Druid: Focus the Plants or the Tree

[Reddicediaries]

Been a while since I started a topic, but here goes.

So when confronted with strategies against a Druid, I think of two camps: kill the plants and kill the tree.

Here are some advantages and disadvantages of both strategies:

Kill the Tree

1. Advantages

The tree is (in almost all games) the druid's source of strength. Take it out and you remove her ability to spawn all useful sorts of things.

2. Disadvantages

There are many ways of protecting the tree (grass, dense fog, tanglevine on the opponent mage, etc). In addition, taking out the tree can be very action and mana intensive (double fireball is almost twice the mana cost of the tree itself and doesn't even ensure a kill).

Kill the Plants
1. Advantages

• A druid without her plants is not much. Focusing down the lashers while minimizing damage taken can ensure that your strong creatures (you should always have creature support vs a druid) remove everything the druid puts down and eventually out dice her. This strategy is also safer than going for the tree; you will still have to be very efficient in your focusing, but it certainly is more efficient than focusing the tree (unless you do so exceedingly well).

2. Disadvantages

A lot of people try this strategy without properly maintaining dice amounts. Generally you want two-four five dice creatures, and you need to make sure that you strike when you can (essentially) ensure a plant kill. If you don't get one when you expect to, it can totally throw the game in the druid's favor. So: make sure you run at least two attack spells, and prepare for when the druid drops her defensive measures (tanglevine, surging wave, dense fog, etc) and work around them.

All thoughts are welcome down below.

[Arkdeniz]

I have had mixed luck against Druids (mostly bad) so take this with all relevant caveats, but...

If I have a mage-only or mage-buddy build, I go after the Druid and her tree. If I go after the plants I will inevitably get outgunned and overwhelmed, so time is against me.

If I have an army of my own, then I will go after the plants, since if I win that war then the druid will have nowhere to go.