Deathrattle Demon Hunter deck list guide - Forged in the Barrens - Hearthstone (April 2021)

’Deathrattle Demon Hunter? You must be mad,’ we hear you yelp over the cacophony of metal striking Illidan’s rock-hard pecs. That’s right, Demon Hunter received a Deathrattle package in Forged in the Barrens, and it does brilliantly if you get a strong tempo start.

Deathrattle Demon Hunter is a strong contender when it comes to the current meta, as it offers an aggressive answer to a lot of powerful decks at the moment. Here’s all you need to know about it.

Deathrattle Demon Hunter deck list and strategy

Here’s the best Deathrattle Demon Hunter deck at the moment - give it a try if you want something new to play.

Select and copy the long ID string below, then create a deck in Hearthstone to export this deck into your game.

Deck Import ID: AAECAea5AwTZxgP66AO/7QOoigQN4c4Dyd0D8+MD9+gD+egDmOoDmeoDu+0DvO0Dvu0D/e0DgIUEpooEAA==

General strategy

This deck is a fast one compared to Deathrattle Hunters of old. Instead of playing Deathrattles and resumoning them for powerful effects throughout the game, this deck uses its Deathrattles to summon and draw out your deck as quickly as possible, putting pressure on early and not letting up. It’s surprisingly strong in the current meta.

Early Game: Your Far Watch Post and Mor'shan Watch Post are both great shouts when it comes to early game plays, just like they are in basically every other deck that exists. You can slow down your opponents’ attempts to play cards, as well as get some freebies on board when possible. You should also try to get your Deathrattles going. Razorboar and Razorfen Beastmaster are sometimes worth coining out if you can, but make sure you have the correct Deathrattle minions in hand. Razorboar can only get minions costing three mana or less, whilst Razorfen Beastmaster allows you to get four-cost ones, including Renowned Performer and Darkspear Berserker.

With this, you can effectively cheat out minions you otherwise wouldn’t have been able to play until later, as well as forcing your opponent to deal with multiple minions when they thought they’d killed one. It keeps your tempo high and your enemy on the back foot.

Mid Game: Card draw is the name of the game now. Illidari Studies is a versatile mid-game card, as it allows you to Discover an Outcast card and discounts it by one mana. Spectral Sight works great here, as does Skull of Gul'dan if you can afford to play it with the Outcast effect discounting your draws. Vengeful Spirit also helps with getting those Deathrattles out of your deck.

You should be going face as much as you can in most matchups, unless your opponent is out-aggroing you and dealing more damage than you’ll be able to survive. For these enemies, Death's Head Cultist and Renowned Performer are great to stall things out a little. Keep on chipping away though, both with minions and weapons, and you should find yourself in lethal range.

Late Game: Later on, you have a few extremely powerful potential options. The first is Kargal Battlescar, who makes it into a huge number of decks because of the power of the Watch Posts. You should have between two and four Watch Posts played out by this point, giving you a decent number of 5/5 threats on board with Kargal’s Battlecry. Death Speaker Blackthorn is another brilliant play to re-energise your board. He’ll bring out three Deathrattle minions from your deck, including Taelan Fordring since they can cost up to five mana. If your opponent has been struggling to remove your minions, this could be the final nail in their coffin. Shame they don’t have a Deathrattle.

One thing you need to remember is this deck’s potential for burst damage! Illidari Inquisitor can go face immediately if you happen to have the ability to attack. Oh, you’re a Demon Hunter! That costs one mana! Or zero if you have a weapon equipped! Illidari Inquisitor can both Rush in and attack a minion on board, and hit face after your Hero hits face, meaning you get eight damage on board and eight direct face damage. This only grows if your enemy can’t kill the minion right away.

Deathrattle Demon Hunter Mulligan Guide

Here’s the cards you should look to keep:

1. Far Watch Post is always a keeper. Every single deck it’s in, Far Watch Post is extremely annoying to deal with for your enemy, and the earlier you can play it, the more annoying it’ll be.

2. Razorboar can start you off on Deathrattling your minions out of your hand for free. You can even get a Razorfen Beastmaster out with this little guy.

3. If your early game looks decent, keep hold of Death Speaker Blackthorn. He’s such a powerful play later on that it’s worth holding onto from the very beginning.

Deathrattle Demon Hunter tips, combos and synergies

Keep track of these synergies and tips when you play Deathrattle Demon Hunter:

- You can destroy your Tuskpiercer by playing another weapon on top of it if you’re really desperate to draw a Deathrattle minion.

- These are the Deathrattle minions you can summon from your hand with Razorboar’s Deathrattle:

• Razorboar
• Death's Head Cultist
• Razorfen Beastmaster

- These are the minions you can summon with Razorfen Beastmaster’s Deathrattle (in addition to the minions above):

• Darkspear Berserker
• Renowned Performer

- Death Speaker Blackthorn can summon all of the above from your deck, as well as Taelan Fordring.

- Taelan Fordring will always draw your Illidari Inquisitor with its Deathrattle, so when counting for lethal keep the potential burst damage in mind.

- Vengeful Spirit will only draw you two Deathrattle minions if it’s the left- or right-most card in your hand, so play other cards out accordingly.

- When casting Illidari Studies, remember the card generated will go directly to the right side of your hand, meaning the Outcast effect will be available immediately, but not after you’ve drawn a card next turn.

Thanks for reading our Deathrattle Demon Hunter guide! We have all kinds of other Hearthstone help too, including our Battlegrounds hero tier list, and the whole meta with the Hearthstone deck tier list!