Jebus Cross

A failure in the "mandatory program" means failing to capture Medusa lairs, Naga banks, and especially Griffin conservatories. It's clear what advantage the 1-2 Angels gained in the first week provide. And when playing on Jebus, you either learn to break through everything in the early game, or you don't.

You have a young portal, and I think the problem is that there are no teachers and "post-match analyses."
LeBron, for example, didn't even know how to use "wait" in battles six months ago.
And now he's in 1st place in the online rankings on the portal... he beats everyone.
And do you know why? I, for example, am 100% sure that he's not a cheater because I've played with him many times in 2v2... in an alliance with him... and we discussed almost every move.
He very skillfully positions his troops before a battle, calculates where there are groups of 20-29 neutrals, and where there are groups of 40-49. He knows all the standards, for example, the minimum army size for maximum gold income for each race... He sits at home for hours and plays against himself... or against the computer.
Although he probably doesn't know half of the features yet.

To prevent players from switching to other games, you really need variety.
We have a school where different situations are sometimes analyzed, even down to how to dig up the Grail on day 111 without having the hero stand on the tile where the Grail is buried.
And most importantly, there are offline tournaments where cheating is ABSOLUTELY impossible. Every move, every day, is discussed, and you have to explain why it's done one way and not another.

That's why the strongest players mostly hang out there.