Once I had an Ethereal Fire Slann. I basically went solo Fire Slann to avoid needing to shell out points for arcane vassals, but he ended up as an impromptu Battle Toad. He deliberately walked into a Fanatic or two then flank charged some trolls while Cascading Fire Cloak was up. I broke them from static CR alone and ran them down...with a Slann.
The fire damage I did before combat meant little since they broke, but If the trolls had held their ground I would have slowly burned them to death with the Cloak.
A full Battle Toad build is something along these lines.
BSB, Fencer's Blades, Lore of Beasts, Higher State of Conscious, Crown of Command plus add-ons
Add-ons include your favorite arcane item, your favorite magic standard, your favorite disciplines and the Firebane Gem.
Once engaged with the enemy you certainly want to get Savage Beast of Horros up. Six dice it to make it hard to do dispel. If you roll a miscast, there is a better than 50/50 chance that your enemy will take more hits than you (though not necessarily more important hits if your Slann charges a weak unit). I have yet to see this tried with a Battle Toad, but I've seen something done similarly with an Orc Shaman.
