Deathrattle Hunter deck list guide - Darkmoon Faire - Hearthstone (December 2020)

Deathrattle Hunter is a Hearthstone deck that utilises a number of Deathrattle cards to gain board control and summon powerful minions to overwhelm your opponent.

This version of the deck list guide is updated for the Darkmoon Faire meta. We’ll keep an eye on Deathrattle Hunter to see if it makes any big changes in the meta, but for now it’s a fairly similar deck to what we’ve seen before.

UPDATE - DECEMBER 2020

Deathrattle Hunter is still a decent mid-tier deck list, but updated for the 2020 metagame we’ve just slotted a new list in here. If things keep going well for the deck, we’ll make sure to update the full guide, but for now here’s the latest deck!

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

Deck Import ID: AAECAR8IxwOHBMkE8ZYDitID6OED8+EDj+MDC5cItpwDoaED+68DpLkDnssDlc0D8uED+uEDg+IDhOIDAA==

General strategy

N.B: This is a guide for an older version of Deathrattle Hunter

Deathrattle Hunter has been a formidable threat for a while now. Despite falling out of favour somewhat compared to more aggressive Hunter options since the start of the Year of the Dragon. It’s a formidable foe for the moment though, and off-meta enough that your opponents might be taken by surprise.

The Deathrattle Hunter archetype hasn’t been supported enormously in Saviors of Uldum, so the main addition has been Hyena Alpha, a 4 mana 7/7 to go with the Secret package in this deck.

Early game: In the early game, your Secrets and associated cards can heel the opponent at bay. Putting a Secretkeeper on the board on turn 1 and buffing her with traps is a great way to get ahead in the early game, and once you have Secrets in play, Hyena Alpha can be an enormous swing in your favour. Tempo-wise, you should be able to stay on the front foot with these tools, and you have alternatives like Eaglehorn Bow and Ursatron for when things aren’t falling into place yet. Spider Bomb is a good piece of removal too, and don’t forget that you can Magnetise it to other Mech minions for an immediate trade.

Mid game: Now, your Deathrattle synergies can come into play. If you can get an Oblivitron into play on turn 6 while you have a Mechanical Whelp in hand then do that. The tempo swing of that Deathrattle has won us a lot of games in the past, especially when the opponent isn’t necessarily looking to play around it. Necromechanic, after its Rise of the Mech buff, is a viable option to try to stick onto the board in the mid game, and doubling up on your Oblivitron or Mechanical Whelp’s Deathrattles is hugely problematic against most opponents. Subject 9 reloads your hand and thins out your deck to avoid missing out on good topdecks, and casting Nine Lives is a solid refill on your board and hand as well as being removal of enemy minions if you choose Spider Bomb.

Late game: You should be able to keep up the pressure at this point with your solid stream of big, sticky Mechs. Zul'jin is present in this deck as usual to destroy any enemies who think they’ve got a chance in the late game, recasting all your Secrets as well as Nine Lives, Unleash the Beast and Animal Companion. Your board will be suddenly refilled, Secrets reactivated, and hopefully the enemy is out of answers.

Aggro opponents

These tips should help you out when you’re facing aggro decks on the ladder:

• 1. Think about what Secrets you’re looking to keep hold of. Explosive Trap is great against wide board of small minions, whereas if you’re expecting an early Mountain Giant, Freezing Trap can stop it in its tracks.
• 2. Eaglehorn Bow is essential in clearing enemy minions. Don’t worry about the potential for it to get its durability buffed - the main thing is that you survive the early game.
• 3. Don’t be greedy. You’ll sometimes need to play a tempo Zilliax rather than the big potential Oblivitron turn.
• 4. Killing off a Spider Bomb early means that your Nine Lives spell will remove an enemy minion and give you access to another Spider Bomb to play from hand.

Control opponents

Here’s what you should consider when up against control decks:

• 1. There’s not really a big rush here, but your Secret package can defeat control decks before you even need to get the Deathrattles going, particularly if you get a Hyena Alpha out early.
• 2. Oblivitron is a great play against control, as it’ll either force the opponent to use board clears inefficiently or just win you the game with some big Mech synergies.
• 3. Zul'jin is the perfect refill against control decks, although you should be looking to close out the game once he’s been played.
• 4. Be careful not to overcommit to the board. You can end up being completely cleared by enemy spells, and you’ll want to have something to play after the fact.

Deathrattle Hunter Mulligan guide

Here are a few cards you’ll want to go hunting for in your opening hand.

• 1. Secretkeeper: It’ll get bigger when you play Secrets and forces the opponent to focus on killing it early.
• 2. Hyena Alpha: A frankly ridiculous card that poses a huge number of problems for your opponent if you can trigger the Battlecry.
• 3. Secrets: Depending on the matchup, your mulligan will be different. If you expect the enemy to play a bunch of cards early on, Rat Trap is perfect, whilst if you expect to be on board first, you can’t go wrong with a Snake Trap.

Deathrattle Hunter tips, combos and synergies

Compared to the Deathrattle Hunter builds of old, this one is much more of a hybrid deck. You can’t over rely on the Deathrattles, although they can be a powerful win condition if you play the right way:

- Necromechanic was buffed during the Rise of the Mech event, now costing 4 mana rather than 5. A 4 mana 3/6 with such a potentially powerful effect is likely to survive if played on turn 4, allowing for impressive setups for future Deathrattle turns.

- SN1P-SN4P works both as a Deathrattle card to play with Echo, or as a great tempo play in the early game.

- When Spider Bomb is destroyed it'll choose an enemy minion at random and obliterate it at the same time.

- Ursatron draws you an extra Mech from your deck, the perfect cards to get your Deathrattle synergies going.

- Nine Lives is vital for this deck’s success, and choosing the right minion from it can be a game changer.

- Don’t choose Oblivitron from Nine Lives if that’d be the only Mech in your hand! You’re better off picking a Mechanical Whelp, or even an Ursatron if you’ve not drawn enough.

- Animal Companion is a classically excellent Hunter play in the early game, but it’ll be re-cast by Zul'jin later on too.

- Zilliax is vital to survival against aggro.

- Eaglehorn Bow can have its charges reloaded by triggering Secrets, so sometimes you’ll want to save that last swing until your opponent triggers one.

- Hyena Alpha is a 4 mana 7/7 play, so when you get the chance to trigger that Battlecry, there’s not many better plays.

Card choices and substitutions

Here are some of the key cards seeing play in Deathrattle Hunter right now, as well as a few card swap options where possible.

• Fireworks Tech: A sound card to play alongside your Mech Deathrattles, doubling their value.
• Necromechanic: Again, doubling up on Deathrattles is hugely powerful, so get this on board when at all possible.
• Da Undatakah: A good potential late-game play if you decide to put it into your deck. Make sure you play it after some strong Deathrattle minions have died or its effect won’t trigger!
• Unleash the Beast: Not a Deathrattle card, but a great option for retaining board control as well as being very powerful when played before Zul'jin.
• Houndmaster Shaw: A solid addition to the deck if you feel so inclined. Combined with the likes of Spider Bomb it can be very strong in the mid game.
• Ursatron: A 3 mana 3/3 with both Mech and Deathrattle synergies. Can’t go wrong.
• Zul'jin: Replays every single spell you’ve cast so far this game. Your Secrets (although they won’t be a secret anymore) will be replayed, as well as the board-filling spells in your deck like Unleash the Beast and Nine Lives. Often, this is the best closer you can ask for and is the perfect topdeck for when you’re running low on resources.