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I'm starting to write the report. I hope to finish it by evening.
We decided to play on Balance XL without underground levels. The castle ranking in terms of strength seems to be as follows:
1-2) Necropolis, Fortress (just like in SoD :) )
This is because there are Necropolis and Fortress villages and towns on the map.
3) Barbarian. Tyras rules, there are wolves from the village, and there's a chance to develop this village up to Behemoths, and overall, the castle is very cheap and undemanding.
4-6) Swamp, Castle, Dungeon. Start with a specialist at level 1-2, replenish from the village.
Swamp isn't that strong because there are no hives. That's why we start with Vistan. Dungeon isn't that strong because the start is on the surface, and there aren't many resources.
7-9) Inferno, Rampart, Tower
Inferno is bad because there's no one to recruit Demons from, and these demons aren't really needed anyway; there are no Hydras, and in other battles, Dogs and Gogs look more solid. You need to start with Pyr or Kalgha.
Rampart is bad because it's difficult to get Elves from secondary structures; you have to build them.
Tower is just weak, although additional Gremlins somewhat improve the situation. However, it makes sense to develop a Mage for Tower – there's little meat, so early contact with combat units can be an advantage.
In the end, I got Inferno, and my opponent got Swamp. I think I messed up a bit during the draft; the above considerations came to me after the game. And both of us started with classic heroes - Maarik against Brogh. Although we should have chosen different starting heroes, naturally.