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The Anti Undertaker Hunter Deck

by - 9 years ago

Twizz runs a weekly show called Hearthstone Powerhour where he and Studder (a highly ranked legendary player) go through a deck each week and show you how to play it on the ladder. Make sure you check out his show here.

Turn 1 Undertaker, Coin, Leper Gnome….or Webspinner…or some other cheap agitation that’s going to end your game around turn 5 if not sooner.  The “Undertaker Hunter” is everywhere.  It’s in every tournament deck, it’s all over the ladder, everywhere!  The reason is because the Undertaker gets out of hand exceptionally fast and there are so many low cost minions to buff it that you don’t stand a chance at winning if you can’t do anything about their early game.

Today I’ve brought to you a hard counter to this deck.  This might be more of a tournament style deck when you know your opponent might be playing Hunter.  There has also been times where I play five games on the ladder and each one of them is Undertaker Hunter.  At that point, you might want to start putting this deck into play.  This deck has an 80% win rate against the Undertaker Hunter and its variations.  It’s made to counter everything that makes the Hunter strong.

NOTE:  This deck is specifically made to counter the Undertaker Hunter.  I have no idea how it does versus other decks.  Only use this deck when in a tournament OR you’re encountering an overabundance of Undertaker Hunter on the ladder.

So lets take a look at the deck list and break it down.

Deck List

Anti-Huntertaker
Class: Paladin

Paladin (20)

Neutral (10)

Card Breakdown

Zombie Chow – I went back and forth between this and Argent Squire. I HATE giving 5 health away but it ended up working out better than expected because usually the Hunter is at 30 health when it gets killed anyways.  The early game is keeping the board under control and this guy does a good job.  He should be kept for your opening hand.

Equality – This is Paladin guys.  No surprise here.  We all know it and it’s up to you when you want to use it.

Holy Light – This card was put in there as cheap heals obviously.  You have all the cards you need to kill his deck.  Sometimes you’re at the mercy of card draw or waiting on something you need.  This buys you a little bit more time.

Acidic Swamp Ooze – That bow guys.  That Eaglehorn Bow.  The good thing is that they usually use the bow for 1 hit and then wait for you to pop their secret so they can keeping beating you unmerciful.  Keep in mind that they want that next charge on their bow so they won’t use it until they have to.  In the meantime, if you don’t have the swamp ooze in hand, just wait it out.  A Kezan Mystic will also foil their plans.  We’ll talk about that soon.

Annoy-o-Tron – This is a MUST for your opening hand (but don’t concede if you don’t get one starting out).  If you have 2 of them starting the game, it’s as good as over for the hunter.  I will usually coin one out on turn one and then play the second on turn 2.  The Hunter minions are strong but a bubble is a bubble and a taunt is a taunt.  It  buys you time and keeps damage off of you.

Iron Beak Owl – This guy has multiple uses.  If you’re struggling for just the right timing or cards to be drawn, he will suffice for taking out the Undertaker before he gets out of hand.  He’s also nice for taunts, which some Hunters still play such as Sludge Belchers and the occasional beast taunted by a Houndmaster.

Shielded Minibot – This is a solid 2 drop.  Two damage and a bubble is really nice for use on turn 3 since usually the deathrattle minions on board consist of Leper Gnomes, Loot Hoarders, Haunted Creepers, etc.

Coghammer – This is a great weapon because of it’s stats.  Give a random friendly minion Divine Shield and Taunt.  Again, it’s keeping his early game away from you that’s key here and this helps a ton even if it’s a token you made turn 2 that’s getting the buff.

Muster for Battle – This dips a little into the “staging the offensive” part of the deck.  You’ll likely be using it later in the game and not on turn 3 or 4 unless you have a Quartermaster in hand and your opponent is off to a slow start.

Lil’ Exorcist – This is another card I would recommend you keep or try to mulligan for in your opening hand.  If the Hunter has the coin, by turn 3 he will likely have an Undertaker and at least 2 deathrattle minions (again, assuming he had the coin…which seems to ALWAYS happen).  With that kind of a board, the Lil’ Exorcist will be a 4/5 taunt.  Yes, that’s a taunted Yeti basically on turn 3 and I’m sorry Mr. Undertaker Hunter….you did it to yourself.

Scarlet Purifier – This guy is extremely useful as he does 2 damage to ALL minions with deathrattle.  That takes out a lot of his cheap board such as Leper Gnomes, Loot Hoarders, Haunted Creepers (which ends up making 2 1/1’s but removes a beast and foiling his Kill Command), Mechs, etc.  I would not turn him away in an opening hand either.  One thing of note though, the Undertaker does NOT have deathrattle.  SO the Scarlet Purifier will do no damage to it.  That’s one of the things I forgot in early testing of this deck.  ALSO, Scarlet purifier will do damage to your minions as well. If you alter this deck and put in cards with deathrattle, use Scarlet Purifier with caution.  I used to have Cairne in this deck and as a 4/2, the Scarlet Purifier killed Cairne and brought Baine onto the board. Not quite what I had in mind for my Cairne to say the least.

Truesilver Champion – This is great to counter his Animal Companion.  Usually you’ll have a board built by turn 4 anyways and you can take care of Huffer.  In the end, you’re only taking 2 damage since the Truesilver heals for 2 and removing his threat.

Consecration – This is unbelievably useful without Equality.  Be greedy with it.  If you have a way to deal with the Undertaker, wait for him to build up his board.  Let him believe he has the high ground and then Consecrate it all.  However if you wait too long, he could summon an animal companion and ruin your day.  Be smart, know what’s in your hand and what you can still draw into.

Kezan Mystic – This card does it all folks.  It takes that secret and gives it to you.  No more charges for your bow.  No more Freezing Trap.  No more 2 damage to everything I own.  Undertaker Hunters usually broadcast the trap they are playing.  Did he knock all of your minions down to 2 health?  It’s Explosive Trap.  Did he kill your minor threat and let your bigger threat live?  It’s Freezing Trap.  Some people may argue “Twizz, that’s great that I took his secret, but he knows what it is.  It isn’t a secret anymore…”  Yeah, you’re right.  It’s also not your problem anymore either.  It’s his.  This causes him having to make exceptionally sub-optimal plays to dance around his own trap.  Watch him squirm.  Enjoy it.

Bolvar Fordragon – This isn’t a mandatory card.  I threw him in there when my opponent played some Sludge Belchers and I had to cash in a bunch of my guys to get rid of it.  You can put many other threats in it’s place or perhaps even a Mind Control Tech for early game board control.

Quartermaster – This guy is also part of launching your offensive.  The reason Muster for Battle is in this deck is because of him.  When you annihilate the Hunters early game, a Muster for Battle/Quartermaster is a fairly unstoppable force.  Explosive trap?  Useless.  Freezing Trap?  Sure, I’ll take my Quartermaster back and make them 5/5’s next turn.  If that’s what you insist.

Avenging Wrath – This card is one that I’ve kind of not really toyed around with that much.  I haven’t had it win me any games, but 8 damage on turn 6 might set you up for a board clear afterwards.  Playing this card is completely up to you.

Dr. Boom – Now that you’ve spent all game dealing with his problems, it’s time for him to deal with yours.  Dr. Boom pretty much goes in any deck.  Ready for a wombo combo?  Turn 10 Dr. Boom and Scarlet Purifier.  The Scarlet Purifier will damage your bombs on the same turn and send them into his minions.  I’d rather have the bombs explode on my terms and not his.  Remember, the Scarlet Purifier also does 2 damage to everything on his side with death rattle.  It doesn’t just kill your bombs. So it’s a fairly devastating combo to his board.

Lay on Hands – Again guys, this is Pally.  No real surprise.  It’s card draw and heals.  It’s the only card draw you have in the deck so if you’re on turn 7, his board is under control and you’re at 22 health….don’t use it.  Don’t use it until you get below 15 health is my recommendation.  Play it slow.

Tirion Fordring – This deck deals with all the early minions and threats. He might have an owl, which is fine.  I’ve seen Hunters run at least 1 in their deck.  But being as that he has no idea what deck this is, he might use it on something else in your deck or he might waste it just to have a beast out there for his Kill Command.  If he uses it in that manor, your day is set.

All in all, that’s how the deck works and the experiences I’ve had with it.  Some other cards you could experiment with are Mind Control Tech, Argent Squires or Zombie Chows, additional Oozes, Harrison Jones or anything else that flows with the deck.  You could put Aldor Peacekeepers in.  They  are very worth toying around with since sometimes you just get a bad hand dealt to you.  However,  with this deck, by the time they play a Highmane, you’re at 20 health or better.  Again, it’s still worth entertaining.

This deck is made to destroy everything that makes the Undertaker Hunter strong.  It’s been tested against a high ranked Legendary player for 20 games and it is extremely potent and reliable. Take this and do what you’d like!


JR Cook

JR has been writing for fan sites since 2000 and has been involved with Blizzard Exclusive fansites since 2003. JR was also a co-host for 6 years on the Hearthstone podcast Well Met! He helped co-found BlizzPro in 2013.


0 responses to “The Anti Undertaker Hunter Deck”

  1. kidology says:

    This is a bad deck

  2. Josh Gotlieb says:

    You could just play the nerubian egg paladin midrange list that hit top 16 in NA last season and post the same excellent matchup bs hunters without watering down your other matchups.