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Data:Cards/Animal Companion(465128), Data:Cards/Animal Companion(578)
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| Set: |  Classic |
|---|---|
| Type: | Spell |
| Class: |  Hunter |
| Rarity: | Free |
| Cost: | 3  |
| Abilities: | Summon |
| Wiki tags: | Beast-generating, Random, Taunt-generating |
You could summon Misha, Leokk, or Huffer! Huffer is more trouble than he's worth.
Animal Companion is a hunter spell card, from the Basic set. It randomly summons one of three possible minions: 
Huffer, Leokk or Misha.
How to get
Prior Year of the Gryphon's rotation on March 30, 2021:
- Two copies of Animal Companion were a reward for raising a hunter to level 2.
- Two Golden copies of Animal Companion were a reward for raising a hunter to levels 45 and 46.
Summoned minions
Notes
- Unlike effects like
Totemic Call, the companions are not mutually exclusive; it is possible for a player to play Animal Companion twice in a row, and summon two copies of the same companion.
- As with all summoning spells, the minions summoned by this card are always placed at the far right of the battlefield. The player cannot control their placement, although they can choose to play other minions after playing this spell, allowing for some degree of control over positioning.
- Effects that trigger from spells being cast are activated before an animal companion is summoned. For instance, if you have six minions and one of them is a Violet Teacher, no companion will be summoned since the board would then be full.
Strategy
| Name | Attack | Health | Card text |
|---|---|---|---|
| Huffer
|
4 | 2 | Charge |
| Leokk
|
2 | 4 | Other friendly minions have +1 Attack. |
| Misha
|
4 | 4 | Taunt |
Animal Companion randomly summons Misha, Leokk or Huffer. Although you cannot choose or predict which minion will be summoned, all three are uncollectible and more mana-efficient than collectible 3-mana minions. Furthermore, they maintain their mana efficiency if "returned" to your hand, since each can be summoned back for 3 mana.
This spell can be used to obtain early board presence and apply pressure to your opponent, forcing him to deal with these early threats. Since these minions are all beasts, they also synergize with the various hunter cards that benefit from having beasts in your deck, such as Scavenging Hyena, Starving Buzzard, 
Stablemaster or even Ram Wrangler.
Call of the Wild provides an alternative means of summoning the companions.
Huffer
Huffer is a well-rounded card for early game play or later rounds, but with low Health it may not last very long. Use it as a pig-shaped missile.
Leokk
Leokk can be very useful due mostly to his aura; note that he buffs friendly minions even if they're not Beasts. Pairing Leokk with Snake Trap makes the latter a bigger threat. A good draw if you already have other minions on the board, or for use with Unleash the Hounds.
Misha
Misha's low cost and high stats combined with Taunt make her well-rounded for early-game play. Her Taunt will buy you time to set up supporting cards, but her Attack will also let her contribute to board control.
Lore
Misha, Leokk and Huffer are all known companions of 
Rexxar.
Trivia
- If you play Animal Companion against the Kel'Thuzad boss in the Curse of Naxxramas adventure, Mr. Bigglesworth will be summoned instead.
- The phrase "Always Huffer" refers to the apparent ability of Face Hunter players to consistently get Huffer when playing Animal Companion (its Charge ability offering the best possible outcome for dealing face damage), often enabling unlikely lethals.
- The quote "To my side" is only triggered when the player is playing Rexxar as the hunter hero. This quote will not be heard by players playing other heroes, including the alternate hunter hero Alleria Windrunner.
Artist
Template:Setartist
Gallery
Animal Companion, full art |
Patch changes
- Patch 8.0.0.18336 (2017-04-04): Rarity changed from Common to Free.
- Patch 2.7.0.9166 (2015-06-15): Leokk's text has been changed from "Other friendly minions..." to "Your other minions..."
- Patch 1.1.0.6024 (2014-07-22): Now features a "To my side!" soundbite when played.
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