"only XL-5"

I gave up the bidding entirely; I don't think we even had any restarts.
By the end of the week, I built up the hydras and took a +6 shield, saw 2 cans and a couple of hives. Gunnar joined my hero roster; at first, I did everything with him. Tazik wasn't great this time, but still not critical. The opponent had Craig and Dessa. By day 123, already decently leveled heroes began to lay the groundwork for the dragon sanctuary. Chains, hives, a couple of pandoras, and on day 131 — the first Dragon Utopia, with an unpleasant mistake: I attacked the reptiles with shifted earth and 80 mana using Gunnar, having a resurrect scroll, but the Mage Guild was only level 3 at that moment. As a result, only one out of 5 hydras remained, along with the monarchs. On the plus side, they didn't skimp on the stats.
At one point, when I planned to clear the zone in one direction and move to another edge to take the hives, the opponent suddenly flew in and treacherously, at 4 AM, snatched two hives near my only village with a tower under construction. I had to change everything and take the Dragon Utopia in the corner village treasure zone with whatever I had. The result was excellent — by the end of the day, I was already staying in the village with FC and impressive stats.
The opponent didn't attack, but I took his city with the guild. From that moment on, there were brutal snatches of 3-5 cities a day at any cost.
But time worked for me, as there was an opportunity not only to reclaim but also to slightly expand the zone of influence. After getting the bracers, I managed to cut off Alamar, one of the red's jumping-running heroes. In the end, after a week of such **chaos — on day 211 the opponent used the color bonus and attacked with a bunch of weaves, birds, and angels. The battle was, of course, more of a formality by then, despite the difference in buying power.
Thanks for the game!!