by JR Cook - 10 years ago     show comments

With hundreds of minions, spells and weapons to choose from, where do you start? You can start right here: every Thursday, we will feature one card in our Weekly Spotlight and share with you how to use it in your constructed deck.

Animal Companion (3M Spell Card: Summon a random Beast Companion. “You could summon Misha, Leokk, or Huffer!  Huffer is more trouble than he’s worth.“)

Considering that the Animal Companion spell card summons one of three of Rexxar’s familiars, it probably would have made a fine Card Smart lore column. Alas, you’re “stuck” with a game play column.

First things first: this spell demands a sacrifice and a silent prayer to the RNG gods. Upon completing the sacred ritual, the almighty RNG will grant you either Huffer, Leokk, or Misha. Huffer comes with Charge and thus an instant +4 unbuffed attack.

Misha offers Taunt and at 4 Damage/4 Toughness a fair bit of survivability at turn 3. Misha is arguably your best value: only the Injured Blademaster or King Mukla have a 4A/4H stat base or better for 3 Mana.

Huffer isn’t quite as tough as Misha, but the instant damage he provides can be a potential game changer, especially if you’re top decking.

The one minion you probably don’t want to spawn is Leokk. There are plenty better options available for less Mana that will grant your other minions +1 Attack. The far cheaper Timber Wolf or Raid Leader will fill that role just fine. If you are without friendly minions, the buff Leokk provides will likely go to waste, and with his 2 Damage Leokk is nothing more than a winged putz.

That said, all three possible minions are Beast type, which provides you with a good amount of synergy with other hunter cards. Animal Companion is a perfect example of how game designers tried to balance the game: no card leans too far toward “Good” or “Bad”, and all cards that offer a benefit tilted toward a particular aspect will have an offsetting weakness (for example Charge paired with lower health). Put bluntly, Leokk is the weak option you risk in exchange for a chance to draw Huffer or Misha. Nonetheless, the Animal Companion card should definitely be a part of your hunter deck.

In case you’re really curious about Rexxar and his wild bunch of animals, here’s a lore video told with a brilliant Scottish accent. You do not want to mess with Rexxar’s pets. Rexxar, of course, is introduced with Misha by his side. As it should be.