1. Cold does not affect phoenixes.

2. Red (this is, if I'm not mistaken, the top computer) will not try to use attack magic against phoenixes; he will cast protection, blindness, etc., and only when he sees that he can finish them off with a shooter will he use it.
I always take out Red like this ;)

3. Hobbits, centaurs, fairies, dwarves..even three different stacks already give morale minus 1..
a considerable risk — because anti-morale, as a rule, will affect the hobbits.

4. The beginning of the 2nd week — you have some of your own native troops (GD) and can buy the computer's spawn..again different troops..Wouldn't it be better to have 3 GDs? ;)
to meet the enemy...

5. Such a rush, as Gunnar described, IMHO is beneficial when you know the central computer is of your blood :)

1) Here you are right — ice also does not affect Phoenixes...
(I was never strong in theory; when I started playing the second ones online, the first games — I didn't even know that monsters don't wait like in the third ones :D, however, due to the practically identical principle of strategy in the game, as in the third ones (I described this principle at the end of my first post) — I immediately started winning...)

2) Here, you might also be right — this needs to be checked directly in the game playing as Phoenix, but when I went to Red with an army from the second week from Green without dragons — he was blasting me with magic non-stop (well, either way — he can finish with a shooter, as you yourself pointed out — and that's half or even more of a phoenix's life if a mage attacks you). And considering that phoenixes will be hit by everyone anyway, and my little dragon barely survived against the fighter (who couldn't be hit with magic)
- then the chance of losing two phoenixes seems greater to me than losing a dragon and a few gargoyles.

Generally, I wrote in the first post that after dragons, starting as Phoenix is one of the most justified options, and also argued in detail why playing as Dragon is still preferable, and what advantages Phoenix has over other castles. So far, no one who posted below has added anything new, either for or against either nation, to the pros or cons.

3) Actually, when I wrote that you need to take hobbits and centaurs into the first battle, and others depending on the circumstances — I was precisely referring to anti-morale. Sometimes I don't take centaurs if there are no mages, liches, or druids on the way (and if the listed shooters are present — then only gargoyles and hobbits with centaurs) (because centaurs are hard to protect (surround with units), their damage is only 1-2, and hobbits have 1-3, and, most importantly, the quantity — hobbits are often close to 50 — and that's already strength. I prefer, if there are tramplers, to take either dwarves and fairies, or, if there are serious tramplers, then also add medusas, but as Barbarian — this risks anti-morale...

4) I don't understand what you mean by point 4? I never wrote that you need to combine the computer's spawn with your own native nation (unless the computer is your own native one, but even then, I give the entire army from the castle only before the final battle; otherwise, daddies teleport with red dragons, greased minotaurs, and gargoyles). I wrote that this spawn, eventually, can be bought out and will be useful for various tasks for other heroes (diversion and reconnaissance in the enemy's rear, capturing villages, resources, and even capturing another computer, while the daddy is busy with something more important)

5) Again, I didn't understand you :( (well, you could formulate your thoughts in more detail, at least as I do). What do you mean by the word "rush" in what I wrote? I didn't write anywhere that you should go into a frenzy for the computer's sake. If you mean an early break through the passage — then I think I've already chewed it over in detail, explaining what it's for. In my opinion, capturing the computer before its growth appears is far from the reason for which you should break the passage.
[reasons again (I won't write more)

1) Collecting and capturing money and resources from the computer near its castle (because otherwise it will be difficult in the first couple of days of the second week to buy out all the dragons at once, or even to upgrade to red ones) (and often also to actually build the dragons, since even as Yellow there are situations where there is no sulfur (and an extra pile near the computer's mine is sometimes a lifesaver), and no money for dragons (as happened with me and Deep Mike — in several chests there were artifacts, but most were minimal, and only thanks to breaking through the passage both he and I could put dragons in the first week)

2) (the most important, in my opinion, this is clear to everyone) So as not to lose tempo in the game, and at the start of the week to have the main hero be 2 days further ahead than with a late breakthrough, accordingly, having far more options for further play and strategic maneuvers.

3) and only the third reason is killing the computer, and even then, this is done primarily not for the additional money and army of the computer, but so that the main hero can learn magic there (buy a spell book) and so that the computer doesn't interfere with scouts normally collecting money and resources at its respawn and doesn't break chains by killing decoys with a single gargoyle. (therefore it is absolutely irrelevant whether it's your computer or not, in this case)