Creature Feature: The Tiny Twister, ruiner of the bench
Not all wild battle pets spawn by the same rules. Finding the pet you want may be more involved than making a cursory flyover of a zone while watching your minimap. Some wild pets only spawn during certain weather conditions. Some wild pets share spawns with full-fledged mobs. Today's pet, the Tiny Twister, is the latter sort ... maybe.
The Tiny Twister is an Elemental-type pet that can be found in the Arathi Highlands. The curious thing about this pet is that players aren't completely sure how its spawn works. There are three different common beliefs about its spawning:
It shares its spawn with the Thundering Exiles in the area, so you must kill them for a chance at a Tiny Twister spawn
It shares its spawn with any other type of wild pet in the area, so you must eliminate those for a chance at a Tiny Twister spawn
Only X number of Tiny Twisters can spawn in a given length of time, so all you can do is wait
There is more evidence for that second option than any other, but without the ability to see the coding behind its spawns, we can't be too sure in any direction. In any case, killing the Thundering Exiles and eliminating other wild pets in the area would be a good way to pass the time while waiting for a Tiny Twister to spawn, so it doesn't matter which theory is correct, in any case. Engaging in all of the above applies in one way or another. All of that being said, if you rush out to Arathi Highlands immediately after a server reset, you'll find the place absolutely littered with these little guys and will have no problem catching one whatsoever.
Regardless of how you acquired your Tiny Twister, its strength lies in its ability to chip away at your opponent's bench. If you've ever been a victim of such a thing, you know just how enraging that can be. The Tiny Twister's abilities are as follows:
Slot 1 Slicing Wind or Wild Winds
While the combination of Slicing Wind and Flyby can give your Tiny Twister some hefty up front damage, using Wild Winds, Bash, and Cyclone instead can make your Twister downright obnoxious to fight.
Using that powerset, you should put the Tiny Twister first in your pet lineup. Don't expect to be able to defeat whichever pet your opponent puts out first, but if you can delay your own death with Bash, Wild Winds and Cyclone will soften up their entire bench for further into the combat. Then, when your Twister gets knocked out, your two remaining pets will have the advantage from that point forward. Consider the Tiny Twister a sacrifice for the greater good.
Personally, I would only recommend using Sandstorm if your team includes multiple Elementals that can ignore weather effects. If the Tiny Twister is your only Elemental, you don't want to create a situation where you cast Sandstorm, your Twister dies, and then your remaining pets have 8 rounds of -10% accuracy. The damage reduction from the Sandstorm is great against multi-round attacks such as the Clockwork Gnome's turrets, but the accuracy reduction seems like too high a price to pay. One unfortunate miss can turn a sure victory into a crushing loss.
Regardless of which powers you choose, do take note that despite this pet being an Elemental-type, all of its abilities deal Flying damage. Rather than dealing bonus damage to Mechanical pets, the Tiny Twister will deal the most damage to Aquatic pets.
When you head out to Arathi Highlands to catch this bench-destroyer, don't forget to take your Terrible Turnip with you. If you've had to spend hours out there looking for a rare-quality Tiny Twister, you don't want to end up killing it with an unlucky crit.
