Maybe someone is interested — I'll lay out my logic of actions. During the game, Valenok wrote to me that he had 5 stacks of angels, and gremlins came through the portal. I might have believed him, but then he reassured me with the phrase — just kidding, of course.
After taking the swamp Dragon Utopia, Gurney 29,8,11,10 (163) — in the tavern Nelka 11,29,7,20 is shining, enemy scout heroes are running along the Inferno road. There were two options for continuation: split to the main and go for Pink, or go towards the enemy. Splitting home in 1 day didn't work out, because hauling a behemoth through the swamp is no easy job, and Kregg with Pathfinding had been sent home after the medusa fight. I assessed the situation: combat magic, mass spells available, only a 3-point advantage in attacking stats, but in magic and most importantly I had shackles I could use to catch the enemy. You can put on shackles when you're sure you'll win the battle, and that can be estimated when you approach the enemy yourself, not when he approaches you. Why did I go upward? After teleporting, I see the entrance to the opponent's treasure zone — I enter, kill the scout hero, the road leads to a secondary hero where everything has likely been eaten. The opponent, on his next turn, would have assessed my forces, gathered everyone, split, and attacked. But it was advantageous for me to attack first and with shackles catch the scout heroes, maybe even feel out the hero with Dimension Door and Fly — plus the possibility of being attacked slows the enemy down, preventing them from getting up to speed.

Today, after reading the discussion, I decided to talk to Valenok — here
Maybe one of you can give me a comprehensive answer to my questions?
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