Skycrag Aggro (Ladder Tuned)

My returning go-to deck for laddering. Currently in Diamond 1 all the way from Silver 3 playing this same deck which tuned to the current ones (my final iteration) based on the pre-Defiance ladder decks that I faced.

Tips and Tricks
1. Turn 1 play priorities: Oni Ronin > Snowcrust Yeti / Grenadin Drone > Pyroknight
Generally, you want to sneak in as much Warcry triggers as possible. Grenadin Drone over Snowcrust if you suspect a similar aggressive deck / Rakano aggro. Snowcrust first if opponent is on control. Make them spend removals on your other dudes and slow their threats while Snowcrust helps you to get in enough damage thanks to Aegis.

2. Turn 2 play priorities: Dusk Raider > Rakano Outlaw
Dusk Raider helps you smooth out draws and is hitting at least 1 damage on play, forcing opponent to spend removal on her as well. Berserk is part your key battle skills to win seemingly walled up board states. Rakano Outlaw later to protect her from getting removed. Quickdraw + Warcry + weapons upgrade on her is too valuable.

3. Champion of Fury dilemma
If you are given a choice between all the 2 drops, always leave Champion of Fury last to play. Bait removals using other slower minions. The reason is because Champion of Fury is your reset button in the event of board wipe or walled up board states to force unfavorable trades and you don't want to lose to it. Once they wiped your board, you immediately charge in Champion of Fury (or I like to call it Nippon Yamon thanks to his enter battlefield cry) then you are taking the lead to force their hand (either to target removing CoF or wall up with creatures, the latter will benefit you). Otherwise, prioritize F > P > F of your power management to have CoF to gain Charge. Overwhelm is useful only in aggro matchups when you are ahead. Otherwise Charge is more valuable.

4. The Turn 3 pressure
Turn 3 to 4 is your crucial turn. Skycrag lacks the reach outside of burn spells and you are relying heavily on board overwhelm advantage from Turn 1 onwards. Depending on board state and matchup, these are my few conclusions:
a) Control matchup: Jennev Merchant over anything else. Aegis protects her and you can sneak in damage post wipe.
b) Midrange matchup: Ixtun Merchant / Jennev / Shogun's Scepter are all viable. Ixtun if you are comfortable to hit that 4th land, grab Mortar and remove their single minion that walled your attacks. Jennev if you can't and don't want to risk it, get Permafrost. Shogun's Scepter if you have Rakano Outlaw in play / Shogun on 2 power dudes to make it 5. 5 toughness is your breakout point for trades. You only need to worry about Sandstorm Titan and Vara, Vengeance Seeker.
c) Aggro matchup: Put out all creatures and make them trade. Life point = your resource and time to draw more cards to grind out your opponent and prevent them for counterattacking.
d) Board is behind?: You still have a chance if it's aggro matchup, otherwise accept the fate and concede. That's Skycrag. You MUST always keep the aggressor's posture, don't let go of it.

5. The Market Strategy
Mirror Image and Permafrost are your primary targets. Mirror for flexibility to get an extra minion on board / clone your Jennev and get Permafrost / Backlash for value. I normally fetch Mortar more than Obliterate. However when I'm on 4 mana, I would consider Obliterate with Ixtun thanks to its 6 damage and also a hard removal on Sandstorm / Vara. Otherwise rinse and repeat Mirror and Permafrost in a lot cases. Aggro matchup is tricky, maybe you would want Mortar. Backlash is the last card to fetch if you suspect Harsh Rule. I might change it to Kaleb's Choice / Eilyn's Intervention because of 3 mana wipes but need more testing on that spot.

6. Other Card Choices' Explanation
No Ornate Katana? It's slow and situational, and I only like it when I've Rakano Outlaw / against less removal matchups / I get a lot Warcry triggers, which I think 50% of my games are against control, so nope for me. Longbarrel is taking over that place for the reason of that extra 2 damage. It's huge in aggro matchups, and also power sinking in the event of not over extending against control, plus its only 1 power to play. Pretty huge boon.

2 Rampages to force trades and get in damage. They are your combat tricks. Simple, efficient.

No Vadius in mainboard? I can't afford it yet. Might consider Vadius when I could but I also don't want to lose the option to get my burn spells.


Overall Impression
Laddering is good with Skycrag. It's not boring, as you quickly get into Turn 4 and a lot decision making from there. Games are swift and fast and you can quickly learn your mistakes and improve from there. It's very rewarding once you get the hang of it. Just bear with the frustration of power flooding / screwing, don't ask me why. Eternal uses the resource system of Magic, no complaints if you want to enjoy the game and knowing that it employs the similar resource system of MtG, that's the reality.

*P/S: Maybe Pledge mechanic could improve the resource system, a very smart design, we'll see.*