Learning how to play a Druid in a team fight (3.5)

[flappeercraft]

So recently I have started getting interested in the Druid class as I have seen thta it is a tier 1, lots of people say its a good class, etc so I wanted to learn how to make a good druid and how to optimize it, im bit furter than the basics of it on knowledge right now. In my D&D group we soon are going to make a team fight tournament as a one shot where everyone gets 5 21st level characters and since there are 3 players in my group and I'm the DM im sorta having to make more teams than the others to make it last for a while and I'm making 5 teams. Of which I already have 1, I'm thinking to make a Druid 11/Beastmaster 10 and take the feats Natural spell for obvious reasons, the feat natural bond and for animal companions I'm thinking on taking Fleshraker dinosaurs from MM3. Any suggestions on what should I do, how should I play the druid, what spells should I use and should I play defensive or offensive?

[eggynack]

I have a handbook in my sig and such, which should cover all that stuff. I'd advise against beastmaster, especially past level one. The extra companions come into your life completely unadvanced, so they're really bad. The first level, which is basically just natural bond in prestige class form, is better but not worth a caster level. For play style, my philosophy is to adopt a more defensively oriented form, like desmodu hunting bat, and then cast spells from there. But, yeah, spell stuff and feat stuff and all the other stuff is in the handbook.

[stanprollyright]

There's two (typical) ways to play a druid.

One is to Wildshape into the biggest, meanest beast you can and rip things to sheds in melee. You can buff and heal yourself, using the occasional BFC. I call this style "Pair o' Bears"

The second is to Wildshape into a defensive form, like a tiny bird or something. Buff and heal your animal companion while you summon more creatures, control the battlefield, and rain fire from the heavens. I call this one "Using your class to its full potential" or "Unsatisfying"

[Darrin]

"Snowglobe of Murder": Cast snowsight (Frostburn) on everyone in the team. Then cast obscuring snow (Frostburn), which creates a 30' globe of swirling snow that your enemies can't see through, but your team can see perfectly. The globe moves with the druid, so you can hide the entire team inside. From there, the druid can conjure a bunch of ice beasts (Also in Frostburn, 1d6 cold aura in a 10' burst as a free action every round) to attack anything outside the globe and spam mass snake's swiftness on the rest of the team until all your opponents are dead.