Deckbuilding 102 - Aggro

Aggro decks trying to win the game as quickly as possible. They do this by playing minions early, trying to overcome their opponent before they can setup their defenses. This is often done through efficiency of mana in the early turns. The goal of an aggro deck is to spend all their mana every turn. This is most often done by always playing on curve: 1-drop, 2-drop, 3-drop, 4-drop.

Aggro decks in Mythgard are probably the easiest to build as they are the most like their counterparts in other games. Add a bunch of cheap minions with good attacking stats and/or evasion, some cheap removal, and a way to close out the game and you probably are most of the way there. They are also often cheaper to construct and easier to play making them an excellent choice for newer players.

Mythgard aggro decks tend to be almost exclusively one or two colours. Monocoloured decks in Mythgard never have resource issues as all their cards burn for the correct colour gems, which guarantees you can always play your cards on curve. Two coloured decks are almost as consistent. However, beware double-gemmed 2-drops, you cannot play them on curve with a 1-drop or 3-drop of a different colour.

How are things different in Mythgard?

Life totals in Mythgard are higher, and games in general are slightly longer. Even if completely unopposed, most aggro decks can’t win before turn 5.

All minions in Mythgard have built in evasion—kind of. Due to the lane mechanics and how attacking and blocking work you can “go around” your opponent’s defenders by placing your attackers outside of their range. This also means 2 1-drops are often better than 1 2-drop.

You have more resources. Your deck has no dead cards, and your Path and Power can provide you with extra resources throughout the game.

You can be greedier. The burn mechanic allows you to play more expensive cards than you might in other games as well as some more situational cards. Overall, your mana curve will probably by flatter than in other games. But, don’t get too greedy! This is a common mistake, and even more so in Mythgard, just because you can play a 7 mana spell doesn’t mean you should. I would recommend no more than 3-4 5 mana spells, and nothing higher.

Seven Ring Ritual, powerful, but not an Aggro card.

Building an Aggro Deck – The important questions

What does our deck do?

• Do we go wide, or tall (lots of small minions vs buffed minions)?

• Do we really on artifacts/spell/enchantments to boost our minions or weaken/kill our opponents?

• Are we a tribal deck, or do we rely on synergies?

How does our deck win?

• Do we try and threaten their life total early, then use evasion (Agile, Overrun, Rush) to close out the game?

• Do we slowly chip away their life total while maintaining board advantage?

• Do we setup for a big turn, or combo kill?

The answers to these questions direct us on the Path and Power for the deck. Aggro decks are almost always incredibly minion heavy, which makes Journey of Souls the default, and most often, correct choice.

When it comes to the Power, the choices are a bit more interesting. Infuse is useful when going wide, employing evasion, or trying to maintain board control as it lets your minions trade up. Impel shines when you are going tall, as it provides your minions mobility to evade blockers. It is also very strong when combined with lane enchantments, potentially letting multiple units benefit from the same enchantment in one turn. Smite does provide some inevitability, but it is almost always weaker than its counterparts.

So what does a finished Mythgard aggro deck look like?

BURN THEM ALL

name: Mythgard Sligh

path: journey of souls

power: infuse

4 ignition

4 ironflesh performer

4 minitaur

4 strigoi pup

4 daring trapezists

2 firesong prodigy

3 crimson pact

3 ichor feast

4 ironbelly wyvern

3 panic raider

2 wings of abaddon

2 magmataur

1 stairway to hades

Pro tip: You can import the deck above directly into Mythgard!

This deck goes wide early with cheap minions then uses its rush minions or removal spells to clear the way. Cheap. Simple. Effective.

Aggro decks succeed when they are focused and efficient. Pick your theme, and stick to it. Don't try to make them something they are not. Up next in the deckbuilding series we will examine Midrange decks.

Interested in other Aggro decks? Check these out.

Mono Red Vampires (Tribal + Evasion)

Mono Orange Zealots (Wide/Tribal + Big Turn/Combo Kill)

Orange-Red Aggro(Wide/Synergies + Chip/Board Advantage)

Green-Blue Canines (Tall/Tribal + Board Advantage)

The Mythgard discord is friendly, and a great source for decklists.