REWORK for the Academy. Is it needed or not?

Debatable statement. At least regarding mirror matches — that's a rather specific game where you know exactly what your opponent has and how it's positioned.

Those concerns were initially present. But it turned out they were unfounded; the principles of the game remain the same.

And reducing everything to saying that serious play is only possible in them is incorrect. Nor can it be said that mirror matches absolutely identify the strongest player; there is also an element of luck involved — at the very least, guessing which treasure zone to start from.

Well, chess also has an element of luck — you can guess the opening correctly and land in your opponent's "blind spot" in preparation, or you can run into a "bomb" and lose without a fight. Therefore, absolute precision is not the point; from time to time there are "sensational" results, but the existing level of precision is sufficient for chess to be considered a competitive sport.

Playing with different setups has its own appeal, but that doesn't mean it should only be funka on prooshka and that you can't strive to add some balance that doesn't spoil the game.

This reasoning applies to constructing a game from scratch. But the gameplay of Heroes3 has a long trail of habits and standards, and overcoming them is an ungrateful task (see the voting results).

Otherwise, why aren't the rules defined as playing with a maximum of 2 heroes and a 2-minute turn? Then beginners would have even more chances to beat a "conditional Stinger" and, by your logic, it would add popularity.

At one point (in 2007-2008) on HeroesWorld they played roughly like this — sm-ka, 4 minutes, and in 100% of games. And no one complained; they considered this exact format the most appropriate for online Heroes. It's a matter of habit.