Vol'jin Secret Hunter Deck List and Guide - Memes and Dreams #9

Hearthstone at its core is a game that people should have fun with, but that can get bogged down in the pursuit of competitive meta strategies. Thus, I humbly present Memes and Dreams, a series on Out of Cards looking to bring some good ol' memey fun into people's Hearthstone experiences. Each week we will do a deep dive on a different 'for fun' deck, discussing the basic ideas of the deck, what makes it tick, and roughly how to pilot it. This week we look into Secret Hunter utilizing the latest mana-cheat tech!

This is Where I Would Put my Maxima Blastenheimer... IF I HAD ONE!!!

With the announcement of Forged in the Barrens, Blizzard gave out Shadow Hunter Vol'jin as a free legendary to everyone. His effect is pretty cool and people have begun experimenting with him in various contexts. In my quest to make a Meme deck article for every class, I found myself postulating on how best to use Vol'jin in the non-shadow hunter archetypes. Cheating out big threats such as Darkmoon Tonk or Plagued Protodrake was the most obvious answer since Hunters can also readily generate small cards ready to be swapped with Desert Spear or Snake Trap. Thus some kind of Secret Hunter with an extra-secret big minion surprise seemed like the perfect fit! Sadly, I do not own Maxima Blastenheimer, nor do I have the dust budget to craft with a new expansion on the horizon, which would really elevate the Meme and Dream status of this deck. However, the lack of Maxima does allow for some strong cards that would otherwise not be run, such as Phase Stalker and Dragonbane.

The Meme - Use your Secret Hunter powers to control the board and rush down the enemy hero.

The Dream - Use Shadow Hunter Vol'jin to swap a small minion for a much bigger one and really put the pressure on the enemy!

Key Cards

Shadow Hunter Vol'jin is the key to making this meme work. Swap something small and useless like Tour Guide or a Locust and cheat out one of your big threats like Darkmoon Tonk or King Krush! Alternatively, you can swap Huffer to bank some face-damage while still generating a massive board threat.

Desert Spear is the premier way to have a body for Vol'jin to swap. You bank the mana the turn you play the spear so that you don't have to spend any and can cheat out your big minions as soon as you can play Vol'jin. There is little your opponent can do to prevent you from summoning the Locust and swapping aside from either having a single big Taunt or disrupting your weapon.

Phase Stalker is the backbone for the Secret portion of this deck. Stalker provides consistent pressure on the board and comes with the nifty benefit of cycling through the deck with its ability. This really helps out finding Vol'jin by turn 5 since Hunter otherwise has very limited access to draw and cycle mechanics.

Honorable Mentions

Speaking of cycle and draw mechanics, Tracking is hands-down the best way to get through a deck fast. Milling through three cards for 1-mana is fantastic when we're looking specifically for Shadow Hunter Vol'jin and/or a big minion for swapping. Yes Sphere of Sapience is also good when looking for a specific card or combo-piece, but this deck utilizes too many other weapons with early-game significance for Sphere to be included.

One of the most meme-able cards solely based on its name. Darkmoon Tonk also provides a very threatening body when cheated out or even when killed. Tonk beats out similarly threatening minions in the Honorable Mentions spot since it synergizes with Maxima Blastenheimer as well as Oblivitron as opposed to only Maxima like Plagued Protodrake. While neither Maxima nor Oblivitron are in this list, they are both strong considerations and push the meme-value through the roof.

Budget / Alternate Options

Shadow Hunter Vol'jin is thankfully a legendary that is free to everyone, so he doesn't need to be replaced. Rinling's Rifle and Dragonbane on the other hand are not necessary to any part of the combo and can easily be replaced. Rifle provides the very strong ability to consistently put Secrets into play, but Mystery Winner is a fantastic budget option for Secret generation. Eaglehorn Bow can also be used since the deck has so many Secrets to begin with. Dragonbane doesn't have a replacement that fits especially well and is very flexible in how it can be replaced. Toxic Reinforcements pumps up aggression while also providing bodies for swapping and Imprisoned Felmaw is another cheap way to ensure there is something to swap on the board, although it does hurt a bit to swap a 5/4. King Krush provides the most immediate pressure of any expensive drop, but can easily be exchanged for more budget options such as Runaway Blackwing or Scrapyard Colossus.

Snake Trap is the only epic in the deck and is very helpful for its ability to provide many bodies for Vol'jin to swap. However, Pack Tactics is a strong consideration for the deck and acts as a great replacement if you haven't been lucky enough to get Snake Trap yet. Freezing Trap and Pressure Plate don't offer extra board presence, but the disruption against enemy boards is certainly welcome. Steering a bit away from Secret synergy, Primordial Explorer is not an awful consideration since it can generate a powerful swap target in hand, has a useful battlecry if you want to use Vol'jin on it, and provides decent pressure with its Poisonous.

Maxima Blastenheimer is the first expensive card that should be considered for inclusion in this deck. With Maxima, you'll have to tone back some of the early-game minions so you don't hit any duds. Scrapyard Colossus and Colossus of the Moon are exceptionally powerful minions to pull with either Vol'jin or Maxima and should probably be included once Maxima is. Carrion Studies is also an excellent choice by being a spell that generates minions, thus preventing any Maxima jank and providing a potentially powerful swap option for Vol'jin. 

Matchups

VS Aggro

Despite having some decent early-game tools, this matchup can be quite tough. Compared to other Hunter decks, we have sacrificed a great deal of early-game consistency for Vol'jin meme shenaniganry. Explosive Trap is your best friend here and can help clear dangerous boards, especially against things like Stealth Rogue. Otherwise, just try to keep the board clear and your health high. Once you cheat out a Darkmoon Tonk or Plagued Protodrake with Vol'jin you should be able to outpace their aggression, but surviving for the first 5+ turns might be tricky with no Taunts. It's more important than usual to mulligan for early-game cards here and even though the deck does revolve around Shadow Hunter Vol'jin shenanigans, it is probably unwise to keep him in your opening hand unless you happen to also have a big swap and are feeling ambitious.

VS Control

Mulligan and dig for Vol'jin since he will help apply a great deal of pressure the opponent might not expect. Even assuming a Tonk is destroyed immediately after you summon it, the damage from Tonk's deathrattle on turn 5 can be backbreaking and put your opponent in a very dangerous position thanks to the virtue of the Hunter hero power. This matchup benefits greatly from reworking around Maxima Blastenheimer since she helps cheat out big bodies even harder and helps a lot when trying to make the final push for lethal. Even without Maxima, Carrion Studies is a very helpful inclusion here since value generation will matter a lot in the later stages of the game. If you wanna get really spicy and adventurous, you can try using Vol'jin on an enemy minion to try and remove a value generator/win condition. Vol'jin could also be used to bypass an annoying Taunt like Convincing Infiltrator or Khartut Defender if need be. 

VS Combo

This is a matchup where having Maxima is a truly huge boon for her ability to output massive face damage and deathrattle pressure. You need to go fast so the enemy doesn't assemble all their pieces, but this deck is in a weird limbo of not-that-fast and mediocre late-game, so finding the pressure can be difficult. Dragonbane can be great here as a minion that provides burst/pressure beyond attacking, which especially helps against Mage who will freeze your stuff. If you somehow keep finding yourself against Combo decks, slotting in the more aggressive options such as Imprisoned Felmaw could be helpful.

Conclusion

This is one of the more high-roll-y decks thus far since it relies pretty heavily on drawing Shadow Hunter Vol'jin and getting a strong swap off in the mid-game. The Secret package is helpful in reaching the mid-game while putting pressure on opponents with the likes of Phase Stalker and Petting Zoo, but those aren't the spice we're looking for. Vol'jin is a card I have very mixed feelings about. On the one hand, I love his design and the two modes that he offers. On the other, mana-cheating is occasionally a problematic mechanic that is the culprit behind some pretty toxic and annoying decks. Tip the Scales most immediately comes to mind, but as long as the cheating isn't meta, it's meme. We're almost done with the first round of meme decks for all classes! After I get to Warrior next week I'll start coming around to other classes in varying frequencies, so don't expect a 100% even spread across all classes (unless y'all want an even spread, then I will absolutely try my best)!

What is your meme deck of choice? Do you try different ones for each expansion or do you try to evolve old ones with new cards? Do you have any meme dream stories? Tell us in the comments below!