scars of reality
Blocking portals—how's that work?
On that map, there are 3 one-way portals through which enemies from inaccessible locations come at us. You place upgraded shooters with a huge army there, periodically reinforcing them with more troops, and the enemies either don't come through or get killed on them.
you said you'd steer clear of Minchev's maps.
Nah, I just decided to run an experiment: whether it's possible to beat a difficult Minchev map without any editor at all. Seems like it's not. At least not without spending an absurd amount of time on it. I already checked in the editor what quest tangles need to be unraveled next and what serpentine paths lie ahead. I'll probably stop playing. I've had my fill of that quest-and-serpentine "jam" from beating Alexandretta.
The only thing—I'll still try pulling off a stunt to get to the brown respawn using water walking. If you give a hero with Expert Scouting a Telescope and Boots of Haste, they can apparently run across the water from where Solmyr is imprisoned to the lower castle Agoura and reveal the opposite shore. Then you can just ignore that brown tent. I'll just cross to the other side and that's it. That should significantly simplify further survival. Though I'll have to roll back who knows how far.
In general, there seem to be quite a lot of such loopholes on the map. For example, why was it necessary to block the passage to the obelisk at 51,140,0 with three guardians, an event that drains all mana, and a box with strong guards, if you can just walk there by water from the seer where you pick up the Red Sphere? Sink the boat and go on your merry way. Or, the passage to the Necklace of Speed, the dolphin, and the box with free 1,5K genies is blocked by a guardian demanding an absurd amount of troops and a purple pillar. What's the point of all those guardians and other obstacles if you can just walk there by water?