Which faction is stronger, or a template for comparing cities based on their strength!

Creating this template, in my opinion, is not entirely rational or objective. Much of it is already in the "physmag" (presumably a guide or reference), and the rest depends on the specific situation, of which there are many, many variations.

Resource intensity of a city, i.e., the total cost of "breeding" units from level 1 to level 7 (gold and resources). This should also include buildings that are necessary for building breeding units, but are not breeding units themselves.

This data is in the "physmag," so why create a new one?

Guild of Mages.

The Guild of Mages is unique in each city. Some people say that there is no difference between the guilds in different cities, as they only differ in the number of levels. This is not true. In each city, the percentage of a particular spell appearing on each level is different. There are spells that do not appear at all in a particular city. A ban on fire magic in Rampart and Tower, water magic in Stronghold, etc. The "Sacrifice" spell only appears in Necropolis, Inferno, and Dungeon, and in different proportional ratios in these cities. All of this is also described in detail in the "physmag."

General conclusion about cities.

It would take too long to write a detailed conclusion about the cities. I will say it in a few words.
The advantage of a particular city depends only on the size of the map, the presence of native territory, and resources. If the map consists mainly of swamps and resources are scarce, then it is almost impossible to win against it on a small map. What castle can counter an army of 4-5 wyverns, which can be built on the first day, and with which you can attack a castle on the second week, while the opponent is hopelessly wandering around the swamp in the hope of finding resources to build something. What can Rampart do if there are no crystals on the map? After all, it is considered the strongest castle, but without crystals, with only centaurs, dwarves, dryads, and elves, it is difficult to win the game, but it is quite possible (more on this below). Dungeon is a separate case. With full development and upgrading of units, it is rightfully considered the strongest castle, but while you are looking for all the resources to build the Eye, you will not be able to build anything else, and you will not survive long with harpies and troglodytes. The same can be said about Tower. Yes, the castle is strong. They always cite titans as an example, which is why the castle is listed among the strongest. But it is almost impossible to build them 100% of the time, and if you do, you may not have enough money to buy troops when the enemy attacks. Yes, they have strong golems, but they are good for defending the castle, and it is not rational or smart to carry them around. Tower is a very strong castle on large maps, as it is very difficult to use its unique building, the Library, on small maps. Stronghold is a fairly strong castle on both small and large maps. Even with limited resources, building birds on the first week is very convenient for rushing, and with strong heroes and birds, you can do a lot. On large maps, with full development, the units have the greatest advantage in terms of strength among all castles (I will immediately say that all my opinions do not take into account Conflux, as it is not in SoD 3.0, and I have not played much in other versions, and I have played little with this castle). Castle is also a separate topic. Angels are difficult to build, but with enough wood, unicorns are also good for rushing and defense, but if you manage to build angels on the first week (it is almost impossible to do this 100% of the time), you immediately gain a good advantage. Necropolis is a rather expensive castle and less strong compared to others, but on large maps it is successfully compensated by a huge number of skeletons. It is difficult to start, as you need a lot of gems to upgrade vampires, and they are essential for clearing the area. Inferno is the record holder for the lowest XP level among all castles, and any prolonged game often leads to defeat. But Inferno is perhaps the best among the castles in terms of rush strategy, and it is created only for this tactic. Devils are simply irreplaceable in this. With scarce resources, imps are also quite suitable. Good offensive magic will help a lot in this. Rampart can quite easily do without crystals. Upgrading elves and taking centaurs for cover, and having a hero with tactics, are components not only of a rush, but also quite suitable for victory. I once played Rampart against Rampart and won against an opponent who had not even built dragons. There were plenty of resources on the map. I won only with group elves, centaurs, and pegasuses (I took them for the first turn, which I will write about below). I did have a spell of banishment. When I had about 50 elves and about as many centaurs with Ivor, I forced the opponent to flee in one of the battles. He had several unicorns, two gold dragons!!! and some minor units. I took dryads and unicorns only for the final battle. I would like to note that my opponent was not an amateur.

Average speed

I would like to write separately about the speed of units. Highlighting the average speed, in my opinion, is not entirely correct. I would rather analyze the unit that has the maximum speed in a given castle. This is one of the most important components of victory when used skillfully. Having the first turn has brought me many victories in situations that seemed hopeless for me. I will not describe it in detail, I will only say that having the first turn allows you to cast a spell and bribe (because this is still not forbidden). Armageddon with dragons is also not canceled. This advantage was very successfully removed in the TE version, where you cannot run away/bribe in the round in which you cast any spell. I would personally ban this "arrogance" in tournaments as well. Recently, I played in a tournament against a very strong opponent from the League of Heroes (strong for me, who is two heads above me). I played Stronghold against Swamp. A huge advantage in combat parameters and a large advantage in strength allowed me to hope for victory. But this opponent used all the possible opportunities of the Swamp, which after the first meeting dispelled all my hopes for victory. First, he leveled up two very good mages (magic was in the neutral Inferno castle) and, using the first turn of the imps and bribing after casting Chain Lightning, he practically won against me with just a couple of imps. In addition, one of his mages was a necromancer and summoned a couple of hundred skeletons. The parameters of the warrior and the advantage in strength did not save me. I had only one hope in exchanging castles. But by the time I reached it, nothing would be left of my army. I had hope after he made a mistake and gave me one of the mages with all the artifacts. But the second one remained, and he decided the outcome of the duel. It is very important to choose the right strategy against a particular castle. In this example, leveling up a warrior for Swamp in a game against Stronghold, where the strongest warrior heroes are, was useless, and he confused me by leveling up a mage. If I had known that I would be playing against a mage, I would have taken at least resistance. There were a lot of resources on this map, and the whole game came down not to successful and rapid development, but to choosing the right tactics. I have little experience playing with such professional players of this level, and I deservedly lost.
Therefore, I was once again convinced that there are no weak castles, but there are weak players.
I apologize in advance if I wrote something unnecessary and not on all points. But I do not want to describe this template in detail, which in terms of volume will be equal to a not-so-small book, and I am more likely to run out of time.