Asgardian Afterlife
Valhalla is one of the many places that the dead end up after crossing into Niffleheim, the land of the dead and the realm of the mists in Norse mythology. Valhalla is also known as the Hall of the Honored Dead and Mythical Land of the Fallen. It's probably one of the best places you can end up after passing away. It's a great honor to be considered worthy to spend your afterlife there, something that all Asgardians strive for.
In Valhalla, you would spend your days communing with your equals by feasting in the great halls of Odin. After that, you would fight to the death for the fun of it. Reset and repeat. You can’t actually die and since most that get there are natural warriors, they love both the fighting and the feasting.
Another interesting fact about Valhalla is that you can go there after your death even if you don’t believe in Asgardian religion. Frank Castle, The Punisher, was one of those that were deemed worthy to spend their afterlife in Valhalla, perhaps just to keep fighting.
Back to Snap
Fellow Snappers! This Wednesday, the 13th, Valhalla is gracing us with its wonderful arrival and will also be the next hot location. So prepare thyself for fighting and feasting like the typical Einherjar that you can be.
Such power! Odin’s retirement realm is quite interesting. After turn 4, repeat all On-Reveal of the cards on this location. Another location that benefits quite well decks with On-Reveal effects. However, it isn’t a second Kamar-Taj, you will need more finesse and cards costing 4 or fewer energy to take great advantage of Valhalla.
We can’t talk about On-Reveals without mentioning Wong. He’ll be incredibly powerful in Valhalla. By turn 4, he should be on the Hot Location together with your early On-Reveals, making them trigger three times. Even a single Ice-Man would be extremely annoying to your opponent.
So what we do need is cards that have a powerful On-Reveal that could be extremely beneficial to double it on turn 4. The list is quite big, isn’t it? Let me list the most obvious examples of Valhalla’s residents for a powerful deck. Next, let’s check some cards that could make respectable amounts of power on Valhala.
These are the cards I would consider the best in raw brute strength with a doubled up On-Reveal on the fourth turn. Getting two Demons for the price of a single Hood is an incredibly wise energy investment. Sage has one of the most powerful effects for just pure power into a single card even with the detriment of not having both sides of the field full by turn 4. Cassandra is Cassandra, If your opponent is playing Arishem he will be sorry to face Cassandra on Valhalla. The Hammerbros would be lore accurate and amazing in Valhalla, Having twice the hammers swung into your deck before Jane’s turn sounds powerful. Shuri’s multiplying by 4 could make impossibly big Nimrods. Gwennpool would be a +12 Power randomly added to cards in your hand. From just this list we can come up with some brilliant decks but there are more ways we could look into Valhalla.
How about we look into the energy side of things?
Phastos is on the verge of being a great card, probably by doubling his possible discount/buff would make him reach his potential. Electro is the most reliable way to get extra energy and with Warmachine by his side, you should be fine to let electro sit on the field even after turn 4. Wiccan is a card that is so powerful that he created his own archetype. Imagine how powerful he is while giving +4 extra energy? Surely your opponent won’t be able to catch up with your High Voltage levels of energy.
Usually I list an annoying list of cards that could ruin everyone’s fun during the hot location. This time around I don’t need to. Cosmo is the only card you need to rain on the parade of every schmuck like me that will be trying to do some crazy combos on Valhalla. Use at your own risk of getting spammed with Kamala’s Thumbs up emote.
That’s all the advice I have about Valhalla. Let’s check some decks so I can send you on your way to victory.
Valhalla Decks
Miss Ery
Second article in a row recommending this sleeper deck. I’ve used it to get to Infinite and to win Infinity Conquest. The deck only gets better with this hot location since you can double dip on your Hood and Electro. You need to plan your turns wisely and skipping turn 5 is always an option if you want to lose priority in order to Shadow King your opponent’s side of the field.
Stop, Hammertime!
Shoving huge amounts of Asgards in Valhalla should be a good idea, right? You should know the drill by now with these types of decks. Get your Hammerbros on the field, find hammers and double up their effects with either the Allfather or Misery that eats hammers for breakfast. When King Eitri releases I’ll be trying him in this deck replacing Shadow King.
Tubular Dude!
Surfer! Even though this deck has a very low curve, its On-Reveals are quite powerful. Try to get Gwenpool in Valhalla for some powerful follow-ups. If you think that your opponent is getting more value out of Valhalla than you, remove it with Nocturne. You could run a greedier version of this deck by switching some cards for Magik, Odin and Wong.
What Mythos is this?
This one is banking entirely on you drawing either Phoenix or Nimrod. If you don’t find either of them, it's probably a retreat. Shuri is especially potent on Valhalla because she will trigger twice before the turn that you’ll drop either Phoenix or Nimrod. Just be careful with all the Shadowking running around the meta.
Wiccantur
Do you enjoy playing with an extra 2 energy? How about 4? With Wiccan and Valhalla that’s quite possible. The archetype was quite competitive but after Surtur released, it got so much better. Aero, Alioth and Magneto are your winning cards to deny your opponent’s combos. Pull and cancel their Womgocombos into the shadow realm with the abusive amount of extra energy you will have in a typical game.
Afterthoughts
I have to be honest with you guys. I’m quite excited about this one. I love cool locations that allow me to go beyond the usual limits of my deck and Valhalla does that in spades. It is way more tactical than Kamar-Taj because you will need to play fast and confidently with your cards in order to benefit more than your opponent. It will be a rare location, meaning that you won’t see it very often while Kamar-Taj is a common location, that’s why it always shows up to help your opponent.
But what about you? Do you think the Allfather did good by introducing Valhalla into the game? If you don’t like it, I’m afraid that–
