User:Blueeighthnote/Metagame Analysis/Fire Teams (January 2018)

With the new year coming, and that the Era of Special Seals has gone for more than one year, players are gradually reevaluating the viability of the old leaders. Some leaders are still doing well, while others are gradually slipping.

Fire teams are notorious for their extreme power, and there are multiple members that further enhances its raw power with buffs. It is not in shortage of utility members either, allowing them to solve certain shields easily or to reduce some damage. However, the biggest weakness of Fire teams at the moment is the lack of consistent recovery, meaning that it struggles with Overheal shields and stalling in general. Using a fire team well requires a player's good understanding of the team's damage output, solid members, and an excellent strategy.

Currently, the primary leaders are Nobunaga, Abaddon (, Fire Yan , Jackie , Chessia , and Amaterasu.

Nobunaga
Currently a top Fire leader, consistent with the damage (Light & Dark runestones have 100% effect of Fire), at the cost of Human and Dragon restrictions and consequently a low recovery. Due to its shockingly high damage output, most players nicknamed it the second LuBu.


 * Multiplier - 60x (usual spinning), 76x (normal burst), 171x (Nobunaga burst 12+ Fire): All multipliers above accounts for Light and Dark's effects. Nobunaga has no problem putting a strong dent on the enemy, and the +2 seconds on spinning helps the team even more.


 * Metagame Status - Slipping down: The reason for the downhill trend of Nobunaga is mainly because of the enemies getting tougher, as raw power is no longer ideal when dealing with stages emphasizing on high recovery. There are virtually no members that can aid recovery, since using another race will cost the damage output severely. Despite this, Nobunaga can still burst above 10 million damage on demand, and thus still capable of dealing with most of the recent stages. A CD6 active skill generating a board full of attacking runestones is a great plus.

Abaddon
In terms of bursting damage it is not losing to Nobunaga much, but during usual spinning, it is less consistent in damage. While there are no team building restrictions, the low HP will plague the team's growth, while the average recovery of Fire attribute, in general, is not helping the team much.


 * Multiplier - 20.25x (usual spinning, multiply 2x when attributive effects are included), 66x (triggering Fire x1.8^2 effect): The multiplier may seem to be on par with Nobunaga, but it is fairly inconsistent, since only one attribute has Fire effect in the former, and no attributive effects in the latter.


 * Metagame Status - Unpopular Choice: Abaddon's active skill, while great, has a fairly long CD with no facilities on acquiring more Fire runestones. Due to difficulty in team composition, it is generally not as popular as Nobunaga, unless the player can utilize Abaddon's strengths.

Fire Yan
No team restrictions and fairly high damage after activating buffs. Debuted as a Black Diamond Card, the leader lifespan of her is over by late 2017. She only provides Light & Dark runestones having 50% effect of Fire. She is currently considered to be outclassed by Nobunaga, even though Nobunaga teams have race restrictions.


 * Multiplier - 20.25x (raw), 40.5x (accounting attributive effects): The multiplier is losing to most of the leaders above, and therefore no longer commonly seen.


 * Metagame Status - Outclassed: Even with Fire Yan's active skill being a buff, it is not enough to sustain a team as a leader, due to her having no other special traits other than utilizing three types of runestones (Fire, Light, and Dark) as offensive measures. It is still a good team member, though very hard to get and unable to fit in Nobunaga teams.

Jackie
Another high multiplier team. Jackie's usage has slightly returned after undergoing Virtual Rebirth and fixing the unstable multiplier. The team is slightly unconventional due to utilizing Demons, but a well-constructed team can still compete in recent stages. Despite so, the low HP of Demons is quite undesirable, compounded by low recovery of Fire attribute, demanding the team to burst more often than others.


 * Multiplier - 36x (raw), 54x (for Demons after adding Umbrella): Umbrella is mandatory for the team's success. Without it, there is no team boost while making Demons' HP even worse.


 * Metagame Status - Unpopular Choice: The team does not use any attributive effects, making "seize-fire" possible if the board has no fire runestones. While this can affect the team's performance, the ability to construct a high-multiplier team allows Jackie to compete with other leaders.

Chessia
Free of restrictions, and a solid leader. Chessia's multiplier is starting to show her age, as most of the old leaders have "evolved" to a much higher multiplier than Chessia. Despite this, the team skill of Heart removal is interesting, while Fire attribute having Heart effect is beneficial, making it one of the few teams with potential in some semblance of acceptable recovery.


 * Multiplier - 33.2x (4 types dissolved), 40x (practical usage, accounting Heart removal): It is unbelievable that a 33.2x multiplier would one day be considered lacking. Despite this, it is still better than secondary leaders below this list.


 * Metagame Status - Slipping down: The reason for slipping down is that its multiplier is no longer enough to compete with certain high pressure stages. With certain bosses having 20 million HP or more, Chessia is now prone to pressure. Still, a good active skill converting the whole board is still a valuable asset, and unlike most Fire leaders, it is capable of recovering in front of some CD1 enemies.

Amaterasu
Originally an unorthodox leader, using -10CD team skills to its advantage. It has gone many places as a fast-pass leader, a stall team's ally, but there is a revived interest in utilizing her as a proper fire leader. It is very unconventional, as utilizing all her strengths requires a -CD DIY craft, solid members of CD10, and a proper plan. Still, a normal player can still form a proper stall-burst team with her with an intricate strategy.


 * Multiplier - 20.25x (usual), 126x (bursting, 15+ runestones of any attribute): The multiplier is ridiculous when the bursting requirement is met, though a craft or active skill will be used in the process.


 * Metagame Status - Revival: The introduction of Perseus and AR Aries allowed Amaterasu to recement her position as a Fire leader. Still, it is uncommon to see Dual Amaterasu appearing in new Ultimate stages, as the high pressure often restricts usage of Amaterasu. Only a dedicated player can utilize her potential to the fullest.