I know this is kind of old, but if anyone see this, I'm gonna say the shadow puppeteer can be good because you don't give a single thought how many times your summonned creatures die. Level 7 you throw them at the enemy and if it dies horribly in the first round, you pop another with a move action. Using a spell would take a full-round action and if it dies, well, too bad you have to cast it again and waste another slot. Inspire courage is still really expensive to pay for disposable minions, but it's not that bad.
