Since I've been mentioned, I'll join in as well. Breaking through the passage after day 5, or in extreme cases day 6, is critical for both colors in my opinion. Moreover, this should be done even if everything on your native respawn went perfectly and there were enough resources and money for rebuilding; sometimes it's far more important to collect free loot to prevent it from falling to your opponent. I've never played against Sorceress, but I suppose voluntarily staying put on your own respawn until the start of the second week, counting on cheap rebuilding and recruitment, could end badly. Blue struggles to eat their own respawn early. The opponent in the central zone and on Blue's respawn, regardless of color, can, if not interfered with, gather so much that it's enough not only for rebuilding dragons, but also for an upgrade and purchase. So, in my opinion, when playing as Sorceress, you also need to break through guards, but with a slightly different goal — to prevent a more expensive opponent from eating too much.

Experience shows that only Ghosts prove unbreakable on the first. Vampire Lords, Archmages, and Battle Trolls look tough, but they're usually fewer than 15. They can be broken through with troops from pickups. I've broken through 20 Strong — Grand Druids without problems (and not with a Might hero or without magic), that seemed to be the count; the rest of the walkers pose no issues at all. Speaking of pickups, by the way, it's often advantageous to play as Knight for Green, especially if several heroes appear in a row (if any readers are just starting to master online — look at your leisure at the devastation a hundred Peasants can inflict on neutral ranks when used wisely). And for Yellow too, given the motley nature of the company, you need to grab the lead as quickly as possible if a Barbarian is chosen. Since the key stack is usually 1 (Hobbits for Green, Archers for Yellow), even minimal negative morale can put you in a deep hole; I fully agree with Captain. When fighting low-level units against neutrals of level 4-5, which are usually at the passages, morale -1 will cause trouble every other time, or even more often, so when forming a mixed stack, I carefully watch which way the bird's wings tilt.

Teleport guards are perhaps the most problematic aspect of this map. Black Dragons, Titans, Phoenixes are certainly unpleasant, but I think none of them compare to Genies.