is buying tree victory dominant strategy?

[Loranger]

To my experience, it also depends on players level. For beginners (and 2 players), flames often win. For advanced players, trees win often.
Flames are easy to block (but should be blocked early enough).
With all strategies, trees are necessary.
When I feel late in trees, I've switched to lotus, and it has worked sometimes.
With kodama extension, it's very different. I don't know which one wins more. Lotus, maybe? More unpredictable anyway.