Lower Final of the Upper Bracket

In the first three games, three towns were passed around in a circle. Whatever Shnurov got in the next game went to me, and in the third game Shnurov took my first decent town.

CTPAHHuK (Academy) def Победитель Havr'а (Stronghold) 1-0
Masses of illusions from 60 genies on the opponent's behemoths decided the outcome of the battle. Against a terribly resistant opponent, my army, consisting entirely of spellcasters, had no chance. Shnurov didn't restart the barbarian, meaning he had a spellbook. By chance, it was neither the book of order nor the book of death. Without illusions, I was hopeless. Rock throwers from the other side, with two throws, deprived me of all sorceresses and all immortals on the tactician. This time, the magic of magic triumphed over the heroes of the sword!

CTPAHHuK (Stronghold) def Победитель Havr'а (Necropolis) 2-0
I specifically stocked up on frenzied bulls against a possible hand of death. But they didn't come in that handy. A cyclops throw, a harpy strike, and hypnotized 1000 imps took down Shnurov's heroes. The book of order rules! Hypnosis rules doubly!

CTPAHHuK (Necropolis) lose Победитель Havr'а (Academy) 2-1
I follow the proven path — under the drawn book of chaos, I patch up the wizard. In battle, my tactician catches poison from the mages and reflects the spells from the enemy commander. Thanks to my zealot, he returns the foulness to the opponent. Hope arises in me. I go for a trade — my tactician is a goner anyway, I blast with Armageddon, and immediately my devils, as planned, should finish off the enemy tactician. But they don't get there! Shnurov cunningly dropped oil, and the teleport range decreased from 50 to 25. I struggle, I writhe, I die in convulsions.

The calculating Shnurov continues to act methodically, taking a restart for his nature and breaking my death. Corpses still fall to me, but now Chaos itself is on the other side!

CTPAHHuK (Necropolis) lose Победитель Havr'а (Asylum) 2-2
I have excellent chances. 1.5 thousand imps and 5 knights take down the enemy mage. My necromancer wants to cast Hand of Death on Shnurov's tactician so that the imps finish him off immediately in the second round. No luck — resistance works. Maybe I should have cast Hand of Death on the 3 Megs? They were the only ones to survive at the end of the battle. Well, and 5 efreet. I killed the rest: quite commendable for me!

Praise doesn't help. Hysteria sets in. Now I'm already familiar with the word "comeback". Berries squeeze tightly! I take one restart after another. First, I break nature with the book of order against life. Then I get a barbarian against order. I try to make two tacticians, buy the bow of precision for cyclops and the shield of thought against order magic. Having leveled the heroes as needed, I see that there are no 8000 to buy 2 artifacts. The last restart

CTPAHHuK (Preserve) def Победитель Havr'а (Haven) 3-2
I return to my usual ways, to the first restarted variant. The spirit of doom hovers over my consciousness. I panic, go sour, fade away. In battle, I start to influence Shnurov in every way. In the chat, I threaten, write that he's doomed. And meanwhile, I hypnotize the crusaders and they kill their own tactician! I told you hypnosis rules!!! I saved my point in every sense of the word!

Thank you for the tense, dynamic battle! Good luck in the next bracket :)

Battle recordings:
Through my eyes there 1, there 2 and there 3.
Through Shnurov's eyes, all in one bottle there.