My point is that there is a HUGE swing in the requirements needed to get this ability. So now I am wondering, what exactly is Pounce worth in terms of feats? How powerful is it?
My guess is that wotc themselves can't decide what exactly it should be worth either. Pounce was initially an epic feat (implying that it was originally believed to be very powerful), now a class feature (so it is not that game breaking as previously envisioned?).
One feat, Martial Study, gives access to the maneuver Pouncing Strike, usable once per encounter.
You would have to be lv18 to qualify though, and it requires 2 more tiger claw maneuvers, meaning you need to burn yet another 2 feats unless you multiclass in warblade or swordsage.