Path to Champion Series - Rental and Strategy/Tactics Guide - Fire Focus

Welcome fortunate soul!! Be a witness to my countless hours of agony as I struggle to write this post at the request of my guildmates in THGAMING!!

Let me start with who I am. Many of you know me as the "Hand" of the Oneup-Cartel, some know me as a facilitator of requests from various tribes, or as a Defi Expert.

What most of you did not know is that I am also a Consistent Splinterlands Champion player who has reached Champion league using multiple splinters and literally no real ownership of cards ...with that monologue is over. So now to the good stuff.

Do you suck at splinterlands? Grinding Endlessly season after season without getting ahead? Do you wonder if you went all-in with renting, whether the returns would be worth it? Do you overspend DEC while renting? If the answer to all the above questions is YES, then this guide is for you. I will be breaking down on what is needed to get ahead in DIAMOND and reach the CHAMPION league.

So let's start with Fire Focus...

To break fire focus down, it has the highest speed average across all splinters for its monsters. It has plenty of low mana "swiftness" and "slowness" monsters, and the prime mistake many players make is to move away from that.

But first

• Summoners

Malric Inferno - 3 mana +1 attack, and is probably one of the best summoners for a low mana match in a NON-MIRROR match. You need this card to play certain niche matchups.

Talia Firestorm - 2 mana, must get. Excellent in summoner not giving bonuses matchups. you will be using it more than you think

Qid Yuff - 3 mana summoner with pierce. Good but not as good as you think. Malric will get you more mileage.

Pyre - The second best summoner IMO. Speed is what makes fire shines and this guy compliments it trendomously. YOU NEED THIS CARD.

Plado Emberstorm- This is good in mid mana matchups, but the cost does not justify this. It is simply too expensive. That's not to say it is not a good summoner, It just does not outshine Yodin which is the best summoner in fire.

Tarsa - I don't like Tarsa....there I said it. But why? 4 mana 1 health 1 attack is amazing...true...but the way fire is made...you can always have an extra slow or inspire in place. The only exception is against death that runs tons of weakens. But again I maybe have used tarsa 2 times out of 100s.

Yodin - TOP 2 SUMMONER overall...this guys is king with ranged and is only outshined by a stupid feline. Get him...the cost is worth it trust me. Your matches will get easier...and with 2 scattershots and rust, with swiftness watch your opponent cry. GET HIM...

Next To play in diamond and low champion these are the key skills that are needed for the majority of the matches. When facing off against melee and ranged mix-ups

"Blind" + "Swiftness" + "Rust" + "Slow" + "Protect" + "Weaken" + "Dodge" in the order of importance. Let me tell you why these are important.

a) Blind

Most of your matches in early diamond are decided by who misses more instead of you being outstrategized (Example: 3 demoralize versus you fielding all melee monsters). Blind helps immensely with your win rate. You have 3 options:

Goblin Fire mage - You will be using this in several low mana - mid mana matches, as a 4 mana beast that does magic damage you will be flipping matches that you know you were sure to lose. Look at that dirt-cheap rent, you will love this card.

The other options you have is:

Spirit Hoarder - A 3 mana Blind Card!! that sounds awesome, right? Not really, this is an underwhelming card with limited reliability as it lacks damage and is slow as hell so the heal doesn't proc fast enough. But still to be used if you cannot make space for one mana more. Rent is also cheap.

Your third option is:

Spirit Miner - Do you remember the 5 abilities that are mandatory? Well, this guy has 3 of them, he is an all-star in all matchups except low-mana matchups. Yes he is expensive, but he will be getting you tons of wins so the cost if renting is well worth it.

b) Swiftness

5 Options!! with a mana range from 1-8 mana. The monsters that have swiftness also have good utility, and this shows how fast fire can be

Flame Monkey - A 1 mana swiftness monster with repair!! this sounds so good except his health is insulting low (only 3), I can see using him in under 15 mana matches but I would not use him otherwise. Doesn't help that his rent is 67 DEC.

Flame Imp - A 3 mana beast with 5 speed, 4 HEALTH and FLYING !! he is a much better option as he does not go down in one shot and his flying skill complements the blind ability. With a cheap rent of 26.9 DEC he is very much underused.

Countess Sinash - A 8 mana Waifuu with Opportunity, Camouflage, Affliction, Blast, and Swiftness, but has only 4 Speed and 4 Health. Her health is a major concern for me due to the "Return fire" ability. Get her but be careful which matchups you are putting her against. Cheap at 138 DEC.

Supply Runner - A 6 mana with 5 speed and 5 health with swiftness and strengthen...why is this card so cheap at 148 DEC? it should be much higher but one argument could be the 3 attack, which for a 6 mana monster is pretty low.

Spirit Miner - BAE (even though he is an old dwarf with no doubt hygiene issues) Get him.

c) Slow

This is why Fire is king of speed!! You have so many options to complement the high base speed of fire monsters. If it is a low mana match you are guaranteed to move first, though not necessarily win as "Death" focus remains king of low mana matches.

Scavo Chemist- a 2 mana 6 health with "Cleanse" and "Headwinds". STAPLE in low mana matches, you can use him as a number 2 or frontlines as required. Cheap rent at 15 DEC.

Goblin Shaman- A 3 mana with 6 health and"WEAKEN". This card should be so much more expensive. Cheap Rent ar 54 DEC.

Creeping Ooze- Who doesn't like this card. a 1 mana 3 health card. Well, I don't, not with the fire focus..It is too expensive at what it brings to the table. It will help you in certain niche matches but I chose to pass due to its cost.

Scavo Hireling- 3 mana, 5 health with repair and camouflage. This is not a good card, goblin shaman and chemist are very much superior to it. Flame monkey is a more superior repair monster. Upto you to get it...I don't really like it.

Venator Kinjo- Another old man with a beard...this is the most unique card with what it brings to the table...As fire we hate this card, until we looked at "scattershot" ability and we realised we really don't care. As fire you only want him as a 2 mana slow with a reflection shield. Get him, he is bae but you will be using him in more high mana matches with a taunt monster.

d) Rust

There are no neutral monsters with the "rust" ability. It strips away 2 armour in every matchup at the start...I don't need to tell you how critical this is.

Living Lava - You have to get him. He has a shield and thorns. He is the perfect front liner. His slow speed of 1 actually helps you in reverse speed matchups. His 188 Dec cost is inevitable and I am surprised he is not high enough.

e) Protect

Fire has NO protect monsters. Splinterlands did Fire dirty because of that. But fear now you have a 300 DEC neutral protector who is going to be KEY to winning many matchups. It does help that he is complemented by the strongest Fire Summoner.

Tower Griffin- a 4 mana, 6 health, 4 speed and 2 attack monster which has FLYING. The cost justifies his ability.

f) Weaken

This is so key with rust. You will be flipping matches with the right combinations of acting first, stripping armour and reducing health.

Goblin Shaman - I mentioned him before...he is amazing. Use him as your backline.

Molten Ash Golem- Severely underrated.. a 6 mana 10 health with Demoralize, weaken and can frontline, and complements the best summoner of fire. This card has gotten me more wins then I can count. I would say this is the best-underrated card in fire focus.

Doctor Blight -What an amazing card!! a 4 mana with 4 health and a plethora of abilities...except he has 1 speed and no slow...I am sorry but goblin shaman is the more superior card here at 1 less mana and 2 extra health.

g) Dodge

You know what feels good? when an opponent misses 5 times in a row on a 1 health frontline. That is only possible with Blind + Dodge. DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THIS COMBO.

Serpentine Soldier - a 5 mana 7 health with dodge, shield and thorns. This card is amazing, but he is just undershadowed by living lava with Rust. Only use him at no armor matchups or low mana matchups (if needed). The rent at 34.9 dec is pretty nice. Disclaimer: I have yet to use him in diamond/champion, because of living lave.

Elemental Phoenix - A 7 mana with 4 Magic attack, 8 Health, 5 speed as well as FLYING, BLAST and Magic reflect. Sadly this monster's blast is redundant because of the best summoner in fire. You can use this monster in certain niche matches...but to be honest I have used him in one or two matches during my climb.

Spark Pixies - a 4 mana with 7 speed and Flying with 3 attack. This is the best backliner with the blind ability, even if he dies in one shot (very rare) he still gets his dmg off. I personally love this card because it is really good against "forcefield" ability of certain nature taunter. At 60 DEC this is a steal.

Spirit Miner - Bae..

Cockatrice - Too expensive not worth it..your climb should be sustainable. Get it if you can afford to...but you can get 4 cards in at that price.

Tenyii Striker - Quite an amazing sneak monster with 5 attack, 7 health and 5 speed. and has backfire. But personally you don't care about the backfire, you just need him to attack a second time. Only use him in the formation if you have the key pieces in place. The 5 attack is also disadvantageous against forcefield. Personally I don't use him.

Chaos Agent - This is the ragequit frontline or backliner you need. If an even 2 mana misses against this guy, you have won out the trade. All he has to do is cause one miss for this guy to be great. I love and hate this card. But Do not get him as he is too expensive.

Special Mention Niche Abilities:

h) Giant Killer

Djinn Inferni - YOU NEED THIS CARD!! Against those taunts and 10 mana monsters, this guy will do a whopping 10 DMG. A steal at 48 DEC

Grum Fireblade - Good against taunt tanks...use him when you know your opponent will use it on the front line. His void armor and blood lust makes him a good pickup.

Legionnaire Alvar - Too expensive for bringing nothing to the table...don' bother

i) Return Fire

Magnor - Our amazing taunt with venator makes you immune to blast. He also has enrage and trample...if the opponent cannot one shot him, watch him eat the whole board alive.

Onyx Sentinel - Oh dear sentinel...if you were only cheaper...you can climb to champion without him

Cornealus - You need this guy, get him regardless of cost...this is your most expensive card

Almo Cambio - you can choose not to get him, he is not mandatory, but if you get him for cheap he is really good in poison and snipe matches (place him on number 2).

j) Scattershot

Hate taunts? wish they were never born in the game? Welcome scattershots that don't care about taunts. With 2 of them coupled with our favorite summoners, rip through the backline of the enemy. This makes your game so much easier.

Gem Meteor - a 5 mana with 4 attack, 5 speed and PIERCE...he eats through everything. He is a must to get..

Blood Maker - a 5 mana with 4 attack, 6 speed and CRIPPLE..combine with gem meteor and Favorit Summoner and watch things die.

k) Inspire

MORE MELEE POWER!! These guys will add more power to your already buffed sneak and opportunity melee monsters.

Beetle Queen - 4 mana with tank heal and inspire...horrible stats...only use her with a taunt..otherwise pretty useless

Enchanted Pixie - Too expensive...but an amazing card...but only get it if you have 400 dec+ to spare but you really don't need it

Ferexia general - This is a good card to have a ranged with shatter and inspire. You will smash more matches with it then without it

Tusk the wide - 6 mana...14 health and with void. Perfect against a magic matchup. This is mandatory to get.

Now let's get to the meat of your Damage lineups:

l) Opportunity:

Ok Everyone repeat after me !! Opportunity is better than sneak...always stack opportunity

Parasitic Growth - a 4 mana with SCAVENGE with 3 attack and 5 health...only get it if the price is right

Countess Sinash - an 8 mana waifu that dies to return fire...if you want to run her..put her in a range comp with scattershots.

Serpentine spy - STAPLE in all low mana matches

Battering Ram - A real nice to have. you will win more matches with this guy supporting spy.

m) Sneak

Uraeus - a 3 mana Sneak with Poison, perfect combo. Get this card and if you have nowhere to put an opportunity monster put this guy in.

Pyromaniac - a 6 mana sneak ranged monster with blast...sounds good right..unfortunately in a range lineup you will find him outslotted for better monsters. But you can use him to mindgame future opponents. Not mandatory to get

Kobold Miner - a 2 mana 3 attack 6 health monster...STAPLE and needs a nerf.

Elven Cutthroat - 3 mana 3 attack and 5 health...yes it inferior to kobold miner and more expensive not worth getting

Tenyii Striker - a 5 mana with dodge...but there are better cards...only use him with qid as summoner otherwise not really worth it.

Sand Worm - If you can afford him he is amazing in certain matchups, but not mandatory to climb to champion.

Top Ranged Monster to use with Yodin:

Flamesmith - 7 mana monster with repair and shatter...this guy is amazing in mid and high mana matchups

Molten Ash Golem- Severely underrated.. a 6 mana 10 health with Demoralize, weaken and can frontline, and complements the best summoner of fire. This card has gotten me more wins then I can count. I would say this is the best-underrated card in fire focus.

Lava Launcher- a 9 mana frontline ranged monster with stun and 7 armor and 6 health. This is a good card against almost every matchup.

Scavo Firebolt - a 4 mana 4 attack, 6 health monster...this is a pure efficiency card...so use it in mid mana matchups.

Ettin Spearman - an 8 mana 5 attack 10 health monster with Pierce, use him in high mana matchups. His high health allows him to tank couple of hits in backline if needed.

Pyromancer - a 6 mana with 4 attack and 6 health with Pierce. He is going to be staple in mid mana matchups.

Highland Archer- a great 3 mana with 3 attack and 5 health card. Can be used in low to mid mana matchups.

Supporting range...can be used optionally but not mandatory

Lava Spider - 3 mana 6 health with poison...this utility makes it extremely useful.

Goblin Fireballer - 2 mana with 4 health with stun...this utility will really win you games if used properly.

Firebeetle - 3 mana with 3 attack 6 health and armor....the former 2 are better choices..but if you have a slot you can put him in.

Centaur - Overpriced and Not worth it.

Mantoid - There are better cards to use as such not worth the price.

Final Questions:

Is renting worth it?

Yes it is. Just look at my stats

I assure you I chose to play in diamond and scored 150 chests overall with around 40 USD while spending 20k DEC to rent. You can rent and play optimally.

Can you show me some matchups?

Probably not since there are so many breakdowns and well I would love to see more people support content like this instead of giveaways and daily challenges. But I can show you some diamond 1 matches teams formation.

The top one won...19 mana

The top one won...58 mana,,, poison + enrage match up

Bottom One won...32 mana...aim true + Holy protection ruleset

Botoom one won..24 mana...no melee + Opportunity

Bottom One won...50 mana...odd ones out + Target Practice

Top one won...23 mana...Trample...

and so on and on...

While I could make this guide much much much more detailed...I would love to see some support before I embark on such a quest.

Thank you all for reading and give me some feedback or ask your questions.