REWORK for the Academy. Is it needed or not?

I will answer your questions point by point:

1. Game balance. A 100% chance of control on XL maps will simply kill fast games on those templates. Will this bring balance? Who the hell knows. After all, balance depends not only on control, but also on the treasures in the zones. One player gets Dragon Fly Hives and cons, another gets obelisks and "besyaten" (Cyclops Stockpiles).

What do you mean by 100% chance? You often have to rebuild the Mage Guild 3-6 times. And you still have to try to find that many resources! While you're prioritizing resource gathering, Cyclops Stockpile breakthroughs, and the like, you'll lose tempo and a faster opponent might come and smack you. Answer: no

2. Won't we create new problems and new imbalances with a rebuildable Mage Guild? Now we run into the logistics problem. One player gets Logistics, the other doesn't. If in one scenario we had a chance to get Logistics along with control, now what do we do?

The same thing... where's the imbalance? Again, reasoning like "everyone has full control, so Logistics is an advantage"? Is that really the case?! More likely no than yes.
Okay, for example, both players got control (doesn't matter where). One has Logistics, and the other has some tank like Shakti. And in theory, the latter can't catch him while the former is eating up the map. Is that how it is? :smile32:
In practice, however, there are far more levers of influence. A good player will have several heroes with control and can easily outpace a fast Logistics player in terms of strategic map consumption.
Answer: again no.

3. Stronger players vote for the Mage Guild rebuild. But look at the average time when these stronger players' games end. Yes, perhaps it's an indicator of skill to drag out games and win in the late game even with a weak start. But in reality, we're not leaving any alternatives for play.

I remember very few games on WT that reached the second month. SoD itself is slower. If even strong players' games drag out, then for average players they drag out OBSCENELY to turns 23 and 24. I'm confident that the rebuild would actually alleviate this issue, because games drag out most often because one or both players can't find that damn Dimension Door. Another factor influencing delays is overly cautious play without forcing events. That is, one player, upon gaining full control of several heroes, can capture castles and kill off good enemy heroes. The other won't engage, won't expose themselves, and will try to hoard as many creatures as possible. So this situation exists by itself, regardless of the rebuild.
Answer: no

4. Well, expect tournament rounds to be dragged out across all tournaments due to late save deadlines, a-la 2xx and 3xx, because they didn't manage to finish in time.

Seriously? :rolleyes: