Minmaxer

Sep 25, 20195 min read

Deck Tech: RO Aggro

Updated: Dec 1, 2019

Deck Techs are something I have always enjoyed from other games. They let you see into the mind of the creator, or experienced pilot, of a deck. This insight is invaluable when picking up a deck to play it for the first time. Cards that may seem unusual, or out of place at first glance, might have an important function.

For my first Deck Tech I am going to focus on RO Aggro, a deck that I played at the end of Alpha that brought me to the highest tiers of Mythril and beyond. In Beta, it is the only deck I have played on ranked ladder so far. It was my first choice for a few reasons:

It is incredibly fun to play, and there are so many lines of play available there are always chances to outplay your opponent
I know it's good
It is cheap, and easily upgradable (my New Player Decks article has a very base version)
It show Mythics aren't required for success; I didn't even add one until I was somewhere in G7

It's Good

I started in Gold Tier due to reaching Mythril in Alpha, which means I only needed 10 ranks to reach Mythril. Most of my matches were against players in the same position as myself.

"Do not worry about mere claims of strength or prowess, fear the ones who truly believe they are right." - Conviction

It's Cheap

The deck comes in at 10150 essence, and includes two story rares, and only one mythic, making it far cheaper to craft than it may appear. Shopworn Bull, Wings of Abaddon, Magmataur, Peri at the Gates, and Temptation are also some of the most frequently played rares in there colours, like wise for most of the uncommons. Adding more Parsa Regulars is a great option if you are still missing some rares; I think I started at 4.

Decklist - Final Version

name: Red Orange Aggro

coverart: Journey of Souls

path: journey of souls

power: infuse

4 strigoi pup

4 daring trapezists

4 ironbelly wyvern

3 panic raider

2 red carnival

2 shopworn bull

2 wings of abaddon

2 magmataur

2 conviction

4 eager recruit

1 spear of destiny

2 xerxian recruiter

3 insurance broker

1 parsa regulars

2 peri at the gates

2 temptation

Deck Breakdown

The deck plays a whopping 33 minions, which makes Journey of Souls an easy inclusion. (The article provides some very pertinent information on how to play with JoS.)

Infuse is the power of choice because we are playing many small minions that may need help trading up, especially since most of our removal comes in the form of rush minions.

Plan of Attack

The deck looks to go wide early and chip away at the opponents health while using Rush minions to clear potential blockers. It wants to deploy minions across lanes 1,4, and 7, both to make blocking difficult and to threaten all lanes. This makes it difficult for the opponent to get foothold on the board, and allows for Insurance Broker and Red Carnival to have immediate impact.

How to Start

Always be eager. When given the choice between Eager Recruit and Strigoi Pup, lead with the former. This allows you to play both Strigoi Pup and Parsa Recruit on turn 2. You cannot do the reverse. Also, if they decide to kill your 1-drop, you would much prefer Eager Recruit as your first card returned from Journey of Souls

Ideally you start turn 3 with more minions on the board than your opponent and one of each gem burned. This will give you the most options going forward.

Taking Charge

By turn 3 you can normally play over 75% of your deck, which can give an overwhelming number of options. The focus over the next few turns is maintaining board presence while sculpting your hand. This is primarily done with Insurance Broker and Shopworn Bull. These minions can be difficult for your opponent to remove and have the ability to bury your opponent in card advantage. To keep up, most opponents have to spend mana to draw cards, which only puts them further behind.

Closing Time

Some decks manage to stay alive long enough to start dropping big minions that can be difficult to deal with. Try to save some cards that will allow you to push through the final points of damage. Conviction, Temptation, Wings of Abaddon, and Red Carnival are great for this. Often times an opponent's last ditch effort to stem the bleeding with chump blockers leads to a lethal with Red Carnival.

Take me home.

Tips & Tricks

Conviction is both an early tempo play and a way to close the game. The effect is also permanent. Due to the Slayer and Overrun interaction, minions will often do more damage when attacking through a minion than going face directly.

Shopworn bull is best when shuffling away Parsa Recruits, but is also excellent and exchanging other cards you may no longer want.

Insurance Broker is best played a turn you can activate it. This nets you a card immediately and locks in its value. It should be played in lanes 1 or 7 as it has lurker. It then becomes almost unkillable in normal combat as it can be repeatedly protected with small minions.

Red Carnival isn't just for killing players. It can be used like a combat trick to clear bigger minions. Temporary Health is also reduced first, so this will often leave your minion unscathed.

Try and always have a rush minion in your hand. This makes it way easier to close out games, or if required, clear a problem minion.

Don't forget about Wings of Abaddon's special ability. Sometimes you just need it to survive combat, but it can also trigger Red Carnival, or be used on a Temptation'd minion to remove it permanently.

Parsa Recruits can make great speed bumps if you ever find yourself in a racing situation.

The deck has a ton of staying power, so don't be afraid to be slow and methodical. Overextending into a board wipe, or losing board too early are more likely to lose you the game.

Wrap it Up in a Mythril Bow

This is not a brain-dead aggro deck (are any of them?). So, if you are looking for a powerful, skill-testing, and a rewarding aggro deck, this is a great choice. It doesn't hurt that it is very easy to put together. I plan to continue playing it as I climb through Mythril on my way to Champion. If you would like to see it in action, you should be able to find games in my ranked replays, or my twitch VODs. I'm normally pretty active in the Mythgard discord, so feel free to get in touch with me there too.

Updated Decklist (Dec 1st, 2019)