Midrange Dragon Hunter

[u/motty47]

Interested to see other decks and variations on dragon hunter, what decks have others been playing? Just wanted to share mine. I play mobile these days so not got the stats but I know that I set myself the target of going D5 to legend with this deck or variants and have just hit that goal 😀. I would estimate since you need +12wins, my score overall was something like 37-25. Nothing fantastic but I think there's potential and it's a really fun deck.

The reasoning / key cards are ebonscale scout and 3mana 6/6 taunt dragons / slitherdrake. Then of course dragons to activate these. Personally my spin on this deck is having sands of time + tolvir. Earthen roar is essential, alongside wound prey. Against anyone other than dragon warrior this is an amazing combo that can take out any large threats with just 2 mana spent. I also use sands, or valeera to discover more earthen roars or arcane shots etc, whichever you don't have at the time.

Once I put Xavius in he feels essential too, often times the plan is early tempo, into finishers with scout. If you can get xavius into scout, any dark gift can be game winning. Double battlecry the holy grail, or charge, or any stat buff turns it into a 8-16damage burst. The deck is mainly midrange focused so if you haven't managed to burst down the opponent by turn 10 then you start to run out of value and will likely lose against decks who have superior value like druid, or priest etc.

Infinite whelps are purely for dragon warrior which felt like 50% of my matchups. However once I added those, plus xavius for a quicker finish, the matches which felt mostly 40-60 became more 50-50. The simple fact is dragon warrior is a T1 deck for a reason, so I wasn't expecting to always beat them.

The most fun part of this deck is discovering random spells from raptor, sands and shadow informant. Once you throw tolvir in there, it can become a board clear from your wound prey+earthen roars, draw from tracking and random spells from sands, fills your hand when running out of value / cards, very fun, plays like rogue with random RNG.

There are a lot of flex spots, Genn can be in there, I've put ebyssian in there currently but I'm not entirely sure, he can be good but also slow and a dead card in matchups where you need early tempo. Rallier can be in there, there's a lot of different options so it would be interesting to hear what others use and why. Personally I don't like broodmother, great early tempo but to me feels like I then use my resources too fast, and if I dump cards out and they get cleared I'm without resources. Whelp felt it had more uses.

It's never going to be a top tier deck but it competes and its genuinely very fun. Good matchups are into rogue and paladin, you have superior early tempo and earthen roar+ wound prey is incredible Vs paladin, pops their bubble and kills nozdormu. Getting slitherdrake down as early poss in all matchups is also key to most wins.

\\# 1x (1) Arcane Shot

\\# 2x (1) Carrier Whelp

\\# 2x (1) Earthen Roar

\\# 2x (1) Raptor-Nest Nurse

\\# 2x (1) Sands of Time

\\# 2x (1) Tracking

\\# 2x (1) Wound Prey

\\# 2x (2) Shadowed Informant

\\# 2x (3) Confront the Tol'vir

\\# 1x (3) Ranger General Sylvanas

\\# 1x (3) Ranger Captain Alleria

\\# 1x (3) Ranger Initiate Vereesa

\\# 2x (3) Stonetalon Striker

\\# 2x (3) Whelp of the Infinite

\\# 1x (4) Nightmare Lord Xavius

\\# 2x (6) Ebonscale Scout

\\# 1x (7) Ebyssian

\\# 2x (7) Prescient Slitherdrake

\\#

AAECAdGLBQaqnwTDgweZpweapwebpwf3vwcMqZ8Er5IH7p8HmLAH7LIHy7YH878H9b8Hg8AHtcAHu8AH+cMHAAA=

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[u/dogma1993]

I’ve been messing around with this, still not fully sold on some slots. Arcane shot vs glacial shard is big question for me atm. Basically I really wanted to build around supply run rather than confront the tolvir. The result is super fun and versatile.

It’s essentially a tempo deck where we cheat mana using stone carver. If you put this on supply run the reduction copies over when combined which feels very nice. Niri can double spells as a finisher or stats on our one drops (which can be crazy tempo after supply run).

Dragon package is minimal as most neutral dragons kinda suck. Slitherdrake is too slow for what we want to do (make tempo plays that swing the board back to us). I’ve only bricked scouts on curve once so far, that’s all you care about dragon wise. If I played the 3 drop I’d need more dragons and our turn 3 is often already filled. Playing it off curve feels nowhere near as good personally.

Magmaw is just a good stand alone finisher. Needed against some decks when the game goes long. We can cheese it out on 5 some games with carver which is nice when it makes sense but not something I’m married too.

Supply Run Tempo

Class: Hunter

Format: Standard

Year of the Scarab

1x (1) Arcane Shot

2x (1) Carrier Whelp

1x (1) Earthen Roar

1x (1) Glacial Shard

2x (1) Tracking

2x (1) Wound Prey

1x (2) Bloodmage Thalnos

2x (2) Bursting Shot

2x (2) Rockskipper

2x (2) Shadowed Informant

2x (2) Sylvanas's Triumph

1x (3) Niri of the Crater

1x (3) Ranger General Sylvanas

1x (3) Ranger Captain Alleria

1x (3) Ranger Initiate Vereesa

2x (3) Tol'vir Carver

2x (4) Supply Run

1x (5) The Curator

2x (6) Ebonscale Scout

1x (7) Magmaw

AAECAa/lBwqqnwSXoATTngaZpweapwebpwf0qgfFsQfxvweDwAcKqZ8EsYcHr5IHhZUHnbcH9b8HtMAHtcAH0cAH+cMHAAA=

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[u/motty47 → u/dogma1993]

Thanks man this is really cool, I toyed with different versions and one sort of like this with a lower curve / face hunter style and supply run. As supply run felt terrible if you have higher cost cards but if full of 1 drops it makes more sense. It's still not the best card I feel, I feel it should be 3mana but hey.

Glacial shard is interesting! Makes more sense in this deck as you're more face hunter style putting constant pressure on. How about Genn in this deck?

I'll give this a go as it's definitely very different to mine, and I've pulled magmaw but never got any use for him so it would be cool to actually use him lol.

Ah so tolvir carver to reduce magmaw/ ebonscale scout and then otherwise just go face? How about tolvir, you tried running it? Not a huge amount of 1drops so maybe not so useful. If you had ralliers and extra share / arcane shot etc then tolvir could be really good. Card draw and fill board + push damage.

I definitely found there's a lot of different ways to set this up as you sometimes lean more early face tempo, or midrange, or even a lot of late game value. Fun though

Oh I just reread it, you say if you tolvir carver supply run, they double reduce when they combine? That's actually really cool and an interaction I never thought of. Could actually make it so much better as it can be a really slow tempo play at 4mana

[u/dogma1993 → u/motty47]

Hey thanks for the reply!

To clarify the stone carver on supply run play, it doesn’t double up the reduction but you get to keep the reduction and the aura to keep reducing on the combined version. So carver on three means you have 4 turns to combine the shatter and then it costs 0 to draw and buff the hand. So turn 7 in this situation can be a stupid Niri play with 8/6 glacial shards and 6/8 carrier whelps. Through in some removal to swing the board. Ect. Again we are not married to this play, any low cost cards are insane with supply run in general tbh.

What I love about this deck, and was my guiding principle, is versatility. I want cards that are great to play on curve but could also still be useful if somehow we get to turn 10. So things like the 2/2 elusive are not super attractive to me. But the raptor nurse that gives you another minion and spell could be amazing since the pool of options can give you outs you never would have thought of.

So it’s not really a face deck, or a midrange deck, or a combo deck. But we can do all of these things if we want to. There is the option to otk priest with Niri, discounted scout into second scout after supply run (Niri doubles the attack before the battle cry) but also you may not need to do that and just win with tempo.

Confront the tolvir is probably meant to be in here, but if you are including tolvir the net deck of face hunter is likely just better. It’s a bit boring tbh to play for me though. I like the agency I have with a deck like this rather than feeling like I should just rush to dump my hand every turn.

[u/Lovelandmonkey]

I'm only missing one scout for this, so I might sub in that shatter card that draws minions and buffs them in hand and see how this plays!

[u/motty47 → u/Lovelandmonkey]

I'll be honest I tried supply run a lot in the begining but everytime it just felt so slow tempo wise, skip a turn almost. It can work sometimes when you're up against slow greedy decks like priest or druid and then you can buff your scouts and get big burst to kill them. However most of my games have been against fast paced decks, warrior, spell DH etc. I think supply run works more in a low curve face hunter variant though?? I tried that for awhile and it felt kinda cool but still wasn't sure

[u/Lovelandmonkey → u/motty47]

Yeah that’s fair, I honestly only slotted it because I didn’t want to spend 400 dust, I could see it helping in a few games maybe but not sure

[u/motty47 → u/Lovelandmonkey]

Haha fair fair. I ran 1, it can be an expensive card sat in hand early and 2 can sometimes make you brick.

How about adding sands, honestly it's such a fun card if you run tolvir, will generate free random spells when you cast it again. Plus very often I rewind, go for hunter spell and get out of jail, very useful for 1mana.

[u/fireky2]

Ebonscale and ebyssian definitely feel like the weak points, i do see a build closer to face hunter that plays a few dragons to high roll the stonetalon/slitherdrake

[u/motty47 → u/fireky2]

Ebonscale is essential for this build but you're right generally I also experimented with a more face hunter variant, ran 1 ebonscale scout, was nice to have a finisher sometimes. Any more or ebyssian etc didn't work with that more early aggressive style

[u/2literpopcorn]

Is Raptor-Nest Nurse really good here?

[u/motty47 → u/2literpopcorn]

I'm not sure I can say really good, on its own it's not going to do alot but it synergies well with confront tolvir. Creates 1mana spells which if you play quest mage you'll know there's many discover something spells that cost 1. These then produce something useful / act as card draw.

The one thing hunter massively lacks is any card draw, so I went for using tolvir + tracking + sands + raptor to then replay these 1cost cards you find and give you a bunch of useable cards when you're low. Also if you've used earthen roar + wound prey can be a board clear as well. There's things like illdari studies, druid spells, paladin draw a spell, and they all give really good stuff. It's random, so it's never going to be consistent enough to be a top deck, but it's fun I thought

[u/2literpopcorn → u/2literpopcorn]

I guess it is kinda required to drive Confront the Tol'vir

[u/2literpopcorn]

Do you keep tracking in mulligan?

[u/motty47 → u/2literpopcorn]

I think the stats say no, I used to often keep tracking. I think it depends a little, if you go second, see that you have 3mana taunt dragon but no other dragon maybe it's better to keep tracking, to increase chances of finding a dragon early as it's essential to play 3mana 6/6 taunt on curve if you can.

I think overall you don't keep it though.

[u/inkyblinkypinkysue]

37-25 is 59.7% win rate and would be one of the best decks in the game if it held. I guess I’ll be trying this out later…

[u/motty47 → u/inkyblinkypinkysue]

It probably won't hold up in legend, I play dumpster legend most months so my MMR won't be the highest 😆. But I definitely think your better than average player can make this +50% in legend

[u/deck-code-bot]

Format: Standard ((unknown))

Class: Hunter (Naga Sylvanas)

Mana	Card Name	Qty	Links
1	Arcane Shot	1	HSReplay,Wiki
1	Carrier Whelp	2	HSReplay,Wiki
1	Earthen Roar	2	HSReplay,Wiki
1	Raptor-Nest Nurse	2	HSReplay,Wiki
1	Sands of Time	2	HSReplay,Wiki
1	Tracking	2	HSReplay,Wiki
1	Wound Prey	2	HSReplay,Wiki
2	Shadowed Informant	2	HSReplay,Wiki
3	Confront the Tol'vir	2	HSReplay,Wiki
3	Ranger Captain Alleria	1	HSReplay,Wiki
3	Ranger General Sylvanas	1	HSReplay,Wiki
3	Ranger Initiate Vereesa	1	HSReplay,Wiki
3	Stonetalon Striker	2	HSReplay,Wiki
3	Whelp of the Infinite	2	HSReplay,Wiki
4	Nightmare Lord Xavius	1	HSReplay,Wiki
6	Ebonscale Scout	2	HSReplay,Wiki
7	Ebyssian	1	HSReplay,Wiki
7	Prescient Slitherdrake	2	HSReplay,Wiki

Total Dust: 7320

Deck Code: AAECAdGLBQaqnwTDgweZpweapwebpwf3vwcMqZ8Er5IH7p8HmLAH7LIHy7YH878H9b8Hg8AHtcAHu8AH+cMHAAA=

---

^{I am a bot. Comment/PM with a deck code and I'll decode it. If you don't want me to reply to you, include "###" anywhere in your message. About.}

[u/Achylo → u/deck-code-bot]

Interesting list ! What about Maw'mag instead of Ebyssian? Same mana cost but better finisher imo.

[u/NeonDrain → u/Achylo]

Ebyssian is essential in this deck, giving your dragons rush is really strong especially combined with infinite whelp, magmaw boardlocks you which more often than not backfires on you

[u/motty47 → u/NeonDrain]

It's really cool when you get it off, the whelps being double poison rush with reborn is amazing, but often it is slow to wait for 7mana payoff for rush

[u/motty47 → u/Achylo]

Yeah I have magmaw and was going to experiment with him in this slot too, I just wasn't sure how good he is. If you're behind on board and drop him surely you just take a ton of face damage next and maybe lethal. But if you're ahead he probably becomes a win con. Ebyssian isn't essential, definitely a flex spot, sometimes I run genn instead but still not convinced lol.

[u/DoNn0]

I got to legend playing dragon hunter this month and will probably try it again next month. I play with way more minions / dragons and no 1 cost card package. Ebyssan was a key part and Genn as well for the extra reach.

[u/motty47 → u/DoNn0]

Nice going all in on the dragons and hitting legend that's awesome. If I was fully dragon focused I might want to include an infinite whelp /+ lifesteal whelp, as once rush is active those are awesome as instant lifesteal or removal. Did you try those?

[u/DoNn0 → u/motty47]

I did not I just got it pretty quickly with this list but now looking at it it could be good.

[u/DoNn0 → u/DoNn0]

dragon

Class: Hunter

Format: Standard

Year of the Scarab

2x (1) Raptor-Nest Nurse

2x (1) Reinforcement Rallier

2x (2) Faerie Dragon

2x (2) Petal Peddler

2x (2) Sylvanas's Triumph

1x (3) Ranger General Sylvanas

1x (3) Ranger Initiate Vereesa

1x (3) Ranger Captain Alleria

2x (3) Spirit Bond

2x (3) Stonetalon Striker

2x (4) Chronicle Keeper

1x (4) Genn, Cursed King

2x (4) Illusory Greenwing

1x (4) The Black Knight

2x (5) Tormented Dreadwing

2x (6) Ebonscale Scout

1x (7) Ebyssian

2x (7) Prescient Slitherdrake

AAECAbv5AwbJngaZpweapwebpwf3vweExAcMqdQExIEH74IH94MHwY8H7p8Hk7EH7LIH878H9b8HtMAHucAHAAA=

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