(I find myself a little bit loathe to write this one, but I promised myself I’d do a Wulven hero next, and quite frankly Moonstalker isn’t up to snuff at the moment.)
Intro
Darkclaw is the hero with the games most chequered recent history (though his brother Moonstalker is vying for the crown). For as long as I’ve been playing (v1.25) Darkclaw has always been that super annoying solo/stall hero, slowly chipping you down whilst dropping Rain Delays and Full Moons to prevent damage. Not to mention until this most recent iteration, DC’s ability has always involved some form of damage prevention. Technically with Ambush it still kind of does.
Overview
Darkclaw has always and no doubt will always be primarily a solo hero. This isn’t his fault so much as the fault of his card pool. Simply put it’s just so much more enticing to play him solo as allies deny him his most potent card, Lone Wolf. But anyways…
The Wulven card pool is split two-fold, one half full of control and stall potential, the other half trying to encourage an allied rush strategy.
They have effective ally control (Now You’re Mine, Captured Prey, Rabid Bite, Lost in the Woods), damage reduction and stall (Full Moon, Thick Hide, Blinding Storm), phenomenal heal (Lone Wolf, Regeneration), weapon boosters (Speedstrike, Unstoppable, Ripping Fury), and of course the infamous infinite weapon What Big Teeth. They also have a few half decent allies with some neat abilities (Pack Wolf, Tiger Wulf, Lightning Hunter, Howlfang), and a very good draw tool in Blood Moon. Unfortunately there just isn’t the synergy in the allied pool that there is in the stall pool, particularly for Darkclaw.
Allies
As Darkclaw has always primarily been a solo hero this is a difficult section to write. There are a few allies that have consistently made their way into the few allied decks out there however.
Call of the Crystals
- Pack Wolf: very solid 2cc drop, he’s a Puwen with the ability to buff, though it’s quite conditional. Regardless stat wise he’s very strong.
- Infernal Gargoyle: Yeah, that guy.
- Shadow Knight: Very common in allied DC decks as he works well with Wrath of the Forest and allows the few allies you can cram into a 40 card deck another pass.
Dark Prophecies
- Lightning Hunter: The number one ally for Darkclaw because he appears in a lot of solo decks as well. He acts like a pseudo weapon, providing three damage and he works wonders with Jeweler’s Dream and Speedstrike. No doubt the best of the new Wulven allies; it’s just a shame the art is terrible.
- Tiger Wulf: Item/ally destruction and a solid body, Tiger Wulf is really DC’s best option to deal with Aeon besides stalling him out or beating him down.
- Ironhide Karash: I prefer this guy over Pack Wolf now, simply put he’s immune to any source of 2 combat damage or less, and anything else he dies in one shot just like Pack Wolf. Considering how conditional Pack Wolf’s buff is I’m not fussed about losing that.
- Morbid Acolyte: His ability can bypass protector, which is always a good thing for DC. Tough stats as well.
- Furrion Terror: In a full stall/mill build this guy can really do wonders, particularly with Evil Ascendant. Mini board wipe, and softens up allies if you have to kill them with weapons.
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