Hearthstone Deck Guide: Midrange Hunter

Your ideal turn 1 and 2 plays are Dire Mole and Crackling Razormaw. They work brilliantly as a pair, with the potential of turning the Mole into a 2/4 or 4/3 horror on the second turn. So keep either if you have them.

As with other Hunter decks that run the secrets package, whether you keep them or not depends on your opponent and your initial draw. Wandering Monster is almost always a keeper. Explosive Trap is worth holding on to if you're facing an aggro or token deck. Freezering Trap, on the other hand, is the secret of choice against control.

And if you do keep any secrets, and you've got a Spellstone, keep that too. A double-powered one is a game-winning turn 5 player against most opponents.

If you're unlucky enough not to draw many or any of the above suggestions, Animal Companion and Bearshark can be worthwhile.

This decks' biggest weakness is against decks with a very strong early curve. As a mid-range deck, the fact your board takes slightly longer to build can be a critical problem.

Your best early defence is with secrets. Wandering Monster is the best catch-all solution. There's randomness involved, but most of the time it will remove an early minion while leaving you with one on the board.

Explosive Trap and Freezing Trap require a bit more cunning to deploy properly. The former needs proper timing to ensure it does sufficient damage. It can be worth suffering a turn or two of early face damage before playing it, just so it's got plenty of targets to wipe.

Freezing Trap can be a double-edged sword as you don't want triggering against minions with a Battlecry. If you can thin the enemy board to leave it with a juicy target, do. Otherwise you have to leverage the uncertainty created by secrets and hope for the best.

You can play the same game with Deadly Shot to get rid of big threats. If you ensure it only has one target to hit, it's a guaranteed removal.

As the game progresses, Taunt minions come into play as a second line defence. Animal Companion has a one in three chance of summoning a good speedbump. And so long as you can keep a Beast on the board, Houndmaster offers a tasty buff with a side helping of Taunt to keep you safe.

Kill Command is best kept as an aggressive, game-closing play if you can. But if you need it to remove a minion instead, don't hesitate to do so. You won't get to close out the game if your opponent's minions close you out first!

Lacking a single killer combo, Midrange Hunter's value is in its flexibility. It can go toe-to-toe with almost anything and have a decent chance of winning if the draw goes well.

That's where Tracking comes in handy. Although it only costs one mana, it's not best as a turn one spell unless you're facing aggro and you really, really need an Explosive Trap. Instead, once the game state has developed, it lets you go fishing for critical cards to swing things in your favour.

The closest thing the deck has to a single win condition is the Spellstone. That's why it can be worth keeping one from the outset, even though it's a turn 4 or 5 play at best. You'll already have enjoyed the benefits of two secrets. Then adding in 12-mana's worth of minions for a mere 5-mana can be devastating.

The other victory lever is Deathstalker Rexxar. His battlecry will often buy you a turn or two of safety, while you utilise his new hero power to create value and build you board. Don't always build the biggest minions you can. Better to pick effects you need and combine them with spells in your hand to grind out the win.

If you don't have or haven't drawn Rexxar, it's all about the classic Hunter ploy of direct damage. Try and use your minions to keep board control. Meanwhile use that nasty hero power and face damage spells to pressure the enemy life total.

It's surprising how effective this simple combination can be. At least against anything other than Priest or Warrior, whose hero powers cancel out yours.