Turns out it's actually pretty fun! Vek recommended I start out with a Blighthawk, Emperor Crab, and Anub Idol. I didn't really care for the Idol though, despite his strengths, so I experimented with the third slot a bit. I finally settled on a Dark Whelpling, as I was having the most trouble with some healing-heavy builds I ran into (including an absolutely agonizing match that lasted approximately 17 hours; or at least felt like it: he had that ugly smiling flower, some pet I've never seen before that could cast Wish, and an unborn valkyr).
Well, I'm not sure if I happened upon an overpowered combo, or if I got matched up with worse players as the evening went on, but I won my last 6 matches in a row to finish off that 10 wins quest. Even had a couple people run away, which was oddly satisfying.
Some observations:
- A crazy amount of people use valkyrs.
- That timeless snake is annoying.
- My crab seems decidedly overpowered; I'd say he's the star of my team.
- The move timer wasn't as intimidating as I thought it would be.
- In some ways, players' pets are easier than trainers'. They're of course more intelligent, but it's quite nice not having to deal with the stat inflation that epic & legendary pets have. This is especially true for the Speed stat, as it seems like speedy builds are often wasted against trainers since their legendaries go first anyway, and speed does nothing for you if you don't meet the magic number.
- I was surprised how many people name their pets. I guess I'm weird for not doing it!