Aerial Annabelle - Valkyrie (L)

Playthroughs:

• Solo Playthrough: https://youtu.be/nNCG4mj3gEY

• Multiplayer with Thor:

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Objective:

• I wanted to design a deck that: 1) Has an interesting concept that works well in solo & multiplayer, 2) Is thematic and synergistic with my Thor deck, and 3) Is fun to play and above all, wins (no one likes to lose!).

  • Thor deck: Ride the Lightning - Thor (A)

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• Results: I've done a lot of playtesting on Expert with this deck over the last month or two using proxies until I got my cards. It has gone through many iterations, but this deck has a unique idea, and I feel like I've finally got to a version I like that works well and is fun to play).

Strategy:

This deck uses Honorary Avenger and Sky Cycle on Annabelle Riggs so that you can constantly use her ability as a source of card draw at least twice per turn when you flip. I also use Command Team x3 to where you can potentially draw 5 extra cards per turn with her ability.

Aerial Annabelle:

• I also like this deck because it solves a lot of the inherent problems that Valkyrie has while soloing -- threat and flipping in order to be able to use her cards like Annabelle Riggs. You'll find a lot of situational uses for her throughout the game as well. Often you'll flip to Alter-Ego and maybe you just need a resource or two to put down an ally. Or perhaps you need a specific icon for Adam Warlock. She'll help you set up early and throughout the game you're basically always diving for Chooser of the Slain.

Aerial:

• Because Sky Cycle gives her the Aerial ability and you have Aerial with Aragorn, it also taps into using Air Supremacy with her as well to kill minions that has synergy with her other cards. Normally, I don't really like Air Supremacy as a card normally, but in this deck it actually really works well since Valkyrie benefits from killing minions. The use of this card is also really helpful when you are exhausted or stunned to ready yourself because Death-Glow only requires you to defeat the target and not attack it like Valhalla does.

Shadows of the Past (ouch!):

• The other difficulty outside of flipping/thwarting that Valkyrie has is that when she gets Shadow of the Past it is devastating! Like traumatically so. In my testing with Valkyrie, Seduced can just lose you a game in solo. You can't flip or you lose to scheme, and you can't attack because of Seduced. This deck actually gets around this backbreaking pitfall in two ways:

  • Air Supremacy is not an attack! This is actually really beneficial. I've had games where Enchantress (SCH 2) is on the board and I can't flip because of her and I can't attack her. Normally this is a loss! But with Air Supremacy you can still attach Death-Glow to Enchantress and then use Air Supremacy to kill her because it's not an attack. Also Flight of the Valkyrie will still proc off of this to get rid of the Nemesis side scheme, so you can then flip. And you'll still be able to ready off of Death-Glow because you only have to defeat the enemy to ready, not attack it.

  • Band Together (along with Quincarrier are godsends for Valkyrie because she has to get rid of Seduced ASAP.

The Cards & Combos:

Annabelle Riggs:

• You'll want to get her on the board as soon as possible, along with Honorary Avenger & Sky Cycle. You'll then want to get down as many Command Team as possible, hopefully drawing 5 cards when you flip. She also helps you get Dragonfang early and from then on Chooser of the Slain -- these are by far her strongest cards.

Air Supremacy:

• As mentioned above, this card not being attack is actually a benefit. The other reason I like this card in this deck is that each of Valkyrie's cards are a little different. Only Valhalla requires you to actually attack for its use. This card still works with Flight of the Valkyrie and Death-Glow readying.

Adam Warlock:

• He has the Aerial ability natively for Air Supremacy and I use his ability to thwart and heal. Especially early game, and with this deck I really never play Shieldmaiden but I use it with his ability to thwart. He works so well in this deck because you're really able to manipulate what card is the last one in your hand with Death-Glow, way more than you'd think. You also use Annabelle Riggs & Kaluu to get the symbol you need for him.

Command Team:

• Get these down to use with Annabelle Riggs (you can also use it in Alter Ego) & late game use with Goliath for a 15 damage if you have the entire set-up using his ability.

Team-Building Exercise:

• This card will help you get your set-up early, so nice to get it down as quickly as possible if you can. This will also allow you to play a lot of your allies for one less cost throughout the game. Late game, once you get Aragorn](/card/25007), don't forget you can play Air Supremacy for 1-cost. Another great reason to have it in the deck.

Band Together:

• This card really helps if you happen to pull Enchantress aside from its usual resource ability. Also great to use for Have at Thee!.

Goliath:

• Works great with Command Team and I often use him early game to thwart, but late game to do 15 damage with Command Team and Team Training.

Hawkeye:

• He's is amazing in this deck for obvious reasons. Chooser of the Slain is one of Valkyrie's best cards, and you'll want to have him on the board when you're using it.

Beta Ray Bill:

• Theme! But not just themes, I found out that this card is actually really useful in this deck with thwarting, and often use with Command Team.

Falcon:

• Like Heimdall in my Thor deck, this really helps you to know when you can flip to draw cards with Annabelle Riggs.

Kaluu:

• I didn't have him in the deck for the longest time, and if I had to cut a card he might be it. But the fact is, Chooser of the Slain is so good and he also has synergy with Adam Warlock in getting you the card you need.

Early Game:

• The cards I try to get down as soon as possible are Annabelle Riggs & Dragonfang. Dragonfang is really a must and Valkyrie really doesn't shine until she gets it, so you Annabelle to get it for you if needed. Obviously you want to get Riggs set up with Sky Cycle as quickly as possible. The Triskelion is also a card you really need to get down early, because Riggs isn't doing much for you other than card draw and you really need that extra ally to almost get the 3 you'd normally have. Adam Warlock is also a card that I really like to get early so I can manage threat without having to pay a cost for it.

• Team-Building Exercise is also a card I like to get down early for set-up purposes early game and late game when you get Aragorn, don't forget you can play Air Supremacy for 1-cost.

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Late Game:

• Once you have your set up, I then start to concentrate more on maximizing my flips and drawing as much as possible with Annabelle Riggs and making sure I have Aragorn so I at least have two Aerial targets for Air Supremacy.

• A typical turn will be making sure it's okay to flip to alter-ego when it's safe, using Annabelle Riggs ability twice if needed to search for Chooser of the Slain to have for next turn or to get Visit Valhalla to get it. You can also use her at the end of your turn if you just need a resource for an ally or if you need a specific icon for Adam Warlock. The next turn you'll dive for Chooser of the Slain or Valhalla to get it, use Command Team situational depending on how many resources or what cards you have left in your deck. You'll then flip to Hero Form and use Chooser of the Slain twice to draw more cards.

• At this point you'll also start to look for more for damage with Have at Thee! and Goliath doing 15-damage with Command Team.

Multiplayer (with my Thor deck):

• Thor deck: Ride the Lightning - Thor (A)

• I really like using this deck with Thor, because there is so much synergy. Both can pull out minions for each other and capitalize off all of the cards that benefit from minion killing.

• You'll find that often it is really beneficial for constantly calling for actions for whoever has the cards to get minions out and kill them for example: Chooser of the Slain, The Bifrost -> Angela, Defender of the Nine Realms, & Looking for Trouble.

• You'll then call for actions to kill them, especially with your AOE tools. I don't like multiplayer so much when both are just playing their own game and there isn't much interaction. But I've been 2-hand solo'ing these decks and having a ton of fun.

• Death Perception is also an action that you might call for, because she can still ready or use Flight of the Valkyrie even if Thor kills the target.