Making the Promo Work: Daraka, Loyal Guardian

The theme deck, Daraka's Barbarians, features Daraka, Loyal Guardian, some stun effects, and a Muster subtheme.

It's not bad for a theme deck, but I feel it tries too hard to make Daraka a star when he isn't. By the time Daraka comes out, you want to be done stunning things and on the way to your win. He makes for a good followup after a Crystallize, but in pretty much all other cases there's not a lot he can do that Permafrost can't do better.

Like Gerrit, Throne Guardian, the new Daraka seems to be pushing for a certain playstyle that doesn't come intuitively. The anti-Gerrit argument was blatant: when you play a silence, you want the thing to bloody well be silenced. We solved Gerrit's problem by packing in silence spells that also did murdery things, like Purgedriver and Edict of Kodosh. So how do we fix Daraka? By making him a supporting actor.

This deck is a Muster shell (the bones of which are lovingly stolen from 2cVuW0lWcXM), featuring lots of spellcraft and spellcraft synergies, and good Muster payoffs like Sodi the Metamorph. Your main temporary stuns are going to be Snowstorm Druid and Edict of Linrei. Spellcraft Linrei's Codex to get your Crystallize and follow up with Daraka, Loyal Guardian to lock up the board and swing for the win.

One note regarding the promo: Once Daraka lands on the board, all your temporary stuns are changed into permanent stuns chained onto him. If he dies or is silenced by a quick effect, your opponent's units will immediately be released from their stuns and ready up. This will happen regardless of when the unit was stunned, eliminating the two-turn clock.

Happy hunting! If you have suggestions for this deck that I spaced on, feel free to comment.