My weekend ranked was quite the rollercoaster. Had a lot of bad matchups running nature (kept running into slayer war), and even had the HP bug where I couldn't finish off my opponent. They killed me the next turn. Bummer. Even so, this is the slayer war deck I turned to in order to save my weekend ranked and get a legendary card pack.
You can see that I don't even have all the cards. I'd prefer to run 2x Valka's Captain and 2x Thunder Callers, but I made do with what I had. Note that everything else is 2x. Also, the core of this deck is really affordable:
- Archangel Bruiser
- Another Round
- Viking Longship
- Guild Enforcer
- Enduring Shield (the MVP)
Enduring Shield
I've been telling everyone I know. This card is under-appreciated. It had a brief run as a completely busted card, but when it got nerfed, everyone assumed it was dead. It is, however, still amazing. I love seeing this show up in the mulligan phase. Turn 1 bag into Enduring Shield is the play every time. Turn two follows up with a blitz creature that you are able to shield.
Go Face
As with any frenzy/aggro war deck, you are going to be the aggressor 9/10 times. This means you aren't looking to trade for board control unless it's really profitable. By getting in their face, you force them to trade on their turn to try and slow you down. Once you get them down to 10 HP, you can play like garbage while depending on the slayer GP to finish them (barring a source of healing).
Enduring Shield doesn't change this equation much. Go face with your shielded creatures. Now your opponent is forced to trade 2-for-1 a lot of times just to get rid of you 1 mana Nokkvi Warrior.
Other Relics
Leviathan Hunter, Valka's Captain, and Blade of Styx give access to a lot of relics. These can help with board control if you've fallen behind, but if you're ahead, face all day. Even the 1/1 barbed hook generates favor.
Board Wipe Death
I had to win my last 3 games to get to 17 wins and a legendary pack. One of those was against board wipe death (BWD). BWD is incredibly strong, but look at the matchup chart in Mythic:
Only 3 decks win more than they lose against BWD, but balls-to-the-wall War is one of them. My game was close. It actually went to 8 mana (!) because they hit every heal in their deck. The last three turns, however, I played literally zero creatures. This denied my opponent his final source of healing: Demogorgons. Instead, I patiently played my GP and floated like 5 mana each turn. When I drew my Blade of Styx, I was able to finish the job. The final turn he had 5 HP while I had something like 27. I could ignore his most powerful threats because I had gone face.
Deck Substitutions
Honestly, I might not run my Pyramid Wardens if I had second copies of Valka's Captain and Thunder Caller. Thunder Caller is a phenomenal target for Enduring Shield.
- Drop the Thunder Caller
- Go face with Enduring Shield
- 4/4 shielded Thunder Caller
Out of Its Misery is a really nice combo card, but it's gotten pricey (I bought it back at $4.26).
I like the balance of spells/creatures/relics in this deck, so I think the obvious substitution is Vicious Rend. Honestly, it's probably a more consistent card. 1 mana for 3 damage to their face.
Removing Pyramid Warden and OOIM make this an incredibly high-performing budget deck. I honestly don't think you lose much power.
Conclusion
As long as the Slayer god power exists, I think war is the new nature: the best deck for budget players in Mythic. How do we play around whales and OGs with $20k card collections? Go face before the OP cards drop.