Spirit of the Tiger
Spirit of the Tiger is a 4 Mana Cost Rare Paladin Minion card from the Rastakhan's Rumble set!
Card Text
Stealth for 1 turn. After you cast a spell, summon a Tiger with stats equal to its Cost.
Flavor Text
Less of a cantrip and more of a cat-nip.Spirit of the Tiger Card Review
Spell-heavy Paladin build is getting better and better. Now it has another incentive to play those expensive spells on top of just making Shirvallah, the Tiger cheaper.
I’m not sure about this card. On the one hand, gaining extra tempo by summoning big minions while casting spells seems to be more of a Midrange Paladin win condition. But at the same time, the fact that it costs 4 mana and does nothing immediately means that it might not fit into such a deck. A slower build can afford to have a dead turn or two, because it will just sweep the board next turn (while summoning some minions with this card). Even Paladin probably won’t want to play this, because it’s too slow. So a Control build with Shirvallah seems like the best option.
It’s true that Control Paladin does need a win condition, but I don’t think that summoning some vanilla minions is that win condition. It’s not good vs faster decks, because you win those matchups without it. And against slow decks, it’s okay, but a few threats still won’t outvalue cards like Bloodreaver Gul'dan, Frost Lich Jaina or Deathstalker Rexxar, nor it will counter opposing combos.
Maybe with some more spell synergies you can try to make it work. Drop it one turn, play Spikeridged Steed or A New Challenger... next turn to protect it, if your opponent doesn’t have any direct removal you might snowball the game like that. But the problem is that it’s really hard to get any immediate value out of this card until the late game (on T10 you can play this + Steed on the same turn), and if you don’t, it’s pretty vulnerable to AoE or stuff like Mossy Horror.
So overall, while this effect is pretty powerful, between the fact that it’s pretty slow initially and that it’s hard to justify playing it in a faster deck, while the effect still doesn’t give a slower deck any real win condition… Yeah. If Control Paladin will turn out to be good because of other cards, I could see it being played. But I don’t think it’s going to push the archetype enough to make it viable.
Card rating: 4/10
Just a note with how this card works at the moment Card Text should read
Stealth for 1 turn. When you cast a spell, summon a Tiger with stats equal to its Cost.
not
Stealth for 1 turn. After you cast a spell, summon a Tiger with stats equal to its Cost.
I mean, its Atiesh. having each spell you play summon a minion is good value. Granted you want to play this with higher cost spells so the best value is starting turn 10. But this definitely says. “Remove me or suffer”.
If Spirit of the Tiger was three mana, I could easily see it curving into Blessing of Kings. Granted, most cards are made a lot better when a mana is knocked off its cost.
Where as the other Spirits directly support their Loa cards, this does it a bit more indirectly by encouraging a Spell based Paladin instead of, say, making spells count double towards discounting the Tiger.
Obviously, adding the effect of “Summon a X/X Tiger,” where X is the spells mana cost, makes every spell a lot better, and this would fit fairly well into Even Paladin with stuff like the aforementioned Blessing of Kings running around. Plus, in that deck, it would be fine to play this on four, Blessing on five, and then Spikeridge Steed on six targeting the the Tiger summoned previously.
The only issue with that idea is Even Paladin would rather play a Corpsetaker and hit it with Blessing of Kings. It doesn’t have as much long term value and does play more eggs in the same basket, but that play’s immediate value can win some games on the spot.
Can’t you see it being curved into call to arms? Which righteously protects it?
The other spirits are so bad that I’m getting excited about a 4drop that does nothing on its own :s
Once its stealth goes away and even before that, it’s already very vulnerable when it hits the board.
I’m not sold on this card. Optimistic scenarios:
-Play on turn 4, play a 5 mana spell on turn 5. You’ve now played a “4 mana 5/5,” which already probably wouldn’t see Constructed play, but its ability to attack is delayed a turn. Not great.
-You play this on a later turn to fill in your curve. Then you cast something like Lay on Hands and congrats, you played a 4 mana 8/8! That’d be amazing on turn 4, but on turn 8? Is that even good?
Cards that summon big vanilla stuff have tended to end up in more tempo/midrange decks unless they’re a no-brainer (Dragoncaller Alanna, etc) because they help you kill your opponent. This is too slow for a tempo/midrange deck. It also offers no defensive value, meaning control decks probably aren’t into it. Overall, just not impressed. It’s “fair,” not crazy, which doesn’t make the cut in Constructed.
Too many mana probably but it seems ok idk
3.4/5
I think that most people won’t get this card, because I feel like this card could be quite good in Quest Paladin. I played that archetype a lot and I continue to do so, and there are two main school of thoughts on how to build a viable version of QuestPala. The first one (normally played by Kibler) has really good midrange minions, like stonehill and corpsetaker, and some buffs, but not too many. To get Galvadon you use principally Sound the Bells and you use it with Lynessa as the late game win conditions. The second school of thought (that was played by Savjz long ago) is a deck full of buff spells, even the 1 cost ones to get Galvadon really fast. In this version Savjz used minion that he would be sure he could buff, like stealth ones. The 1/2 with stealth and divine shield and sometimes even the 2/1 worgen with stealth were used, and Cristology was replaced by Divine Favor: it was really kind of a “Miracle” version of the deck where you buffed a lot one low cost minion and then refilled with your draw tools.
Now, I tried both versions out and during witchwood they were both terrible and almost unplayable, but the “Miracle” version was a little bit better, but that changed with Boomsday. In this post nerf meta I had a lot of success with the “Midrange” version, but the Miracle version is totally trash right now.
And that’s where I see this card fit: if Quest paladin already run some stealth minions, this one could be far better than a worgen infiltrator or something like that. In general, I see a Quest Paladin with CtA, Shirvallah, this card and Immortal Prelate, because just a control build without any other win cons other than just buff spells will probably be not good enough.
Always glory to the Almighty Shirvallah!
Worst spirit yet for sure it should be at least 3 mana.
It’s easily the strongest spirit so far
priest’s is 1mana do nothing, rogue’s is 4mana 0/3 brann, mage’s is 4mana shooting star, warlock’s is… no easy comparison.
Meanwhile, paladin’s is a 1mana cheaper summoning stone with stealth.
LUL probably the strongest one until now kekekekekek
I mean it it probably is the strongest one great card overall
Puts threats on board while waiting for Shirvallah, but doesn’t synergize with Hemet-Holy Wrath. Could be very good in arena. Note that it’ll stay stealthed for one turn, then you can buff *it* with BoK and have a 4/7 and 4/4 on board, the 4/7 might be harder to kill, and you can start buffing the tigers that come out.
I’d say this a far better effect then the Dragon Soul legendary weapon for priest, which didn’t see much play, but was fun, and could lead to some effective mid-range victories by snowballing if the spells you are playing are also having a positive impact on the board.
The downside is that this is clearly more vulnerable to removal than a weapon, and so you can’t just play it on any free turn and reasonably expect it to last until you can trigger decent value from it. Therefore I think its main value will come in a slower big-spell mid-range paladin deck if that were to be a semi-viable thing.
To make matters worse I can see mossy horror having a bit of a revival, with the spirit cards in every class being additional prime targets. Spirit of the Tiger would be particularly vulnerable given its later game value and as one of the only mossy horror targets in a mid-range paladin deck.
Overall big fan of the effect, but think its held back by the current weakness of paladin in a mid-range or control set up. 6/10
PALA-SPELLS going to take shape
You pretty much have to count on getting multiple casts off this, otherwise why not just play a 4 drop with a better body? And that seems a little finicky to pull off. And slow, too- you won’t be able to attack with those Tigers until 2 turns after you play this. It gets better in the lategame, but a Slower Paladin will probably have better things to do at that point.
This card 1 mana too expensive
2/5. Its a terrible turn 8 play, has no synergy with most powerful paladin cards (equality, shrink ray).
I mean this is a quest paladin card but theres better ones for that.
1/5.
Unless I am mistaken shrink ray will go off first then summon a 5/5 so it isnt THAT bad.
This is actually a great card. Everybody talks about the use for the first turn when you summon it but it does have stealth for a turn so your oponent needs to invest heavily in clear to get it from the field. think about a hell fire or a deadly shot otherwise you’ll have a 5/5 next turn after you play call to arms. I believe this will fit verry well in a OTK or buff pally.(which i love because i hate the fast odd pally)
I was looking forward to seeing what spirit of the tiger would look like, since I really like Shirvallah. Now that it was revealed, it seems really slow. In order to be playable, summoned tigers should have taunt or rush (preferable since it matches the wild nature of tigers). Shirvallah is slow as well due to mana cost, but at least has lifesteal and rush to compensate. Best case scenario is if you play it on turn 10, followed by either spikeridge steed or equality + consecration. We will have to see what other spells are to be revealed this expansion.
This looks like a nice on-curve card to have to me. Following it up with Call to Arms or Blessing of Kings can be pretty solid, not to mention you can have it in Even Paladin where being able to snowball with as little ressources as possible from turn 4 makes perfect.
i see potential here. very bad tempo on curve, but on turn 10 combo it with stegodon, casting stego on another already existing minion on board = at least 3/7 minion that summons an a 2/6 taunt, an 6/6 tiger + a stealthed spirit wich potentially spawns even more tigers next turn. probably wont see much play anyway, but the potential is there. lets see what other spells paladin is gettin.
3/5 stars.