Introduction
Hello everyone ! I’m Spark, Top Ranks Legend player, and today I’m following up on the Experimental Decks Series from GvG.
You probably already know my background with Control Hunter before Naxxramas and with the new set being released it’s time to take a look back at my good old Pyromaniac Secrets build !
The strategy of the Deck revolves around applying constant board damage to control the opponent’s threats throughout the game and find a window to slam your win conditions on the board.
Deck Breakdown
Wild Pyromancer is still a very important tool for the Deck as it combos pretty well with Arcane Shot
to deal with swarm strategies or Hunter's Mark
to remove resilient minions from the board.
Mad Scientist
is a key early play to pull out Explosive Trap
and Snipe
from the Deck and sustain your Eaglehorn Bow
to keep controlling the board and maintain some form of pressure.
Steamwheedle Sniper can serves different purposes but it’s pretty obvious that allowing your hero power to target minions is a perfect effect for a Control strategy as it allows you to finish off Snipe or Hunter's Mark target while developping your board.
Piloted Shredder
and Sludge Belcher
are replacing Sen'jin Shieldmasta
and Azure Drake
from the older build to give some mid game presence that can prevent aggression from your opponent.
Savannah Highmane is still one of the main late game threat as the card provides insane value and can bait some hard removals to give a free way to some other win conditions presented below.
Gahz'rilla
is a pretty nice addition from GvG as you have many ways to power it up if your opponent can’t deal with it : Wild Pyromancer, Arcane Shot and Steamwheedle Sniper.
Dr. Boom
and Ragnaros the Firelord
are the true MVPs of your late game presence as they have both an immediate impact on the board and their randomness is not really an issue for the Deck since bringing some more damage to the opponent’s face also synergies pretty well with the Hunter tools and gameplan !
Big Game Hunter
, Harrison Jones
and The Black Knight
are very useful tech card in the current meta. The first one helps not wasting removals on common targets like Dr. Boom or Molten Giant
, the second will always have a target thanks to Sludge Belcher and the last one is pretty much justified by all those weapon classes around.
Gladiator's Longbow
is a great late game weapon to push for lethal or deal with mid-sized threats whithout taking any damage !
Loatheb
and other shiny win conditions are also viable if you lack some of those cards but it still slightly sub-optimal 
Finally, Sylvanas Windrunner
makes an appearance in the Deck to add some more mid game power and because it combos so well with Feign Death. Most of the time, I use those cards together but sometimes you can also find good value to Feign Death to build a powerful board with Savannah Highmane while triggering some useful Deathrattles like Boom Bot
.
Mulligan Strategy
Always keep : Mad Scientist, Wild Pyromancer, Arcane Shot
Aggro match ups : Explosive Trap
Control match ups : Piloted Shredder
Situational keep :
- Eaglehorn Bow
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against Warrior and Priest or when you have The Coin![]()
against Aggro Decks - Steamwheedle Sniper
![]()
if you have The Coin![]()
and a decent hand already - Hunter's Mark
![]()
only with Wild Pyromancer![]()
when you expect early aggression or against Priest
Gameplay Videos
Here are some interesting gameplay example of me playing the Deck. Besides the result, it is supposed to show some interactions of the Deck through extremely close and funny games !
The playlist contains the following match ups : Midrange Druid, Ramp Druid, Control Warrior (x2), Handlock, Miracle Rogue, Midrange Shaman, Zoolock (x2) and Face Hunter.
Closing
I’m really happy to bring back Control Hunter to a decent state and I actually used it, along with other Decks, during my climbing to Top 20 Legend.
Even though it is less consistent than my Midrange Deathrattle Hunter, it is still pretty solid and extremely fun to play !
As the Deck is pretty hard to pilot at first, I higly recommand to practice in casual mode before playing it on the ladder and I want to point out that the meta is not always favorable to it, so be careful
Here are my winrates with the Deck including Casual and Ranked play :
That’s it for the guide guys, I hope you’ll enjoy the Deck as much as I do !
Don’t forget to rate the article if you liked and don’t hesitate to discuss about it or ask any question in the comment section below
Be sure to check out more of my work on Hearthpwn or here on HSP, follow me on Twitter if you want to keep track of my updates and suscribe to my Youtube Channel for some Gameplay videos.
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