This weekly has finally cemented my decision with regards to what information should be included in the sub-headers. As is indicated, 1v1 is definitely the way to go to get the most out of this extremely fun pack.
On the other hand, 8-Player is a pure luck fest. If you see any early Eeels or Jerboas in team preview and aren't currently running one or more of those same scalers yourself, you will not live to see the late game. I've personally never lost a game rolling into Jerboa on turns 5-6; I kid you not.
I still have too few games on record to say anything definitive, but I feel like summoning has too many hard counters to be viable; Igauana, Camel, Gharial/Hawk, Rhino, Snake, Grizzly, Boar... There's one available in just about every tier, and as the game enters its final phases you're looking at a rather uphill battle.
I've seen people try to run Grizzly in the back as summon support this week, but honestly it works so much better as a counter to the archetype. Microbe helps tremendously if you can grab it early, but Turtle + Choco. Cake will make it completely irrelevent in just two short turns.
Late game you'll want Steak on almost everything. Eggplants/Hawks can be helpful to deal with certain counter techs I suppose. Honestly though, a sufficiently scaled frontrunning Chili Rhino will wreck you just about every time unless you've managed to beef up your squad a ton. Remember to factor a Tiger into those calculations; that's a 24 HP floor you need to hit just to stand a chance, and good luck finding room for those Buy effect units when you're just barely hanging on for dear life.
Disregard everything that was said previously. They were foolish ideals based on a very small sample size... of just one -single- SPECTACULAR ass-whooping, delivered by yours truly. The only time I had an opponent rage quit on me this week, and I let the ensuing endorphin rush completely skew my bias towards an inconsistent strategy that I then never went on to win with again.
Also, perhaps semi-related to my subsequent loss of control, I should mention that I lost just about all of my hard earned elo trying to force pure hedgehog builds. It hard counters Kangaroo if you can get it running extremely early, but with all the health scaling you'll want to pivot to something else come tier 3. You also give Camels and Peacocks a free trigger, even with a level 2 hogger. You're better off just running one in the back with honey or something, then pairing it with Turtle late game for some assymetrical Melon advantage.
Beetle, Meerkat, Beetle, [-flex-], Mole
2-for-1s practically guaranteed, and largely undetered by Eggplant/Seahorse. Chocolate Cake can get you a 16/16 Mole by tier 3 if you're lucky, and that squad can be ridden comfortably through tier 4 by simply swapping the Bettles for some t4s with Pie on top. Crane in the flex spot if you don't see any position 2 Eggplants coming. You'll be raking in the wins like crazy provided that, unlike me, you DON'T sell the Crane by mistake, panic due to time pressure, and then proceed to swap your Beetles before securing the Pies necessary to carry the strategy forward into the oncoming rounds. Just don't do that and you'll spare yourself a great deal of psychological anguish and self-loathing.
Toys are available in 3/6 tiers, with the tier 1 and 5 toys being essential to dominating the late game. Wide late game scaling with Dragon allows you to continuously switch between toys as they're needed, as well as benefit from the added Ferret scaling. Tennis Ball and Stinky Sock both make for indispensible late game tech options, depending on whether you need to pop melons or deal with those pesky bloated scalers. Hawk and Tiger also make for good general purpose techs.
Flashlights are an alternate source of scaling that can easily go infinite if you happen to luck into a bunch of Pumas. Then, as soon as the boys have sufficiently beefed up, switch gears and enjoy the sights and smells of the Stinky Sock bombardment as it greatly overwhelms the opposition.
You will almost never regret running a Skunk this week, as you'll likely be contending with scalers of all kinds. Skunk only really loses to summon, which hasn't been particularly prevalent in my experience.
Speaking of, a German Shepherd summoning squad can be surprisingly strong with level 3 Bear and/or Fly; although I fell just short of a ten piece myself using this strategy. Loses hard to big Puffer, and also Seahorse and Hawk exist as a low investment means of potentially ruining your day.
Early game is all about conserving lives so that you may live to scale another day. Get yourself a toy pronto to enable some of the higher health units in tier 1 such as Gecko, optionally compounded by Cone Snail. An ample supply of round 1 Roaches should ensure your survival in the following round as well. If you do win round 1 you should take the opportunity to shamelessly stockpile Beavers, Fish, and Ducklings.
Now simply combine to level and forge a mega unit or two; preferrably tier 3, but the stats really matter more than the ability for this big lad. Remember, Sea Urchin exists, so don't just throw your prize pigs up at the front and expect things to go well for you. Now just always be reading the room and do whatever it takes to keep your big guy on par with the second biggest, even if it means engaging in the occasional Cupcake warfare.