Regarding the game, perhaps I had an initial tempo advantage, but he found a key Dragon Utopia with a Teapot and КО and won on both fronts. He built up more of an army by completing the quest for 4 Chaos Hydras, and then again for another 4, but on turn 131, I managed to reach him in his village after stocking up beforehand, even though I still had fewer troops. I cast Explosion, dealing -9 damage to his Angels; in response, he used Earth Protection. Then he resurrected his winged creatures, so I cast another Implosion and bought my way out for 13k gold while having Diplomacy. The result: -9 units lost. And the crucial moment came during another unexpected event on turn 141 when I rushed into his zone hoping to injure his main unit once more, but instead, I found a Grindan in his village with a Teapot. As a result, I caught up with him in terms of stats, and according to the tavern, I had more troops than him, at which point my opponent conceded.
Thanks for the game!