Unleash The Animal Companions

Continuing my rampage through the new Whispers of the Old Godsexpansion is an analysis of the new Hunter spell Call of the Wild. As always I’ll be focusing on the competitive potential ofthe card and whether or not it will see play.  Let’s skedaddleonto the review:

This spell is expensive and for a good reason because Hunterscan summon all three Animal Companions with just one card. For clarity’s sake I’ll post who they are:

Players haven’t seen a spell quite like this from Hunter withthe exception being the card Ball of Spiders.  However, Ithink it’s safe to assume that Misha, Leokk, and Huffer are goingto be much more useful than 3 Webspinners.  Players will haveinstant access to 5 damage thanks to Huffer’s Charge effect andLeokk’s +1 attack buff to minions.  This damage could beuseful to take out a pesky enemy minion, or deal direct damage tothe opponent.  Misha can set up a solid defense, give theother Animal Companions a chance to survive, and output immensedamage.  If opponents don’t have the right answer to Call ofthe Wild, then tempo can swing right back in the Hunter’sfavor.

There are a couple of problems with this card.  You can’treally provide any follow up after using Call of the Wild.  Onturn 10 and up Hunters can use their hero power, play a Secret,Quickshot, or Knife Juggler.  The Animal Companions have lowhealth and can be taken out by a lot of minions and removal. A Hunter’s strength is his/her ability to consistently putpressure on opponents, but this spell could end up being a wastedturn.

I like this spell and I think it will be viable in MidrangeHunter decks.  Personally I would only use one copy. Call of the Wild seems annoying to deal with, but tooexpensive to justify running two.  I think this carddefinitely merits experimentation especially with the lack ofHunter players in competition.  I would be incrediblysurprised to see this card in Face Hunter decks.  It is waytoo slow to consider adding any copies of the spell.  I lookforward to seeing where this card situates itself in the newmeta.