I've been hearing through the grapevine that Viking Aggro War was back and popular, so I decided to give it a try this weekend. I checked the top leaderboards and ran into this one. I had all the cards, so why not?
Code:
GU_1_6_HAbBDyBDyKBjHAFHAFBAiBAiBDoBDoCDqCDqIDjIDjCBBCBBOAGOAGCAZCAZIDkIAZIAZKBhCEcCEcKBiKBiCAXOAE
Pretty straightforward. Get damage to face quickly and depend on Slayer to finish the job if it stretches into mid game. Note also that this deck has no card draw and only a few relics.
No card draw actually combos nicely with Valka:
With this deck its easy to vomit your hand and find yourself with only 1 or 2 cards in hand by 5 mana. When that happens, Valka becomes an upgraded manitcore:
Few relics means lots of creatures. This is important for viking aggro decks. You need creatures on board to go face, and all the synergies in this deck need either vikings or creatures on board.
You also don't want too many relic cards because both Leviathan and Valka's Captain give you relics when played. In viking decks in the past, countless times I've gotten jammed up with an Enduring Shield equipped and nothing to play that wouldn't replace it.
Aggro war is very streaky. 81% win rate in 38 games is impressive, but every weekend someone usually high-rolls. It doesn't mean the deck can't be improved. We've got a lot of 4 mana cards, which I generally don't like. 4 mana cards are awkward. Wonderful at 4 mana, but dead at 3 mana and usually floating a mana at 5.
In particular, I don't like White Fur Guard in this deck. Empower helps with the 4 mana awkwardness, but an aggro deck doesn't want to be investing mana into frontliners. I also don't like the Cunning Challenger. It's a fun card that I enjoy playing with - in casual. If I were going to tweak the deck, I'd drop those cards and replace them with:
I get it. "Well duh use the $300 cards if you have them." Even without blades, I'd find something to swap out the Whitefurs for. A redfume perhaps. Probably the second Skollkin to help with early game. Maybe a vicious rend for even more face damage from hand.
Otherwise, I think the deck is really nicely designed!
Great mulligan and I get to go first. Two creatures on board + a 1/2 relic. Pretty much an optimal start.
Arguable misplay. I probably should have just gone face with everything. However, my thinking is that the missed damage from Skollkin would get made up for with the 3/1 Hunter. However, there was a risk that the Skollkin buffed herself. I also passed on some favor here.
Still loving the board state. Confused creatures have a habit of not doing what you want, so I decide to go face. Would have gotten punished with a followup wildfire, but the creatures are still confused mitigating the downside.
He got good trades, but drawing another round pretty much seals the game. A 4/6 Orcish Elite is a monster to play on curve. There was basically nothing he could play that I was worried about.
Orcish trades for enormous value. We go face again with the blacksmith to buff our whitefur. We get the concede. GG.
When the deck curves out going first, it is really strong. The addition of Woodcutter Imp gives a big power boost to the archetype. Between Imp and Styx, that's 12 damage to face from hand, but they also double as nice board control if absolutely necessary. Maybe the best thing about the deck is how fast it wins (or loses). If your control opponent gets heals off and is still in the game at 6.5 mana, you can just concede.
