Not just a match, but some kind of super-thriller! Full of mistakes and flashes of good play from both sides.
Until turn 116, I thought I was far behind. Only one Griffin Conservatory (level 2) on the respawn, 1 Dragon Fly Hive, and an external dwelling of Centaurs - that's almost half a map's worth of respawn. On turn 117, things got a little better - a chest with 15k gold + an external dwelling of hordes was found and secured. Almost no stat artifacts - only a shield +4.
Choice of going for either 4 Rust Dragons or 20-49 Ghost Dragons. So with low stats, I decided to upgrade all troops first and attack on turn 125 from a running start. Shackles of War were picked up. Nearby there was a Cape of Silence for 2+ levels of magic lying around, but I didn't take it (big mistake!).
That's when the fun begins: I capture the KV and sit in town refilling mana. On turn 126, I see the enemy, who is rushing with birds, and the rest of the fodder on a scout hero. I killed the fodder and with stats around 10-10-6-8 (65 mana) went to attack Crag Hack with stats 20-24-8-(100+ mana) on 12+ unit birds, hoping he had no serious magic, but I took off the Shackles just in case. But no such luck, KZ and he survives on scraps. Eh, if I had the Cape, the game would have ended there. I flee, mistakenly thinking his hero would disappear. But, this was news to me too, Crag Hack goes directly into the tavern. Nevertheless, I at least pushed him back significantly from the center. Remaining: 1 Angel, 2 Unicorns, and 6 Archmagi. Essentially, the center is mine, even without an army, but there are 2 Dragon Utopias, convenient for hit-and-run with air units. Situation assessment: I'm ahead with a good advantage. Both villages are mine, and I'll see if the enemy moves toward me.
Turn 131 - I capture the Cloak of Disavowal, attack with single units intending to leave 1-2 dragons in the Dragon Utopia. But here's a mega-fail, the air unit deals maximum damage and I lose everything. The situation is complete crap. Thought about surrendering.
I try to dig up a hero, but the Dragon Utopia isn't taken yet, not enough gold to find a hero.
Turn 132, the scout hero takes the Dragon Utopia. +30k gold. And I finally get Kyrre out at the cost of almost all the money!
Situation: slightly ahead again. I take the second Dragon Utopia - it's a minion with junk. And Crag Hack starts coming out, his army is already bigger. Considering how badly I had been messing up, I decide to do a little moating in the center, assuming he wouldn't reach the second village in the center.
That calculation turned out to be a miscalculation: the hero is in the sands, though I scraped together 18 ducks and 10 Nagas from a chest. But the opponent snatches 1 Castle and, with a scout hero on a stable, reaches the second, takes the Helm of the Alabaster and sits in the second Castle. The situation is now "just a little more and there's no advantage". But due to the lack of a timer, the opponent didn't manage to fortify, so I attack without the Shackles. And here the disaster continues. His army seems small, but I fight so horribly, just fail after fail, that I'm forced to flee with 1 Unicorn and 5 Nagas against 6 birds, Cyclopses, and 50+ Goblins. Crag Hack with Haste really laid into me.
The situation is now almost complete disaster, only waiting for the enemy to make a mistake.
But, fortunately for me, the opponent didn't disappoint, he rushed forward toward my main hero, fell just short, and as a result, left himself quite exposed. And his army is very small. First, I sacrifice the hero from the center with the Sandals of the Saint and the KV, but I kill his birds with a Cyclops-hurling spell. Then I attack with Kyrre wearing the Shackles and the Cape. 7 stacks against 5, and I can kill any of the opponent's stacks with Lightning Bolt. In the end, I kill Crag Hack with no chance for him, and the opponent concedes. Thanks for the game!
One more thing, even though Expert Resistance was skilled, red boots for resistance, Unicorn aura - this damn resistance never activated even once!
PS These are just epic two playoff games - in the first round and now.
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