Even though it's stated in the online rules that the game is played using the SOD version, players agree and play using the HOTA version.
7) Players have the right, by mutual agreement, to make any changes to the rules, except for the selection of starting castles and heroes.
However, the Nostalgia and Boomerang templates are questionable in SOD. The first has problems with roads, and the second wasn't even tested there (as I understand it, the template text files in SOD and HOTA are different).
Besides the Cove, there are some other starting heroes in HOTA. Beatrice or Ranlu could be chosen by someone.
Too many conditions are needed to play SOD (and most importantly, the opponent has to agree).
Discord - Xocenk#2473