Why don’t you play as the Academy?

So, they don't have the worst start, and this race is very unpredictable for the opponent, as there are many possible development paths.

That's true. It was quite enjoyable back then when I was playing as a Necromancer, and the opponent turned out to be a Wizard with Dark Magic and Sandro's Cloak. And there can be many such surprises; the library and the artifact shop contribute to that...