Darkclaw "Stone and Fire" Efficiency Deck

[Antigravity]

What's up everyone. I'm Antigravity, currently playing under the name of TheGreenBuddha. Anyways, I just wanted to share my deck, “Stone and Fire” using Darkclaw. I do not see this deck being a competitive deck beyond the 300 rating, but it is still fun to play (and I encourage you to give it a shot so you can improve it), and perhaps one day maybe someone can make it an extremely competitive toptier deck. I challenge whatever readers to make this a challenging deck for tournament play, but under the current meta, I do not believe this style of a deck will beat any “usual” suspects at the highest of play.



”Stone and Fire” Deck List
Darkclaw x1

Allies
x4 Infernal Gargoyle
x4 Molten Destroyer

Abilities/Items
*x4 Captured Prey
*x4 Now You're Mine
x3 Speedstrike
**x3 Lone Wolf
*x4 Shadow Font
*x3 Sacrificial Lamb
x2 Ley Line Nexus
x4 What Big Teeth
x4 Fangs of the Predator

40 card variant
*Indicates flexible cards, meaning cards I would remove ONLY -1 for whatever you think is necessary (Shriek of Vengeance, additional tank allies, utility cards, etc)
**Regeneration can be used, but I prefer Lone Wolf

[[[
EDIT from below: Okay, so I followed Necrice's advice on Bad Santa, and it has worked pretty well. Thanks for the suggestion! I am currently playing with:

-1 Shadow Font
-1 Now You're Mine
-1 Sacrificial Lamb
(I kept the fourth FotP in case of weapon destruction, plus I just love this card lol)
+3 Bad Santa
]]]


First of all, I'm going to say that this deck is an efficiency deck. What do I mean by that? Efficiency means 3 things:
1. Using limited amounts of resources (you probably won't go beyond 6cc until late late game)
2. Trying to maintain board
3. Equalizing the game until you can try and win the burn race

Sounds easy right? Not so much. Darkclaw is a unique hero as all of you will know. Although Wulven has a controlling style of play, it also comes with a cost. The main concern is draw. Darkclaw is seen as a solo hero at times, but with this deck approach, you will be utilizing “Stone and Fire” as allies. I'm sure you already guessed it: Infernal Gargoyle and Molten Destroyer.

Why these two are a must:
1. They are tanks. Period. Darkclaw solo decks have a problem because the only target is Darkclaw himself. While yes, he is a beast, he can easily be outnumbered or outburned. He needs allies to mitigate his damage intake and also provide attacking support.
2. Infernal Gargoyle is the best 3cc ally tank. If you are lucky enough to draw, it is a must to cast to get board, start burning, or tank damage/abilities.
3. Molten Destroyer is the best 5 cc tank. The advantages over other high cost cc allies are as followed:
a) Plasma Behemoth – while offering more offensive fire power, PB costs 3cc more to use, which is difficult at times for you if you play Shadow Font, Fangs of the Predator, or Ley Line Nexus. Not to mention 6cc might be costly to get to effectively play other 3cc+ cards. MD is also favored if your opponent has a lot of attacking power. If PB gets burned in one turn after you cast it, you just lost a turn and an ally. MD at least sets an ally on fire, damages attackers for easier weapon kills, and could potentially win you the burn race.
b) Brutal Minotaur - +1 more hp and +2 more attack, but at a costly -2 damage death. The purpose of allies in this deck is to tank damage, and using multiple Minotaurs would mean more burn against Darkclaw.
c) Shadow Knight – 4 hp, nuff said.
d) Ogloth the Glutton – 6cc is costly to obtain. Not to mention the other problems in PB section.
e) Chimera – nope, not a good tank.
f) Cobra Demon – I've never used it, but I'd imagine the SE is too costly since you need it for full Darkclaw offense. Plus for 1 more cc, you have +3 attack, thorns, and blaze. Blaze = free poison.
g) Wulven Tracker – I really wish this card had haste, or 5 hp, or something to get more out of it. It is a high target ally as draw is of most importance in Shadow Era. I've never had success running WT w/o protection.

Now x8 allies isn't much, but it is the perfect number of tank allies for Darkclaw to survive. Think of this deck as a solo Darkclaw deck with some assistance tanks.




As for abilities and items...

Captured Prey and Now You're Mine:
Must have control cards. These cards are what makes Wulven so BEAST. I love having x8 for maximum draw %. Do not go below x3 in either if want to reduce any. You will most definitely need these.

Shadow Font / Sacrificial Lamb / Bad Santa:
Shadow Font is a direct contribution to your offensive fire power. Think of this card as ammo. I personally would not go below x3, as x2 is not extremely effective in my opinion, especially if you need to sacrifice this card really early.

Sacrifical Lamb is the only advantage draw to your side. Bazaar helps your opponent too much for my taste, and there are not a lot of allies to take advantage of Wrath of the Forest. And I've already complained about Wulven Tracker. When you do draw SL, you need to save this as much as possible. There are times I've sac'd this card early and smacked myself later for it.

[[[
EDIT: Bad Santa x3 + Sacrifical Lamb x2 is a great combo for draw. The key with Bad Santa is to use it at the beginning of your turn when you have extra cc (at least 5+ cc) to spend, then use whatever you just drew)
]]]

Ley Line Nexus (optional Shriek of Vengeance):
Utility cards to change the game in your favor. I do not use Shriek of Vengeance due to the -1 cc aspect, but I believe this card is necessary for high levels of play. Only having x2 of a card is frustrating at times, but it is really difficult to go beyond x3 with all of the other cards in this deck.

Speedstrike and Lonewolf:
Speedstrike is obvious. HELLO, you are playing DARKCLAW here.

Lonewolf vs Regeneration is still pretty easy in my opinion. Both serve as survival in the burn race (aka the long run of a match), but I like Lone Wolf better because if Sever Ties is played, your opponent has to choose between Speedstrike, Lone Wolf, or Captured Prey. Not to mention two turns of Lonewolf equals one Regeneration. Also, after Supernova or Tidal Wave (or the extremely rare Crescendo) clears, you heal immediately. You might be alone for awhile after a wipe.

What Big Teeth and Fangs of the Predator:
These weapons are so essential to the deck that they are just as important as the two allies comprising this deck. You must have x8 weapons for effective offense in my opinion. There are times where I have drew no weapons, even with all x8 weapons, and it completely sucked. I couldn't imagine less than x8 for an even lesser % draw.



How to play this deck
Early game (2cc-3cc): Now You're Mine, Infernal Gargoyle, What Big Teeth
Mid Game (3cc-4cc): Speedstrike, Shadow Font, Lone Wolf, Sacrifical Lamb, Captured Prey
End Game (5cc+): Molten Destroyer, Fangs of the Predator, Ley Line Nexus, Bad Santa, combos
NOT in order of importance, as all is situational and what is your best judgement. Remember, the objective is to control board, buff your hero, neutralize enemy advantage with Captured Prey/Now You're Mine/Ley Line Nexus, and then finally burn their hero.



Why Fangs of the Predator is so nasty:
True, this card is going to be expensive to get x4 for this deck. BUT!!! This card allows Darkclaw to be the only hero in the game to directly attack an opposing hero for 8 damage with NO retaliation in one turn (with Speedstrike of course). 8 friggin' damage! When they drop to 8 hp, it's over. Even at 12-15 hp, if you have Fangs in your hand, you will be at a strong advantage to win the game. This is why Infernal Gargoyle and Molten Destroyer are so important. You want to get as close to below 15 hp as soon as possible. You can probably win in two turns. Even if your Fangs get destroyed after an 8 damage burn turn, you can draw another set of Fangs or What Big Teeth. This is why you need all x8 weapons and x8 allies. It's the perfect synergy of offense and defense to win the burn race. Half the time you surprise the crap out of your opponent with Fangs. They are all complacent like “Wow, another Darkclaw deck with What Big Teeth and Lonewolf. Easymode. Oh wow, that's unique. Some allies? Well, crap, I thought this was a solo deck, shouldn't have sacrificed those neutralizing ally cards. Wait, WTF? Fangs just dropped me into the red zone. RED ALERT, RED ALERT!” Plus, you'll feel like a badass dropping some bitchin' Fangs. It adds some bling to your deck.



Some additional notes:
-Keep all weapon duplicates for warriors, priests, and rogues
-Keep all attachment duplicates for Jericho
-Keep LLN for heavy weapons/armor (Notably The King's Pride, Sapphire Armor, Soul Seeker, Anklebreaker, etc)
-Humans have Poor Quality
-Beware of Sever Ties
-Bazaar doesn't mean you can sacrifice Sacrificial Lamb for certain opponents. Think Warriors and other other Wulven with Crippling Blow and Captured Prey. You want to utilize Lone Wolf if possible.



That's it for now. Please give this deck a shot, as it's a lot of fun to play. With the fresh new start everyone has, you'll have a good time if you are tired of your current style of play. Let me know of your feedback, both on the deck and this post.

Spread blood Wulven brethren!

EDIT: Previously before the update I was using Bad Santa at the end of my turn, but now I've been using it at the beginning of my turn when I have 6+ cc so I can utilize what I just drew. Noob mistake of mine.

Also, feel free to search TheGreenBuddha in "Challenge" and check out my completed games. I'm not the best player, but I can show you the basics to this deck.

[Ramirez Delgado]

Nice post, you invested much time to explain your deck, I like that.
Concerning draw my first thought was "why 3 SL, when you have only 8 allies?". If you really want to fish for a certain card, BS is better, but I think, you already tested it and your personel conclusion was to rather use SL.
Thx for sharing!

[Antigravity]

I've used BS and Bazaar quite a lot before the update. If these cards are your preferred methods for Wulven draw, go ahead and utilize them.

BS is of course an advantage when played first and you use it on 2cc. I believe your opponent loses 1-2 cards. But when played in the middle of the game, I've found it has helped my opponents quite a lot. I was stuck in the 200-250 area fluctuating between a variety of decks before the patch. And believe me, nothing sucks more than giving your opponent an extra Fireball or a Tidal Wave.

Bazaar definitely puts your opponent +1 up throughout the match, particularly if they use Shriek or destroy it. Not only did you lose the draw when you first cast it, but you lose another draw when they destroy it, all the while your opponent reaps immediate benefit in all cases. If you do run Bazaar though, I'm sure you can manipulate this deck to the upwards of 42-44 range without destroying too much draw % (of course stay low in my opinion)

I've found Sacrificial Lamb at x3 is the perfect number for this deck. x4 is too much, x2 is too little. It's definitely not a perfect means of drawing. I've had my matches where SL is El Dorado. But when you do draw it early, keep it. If you draw x2 early, ONLY sac 1 if you have confidence in your other cards and decision making. Even without draw, this deck flows pretty well. Whatever you draw will most likely be something you need. Sacrificial Lamb is just there to get your deck to flow a little bit better or to get you to be unstuck after a horrible series of events. Hopefully you'll SL a neutralized ally, a damaged ally, or at least attack first and SL it at the end of your turn. Whatever the case may be, you will get x3 cards for your next turn, and if that was your only ally, +2 health with Lone Wolf. SL is a hard counter to Warriors and Wulven as well.

Whatever the case may be, if you know an ally is going down the next turn, SL it. If you have board and a lack of cards (I'd say 1 is red zone), attack first and SL so you can stay on top.

[Necrice]

Pretty good deck actually!
I m having some fun with it atm.

Tweaked it a bit tho :

-1 Shadow font : I feel 3 is enough.
-1 Fangs : I mostly use it when I don't draw Teeth or for a surprise killing blow so 3 is enough.
-1 S.Lamb : 2 is alright since you only have 8 allies.

+3 santas.

I felt this deck needed a bit more draw.

Thx for sharing!

[Mew Two]

Wow, nice post man, I like it

[Tyr Anasazi]

Since you use no Wulven allies in your deck, FotP is just a 2-damage weapon.

Why not use 4x Sliver of Shadow instead of FotP? Same damage but cheaper to cast.

[chanson311]

4 durability would be a MAJOR reason. 16 damage vs 8.

[Tyr Anasazi]

4 durability would be a MAJOR reason. 16 damage vs 8.

If the total damage is the concern, WBT gets that covered already.

FotP = 16 damage only if it is not destroyed by LLN, otherwise is the same as SoS. The key is to use up DC's SE then cast SoS. That's 8 damage without any chance to counter.

Also this change frees up resources to cast MD/LLN.

[Antigravity]

If the total damage is the concern, WBT gets that covered already.

FotP = 16 damage only if it is not destroyed by LLN, otherwise is the same as SoS. The key is to use up DC's SE then cast SoS. That's 8 damage without any chance to counter.

Also this change frees up resources to cast MD/LLN.

I feel like a lot of opponents won't save LLN for Darkclaw unless they start to regularly see FotP being used. Besides FotP and Crescendo/Shadow Armor (which are scarcely if at all used with Darkclaw), there are no other 5 cc weapon/armors. Plus, if they do cast LLN, they have to waste a turn to direct attention to your FotP. Hopefully you will have another set of Fangs or Teeth.

Also, with Sliver of Shadow, you will find yourself with excess shadow energy at times. You would most likely suffer from the -1 shadow energy if used routinely throughout the match.

As for freeing up resources for MD/LLN + SoS, that'd be an 8cc turn. I usually don't end up with that many resources. I am constantly trying to conserve sacrificing cards because of the lack of draw.

[Zesoura]

Good stuff!I'm enjoying this deck at the moment.