Thor, King of Asgard

Introduction

I slept on Thor for 2 years. It wasn't a hero I enjoyed the concept of, and aggression is probably my least favourite aspect. Thor looks pigeon-holed to be a minion killer, so I wrote it off as "hero pack card with some thematic extras".

Then Valkyrie came out. Valkyrie is another hero I don't particularly enjoy, but her pack came with a certain card. Valkyrie is worse than Thor in making use of the card (her BFF doesn't have the Asgard trait, unlike his beloved), so that's a natural fit. However, you're still stuck with a hand size of 5/4. Then the idea struck: using the power of friendship and access to Asgard's coffers, Thor can build one of funnest, fastest decks I've played with.

Core concepts and general strategy

Although you see a lot of red, the deck plays closer to a classic leadership deck. The Bifrost gives you access to all your allies currently in your deck, and lets you play them at -1 effective resource. As most allies with the Asgard trait are red (except Beta Ray Bill, who is sorely missed), you can take advantage of Boot Camp to further increase you allies' value. Team-building exercise (TBE) hits 16/35 cards (you don't really play resources anyway, so those don't count) and synergises with Hammer Throw (pick up the hammer and play it for free immediately). Use your minion fetchers to draw you 2 extra cards per turn (4 with some luck), giving you an effective hand size of 6 (7 with Asgard) while doing some much needed thwarting. Once the engine is up, watch everything get deleted in a flood of hammers, lightning, and allies.

The build-up of the deck follows these lines:

• Early game: get Bifrost + TBE as fast as possible. They are the backbone of your engine, and they should be prioritised over everything except preventing immediate defeat. Use For Asgard! to fetch for Bifrost first - it gives you access to an extra card, but you get to choose which one (although it might fail). TBE early ramps up your setup (hammer is free, helmet and batteries cost 1, ...). Don't be too trigger happy with the minion fetchers in early game, because you risk getting overwhelmed when your economy is not up. Use them to remove problematic schemes or to reduce the pressure on your justice buddy if multiplayer.
• Midgame: begins as soon as you have Bifrost + TBE + any other engine card. Now you can start to shift to minion management and scheme control. Use Angela and her arrogance to guarantee an extra 2 cards per round, and use those cards to ramp your economy. Your allies are critical at this point: use your bae to double-attack and thwart, and your mentor to stack villain turns in your favour. Don't be afraid of sending your army to the discard: you'll be drawing so many cards that they'll cycle back quickly, and can access them immediately with the taxi service. Try to ramp to end-game while controlling the board.
• Endgame: once you have stabilised, start blasting. Use Lightning Strike to clear lumps of minions that you fetched yourself, and Hammer Throw to burn through the villain's health. Allies should attack every turn unless you are about to scheme out. Do not flip down unless you at risk of immediate defeat by damage (remember the wear the helmet - it's a free REC). You have so many resources and cards that the villains is just waiting to get destroyed.

Other cards and synergies

• Engine cards (other than TBE): you might be wondering, why so many supports. You'll need most of them. You'll be drawing cards all the time, and you need the economy to use them. Also, these permanents thin your deck, making it easier to draw into Hammer Throw and reshuffle allies from the discard pile. Prioritise God of Thunder and TBE for their cheapness. Note that TBE hits all your other resource generators, so try to get it out first. 2x TBE is a compromise between getting it early and it not being useful in the late game (events are not Asgard traited, sadly).
• Upgrades: Combat Training gives you 4 attack, which is nice for minion control and Smash the Problem shenanigans (see below). Boot Camp makes your army even stronger, and Jarnbjorn is a nice sink and tough remover that costs 0 with TBE.
• The Power in All of Us: preferred over The Power of Aggression because it hits most of your resource generators and Heimdall. If you have PiAoU + TBE, you're living the dream (and considering the amount of card draw, it's quite possible).
• "Bring It!": this is a bit of a win more card. Never play it against only 1 minion unless you're struggling to find Bifrost and/or TBE. If 3 or more minions, this becomes Ancestral Recall (shout-out to MTG fans). It has to combo with Lightning strike, which is nice. Essentially, consider this a wildcard for your own changes (see Sideboard and multiplayer options).

Deck vulnerabilities (and how to mitigate them)

• No minions: obviously, villains with low minion counts are a problem. You're not defenseless against them, but no extra card draw hurts, and your allies become less reliable. It's unlikely that we'll have a villain with no minions at all, but low minion counts in multiplayer can make it hard to get your engine going. In these situation, prioritise the engine HARD. You need as much money as you can if you hand size is small.
• Stuns: Thor is still Thor, and thus you are vulnerable to stun. There's not much you can do except burning your basic attack (and getting your girl to pep you up after), or wasting a Lightning Strike. If you are going against a villain with a lot of stuns, consider starting a workout regiment. Confuse is not as bad because you can burn your thwart events, and your allies can still thwart.
• Shadow of the Past: your nemesis set hits your like a hammer (pun intended). If you are playing solo and you get Family Feud, you're probably better off assuming you have an extra acceleration token on the main scheme. Keep in mind you can play Heimdall to set up Loki's death and spare yourself some sibling trouble.
• Support removal: in my experience the game doesn't punish supports and engines too much, but a badly timed Caught Off Guard can be a huge problem. Consider asking your protection buddy to help you in the case. Sacrifice The Bifrost last - better to lose a Quincarrier than access to your army.

Sideboard and multiplayer options

• Knowhere: this is best way your can make the deck even more busted, but requires a guardian buddy. There is currently no way for this deck to increase the ally board size (The Triskelion is not available and Avengers Tower is clunky at best). If you are teaming up with a guardian, however, ask them to recruit you to the team and side in Knowhere. You'll get an extra ally slot (priceless) and extra card draw for Angela and Throgg, plus any guardian ally played by your teammate(s). You can switch out your dining room or even a taunt for it.
• Extra attack events: if you need more DPS, you can side in some aggression events over "Bring It!". Great candidates are Dive Bomb (TBE target since you have aerial), Relentless Assault, and Fusillade (exhaust Mjolnir when you don't have Hammer Throw, and Stormbreaker when you don't have a to spend). Really, you have so many resources that anything works here.
• Smash the Problem: this cards turns Thor into a competent thwarter. You can't keep up with a true Justice deck, but if you team doesn't have a yellow user, your cheap thwart events + Lady Sit and Heimdall can patch up any vulnerabilities. Decent for solo as well, but you'll be probably rushing damage in that situation, so "Bring it!" is preferable.
• Get Over Here! (multiplayer only): if the villain has few minions, consider this instead of "Bring it!". Use it to trigger "Have at Thee!" and take a minion off the Protection / Justice player, while pinging it for 1. Ça va sans dire that this is useless in solo, or against space pirates or crazy androids.

Conclusion

I love this deck. It singlehandedly shot Thor up to one of my favourite heroes. It is fast, reliable, has great deck access and is very effective both in solo and multiplayer. Also, it will get even better as more Asgard cards are related. I recommend you trying it and seeing if it fits for you.

Feel free to comment below any changes or suggestions for the deck. And thank you for reading. :)

Stef