Big Hunter deck list guide - Rastakhan - Hearthstone (December 2018)

Big Hunter - also known as Recruit Hunter - was a deck that was widely predicted to see a lot of competitive play at the start of the Kobolds and Catacombs meta. It has never quite reached the level of play or success we initially hoped, but is still a fun off-meta choice if you enjoy summoning giant minions onto the board and smacking them into your opponent’s life total for massive damage

The Rastakhan’s Rumble set has introduced one significant new card into the list: Oondasta. This towering Beast can continue the theme of the deck by pulling even more large minions onto the board - should you be able to trigger the Overkill effect.

If that sounds like a satisfying way to play Hearthstone, then do read on for the most competitive deck list for the ranked ladder right now. We've also got some advice on Mulliganing the deck, and a look at all of the combos that are contained within it. Make some time to brush up on these before taking this to ranked play!

Big Hunter deck list and strategy

This is the most popular version of Big Hunter currently seeing play in Hearthstone. We’ll be sure to update the list should any changes occur over the next few weeks.

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

Deck Import ID:AAECAR8I+AjCzgKG0wLn4QKc4gK26gKA8wKbigMLjQHGwgLrwgLKwwKbywKczQLTzQLd0gLh4wLt6gLy8QIA

General strategy:

The clue’s in the name with the strength of Big Hunter. With this Hunter deck, your aim is to exploit the Recruit mechanic to get large and impactful creatures onto the board for a discounted cost, or through other effects, and then overrun your opponent. By getting them onto the board early, other players may not have the minions to contest them, or the mana available to execute their removal spells, allowing you to run away with the game.

Big Hunter Mulligan guide

Here are the cards you should prioritise keeping in just about every match-up. We've listed them here in approximate order of importance, with the strongest card appearing at the top of the list:

• 1. Prince Keleseth - This card represents incredible value and is your ideal Turn 2 play (or earlier with The Coin). Getting Keleseth in play early on in the match dramatically increases your win-rate with this deck, and is a prime keep.
• 2. Fire Fly - Some handy early-game board presence that regenerates itself (kind of) in your hand.
• 3. Stitched Tracker - A lower-priority keep but nevertheless one that helps you dig for a key ingredient while also putting a presence out on the board.
• 4. Candleshot - This Hunter weapon is particularly good at picking off aggro deck minions, but don't forget that the invulnerability effect helps you chip away at bigger targets over time as well.
• 5. Tar Creeper: A robust Taunt minion you can plonk down for three mana that will stall most creatures in front of it.

Big Hunter tips, combos and synergies

This is how the combos stack up for this particular version of Big Hunter. If the list changes, we'll make sure the combos in this section are updated to reflect those same changes:

- Hunter's Mark will put any enemy minion into the killing range of Candleshot. You'll take no damage at all either, as the weapon provides you with immunity when you take your swing.

- Once Prince Keleseth has been played, every minion left in your deck pile will gain +1 / +1 of stats. The earlier you can play this powerful card, the more value you'll gain across the remainder of the match.

- Tar Creeper only has extra damage on the opponent's turn. You might want to do some partial or full trading to set the other player up with as problematic a turn as possible.

- If Houndmaster Shaw is active, all of your minions gain the Rush effect. That means they can attack enemy minions (but not the other hero) on the same turn they're put out onto the board.

- Seeping Oozeling, Silver Vanguard and Kathrena Winterwisp are all used as tools to summon your King Krush, Charged Devilsaur and The Lich King minions. Unless they're silenced by the other player first, of course...

- Hit End Turn and The Lich King will add one of eight powerful Death Knight cards to your hand. Here are the options you can draw into:

- Oondasta is a powerful new minion for Big Hunter that can really snowball the game in your favour. If you manage to trigger the Overkill effect when it comes into play you can summon even more Beasts onto the board for absolutely nothing!