The Hunter Beastmaster Deck - Episode 20

Hello!

• Dan is on the show this week
• Topic: The first-ever Deck Challenge-palooza!
• Reasons to be happy this week

What is a Deck Challenge?

The basic premise is pretty simple: the guest host brings a constructed deck that they’re having fun playing at the moment. They explain what the theme of the deck is, how it works, what the key cards are to have, and why they think it’s fun to play.

We’ll always include a full card list (below) so you can build their deck, but we won’t list every single card on the podcast, since, well, that’d be boring.

After they’ve explained their deck, we pause the podcast and play a best-of-3-series, where I’m using the current reigning champion deck.

If the guest host wins, they get the official title of Happy Hearthstone Champion, and their deck becomes the reigning champion deck for the show. Future guests will have to play against it to try and earn their spot among the LEGENDS of the show!

We won’t do this every show, but it’ll be one of the formats we rotate through during the recording. We want it to be fun and entertaining, but most importantly, we want it to help you find new deck types to play around with. Early on, these won’t be the ideal decks you could build if you had every card in the game—because we know that most players won’t have every card in the game. These are meant to be decks that embody good ideas, that you can build off of, based on what actual cards you have access too.

Plus, it’ll be great for bragging rights if someone can build a deck that holds the reigning spot for a long time!

The Deck

• The Beastmaster: It’s a Hunter deck with a simple theme: every minion must be a Beast (type) or have something directly to do with Beasts.
• How it wins: It’s got a lot of creatures, which is combos together to rush the opponent and hopefully get some big creatures on the board quickly. It’s kind of an overrun-type deck, where you throw a lot at the opponent to keep him on his heels and take him down before he knows what hit him!

Five Key Cards

• Starving Buzzard: A decent beast, with a brilliant (and much-needed) card-draw effect that can be easily exploited.
• Multi-Shot: Removal is very important for keeping your beasts swinging. Multi-shot (and Explosive Shot) are the best removal available to this deck.
• Houndmaster: This is amazing. We should always have a beast on the table, but not many of them have Taunt on their own. This card fixes that, while providing an awesome stat buff.
• Unleash the Hounds: This is one of those Common-quality cards that plays like a Legendary in this deck. Later on in the match, you can bombard the board with beasts and immediately go!
• Tundra Rhino: Dan didn’t like this card before he built this deck, but like Unleash the Hounds, it’s way more valuable here.

Full Deck List

You can read Dan’s full thoughts about why he built the deck the way he did, but here’s the simple deck list with no commentary (ordered by mana cost), if you want to try it out for yourself.
Important Note: As Dan discusses extensively on the show, this is not an ideal deck, but the deck he could build with the cards he has. This is meant to help you build a deck that can work without paying for tons of packs. You should adjust the card numbers to match what you have available to you.

Creatures

• 1x Timber Wolf (1 mana)
• 1x Ironbeak Owl (2)
• 1x Scavenging Hyena (2)
• 2x Starving Buzzard (2)
• 2x Animal Companion (3)
• 2x Ironfur Grizzly (3)
• 1x Jungle Panther (3)
• 2x Houndmaster (4)
• 1x Stampeding Kodo (5)
• 1x Tundra Rhino (5)
• 1x Savannah Highmane (6)
• 1x The Beast (6)

Spells

• 2x Hunter’s Mark (0 mana)
• 2x Arcane Shot (1)
• 1x Tracking (1)
• 2x Unleash the Hounds (1)
• 1x Explosive Trap (2)
• 1x Misdirection (2)
• 2x Kill Command (3)
• 2x Multi-Shot (4)
• 1x Explosive Shot (5)

Sideboard

Cards that Dan recommends adding if you have them, ordered from most to least valuable. See his other post for details.

• 1x Explosive Trap (2 mana), for two copies total
• 1x Explosive Shot (5), for two copies total
• 1x King Krush (8)
• 1x Ironbeak Owl (2), for two copies total
• 2x Snake Trap (2)
• 2x Deadly Shot (3)
• 1x Gladiator’s Longbow ()
• 2x Emperor Cobra (3)
• Eaglehorn Bow (3)
• Beastial Wrath (1)
• 1x Young Dragonhawk (1)
• 2x Dire Wolf Alpha (2)
• 1x King Mukla (5)

The Defending Champion Deck

Because this is our first Duel, there’s no deck defending the throne. Instead, Josh played his favorite Warlock deck, which has pretty average cards in it. In future Duels, the last deck to win will be the Defending Champion Deck, and have to fight off all contenders trying to usurp it.

Post-Duel Commentary

• Who won
• Obligatory bragging session
• Challenger Deck: How well did it perform?
• Defending Deck: How well did it perform?
• Best moments in the matches
• The Happy Hearthstone Champion Ceremony ™

Community

• Question: Card rarity vs. value from Derrick
• iTunes Review: Rince Art

Card of the Week

Song by Lori

Farewell

• Follow Dan on Twitter
• Donate to Dan’s charity event!
• What you want to see in future episodes
• What hosts you want to visit the show
• Bonus section with alluring mysteries!

 

DECK GUIDE:

Building a Hunter deck isn’t always easy, but we focused on a basic starter deck in last week’s Happy Hearthstone episode, which introduced our new deck-battling format.

The new format challenges the show’s guests to bring a personal favorite deck and play a best-of-3 series against the host’s deck. Dan Patriss, my guest-host on last week’s show, brought a Hunter deck to challenge me.

Note from Josh: I asked Dan to explain his deck and card choices on this blog to help listeners understand why he picked the cards he did, and why they might want to try building the deck. The rest of the article is from him. Thanks, Dan!

The Beastmaster Deck

You know my deck is THE BEASTMASTER. (That link is your homework: watch that movie!) It’s a pretty straightforward rush-type deck, which means it wants to punch the opponent in the face as quickly and as often as possible. Its strengths are having decent removal and a bunch of great Beast minions. Its weakness is that it’s kind of light on Taunt minions, which can leave yourself vulnerable.

Let’s get straight into the cards I used in my deck for the mighty showdown with Josh. You can find a completely plain deck list on the podcast episode. Here, I’ll provide additional commentary where I feel it’s helpful or necessary.

2x Hunters Mark

This, combined with Arcane Shot (below), can get you out of a lot of sticky situations. It only costs you 1 mana, but also takes 2 card slots. In that regard, it’s a bit expensive, but it’s still a decent combo.

2x Arcane Shot

This card is cheap, reliable removal, especially for early threats like a 3/2 with perks like Knife Juggler. If you’re not sold on this combo, I think you could also do fine with just 1 Hunter’s Mark and 1 Arcane Shot in this deck, and filling that space with more minions. (I list some ideas for what cards you could add in at the bottom of this post).

1x Tracking

I normally don’t like spending a card slot on something that makes me discard 2 cards, but this card will often help you dig to that one card you really need at the moment (see: Explosive Shot).

1x Unleash the Hounds

As I mentioned on the show, these cards are a huge deal in this deck. Being able to give The Beast or a pile of other beasts +1 and Charge will add a ton of damage to your opponent. The cheap cost means you can almost always play a beast alongside it, to benefit from the Charge.

1x Timber Wolf

This one is replaceable, despite first appearances. But 1-cost beasts are rare and the perks on this one allow it to still be meaningful, even in the late-game.

1x Explosive Trap

Not only will this often wipe the enemy’s board if you can get it out early, it will also toss in an extra 2 damage on your opponent. It’s a great trap!

1x Misdirection

This is another great Secret. When someone has that 7/7 minion out there and your board is empty, the opponent is likely to think you have an Explosive Trap or Freezing Trap. Then, all of a sudden, he gets hit by his own minion and that won’t make him happy.

1x Iron Beak Owl

These guys are soooo high on the meta-scale right now, it’s scary. They’re good in almost every deck because the current big-picture strategy makes Silencing super useful. It’s a great equalizer for virtually no mana cost.

1x Scavenging Hyena

I’m still not sure if I need 2 of these in this deck (I need to test more!). He gets +2/+1 when any beast dies, and beasts will be dying like crazy with this deck. If nothing else, it’s a card that your opponent has to kill before they target your other minions.

2x Starving Buzzard

This is one of the few draw-card effects in this deck, which makes it invaluable.

2x Animal Companion

I LOVE THIS CARD. Especially in this deck. All three of the beasts that this card can summon are useful, and the 3-mana cost is great.

2x Kill Command

This card wins games. It’s 5 damage almost every time you use it.

2x Ironfur Grizzly

This is a cheap, powerful taunt minion ’nuff said

1x Jungle Panther

This is one of the first cards you should swap out if you get something more powerful. But that said, getting it on the ground one turn before you get a Houndmaster that can buff it before it attacks is amazing, letting you pound someone for 6.

2x Multi Shot

3 damage to 2 opponent minions almost always means this will kill two of their cards, for only one of yours (a 2-for-1).

2x Houndmaster

You should ALWAYS have a beast on the board, so this is a free taunt and buff a friendly minion. This is irreplaceable and a key to this deck

1x Explosive Shot

9 total damage to minion. It might not always take out 3 things, but it will sometimes–and it should always get 2 at the very least.

1x Stampeding Kodo

I really wish it was 3 attack, but it’s still a nice effect to have. Plus, he’s 3/5, which is really solid too.

1x Tundra Rhino

In most decks, this is not a great card, but in this beast-heavy deck, it’s a great card to get rush damage mid-game.

1x Savannah Highmane

This one’s really only here to keep crowding the board with beasts, even if he dies.

1x The Beast

Normally, I don’t like giving my opponent anything for free, but you have to have faith that he’ll live a turn and, if he does, he can get you the win.

Possible Additions

Here are some cards you should consider swapping into the deck if you have them. They aren’t in my main list either because I haven’t unlocked them in-game yet, or because I think they’re better as sub cards.

2x Freezing Trap

It’s a decent bounce effect, but I’m not sure it fits the theme entirely and doesn’t protect as much as something like Explosive Trap.

1x Young Dragonhawk

When paired with Unleash the Hounds, this could be a turn 2, 4-damage beast. It’s not game changing, but it will scare your opponent quickly.

2x Dire Wolf Alpha

This is a possible replacement for the Timber Wolf, but it only effects 2 beasts. So, if you rush your opponent, you’re going to get more use out of a mid-game Timber Wolf than you would an Dire Wolf Alpha, which is also more expensive.

2x Emperor Cobra

When used with the Houndmaster, you have a lethal killing machine.

1x King Mukla

I’m not a fan of giving my opponent a free card, but some players might like to use him to just keep rushing the opponent.

1x King Krush

This is probably the best Legendary card for this deck. So much damage, so much beast!

Another Explosive Trap
Another Explosive Shot
Another Ironbeak Owl

2x Snake Trap
2x Deadly Shot
2x Gladiator’s Longbow
2x Eaglehorn Bow
2x Beastial Wrath

Final Thoughts

This might not be a perfect or tournament-ready deck, but I still have a lot of fun playing with it. I hope you do too!

Be sure to listen to our last episode of the podcast, where we talk about the deck at length. If you try it out, tell us what you thought of it, and what cards you swapped in to have the most success.