I recommend reading Wildfire’s general concepts before continuing here. Understanding Wildfire’s peculiarities and limitations is extremely important to play the Spirit effectively – even more so than other Spirits, as you are actively progressing the main loss condition (running out of blight) by simply putting Presence down.

Wildfire’s openings are very situational and harder to plan than most Spirit’s: placing presence is effectively one of Wildfire’s actions, so the sequence of card plays and Reclaim turns is much more impactful and subject to variation than with most other Spirits. It’s hard to capture this flexibility in an opening, but keep in mind that other choices may be valid depending on the game state and Power draws (this is generally true, but even more so for Wildfire). Some suggestions are provided below, but you will have to go off the beaten path more often than usual.

Unique Powers reminder

    

Opening

Growth

Turn 1

G3 bottom.

Play Asphyxiating smoke.

Turn 2

G2 top, gain Minor.

Play Threatening flames.

Turn 3

G3 bottom.

Play Flame’s fury and Flash-fires/Minor.

Turn 4

Reclaim, gain Minor, or Major forgetting Flash-fires.

Play 2.

Turn 5

G3 bottom.

Remarks

Turn 1 and 2 plays can be changed to Flame’s fury/Threatening flames > Asphyxiating smoke to either destroy a Town in turn 1 fast instead of slow (if playing Flame’s fury) or to empty an Explorer+Town land in fast by killing the Explorer and pushing the Town (if playing Threatening flames).

Stats

Turn Growth Owned cards Cards in hand CE Ele+CP
1 3 4 4 3 1
2 2 5 4 3 1
3 3 5 3 7 2
4 1 6/5 6/5 8 2
5 3 6/5 ? 12 3

Pro and cons

Pros:

  • Early 2 unlock.
  • Doing 2 damage on presence placement can free up card plays, opening the possibility to delay the reclaim turn.

Cons:

  • Late 3 CP.
  • Lots of blight early on, likely flipping the card.

Variant: delayed 2 (Minors/Mixed)

Growth

Turn 1

G2 bottom, gain Minor.

Play Flame’s fury to deal overall 3 damage between Special Rule and Firestorm.

Turn 2

G3 bottom.

Play Asphyxiating smoke and Flash-fires.

Turn 3

G2 bottom.

Play Threatening flames and up to 2 Minors.

Turn 4

Reclaim, gain Minor, or Major forgetting Flash-fires.

Remarks

If you plan to spend more Energy on turn 4 and/or getting a Major, you can take G3 on turn 3 instead.

Presence can be taken from the top track on turn 3 if needed, although it’s generally a worse choice than unlocking the 3rd CP unless costly/unaffordable Minors have been gained, as it will make the reclaim turn even weaker by having one fewer CP and no possibility to reach 3.

Stats

Turn Growth Owned cards Cards in hand CE Ele+CP
1 2 5 5 0 1
2 3 5 4 4 2
3 2 6 3 4 3
4 1 7/6 7/6 5 3

Pro and cons

Pros:

  • Lots of fast damage on turn 1 and 2.
  • Turn 1 G2 gives more range for presence placement in the early game.
  • Earliest 3 CP.
  • Low on blight.

Cons:

  • Late 2 unlock.
  • Low on blight means fewer targets for Firestorm