Balance in HotA.

A question arose regarding the balance in HotA. One of the most popular game formats in the lobby (second only to Jebus, I would say) is M200% (Arthas, Papich, default, Skirmish, and 2sm2c templates). I switched exclusively to HotA a year ago and regularly play this format. In the last couple of months, I've noticed that 90% of players pick Cove/Anabelle in every game. Moreover, I've started seeing more and more games in the lobby with notes like "no Cove" or "no Pirates," even from well-known veteran players with a rating of 400+. It's clear that M200% is inherently a random and unbalanced format because some Castles can exist without a particular resource, while others cannot; some heroes' starting armies allow them to break through guards, while others don't. In my opinion, the only relatively stable gameplay is with Castle/Slippers, Rampart/Ivory Tower, Fortress/Whitestone, and Cove. But despite this, I used to see more variety in Castles and heroes in actual games, and at least the four Castles I mentioned were always actively played. Now, it really feels like 9 out of 10 games, the red player picks Cove/Anabelle (occasionally Ilara instead of Anabelle). I wanted to ask if there's a consensus that Cove is currently the strongest Castle in this format? Or is it just an epidemic of new players who recently switched to HotA and are trying out a new Castle?