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  1. #1
    Lead Developer / Designer Gondorian's Avatar
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    Is Darkclaw better with allies or without?

    Hi all!

    There was a time when Darkclaw was definitely more competitive without allies.

    As we, on the Design Team, didn't really want to encourage solo decks at the top levels (which tend to be not very interactive or fun to play) for risk of them becoming more popular by people aiming to win more than have fun, we aimed to create some allies that would help Darkclaw be more competitive and therefore reduce the ratio of the solo to allied builds.

    I thought that had worked, but I am hearing from some that the best Darkclaw builds are solo again now.

    What's your experience?

    Bonus questions: Do you mind facing solo Darkclaw? How often do you run into him compared to other heroes right now?

  2. #2
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    Hmm... peculiar if the best Darkclaw build would have recently shifted to solo, as there has been no changes or new cards to make solo stronger (and indeed new cards were released for ally DC build). On the contrary, it mostly feels that meta has shifted so that now solo archtype struggles hard against the most common priest and Lance decks. That said, I am not quite sure whether solo is currently the best DC option, I just personally prefer playing that archtype.

    During this seasons 100+ matches, I faced another Darkclaw only once. He was a semi solo build. I know two other players at around 250 rating who play solo Darkclaw somewhat regularly.

    In my experience, currently the rarest heroes to face are Logan and Rothem, but Darkclaw (solo or not), Gwenneth, Raikka and Aramia are almost as rare. I don't mind facing a solo Darkclaw, or any other rare heroes, as that gives a fresh change after facing so many of tier 1 decks.

  3. #3
    Lead Developer / Designer Gondorian's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Coran View Post
    Hmm... peculiar if the best Darkclaw build would have recently shifted to solo, as there has been no changes or new cards to make solo stronger (and indeed new cards were released for ally DC build). On the contrary, it mostly feels that meta has shifted so that now solo archtype struggles hard against the most common priest and Lance decks. That said, I am not quite sure whether solo is currently the best DC option, I just personally prefer playing that archtype.

    During this seasons 100+ matches, I faced another Darkclaw only once. He was a semi solo build. I know two other players at around 250 rating who play solo Darkclaw somewhat regularly.

    In my experience, currently the rarest heroes to face are Logan and Rothem, but Darkclaw (solo or not), Gwenneth, Raikka and Aramia are almost as rare. I don't mind facing a solo Darkclaw, or any other rare heroes, as that gives a fresh change after facing so many of tier 1 decks.
    Oh, hi! I think it's fair to say you are the most infamous Darkclaw player of modern times and the main reason that Darkclaw has got on the radar of the Design Team. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

    What is it about solo that appeals to you so much? Is there any way you could be persuaded to try some allied builds to report back whether you have better success and whether you enjoy playing this way?

    What would you say are the key cards that make the solo build tick and the main reason you like it so much?

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    (For some reason the message ended up not being sent. Trying again, hopefully not ending up to a triple post.)

    Now when I think of it, I used to face Darkclaw with allies quite regularly couple of months back. He was far from rare then. I believe he completely fell out of favor after changes to Eye of the Dark Forest and Ballista.

    Could be that others are facing a solo Darkclaw bit more often because of me. On the other hand, the player base is large enough not to repeatedly encounter the same opponents. Out of the last 100 matches I faced same opponent twice maybe around 5 times. That frequency hopefully didn't cause too constant or painful (many double encounters actually ended to my defeats) solo Darkclaw experience to anyone.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gondorian View Post
    Oh, hi! I think it's fair to say you are the most infamous Darkclaw player of modern times and the main reason that Darkclaw has got on the radar of the Design Team. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

    What is it about solo that appeals to you so much? Is there any way you could be persuaded to try some allied builds to report back whether you have better success and whether you enjoy playing this way?

    What would you say are the key cards that make the solo build tick and the main reason you like it so much?
    Heh, is any publicity good publicity?

    Like everyone else, I started with an ally build starter deck (Nishaven) and was frustrated by cards like Tidal Wave, Mind Control and Rabid Bite. After some experimenting I found out that abilities were more reliable way to deal damage. Slowly I removed all allies from the deck and liked the result. It isn't completely out of the question to at some point give a try to builds based on allies.

    With any solo build, however, it is possible to avoid all those nasty anti ally cards and make them an empty draw for the opponent. Solo Darkclaw in particular is quite versatile. Depending on the draw and opponent's moves, the deck can work both towards a quick kill as well as sometimes controlling the board by killing all opponent's allies. Great comebacks can happen, thanks to efficient heal and damage avoidance done at key moments. Also I get to utilize to good effect some cards that are not seeing much use in other builds (Rabid Bite for example).

    Many claim that this deck does not require any skill. The main concept is indeed easy to grasp, but I would like to think that experience and feel for the deck are necessary part for any success. It may seem easy: just cast some Full Moons and Rain Delays and you win. Not that simple, anyone can try. To get there, one has to read opponent's moves and anticipate when is the right time to hide and when another strategy is better.

  5. #5
    Lead Developer / Designer Gondorian's Avatar
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    Thanks for sharing more insights, Coran. While you are unlikely to face the same opponents in the last 100 games, I think you a major contributor for the stats for Darkclaw which makes him look better than he would be if others used him.

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