Demon Hunter is the only Hearthstone class that didn’t ship with the game. As a result, it doesn’t have nearly as large a card pool as the other nine classes. Fortunately, when Demon Hunter was first introduced, the Hearthstone team created powerful cards to compensate for its lack of history (some might argue that they went a little too far in that respect).
Since then, Demon Hunter has gotten more than its share of strong new additions, resulting in a surprisingly powerful set of cards for such a new class. Here are the best options you can include in your Demon Hunter list.
10 Il’gynoth
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Il’gynoth is a card that terrorized the meta for a long time. Its ability enabled one of the most powerful combo decks Hearthstone has ever seen, capable of killing opponents from well over thirty life. The deck’s game plan meant fending the opponent off until you assembled Exodia.
Il’gynoth hasn’t seen much play since it rotated out of Standard (Demon Hunter being extremely weak in Wild), but it’s still lurking in the background and could return to the meta if the Hearthstone team creates some new cards that synergize with it.
9 Multi-Strike
Do you want to deal a lot of damage? Well, you’re looking at a list of Demon Hunter cards, so you’re already in the right place, but Multi-Strike is a particularly potent example. Two mana to deal four damage is already a decent deal, even if you have to split the damage between two different targets.
But the real bonus of Multi-Strike is that it has the side effect of doubling all your attack buffs. And Demon Hunter has a lot of attack buffs. This card used to cost one mana, at which point it was absolutely broken, but even now, the card can threaten lethal damage even if your opponent puts a taunt minion in your way.
8 Artificer Xy’mox
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The Relic theme introduced in Murder at Castle Nathria wasn’t necessarily the strongest concept of the expansion, but Artificer Xy’mox is undeniably powerful even as a standalone card. He is an obvious fit into any deck focused on Relics, but he provides so much value that he is often worth including even in decks that only run a couple of other Relic cards.
Assuming you’ve Infused him, Xy’mox provides removal, card draw, and immediate board presence all at once. That’s exactly what you need from an eight-mana card in modern Hearthstone.
7 Xhilag Of The Abyss
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Xhilag of the Abyss is the type of card that can be slammed down onto the board and have an immediate impact. It can clear the board and represent serious damage to your opponent’s life total. And if your opponent doesn’t answer Xhilag right away, the card and its summons will only grow stronger.
As an added bonus, Xhilag can also be summoned with Caria Felsoul if you’ve built your deck specifically, effectively allowing you to run two copies of the card in your deck.
6 Lady S’theno
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Immune is an uncommon effect in Hearthstone. The recent Murder at Castle Nathria mini-set introduced a couple of new ways to get it, but it’s still rarely seen. And Lady S’theno shows why that is. With proper planning, she can easily represent a board clear or a lethal threat.
And since she will always survive your turn, S’theno immediately becomes a must-kill card for your opponent. Unfortunately for them, her four health makes that awkward to do. But if they can’t manage it, they’re in for another turn of S’theno making a mess of their game plan.
5 Soulciologist Malicia
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You could argue whether Soulciologist Malicia should even be on this list since it’s a dual-class card, playable in both Warlock and Demon Hunter. But she saw significant play in both classes, so she deserves to be included.
When fully activated, Malicia totals 23/23 in stats, 18/18 of which has Rush. Even better, the Rush damage is split among multiple minions, allowing you to pick and choose where it goes. That makes Malicia a spectacular defensive tool that can also be played as a pile of stats if necessary.
4 Magnifying Glaive
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It seems like an aggro player came up with the Magnifying Glaive in a dream. The weapon was clearly designed to be played alongside the cards that intentionally discard your hand, but any deck that empties its hand quickly can make great use of that ability.
You won’t always have an empty hand, but in the best-case scenario, the Glaive deals six damage and draws six cards over two turns. It’s still quite a new card and hasn’t been in a meta-dominant deck yet, but it’s worth keeping an eye on going forward.
3 Chaos Strike
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As any seasoned card gamer will tell you, the best cards aren’t always the ones with flashy, game-ending effects. Chaos Strike provides cheap card draw while also functioning as early-game removal, and that’s a lot of value for such a cheap card.
There’s a reason why it sees play in almost every Demon Hunter deck. Whether you’re playing a combo deck looking to draw towards its win condition or an aggro deck that wants to deal damage while refueling its hand, Chaos Strike can give you what you need in one small, perfect bundle.
2 Jace Darkweaver
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Arguably the biggest advantage Jace Darkweaver has is that many Fel spells are cards you might have decided to include in your deck already. As such, the cost of including Jace as a finisher is often quite low.
Since the spells Jace casts will target enemies if they can, in many ways, he acts like a more controlled Yogg-Saron. Played on an empty board, his barrage of spells will often kill your opponent outright. And if your opponent does have minions in play, Jace will almost always kill them and draw you a full hand of cards, setting you up to win the game from there.
1 Kurtrus, Demon-Render
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Hearthstone has a long history of cards with powerful effects that never see play because they don’t have an immediate impact on the board. Playing them gives your opponent a massive tempo advantage you can never recover from.
Kurtrus could have been one of those cards. The new hero power he gives you can easily end the game if you’ve built your deck to take advantage of it. However, he is also a rare card that can swing the board in your favor immediately, thanks to the rush minions he summons. Kurtrus is the total package, which is why he’s often one of the first cards you include in any Demon Hunter deck.