Is there a way to avoid or counter Pyrogen's 1-hit KO?

In Mighty No. 9, the boss Pyrogen (Mighty No.1) will enrage his health is =< 50%. When enraged, he'll glow with a blue flame, but all of his attacks become deadlier.

To make matters worse, he'll grab you and destroy you in one hit if you're caught in any of his attacks. No other (Mighty) boss have this ability.

Is there any tactics to avoid or counter the enrage mode of Pyrogen?

Solution 1:

Pyrogen has 3 attacks, and all can be easily dodged (in terms of dodging Pyrogen himself, which is what matters for his 1-hit kills; avoiding all damage is a little trickier, but doesn't matter if you're just worried about surviving the attacks).

1. Bodyslam: Pyrogen will yell "crush!", and charge at Beck. When he gets close, he jumps up and slams down where Beck is standing. To dodge this, dash under Pyrogen (and jump over the flames behind him to avoid other damage).
2. Explosion: Pyrogen yells "Here it comes!", charges at Beck, stops in front of him, and yells "Boom!", setting off a large explosion. To dodge this, stand in the middle of the stage (or preferably a bit closer to Pyro's starting side), facing away from Pyro, and dash away quickly once he is close enough to stop. If you don't move at all, he may or may not grab you for the insta-kill (explosion WILL hurt).
3. Charge: Pyrogen does not yell anything, and simply charges across the stage, leaving fire behind him. To dodge, just jump over him and dash over the fire behind him (watch out for the fire on the far wall). For an easier time, use Avi's weapon if you have it to jump higher.

The reason the first round of insta-kill attacks is so hard to avoid is because the annoying dialog that shows up mid-fight blocks Pyrogen's audio clues. He does also have physical/visual cues for which attack is coming, so if you can keep an eye on that, you can dodge the first round (audio comes back later in the fight).

Additional tip: once you absorb him once, his 1-hit kill power will go away until the next time he recharges in the foreground, so you want to get his health down quickly to reduce his insta-kill opportunity. If you have Avi's weapon, it's a good way to chip his health down quickly (although you have to get pretty close to make sure it hits).

Solution 2:

I've found one possible way to avoid this attack.

If you've defeated Seismic (Might No. 4), the power gained from him (ReXelection: Seismic) has invincible hit-boxes in front and below Beck. As long as you're holding down the attack button, you can run though Pyrogen or (and better for damage) try to bounce on Pyrogen's head with your tank threads.

Note: you can take damage from the explosion Pyrogen causes, even if you run past him. Since your back isn't protected, running though him will nullity damage from the front and hopefully allow you to escape the blast before it happens. If you jump on his head though while in ReXelection: Seismic mode, you'll avoid all damage as long as you keep bouncing after the explosion.