Hunting the Hunter in Hearthstone

A recent trend which went crazy after Goblins versus Gnomes was the emergence of the face hunter again. It’s become a notoriously hated class among players as the Undertaker makes it feel like it’s impossible to catch back up. While control warrior players have had better luck at combating these types of decks, it is still difficult for other decks to keep up and stabilize. We’re going to examine some of the different neutral cards that we can use to help bring you back into these games if you’re laddering against a significant amount of face hunters.

Zombie Chow
The Zombie Chow has been used in a lot of different ways. Priests, for example, can choose to use it with Auchenai Soulpriests to trade and get some burst damage, but it also makes for a great turn one opener. When we think about countering hunters specifically, Zombie Chow doesn’t need to be used with any combo to be powerful. If successfully played turn one, you can really stunt the growth of the opponent's board. The classic Undertaker -> Coin -> Leper Gnome isn’t even as scary as you can trade into the Leper Gnome and come out with a 2/1 against his 2/3 Undertaker. The Zombie Chow has a downside that is never bad against rush hunter and can even be a decent draw late depending on board state, making it a great stopper to the face hunter.

Annoy-o-Tron
On turn two against a face hunter you can expect to be up against two or three minions on your opponents board and none of your own. Fortunately the Annoy-o-Tron can come to your aid to buy you some time. Sure it’s essentially just going to absorb two hits, but it’s able to kill all 1 health minions (Clockwork Gnome, Leper Gnome, Webspinner, etc.) and stick around to take another hit likely from a powered up Undertaker. This buys you a lot of time and keeps your health total stronger. It is guaranteed to save you at least 3 health (1 for divine shield, 2 for its health) which can be the difference between winning and losing against the hunter.

Explosive Sheep
The first two cards were somewhat easy calls, they’re both found in decks already throughout the meta. Deviating from that is the Explosive Sheep. It’s not found in many decks but is a 2 mana with an awesome early game Deathrattle that your opponent will have to silence if they don’t want to face an effect similar to Consecration. Additionally as a mage this can be used with a ping on four mana a great catch up board clear. This card can help a great deal because it will either draw out a silence, keeping your Sludge Belchers safe, or nearly clearing the board if it goes without being dealt with.

Ironbeak Owl
Certainly not a flashy option, but the Ironbeak Owl generally fits well into most deck types and can be an answer in a pinch to the Undertaker. It’s essentially trading your turn two to make sure you cut off the Undertaker before it becomes too powerful, but in reality it gives you a little more breathing room and can buy enough time for deck types like the ramp Druids and Handlocks to get started.

Unstable Ghoul
A staple in the modern control Warrior, the Unstable Ghoul can really ruin a Hunter’s day. By turn 3 they will typically have between one and three minions who only have one health. This will be a cheap board clear for those minions which will set the hunter back a turn. Use Unstable Ghoul as another tool to bait out any silence that your opponent may have drawn. Hunters don’t typically run many silences, so eventually they will run out and you’ll be able to pull an advantage. Further, if they do silence your Unstable Ghoul, you can still trade 2 for 1 with the Ironbeak Owl if they don’t deal with it on the turn they silence it.

Deathlord
Deathlord buys a lot of time for you to sit back and establish your board position. Its drawback can be really harsh against something like control warrior. That said even against a ramp druid, the Ancient of War will come out as only a 5/5 and the Ancient of Lore will not get it’s battlecry. Against a hunter there will typically be at least 14 minions that only cost 1-2 mana and if they have a deathrattle, it won’t even power up their Undertaker. This card can single handedly win you a game, the gamble of having it summon a Savannah Highmane is still worth the risk here.

Lil’ Exorcist
Here’s the card Blizzard wants us to play to stop the Undertaker. It’s somewhat underplayed in my opinion. While its value is insane against hunter and likely needs no explanation here, it’s also a good answer to a turn 5 Sludge Belcher. A 3/4 taunt for 3 is great value and you’ll have enough mana left over for a spell or hero power. It’s widely regarded as an underwhelming card, but it can actually help you to stabilize from behind against many different decks, not just hunter.

Mind Control Tech
The Mind Control Tech is one of the most fun cards to have in your deck. While it’s not always amazing and can often times be a 3 mana 3/3, it can be so much more. When you look at the cards like Haunted Creepers and Savannah Highmanes, you can really get value off of their Deathrattles by trading up. The Mind Control Tech is one of those cards that is extremely powerful in arena and can translate that strength to the ladder from time to time.

Antique Healbot
We’ve seen a lot of changes to some core decks that have adjusted to include Antique Healbot including the Handlock. Antique Healbot isn’t used in a lot of midrange decks though but it would make a great addition to many different decks in a rush heavy meta. Priest is a class which won’t typically run the card likely due to its counter-synergy with Auchenai Soulpriest. While it may seem counterintuitive, these cards can work alongside each other so long as you can recognize your opponent's deck and play accordingly. A turn 4 Auchenai and Circle of Healing can clear, then on turn 5 trade the Auchenai up and play your Antique Healbot. This is a huge momentum swing that the hunter likely can’t counter.

Sludge Belcher
A card which needs no introduction is Sludge Belcher. It’s been seen in so many different decks and is widely regarded as a simply better version of Sen’jin Shieldmasta. While it’s always possible that the hunter is running one or two Hunter’s Marks, it can completely change the pace of a game if they either do not have it or you can play another big guy to follow up your Sludge Belcher on turn 6.

While there are many different types of face hunter decks and several different strategies to play around different tools like Freezing Trap, starting off by building a deck that gives an advantage is a great start to destroying the Hunter meta. Learning how to use these cards and how your new cards in your deck can work as answers to board state issues will only make your games easier. It’s worth noting that practicing different cards and seeing which gives you the best advantage not only against hunters, but also against the control deck types is what makes a deck a great deck. The cards above are mere suggestions and not every card is correct for every deck, but putting synergistic cards from above in your deck can give you a big boost in your chances against hunters and the meta as a whole.