Mercenary Aggro Warrior

This is an explosive aggro deck, and it works. See below for screenshot of my winrate. It does not really have any ways to come back from losing the board, but it does have significant ability to burst from hand if needed. I'll be honest, this is mostly a SMOrc deck. NOTE: I just realized this is the same list that Outofcards has posted as part of their meta report, but that list has no guide at all. So, here's a guide, along with my personal experiences.

Anyway, here are a few things to keep in mind:

1. It is sometimes correct to trade, even when you're a pure aggro deck.

2. This particular deck has one specific thing it is trying to accomplish, every game. That thing is this: have a damaged minion on turn 2, and then copy it with Bloodsworn Mercenary on turn 3.

3. NEVER EVER mulligan away your Bloodsworn Mercenary. Even if nothing in your opening hand lets you get a damaged minion on turn 2, you could easily draw into something on turn 1 or turn 2. Worst case, you don't use Mercenary on turn 3, but a bit later.

4. Try to curve out. This should go without saying, but it's pretty important.

5. Taunts are the most effective counter to this deck, especially taunts that provide healing. If you're running into lots of taunt decks, you could tech in 1-2 Spellbreaker but they will slow down your overall gameplan.

6. If you start falling behind on board and you cannot make good trades, do some math to figure out if you can set up a lethal from hand (Charge minion, plus Inner Rage plus Rampage for example can burst for a LOT of damage from hand on any of your 3 charge minions. So it might be correct to go face anyways, even tho your guys will die next turn, in order to set up lethal damage for later.

Here is a link to my most explosive game on my way from R9 to R5 (and it may actually be the best possible start for the deck, period): https://hsreplay.net/replay/g3iCTuvc5qQRv4s2CrVe83

Screenshot of my Decktracker stats are below. A small caution - these stats are missing two losses and one win, so the actual winrate is 17-3.