All swords on short maps are easy. Just get an archer. If you feel pressured, castle archer/wall. Simple.

Archer beats all sword openers on short maps...medium maps are much more debatable.

On shorter maps, there is little room to kite, so I think swords would be slightly more effective, since the power of the archer relies in its ability to kite, at least early-game.

Failing, less room to kite doesn't matter at all...
On short maps archers are the way to go cause there's less room for an economy to go for a defensive build like swords. Pressure is key and it will shut down any sword build quickly. Swords need to get in close, and arguably rage CAN do that, but the thing is it takes 60 seconds and 50 mana to research, so archers are FAR more viable and will shut down any sword build early game.

Failing, Archers > Swords everytime on short maps.

Alright, so my logic wasn't the most sound it appears.

AWW SHITTTTT!!!!!
YOU MEAN THE WYZDM AS IN THE BEST PLAYER IN THE ENTIRE WORLD WTF IS UR PROBLEM PPL WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME YOU JERKS NOW HE HATES ME!!!!!!

I doubt he hates you lol. A simple mistake, everyone makes them once in a while.

Quote from Saegon

AWW SHITTTTT!!!!!
YOU MEAN THE WYZDM AS IN THE BEST PLAYER IN THE ENTIRE WORLD WTF IS UR PROBLEM PPL WHY DID NOBODY TELL ME YOU JERKS NOW HE HATES ME!!!!!!

Yeah, he doesn't hate you mate, to the contrary, I think you made all the players laugh here. Just fix your mistakes and you're chill :)

Can we just say that all *Sword-Only* openers do not work? It's Archer/Miner or Sword/Archer which is the meta. Sword/Archer is generally more popular Pre-2k, Archer/Miner is more popular 2k+.

Personally I used to go Sword/Archer but now I play Archer/Miner - it's less all-in-ish on a short map, it gets you a stronger eco the moment you hit 4 miners (4 vs 3 + tower), and it sets you up well. Sword/Archer is easier to micro though.

Basically, archers absolutely murder swords. Kiting is a beast that way. If you're forced to get CA because of his pressure, he's already won the game (Assuming he's not some 1800 who decides to throw the game with a stupid play)

Quote from DragonArcherZ

Yeah, he doesn't hate you mate, to the contrary, I think you made all the players laugh here. Just fix your mistakes and you're chill :)

Can we just say that all *Sword-Only* openers do not work? It's Archer/Miner or Sword/Archer which is the meta. Sword/Archer is generally more popular Pre-2k, Archer/Miner is more popular 2k+.

Personally I used to go Sword/Archer but now I play Archer/Miner - it's less all-in-ish on a short map, it gets you a stronger eco the moment you hit 4 miners (4 vs 3 + tower), and it sets you up well. Sword/Archer is easier to micro though.

Basically, archers absolutely murder swords. Kiting is a beast that way. If you're forced to get CA because of his pressure, he's already won the game (Assuming he's not some 1800 who decides to throw the game with a stupid play)

As a mid-1800 player, I take offence to that last comment.

But sword-only openings can work well against Chaos, or maybe Elementals. Right?

Yes, against chaos or elems it will work (map dependent I suppose) if you play it out right and don't screw up.
But in OvO archers will wreck them.
And try not to take offense to DAZ. Ever since he got to 2k his opinion of lower rated players has gotten a bit.. elitist.

Well in my expierience it worked 22 times in OvO .The most people wont have acher defense , and build economy first.Worked fine for me the most times ^^.

I think you mean archer offense, unless if you were talking about castle archer.
It probably works because of your rating, but if you want to move up then don't use swords against sword-archer on short maps.

Personally, I think 1 sword 2 miners is fine on ice hill and of course grass hills.

sword + archer is not necessarily for short maps, it can be a surprising tactic for anyone who lacks skill and is unprepared for it make sure to boost your eco as much cause he would have heck load a miners.
www.stickempires.com/play?replay=replay4816132&version=1.92 me against some favored person

On anything longer than castle I realllly don't recommend sword/archer. It's like a 4-pool - not hard to defend and not even worth it