Development of a Wizard hero from the Haven faction.

Klivren, I would be grateful for a story about the cleric strategy in duels.

Judging by the screenshots from the current Competitive event, you played exactly as one, with the reputation of Tears.

I'm interested in how you fought heroes from Strength- and what you did with mage heroes.

The most important thing in the entire strategy is leveling up the right and necessary skills—nothing extra, so to speak. I will post the build I had during the tournament duel (only one player remains, but he doesn't announce himself, and reports from other players are no longer visible), so it's not a pity anymore. And honestly, I have already been defeated, not in a tournament duel but in a private battle; the winner is well known on the forum, if they want to, they can post their build :)

I'll start with Light magic.

Healing - excellent damage against "dark" opponents, and healing itself is a good thing. But its mass counterpart is useless.
Aura of Retribution. - max this to level 3, especially good against warrior heroes with high damage. Essentially, we cast it directly on the Seraph before the strike and attack the opponent's highest-damage stack (the main thing is that they retaliate).
Light Elemental - blocks enemy shooters, high magic damage, mass retaliation strike, and mass heal upon retaliation (following paths like a flash).
General Purity - rarely used, but still sometimes useful skill against various curses; it removes negative effects from all units and prevents them from being applied for 4 turns.
Light Magic - max this, light skills are necessary for us.

Arcane Magic

Ward of Secrets (aka magic defense) - max this, saves from enemy magical units, especially good to use in the struggle against Necropolis and in mirror matches.
Keeper of Secrets (aka magic power) - max this; since it's a mage hero, magic power is as necessary to us as air. Also, it strengthens the attack of our combat power, the Radiant Beams.
Meditation - an extremely necessary skill in long bouts with strong opponents; the main thing is to use it when mana is at 40-50+%, then the recovery will be significant.
Mana Drain. - ensures an easy victory against opponents who do not use meditation on time.
Dispel Magic - necessary for removing dangerous effects like Aura of Retribution or Subjugation when it's impossible to do so with beams.

Art of War

Level up according to the picture :) The abilities are passive, and there is no need to explain how to use them correctly. We don't level up Shooting because crossbowmen are far from the primary combat unit for a mage hero.

Tactics

Essentially, we level up tactics to level II, and the Ambush ability which increases initiative by 5 units on the first 3 turns.

Personal Qualities
Everyone has their own :)

And for our hero, we level up defense and aggressor :)
That's where the skill points end.

Tactical Placement of Stacks.

People might throw tomatoes at me here, but this is how I placed my stacks.
It's important that a unit stands behind the guards; it saves from the tidal wave of Nagas (doesn't leave the beams defenseless), and it's good when the beams are "supported" on the sides by large units (this prevents cyclopses from pushing them away from the guards). We place troops in the center, as we never know where the opponent will position their forces, and we need to constantly "bite" and provoke them with beams. If the opponent doesn't come to you, send the Seraph tank into battle; he has a huge defense stat and a decent amount of HP—don't forget to cast Aura of Retribution on him (which will significantly thin the enemy ranks).

Reputation

We follow the path of tears, which gives us excellent resurrection with protection for the resurrected stack, and healing that significantly increases initiative (and extra heal is never too much :) ).

Tactics against warriors and mages are absolutely identical; only warriors die faster due to a low magic defense stat. :)

P.S.: This noobguide is based solely on my modest experience.