogue) it is generally incorrect to play him on an empty board on turn 1 or 2. Against Hunter, Paladin, and Priest I usually have no problem throwing him down on a clear board. In those other cases you should generally hold onto him until you can also use the the Hero Power to effectively make him a 4 mana 2/3 with a Battlecry: Deal 2 damage. There are exceptions to this, however, it should be considered the general guideline.

Kill Command: With only 4 beasts currently in the deck it isn't always easy to get 5 damage and 3 damage kill commands just aren't worth it. I tried them out for a while but in the end switched them out for Deadly Shots and have had much more success. It's possible that future variations will contain many changes including more beasts and Kill Commands...just not right now.

Bomb Lobber: The 4 damage utility is great but I couldn't find room with the current setup.

Mind Control Tech / Blood Knight: I've considered both of these tech cards for a few reasons. Obviously MC Tech is very popular now and people are still not playing around it very well. If I added Blood Knight(s) then I'd likely add Argent Squire 1 drops as well for a sure fire way to proc them. Otherwise, their primary use would be to abuse the very high number of Annoy-o-Trons out there. Either way, the deck already runs a fair number of tech cards so several adjustments would need to be made.

Ragnaros: He's big, he's fiery, and he's always purging stuff. He could replace KT for more potential impact in close situations but KT is currently doing a good job coming into play with a board intact.

Alexstrasza: Since the deck doesn't run any sort of finisher/high damage burst there isn't a whole lot of reach. However, in practice I've found Alex just doesn't get enough value in Hunter since the aggregate damage from Hero Power and minion damage usually makes her a 9 mana giant that does 3 or 4 damage at most.

Other legendaries: Cards like Foe Reaper 4000, Gahz'rilla, Troggzor the Earthinator, and Sneed's Old Shredder are certainly worth exploring in the future. My main issue with those type of minions is that they don't do anything immediately and Hunter doesn't have the same survivability as Warrior or other Control decks.