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Mulligans
General Mulligans
According to myriades[1] we have a ~75% chance of having a play on turn 2 if we mulligan aggressively for it (including Fiery Bats). There's a ~48% chance to get a Fiery Bat on turn one. These odds are good enough that we should look aggressively for 2-drops. If you have a 2-drop that you like (King's Elekk is probably not enough versus Mage or Warlock as these can easily remove it and gain tempo as both the Tempo Mage and Zoolock archetypes), you can keep 3- and even 4-drops if they suit your curve. Especially consider Carrion Grub versus traditionally aggro classes and Infested Wolf versus traditionally control classes.
[1]: http://www.hearthpwn.com/forums/hearthstone-general/theorycrafting/1292-odds-of-getting-a-card-if-you-mulligan
N’Zoth the Corruptor Hunter != Deathrattle Hunter
N’Zoth allows us to resurrect high-value minions for a final push if the game drags out (which it very well might as the game slows down). This means we want to consider the effects of every Deathrattle minion we put in the deck.
Gameplan
The strength of Midrange Hunter is that it applies tons of pressure after fighting for the board for only a few turns. Savannah Highmane has always been the minion to carry this archetype, and this one is no different. As soon as the board is at least partially under control, it is time to go face. If double Call of the Wild does not finish the game, N’Zothing Sylvanas Windrunner and Savannah Highmane will.
Card Choices
Fiery Bat: As much as it pains me to include this card in an N’zoth deck, it does remove a lot of early pressure. It looks like a really solid 1-drop.
King’s Elekk: It allows us to look for N’Zoth and Highmanes early as well as scout our opponent’s archetype. It’s also an early beast and one of Hunter’s few draw mechanisms.
Quick Shot: This card is a bit unusual in Midrange Hunter, but it can reload our hand a bit if we need it. It’s one of Hunter’s very few draw mechanisms.
Carrion Grub: It’s a difficult to remove body on turn 3 that trades down well and almost guarantees a taunt from Houndmaster. It’s up for reevalutation if the meta plays heavy minions on 3.
Polluted Hoarder: It’s a really weak body that needs protection from our 3-drop, but it trades up well and provides direly needed card draw. It’s up for evaluation if immediate survival (Sen’jin Shieldmasta) is more important.
Ram Wrangler: I did some quick calculations on Standard collectible Beasts. There are 8 bad outcomes (~20%), 7 decent ones (~18%), 20 good ones (~51%), and 4 situational ones (~10%). Of course, there will be variance seeing as “Good” is both Mounted Raptor and King Krush or Highmane.
The average Power of a Beast is 3.44 and the Toughness is 3.41. So on average we get 6.44/6.41 stats. That’s more than decent seeing as Infested Wolf’s spawns also are beasts. It’s almost always proccing on curve.
Azure Drake: It’s a reliable draw card (the only one in the deck) and it gives a slight edge to Kill Command and Quick Shot which may prove useful.
Princess Huhuran: This card is always good. It’s a 6/5 on 5 with a potentially huge upside. There is no reason not to run it.
Final Word
I must have missed something as I was writing this up (originally on hearthpwn), but this is most likely the deck I will be starting out WotOG with. If you are looking to try something similar or have a great idea or comment, feel free to leave it down below. I’m open to any suggestions. Also, ask all the questions you have. N’Zoth Hunter looks like it may be one of the strongest archetypes out there at release, so let’s do it right.
