2Gynnar
Yes, everything you say about randomness is correct; anyone who has played at least 10 decent games on random maps will agree. And about the typical tournament maps, you're just too categorical; there are always exceptions, and people are different. You consider Dragon Pass to be a terrible map, but for some, it's a classic, and people still play it, even in Heroes 5. And thank you personally, especially for the topic about difficult battles. It's very useful, even just as knowledge of what types of castles you can encounter without taking too much risk.
P.S. We've really strayed from the topic, but honestly, all the main points have already been made; the rest are very specific cases.