Stretch · 556
Valkryie's kit works almost entirely on her basic attack, so Aggression is her best aspect. This deck adds some of the newer cards. For a solo deck, she needs a balance of thwart and some time to develop her Aggression upgrades and Dragonfang. This is built for expert difficulty using Standard 3 against a villain that can be confused. I added some alternative cards for different scenarios.
Her allies need 2+ thwart, so no Shark Girl, Throg, Goldballs, or Thor. She doesn't need their help attacking in a solo game. Gate Keeper addresses some main scheme thwart, but her allies will be the main thwarting tool and chump blocking so that she can attack every round. Power of Aggression and Quincarrier will help with the higher ally cost. There are 8 Aggression targets with 2+ cost and half of them are a recurring cost when the hero deck is thinner, so PoA is justified.
Heresy, but I also removed Smash the Problem. Raising the attack makes StP better, but it exhausts her, and we want her constantly attacking to progress the game. In scenarios with lots of side schemes or quickly rising threat on the main where you need more than 3 thwart per turn, they go back in. Cut the Mean Swings since they're not compatible and just add two. In scenarios with lots of villains, we just use Death-Glow more. In scenarios with more damage, or where fallen allies work against you, add another Godlike Stamina, cut the PoA and Aggro allies except Bug, and add Moment of Triumph. Blood Rage is great for minion killers and Valhalla heals that damage, but drop it for high damage scenarios.
Psylocke and Professor X help her flip down to use Annabelle Riggs and to heal if the villain is normal or Steady and not Stalwart. Godlike Stamina has good value, and I found two copies is enough to keep Valkyrie healthy normally. It is amazing to see when you have a stun. Against Stalwart villains or Magog where you just can't eat hits, I'd use a Protection deck to have Ready For a Fight available. Stalwart villains also tend to hit hard so toughs are nicer to have.
Getting up to a 7 attack means Quick Strike is also great, but she needs time to build, and Mean Swing gives her tempo and keeps the cost-curve down so you can get those allies out. Take That! is similar to Have at Thee!, but it is expensive and raises her cost-curve. Power of Aggression cards almost make it worth it, but since this is a solo deck, they were cut to make room for Gatekeepers. Martial Prowess would help with Take That! and Quick Strike, but it has no place here without them. In a multiplayer game they're both amaze-ballz.
Valkyrie doesn't get anything extra from receiving Minions until she gets Valhalla and Blood Rage out. Even then, getting two extra cards when you gave up one to get a minion isn't a good trade when the minion could have tough or quickstrike. That's why I don't have any aggression cards pulling random minions out. We also don't want acceleration on the main scheme by cutting into the encounter deck. Chooser of the Slain lets you choose the exact minion which makes it a far better card than the Aggression minion-pullers. I just use those cards every chance I get until the upgrades are set up. At that point, you can attach Death Glow to the villain and keep hacking for 7 to 10 every round to win.
Valkyrie has been with the Defenders, Avengers, Secret Avengers, Beast, and Mirage. She can work with almost any hero thematically.