Keeping up with the New Core discussion, we're moving on to the next elephant in the room: Hunter. Hmm. Paladin and Hunter have long been the underdogs and now they're probably the top 2 classes in Constructed. I wonder if that was intended?

Hunter caught the eye of many in Worldbreaker Block because of its own rendition on [Grand Crusader] known as [Aspect of the Wild]. Many players would groan if they were going second and had to stare down the start of a turn 2 [Boomer] into a turn 3 Aspect. The play was brutal, and made any battle against that start an uphill one.

With New Core, Hunter has a couple of directions that it can go. Blue Aggro was pretty popular in Block Constructed, with almost everyone selecting a Worgen hero in order to have access to [King Genn Greymane] at his best.

Moving into New Core, the real strength of Blue Hunter seems to be on the back of CZEV volunteer and new resident to Throne of the Tides, [Master Sniper Simon McKey]. Sure, you could argue that Genn is hard to give up, but have you seen this dude's flip? Unreal. Readying with a [Tesla] has never before been so painful. Neither has readying with any pet and an [Aspect of the Wild].

It seems explosive on paper, at least.

Hero: [Master Sniper Simon McKey]

Allies: 38

4 [Garet Vice]

3 [Loriam Argos]

4 [Windspeaker Nuvu]

4 [Magni, the Mountain King]

3 [Varandas Silverleaf]

4 [Faenis the Tranquil]

4 [Grumdak, Herald of the Hunt]

4 [Boomer]

4 [Tesla]

4 [Bella Wilder]

Abilities: 11

4 [Aspect of the Wild]

4 [Avatar of the Wild]

3 [Wild Fervor]

Locations: 4

4 [Skywall]

Quests: 7

4 [Corrosion Prevention]

3 [The Crucible of Carnage: The Twilight Terror]

The decklist in general is pretty straight-forward so I'll just touch on a couple of short points before elaborating on directions in which you can take this list:

-[Wild Fervor] acts as a removal spell, but when saved with a [Windspeaker Nuvu] or [Boomer], it's capable of some explosive turns, and can let you kill out of nowhere. It also lets you use your Magni token as a removal spell on turn 2 against opposing [Boomer]s, which is pretty important and one of the reasons why Magni hasn't been cut yet (I think the 1/1 token in this deck is pretty unexciting if it weren't for this interaction).

-[Skywall] and [Aspect of the Wild] is too good to pass up on, even for [Fordragon Hold]. The location's just too relevant.

-The face-up resource count is higher primarily for Varandas, who picks up crucial importance as you will need him to toast [Lordann the Bloodreaver]s as well as [Boomer]s.

-[Grumdak, Herald of the Hunt] is absurdly good, and will make it into any Blue Hunter deck I build in the future. I mean...c'mon. Just look at this guy.

With these points stated, I do have some problems with the above decklist, which is why I am suggesting it only as a starting point and not as “you will win events with this list, no problem”. [Grand Crusader], I feel, is warranting the inclusion of ability removal in decks as a way to mitigate how absurd the Paladin's draws can be with its flagship ongoing. Because of that, [Aspect of the Wild] suffers some collateral damage. It may be best to move away from ongoings like these in general.

If you leave the direction of Aspect, you still have plenty of good things that you can pick up. Trade some nature allies for good general Alliance allies like [Burly Berta], consider the inclusion of [Fordragon Hold] and even [Bolvar, Highlord of Fordragon Hold], etc. This may be better in the long run, as you will be caring less about nature and can therefore branch out into other cards that are...well, good, but don't require you to have a specific damage type.

Moving on to the Horde. This Horde Hunter list originally came from Thanisse in the WoWTCG forums. It showed some promise, namely in its inclusion of [Track Enemy] which seems very good at finding everything you needed. I tried it out while making a few modifications.

Hero: [Samael the Bloodpoint]

Allies: 24

4 [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen]

3 [Sava'gin the Reckless]

3 [Mazu'kon]

4 [Boomer]

4 [Jaron, Herald of the Hunt]

3 [Sinestra]

3 [Emerald Tree Warder]

Abilities: 18

4 [Track Enemy]

3 [Avatar of the Wild]

4 [Concussive Barrage]

4 [Master Marksman]

3 [Noxious Trap]

Equipment: 8

4 [Breathstone-Infused Longbow]

4 [Kickback 5000]

Locations: 2

2 [Throne of the Tides]

Quests: 8

4 [Seeds of their Demise]

4 [A Bird In Hand]

The key to this Hunter deck is [Breathestone-Infused Longbow]. You are aiming to play this bow on turn 3, allowing you to drop a monster like [Mazu'kon] on turn 4. [Mazu'kon] is as good as people are saying he is, and it's very easy to threaten a kill from nowhere with this guy on turn 4 and [Sinestra] on turn 5. Not counting any other damage or non-token cards you control, this one-two punch is worth 18 damage on turn 5.

First up: Yes, I am aware the deck has [A Bird In Hand]. It needed a few resources to replenish the hand, and this quest at least gets you allies. Also, with how often you can Delve, you shouldn't be missing with this quest. Originally my only face-up resources were Delve resources, which while great at filtering draws does not actually draw you cards. While making sure you always draw the right card is important, sometimes you just need cards in your hand, and this is one of the cheaper and more efficient ways of doing so.

On a related note, when it gets to turn 6, stop placing resources unless they're face-up. You will run out of cards. This deck needs to manage its cards efficiently against control in order to win, so I cannot stress how important this is. Against control, don't even row [Cairne, Earthmother's Chosen], especially if it's against something like Paladin. You'll want him as a 6/7.

[Track Enemy] is a lot better than I think people will give it credit for. As early as turn 1, it can start sculpting your draws. The card also has a lot of subtle synergies. [Kickback 5000] and a hero flip lets you trigger it each turn, each [Concussive Barrage] you play triggers the Delve, and (my favorite) the Stash on [Sava'gin the Reckless] triggers your ongoing.

It is also an ongoing well suited for finding multiple copies of [Concussive Barrage], if you drew into multiples in your opening hand. This card is pretty disgusting, FYI. Sometimes it's just a [Fire Blast]. Other times you nut-draw and the game's over before it really began. Either way, against aggro decks, having two copies of this is pretty sweet as it answers some early dude and then later can answer something like [Saurfang the Younger, Kor'kron Warlord] on the cheap.

While this deck could fit [Aspect of the Wild] with some hardcore tweaking, I don't feel it is necessary. Going the Aspect route also makes it harder to run [Track Enemy], as your hero's a pretty reliable source of damage in this deck. Unless of course you always draw [Boomer] and [Track Enemy] together. That guy certainly knows how to do some delving.

[Jaron, Herald of the Hunt] is a good example of how incredibly good the Empower Hunter effects are in this set. This one works particularly well with [Noxious Trap] against aggro decks. Three resources ready will mess with your opponent if they plan to attack with anything big.

The [Emerald Tree Warder] is kind of awkward with the removal of some of the Stash, but it's hard to argue with its effectiveness in combination with [Seeds of their Demise]. You draw off of your Warder before you Delve, by the way.

Two factions, two flavors, one class. The Hunter, like in Worldbreaker Block, shows some potential as a contender. It has some fairly explosive draws, and the ability to be really consistent. Boomer is great, and some of their synergies are particularly good.

Be sure to let me know what you think of this and other decks posted on the forums. I'll address questions, talk about cards that I cut from my current versions of the deck, and whatnot. As with a changing format, these are works in progress. Discovering new decks, or having an idea of what people will be playing at an upcoming event, all affect the deck's appearance for a tournament after all.

-Mike