Discussion of the Academy faction (Mages and Wizards). Tactics and their specific features.

If the map features former friends and the difficulty is set to veteran, then take Narhiz, buy a Tower of Mages, and you'll have 6 mages. Divide them into groups of 2-1-1-1-1, plus 15-20 gargoyles and 30-60 grumkins. It all depends on purchasing a second hero. With this setup, you can easily control your half of the map. On another map where you can't immediately build mages, it's more challenging, but mages are still powerful. I once killed two dragons – one black and one green – hired by an online opponent using just 6 mages! They weren't upgraded, though.