Pure Nature vs Pure Fire -> playing t2

[Gretmarie 3]

Hi! I'm learning pure nature (used to play pure fire) and find it ridiculously hard to play against pure fire in the early t2 stage. My games usally have an early skirmish for mapcontrol, then both grab 1 or 2 wells each and tech, And when both hit t2 it feels that i lose despite what im doing. Attacking is pretty easily fended of by Fiends agianst S, Enforcer agianst M and Gladiatrix against L while mixing in wildfire and spitfiredrake. Defending is definitly not an option since firedancers give to much value when attacking. So: how to approch this matchup in early t2? Is it maybe best to skirmish in the middle of the map where fire has to build a rallying banner? I mean at the moment i lose every game and we are on the same powerlevel

[Zappyx 7]

If you are talking about early t2, pure fire doesn't have the tools to bring you down just yet. You can defend with Spirit Hunters, Ghostspears and Deep One. And yes, try to intercept the incoming attack. 

The problem is late t2 where pure fire has more power to bring down a well in an attack and in this case pure fire is favored. Wells go down quite fast and we don't have the tools to heal them or launch a quick counter attack. So control is the name of the game.

Before pure fire gets to its strong late t2 phase we are on equal footing and we can try a couple of things:

1. launch your own attack with Deep One + Surge of Light (and perhaps Tunnel). Gladiatrix is often played but also quite squishy, so use Deep One ability or bring along Spirit Hunters.

2. Build SoM (this works best when you have around 4 wells). When building SoM, this does give the fire player the room to launch an attack, but if you manage to defend until SoM starts running then you have a big shot of winning because the power gain is massive.

Edited December 27, 2020 by Zappyx

[MarbSlonk 3]

It's also quite effective to use Parasite Swarm. It can take over Skyfire Drakes and Scythe Fiends, deal great damage against Enforcers/Gladiatrix and can even snipe Firedancers over cliffs. Just be careful, because they have a very low healthpool and one shot from a Drake + Eruption and they're dead.

You can send Energy Parasites to distant places, forcing the Fire player to summon a Skyfire Drake. Even if this kills your EP without leeching a well, it will force 100 power for the Drake far away from the action.

Ghostsspears + Spirit Hunters are a quite strong early game combo.

Don't use Burrowers, if you want to attack just use Deep One instead.

Whatever you do, don't rush/stay in T1. Pure Fire T2 is extremely strong against Nature T1.

[LichterLoh 11]

Hey guys,

 

i also find myself struggelign as Pure nature vs pure Fire once Fire goes T2.

Zappys suggested to build " SoM" . But i couldnt find such card on my own. What does he refer to?

 

Thanks and best regards

 

Lichterloh

[Volin 518]

34 minutes ago, LichterLoh said:

Hey guys,

 

i also find myself struggelign as Pure nature vs pure Fire once Fire goes T2.

Zappys suggested to build " SoM" . But i couldnt find such card on my own. What does he refer to?

 

Thanks and best regards

 

Lichterloh

Shrine of Memories, but the info is outdated as SoM has 3 Orbs these days (used to be T2)

[RadicalX 636]

A few extra comments to the matchup patterns after the balancing changes: 

- Parasite (the spell) got a large buff and can be used to take down Skyfire Drakes. Also helps with killing ravaged targets, i.e. when you combine it with Spirit Hunter poison. 

- Creeping Paralysis is really strong to catch/distract Firedancers and keep your power wells healthy in critical moments

- Ghostspears got a buff, which increased their value a little bit further. They win direct trades into any Fire unit, just don't use too many of them at once because of Wildfire.

Apart from Shrine of Memory receiving a rework, all of the previous tips are still valid. 

[LichterLoh 11]

Thanks a lot for the feedback!

Im still unsure how to couner "Scythe Fiends" as those are Anti S/M units and have swift.

Are ghost spears as well my "best okish choice" here? or other suggestions?
 

I´m currently experimenting with living towers as slight burst/oneshot options vs most T2 units of fire such as drakes. And some combos such as paralyse or deep ones + spirit hunters vs firedancers

[SunWu 160]

You can try to take over scythes with parasite swarm. It's a big investment but a very good trade if it works. Pure fire is more susceptible to parasite swarm swaps than other fire splashes so your chances are good...you only have to watch out for drake/gladiatrix + eruption combos.

[Majora 1377]

On 9/19/2023 at 12:42 AM, LichterLoh said:

Thanks a lot for the feedback!

Im still unsure how to couner "Scythe Fiends" as those are Anti S/M units and have swift.

Are ghost spears as well my "best okish choice" here? or other suggestions?
 

I´m currently experimenting with living towers as slight burst/oneshot options vs most T2 units of fire such as drakes. And some combos such as paralyse or deep ones + spirit hunters vs firedancers

I would advice against Living Towers. While Towers are generally not good in PvP (they will just attack another spot) fire has access to Fire Dancers, who just outrange the things. 

As mentioned, Parasite Swarm is a great tool against fire, since their counter play is forced on a few specific units. They HAVE to bring stuff with their scythe fiends to prevent you from mind controlling, or spend double eruption (which costs more than the swarm does). 

For extra spice, consider Mumbo Jumbo so they dont have ground control for their eruptions if they only have a single unit 😉 

[Eirias 395]

On 9/19/2023 at 3:05 PM, SunWu said:

You can try to take over scythes with parasite swarm. It's a big investment but a very good trade if it works. Pure fire is more susceptible to parasite swarm swaps than other fire splashes so your chances are good...you only have to watch out for drake/gladiatrix + eruption combos.

You're alive! Hope to see you ingame again 🙂

No extra advice to @LichterLoh but if you want to stop by the stream sometime we can get some sparring games with live coaching!