Necropolis discussions.

If you don't want to constantly lose, then on fast maps, only those heroes are discussed who are very likely to get the "Marksmanship" skill as their first upgrade: Kaspar, Zoltan, Lucretia, Orson, and Vlad. For them, this probability is 2/3. Ravenna and Naadir have a 1/3 chance; Deidra cannot get it as her first upgrade; she is a late-game hero, especially with the prospect of her ultimate ability. On small maps, Kaspar is one of the strongest heroes among all factions; if engineers are allowed, the choice is almost obvious; otherwise, there are other options. There is a whole army of Orson fans, but, in my humble opinion, he is not strong on all maps; it is very desirable to know the map well. Zoltan is a universally excellent hero: he gets "Marksmanship" early, levels up faster, gains "Magic Affinity," and the much-needed +1 to Knowledge. Moreover, on such maps, there is often no opportunity to return to the city for spells, and Zoltan can learn in battle and also acquire a "Scholar." It is especially pleasant to learn "Plague" from neutral Archliches on the way to the enemy, so it is worth having a living stack from a non-native hero with you. Lucretia has her own advantages, but they are fully realized only on maps where you can, with a high probability (8-9 during the day), send all your troops into vampires. Vlad does not impress me; his reign ended back with patch 1.3.