Battle Pet Spotlight: Force Swaps with the Giant Bone Spider

Giant Bone Spider via Blizzard

Acquisition: Contained in Dusty Clutch of Eggs dropped by Maexxna in Naxxramas
Ability 1: Bone Bite / Poison Spit
Ability 2: Stick Web / Siphon Life
Ability 3: Leech Life / Death Grip

Sometimes, all your game plan needs to entail is throwing your opponent off of theirs. Former professional basketball player Reggie Miller was notorious for getting inside his opponent's head with a constant barrage of trash-talk. He taunted John Starks until Starks blew up, leading to his ejection from the game (shown above). Heck, Reggie once found himself on the receiving end of an eye rake and right hook from none other than Michael Jordan. Because of his unique talent of getting inside opponents heads and throwing them off their game, I'm tempted to called my Giant Bone Spider "Reggie." Let me explain.


If you're like me, you've already assembled a handful of teams made up of pets who have good synergy. Maybe their abilities complement each other, or perhaps their overall combination of strengths seems to provide advantages no matter which pets your opponent brings to the table. You may even have a solid plan when entering into PvP battles. Great...until your opponent shows up with a Giant Bone Spider. If this happens, abandon all hope plans you may have had and get ready to react. You're about to be thrown off your game.

With 289 speed, the Giant Bone Spider will strike first against the majority of pets, aside from those in the Flying family. Add to that, there are a couple of popular humanoid pets that will be utterly devastated by this undead creature. But the chaos, the ability to throw an opponent off of their game, comes via Death Grip: you'll be able to hit your opponent with a parting shot before swapping them out with a pet from their back row---their lowest health pet when applicable.

It's a great ability to mitigate damage with as well. For instance, if an opponent's pet applies a damage buff to itself, just swap it out. Opponent swaps in a pet that has a devastating attack with a nasty weather effect? Swap it out before your opponent gets to use it. Also, DoT up your opponent's pet with Poison Spit and Siphon Life, then Death Grip and the pet will either die in the back row or limp back into attack position with sliver of health, begging you to end its life. I've had opponents up and quit after my second use of Death Grip---they fold and crumble when unable to stick to their cookie-cutter predetermined plan of attack.

With a three-round cooldown, this ability will often be ready just about the time your opponent realizes what is happening. Which, most of the time, is too late. The Giant Bone Spider has become my default starter pet, and I've won 9 out of my last 10 bouts running Giant Bone Spider, Gryphon Hatchling, and Oasis Moth. To top it off, my bone spider solo'd an opponent's entire team last night to earn my 10th win for the weekly PvP quest. Though everything I've written thus far in this paragraph is partially based on luck, the Giant Bone Spider will be a regular on my pet battle roster.