I reached midway through rank 5 with a budget version of this deck then bought some packs and dusted some of my collection to build my current version of the deck. After altering the deck I lost only 5 games on my way to legend with 3 of those being for legend rank. The deck plays as a mid-range focused deck utilizing strong minions to gain control of the board and then snowball a victory.

A breakdown of why I ran each card:

2x Nord Firebrand – Works really well with the buffs in this deck and helps to provide extra reach or removal. 3 felt like too much so I went down to 2 which felt a lot better

2x Fire Imp/1x Relentless Raider – Imps are really good at breaking an early rune while Relentless Raider provides a stronger body to trade and can provide a little more reach at the end when going to finish the game. I’ll eventually be running 3 Raiders in place of the imps but budget decks can run imps

3x Rapid Shot – Helps create efficient trades, can boost fearless northlander and card draw

3x Scouting Patrol – Strong 1 drop to battle for board and works with our buffs to still be helpful later

2x Helgen Squad Leader – We have ways to generate a lot of attacks which can quickly snowball these guys out of control

3x Mage Slayer – Really good at battling for board early as they force trades with minions and can be used in shadow lane to set up lethal as they are hard to remove

2x Northwind Outpost – Boosts our Firebrands to allow them to remove enemy minions and provides extra damage on most of our units. 3 seemed overkill and led to some bad hands

3x Rift Thane – Really versatile card that can help you win back the board if you are behind or push more damage. Can use Kvatch Soldier for budget decks but Rift Thane is just really strong so hard to replace

3x Eastmarch Crusader – You should be able to break a rune really fast so this is almost always able to proc the card draw

2x Fearless Northlander – Really good at battling for board control and can often force 2 for 1 trades from your opponent

2x Morthal Executioner – This can get out of control really fast and can trade with a lot of two drops efficiently

3x Raiding Party – More Firebrands which are amazing

3x Divine Fervor – Makes your minions really hard to remove and pumps up our firebrands into beasts. Crucial part of the deck so can’t really be replaced

3x Hive Defender – Allows you to protect some of our stronger cards and control the board

1x Reive Blade Master – A total luxury card as it allows us to fight for board while pushing damage. Often draws premium removal which allows us to slam down a bigger threat turn 5. Can be easily replaced with Alik’r Survivalist which everyone gets as a level up upgrade

1x Tyr – Our only prophecy card. Everyone can get him from the story and he is just a really strong card

2x Blood Dragon – These are insanely strong. Use these when you need to remove a certain minion during the midgame. Almost always a 2 for 1

1x Haafingar Marauder – This guy is also a luxury but can be a victory condition if not dealt with. The Dragons and the Marauder can be replaced by 3x Tusked Bristleback for budget decks however the Dragons would be the first legendaries I would craft

3x Markarth Bannerman – These generate more firebrands and if not dealt with can win the game with a couple buffs on the board. Core card of the deck so can’t really be replaced

3x Triumphant Jarl – Stupid strong card. Can almost always get the proc off which is crucial as this deck doesn’t have a lot of card draw

1x Savage Ogre – Strong body and his summon can be used to remove a large body your opponent has or just to provide the final damage needed to win a game

1x Vigilant Giant – Card draw, Taunt and typically with buffs ends up at least as a 10/10. Closes out a lot of games and everyone gets him

Hope this helps others reach legend with a deck type that I did not see a lot of at the high ranks! I can answer any questions about replacements and if there is interest I can add some info on the common type match-ups I faced