Pyros just aren't fun or good for the game.

They are extremely fast, high damage, can kill anything they don't outrun and can outrun anything they get killed by. On top of that it can jump to escape or come from weird angles.

They don't get that much use because they are in the janky jump factory and they are quite a high skill unit.

I really must also protest against the way factories work with defense - a single pyro should not be able to kill a factory - it's just not fun and makes placing the light laser pointless - it also kills the game before it's started. I do understand that there is some skill about where the place the factory and light laser, but the only skill is on the offense - you can't place the light laser to protect the factory.

I can't think of a single unit that deals with the pyro effectively early game on a metal for metal basis - other than maybe the phoenix - I am always chasing it around the map and spending far more resources dealing with it than it costs.

Sorry for the rant! I love this game. =)

Pyro messes with raider balance in a bad way is the issue.
Normally, all raiders can contest each other is a decent way. sure koda or venom op, but 3-4 glavies can win. With pyro, you roll the dice and just die if your not venom/archer/blitz. Duck and koda just get invalidated entirely. A very very simple solution to this is to just give pyro a jump windup of 1 second. Pyro can still jump around, but a slight delay ensures you dont cheese every single shot.

Pyro is kinda weak against Glaives on some maps.
B2309416 2 on Vantage v1.2
B2309430 2 on Vantage v1.2
The strongest match-up is probably against Amphs as Duck missiles can be easily dodged with a well timed jump and Moderator is really strong against the rest of the amph line-up.

Anything that makes Pyro weaker against Glaives is likely to result in jumps being unplayable on most 1v1 maps.

Balance can be tricky like that, especially for a high skill ceiling unit like Pyro.

I personally find venom to be a decent counter to Pyro. It's less expensive and in my experience can 1v1 a Pyro and survive with half its health still. Venom does have less range, but all you need is one hit and then you're guaranteed to be in range for the next hits because of the stun. 2 venoms and you can stun lock.

quote: I find glaives a terrible counter to pyros. They are okay if you catch them running at you, but if the pyro is being microed, they just get torched and usually they are. 3-4 glaives is more expensive than a pyro.

Glaives aren't exactly a counter to Pyros. Especially in larger numbers, Pyros will easily deal with Glaives as they struggle to run down the Pyros and get picked off one by one.
In smaller numbers, you need to micro your Glaives carefully to surround the Pyro without taking any burn damage in the process, once you have a good spread on your Glaives and make sure to engage the Pyro in a flat space where it cannot just jump away to a cliff, you can costeffectively destroy lone Pyros with Glaives.

quote: I'm not bad at the game - I'm not good at micro, but I am decent at strategy. My problem is that there is easy or even effective way to counter these. Pyros are also usually used by extremely skilled players. The map matters of course, but we don't want maps that make the early game just how to counter pyro.

No, there is not an easy way to counter well microed Pyros. It requires a combination of tactics throughout the game to effectively counter them.
Here are some tips:
-Lotus turrets are good but make sure you have some raiders nearby so that the Pyros can't just stand behind buildings and jump in to destroy single Lotus turrets.
-Your own buildings are an enemy. Pyro is one of the few units that can shoot through terrain and units. Avoid letting the pyros in among your structures or they could be used as cover.
-Don't rely purely on Raiders to counter Pyros. Pyros act like semi-riots, especially in larger numbers, so remember to supplement your defense with light defenses like Lotus turrets and Pickets.
-Offense is the best defense. If you can keep the enemy Pyros busy by running your cheaper raiders around their base, it means you don't have to defend at home and they are wasting their 220 metal unit chasing cheap 65 to 135 metal units.
-Pyros are flimsy. Pyros actually die easily to most stuff when they are trying to push in. If you are just expanding safely on the map with light defenses supplemented with some raiders, and push forward with just a few riots in the center, you might find that an opponent that overbuilds Pyros will just fall over and die.

Notable units to counter Pyros:
-Glaive. Glaives work decently against small number of Pyros and they are cheap and fast and can force the Jumpbot player to be on the defensive so you can expand more aggressively.
-Tick. Place Ticks defensively to dissuade Pyros from bunching up. A ball of Pyros is really hard to deal with for Glaives. If you use Ticks, it forces the Pyros to spread apart which makes it easier to run down the Pyros with Glaives. A single pyro stunned still means you can make cost.
-Fencer. If you play rover, you can skip making light defenses and just rely on Fencer instead. Fencers are almost as fast as Pyros so if you just see the Pyros incoming, you can reposition your Fencers in time without getting flanked and where you have the numbers advantage. Supplement the Fencers with a few Scorchers, Rippers or the commander to prevent the Pyros from easily diving in on the Fencers. Fencer is just really good overall against jumpbots before they can get a Firewalker out.

Godde I can understand that they might be theoretically counterable and thanks for the tips (I'll try and use them) - but that is some pretty high level play requiring understanding some subtleties about the game.

1. I like Lotus and do use them, but they just go around.
2. I really hate that feature Pyros have.
3. Agreed, Pyros are basically riots when microed well.
4. Agreed - complex understanding of the game for that though and they are quick!
5. I'll try something like that.

I'll try the fencer. Not sure what a tick is?
What is a tick? Are they the gnats?