[halfzware]

Two quick notes:

I'm not saying that black hunters suck per say. I'm sure that with a F9 bless, in the late game, you can field 30 of them and have it be an effective force.

But if you are at a point in the game where gold still has real value to you - then black spiders simply are not worth the cost. In fact I'll make this bold statement to put things in perspective:

Spider Knights are better at cost. Even unblessed.

At 45 gold each, you can field ~14 of them for the cost of 5 black hunters. And I guarentee you 14 spider knights will win, even with F9W9. Not only would 14 spider knights beat 5 black hunters head to head but more importantly they will also do better vs a variety of units: all the way up from independants to thugs, and summons.

At worst, the black hunter is about equal to a knight, (although in a 1v1 I think the knight will probably win if it gets the first hit) so obviously they aren't that bad. What they are is: not worth their cost.

I'm not anywhere near suggesting a 20hp buff (which I think would push their cost past gold and into gems), what I'm suggesting is to raise their attack to around 14, their defense to around 14-16, their strength to 12, with a 5-20 gold cost reduction. Which at least makes their initial form effective.

But still, an E9N9 bless on a black hunter seems sorta weak. The berserk is basically guarenteeing the death of the rider, once dead E9N9 basically gives you a weak troll. So you're taking awful scales so you can afford a double 9 bless for what is effectivly 120 gold for a 50 gold knight that when dies turns into a 60 gold troll.

I can't see how thats worth while.