Huntmaster of the fells, Why is he good?
Deck Help forum
Posted on March 24, 2012, 10:23 p.m. by 2austin5
So I will soon be acquiring some and it makes me want to build a deck around him or with him but I'm having a bit of trouble understanding why he is good enough to be worth any money. I also will not be using Immerwolf so don't bring him up in the context of the convo please :)
What are some ways to maybe abuse his ability? Because I know that whenever I play against him he is dead either by the end of the turn or at the beginning of the next.
March 24, 2012 10:38 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #4
The fact that he consistently dies against decks with available removal is a testament to the fact that he's a threat (and even after he dies, you're still up by an extra 2 life and you have a chump attacker/blocker).
Abuse of the abilities will come more from your opponent's decisions than your own. With luck, you'll have him transforming to Ravager on your upkeep and then back to Huntmaster on your opponent's upkeep, but that relies on your opponent not playing anything on his or her turn and you playing support cards (2+) on your turn.
March 24, 2012 10:42 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #5
The most important thing I can tell you is to not get so caught up in trying to transform him that you miss better opportunities to advance your board state. If you hold back on playing that Beast Within or Galvanic Blast just so Huntmaster transforms, you may regret it later. Always make the proper play in any given situation.
March 24, 2012 10:44 p.m.
Very true, I just don't usually play with this kind of setup to a deck so thanks for reminding me about getting caught up in the flip
March 24, 2012 10:47 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #7
It's a very easy thing to be pulled into. I've seen a Wolf Run player hold back on a Green Sun's Zenith on turn four (Huntmaster came out on turn three thanks to a T1 Birds of Paradise and T2 Rampant Growth) just so he could transform the Huntmaster at the soonest possible time. He lost the match because his opponent built a stable board state in the turns around that misplay and during sideboarding I saw at least five or six cards in the Wolf Run deck that could have been fetched with GSZ to seal the game in its favor.
March 24, 2012 10:52 p.m.
damn that sucks. Like I don't plan on making it wolf run, I like to take current decks and twist them. So the twist with this is r/g/ maybe x with no wolf run. It will be a mid range deck. Thats about as far as I've gotten idea wise
March 24, 2012 10:55 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #9
Make sure you include enough removal; a Beast Within can save you against swords/Runechanter's Pikes and a Shock can do double duty as burn and kill for many creatures. In Standard, being able to answer other players' threats is often as important as playing your own.
March 24, 2012 11:13 p.m.
Very true, if I were to add a third color, what do you think would do best. Obviously all of them have their perks but one may have better interactions than the other
March 24, 2012 11:21 p.m.
Epochalyptik says... #11
Blue offers some control, but has little synergy.
Black gives removal options and possibly some creatures. Perhaps Skinrender and Grave Titan?
White gives removal options (Oblivion Ring) and some creatures like Sun Titan and Fiend Hunter.
It really depends on how you want the deck to play. Think about what each color can do in terms of the cards available, but also about how well it plays in a deck with red and green. You're looking for synergy, not just power. A deck can have great cards but lose because a lack of cohesion makes it underperform.
March 24, 2012 11:27 p.m.
MasterFlinter says... #12
One of the biggest problems with aggro werewolves is that you can't curve out. If you do you are stuck with a bunch of overcosted humans unless you draw a and . On turn 2 you would cast the mayor and on turn 3 you would pass the turn giving your mayor a chance to flip then using an instant on your opponents turn. Turn 4 you would cast the huntmaster then on turn 5 once again pass turn, etc.
Green is pretty obviously the base color of the deck, so the question is what instants do the other four colors bring to the table?
It's pretty easy to see what red brings to the table - burn spells. Brimstone Volley is nice for when your opponent picks off a little 1/1 mayor and Incinerate is always useful. If you decide to add a third color you could look at Burning Oil and Fires of Undeath.
White is really interesting. It gives you Midnight Haunting and allows you to flashback Burning Oil. Considering the mayor and huntmaster already give you creature tokens you could even look at Intangible Virtue. White isn't very strong in instant-speed removal but red can handle that.
Black is obviously very strong in instant-speed removal between Tragic Slip, Doom Blade, and Go for the Throat. It also lets you flashback Fires of Undeath and gives you a better turn 1 play than most of the other colors in Despise, which is pretty strong right now.
Blue brings a pretty weak counterspell suite with Mana Leak, Negate, and Flashfreeze being the top contenders in a three-color deck. It does, however, have Think Twice and Cackling Counterpart would be worth taking a look at. Imagine casting mayor on turn 2 then passing on turn 3 to flip your mayor and copy him. Not a bad line of play.
I think I like Naya and Grixis builds the best. Think there's any potential here?
March 25, 2012 3:08 p.m.
Yea, I was thinking black but with limited removal, I was thinking to solve the draw card problem, I get the tokens and sac them with to be even more annoying plus if I had to sac any heavier creatures it could bring them back to. A will do in any deck I play is 4 copies of and Gnaw to the Bone to gain back any lost life. And a Wurmcoil Engine or two may have a part in the deck. But I would also stray away from ramp just because I don't have many ramping cards and it would be a waste of spot to add 1 birds. I would maybe add 2 Rampant Growth but thats about it for ramp
Epochalyptik says... #2
Huntmaster is a good example of a card that gives you value for your mana. For four mana (not even very color-intensive, mind you), you get 4 total power from two separate bodies and gain 2 life. If your opponent doesn't do anything about it on his or her turn, then you have the potential to Shock
both your opponent and a creature he or she controls (good burn and removal) and your 2/2 becomes a 4/4 with trample (the trample is nice for getting by weenies/mana dorks in the early game). If your opponent chooses to respond later on by reinforcing his or her board position, then he or she is punished for it when Ravager transforms back into Huntmaster and gives you an additional 2 life and 2 power.
I personally don't agree with it being priced at $20-something ($24-25 currently), but so it goes. It seems more like a $10-15 card to me.
March 24, 2012 10:35 p.m.