Posts from Reports from the HoMM IV online Tournaments "Sultry Season"

and on level 124, or maybe 125, I can't check the saves, I'm going to the teleport without any losses, after hitting the Fire Elemental.

:smile41: :smile43: :smile43: :smile43: :smile15: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

P.S.
When playing as Haven, it's useless to level up a brute. It's been tested. A Lord in the Dungeon is enough.
To break through the mines and everything else on the map, you need 1 Haven mage and Djinn!
I don't know how to defeat the Fire Elemental on week 2. (I defeat it at the end of week 3, after breaking through the Dungeon, Tavern, and even the Major artifact)
I wrote this in my report, I'll repeat it again. On Lescandre, you need to make a Lord from the Dungeon, and only a Barbarian. The map needs to be changed.

Shnurov_hl (Haven) def. Zubr (Death) If these walls could talk 142 (Expert, 6 min)
When skirmishing, the opponent left himself with a Castle without access to a unit, and I didn't give him that opportunity ;)
The first time - the opponent restarted.
The second time, I start... The first building is a stable. There's little money, but a lot of running to do, and quickly.
I scout the nearby Castle - it's Chaos. It'll do. There's Nature magic and 1000 experience. No restart.
I buy an archer, all chests go into experience. He runs to the Chaos Castle. The starting mage, slightly slowing down, runs to the gold mine along with all his gold and squires from the dwelling.
On the 2nd day, the archer with fire bottles (from the street forge) and other stuff takes the Chaos Castle. I buy a Nature mage, who gets scouting on the first level - he will become a bard.
On the 3rd day, the gold mine, on the 4th - the second Castle (my own).
I buy another Nature mage. In the free tutorial, there's Death magic...
Then we all run together (slowly, without speeding up, but thanks to the stable, the heroes' turn is 27), gaining experience. The chests still go into experience, so building is slow.
On the 3rd week, I have a decent fighter, a running master, a life master, and a Nature expert with an imp summon.
Just in case, I bought a tactician who ran around the free 1000 experience.
On days 3-7, scouting reported that the enemy was on my territory. At that moment, I take the Mausoleum, and they give me gloves. )) I build angels.
I break through the wall in the center. There are 11 titans and about 17 nagas. Behind them is the Nature book and the guardian robe.
The opponent approaches the city... I return, restore magic. Final battle.
2 Death units (assassin and ninja), 3 Chaos units, and 11 venom units. With some difficulties (confusion reliably hits the archer with 70% magic resistance) and the loss of an angel (absolutely unnecessary), I win.

Thank you for the game.

Shnurov_hl (Haven) def. Zubr (Death) If this walls could talk 142 (Expert, 6 min)

At the start, I was given the tactic – I restarted. Then I was given a Necromancer. I hired a second Necromancer, took Imps, and rushed to capture the nearest Nature Castle. I decided not to take Skeletons to get to the Castle faster and directed them to another Castle. In the end, there weren't enough Skeletons in the battle. :( The Tigers were unhappy that they were poisoned and, together with the Wolves, rushed out and bit my heroes. I had to retreat. In general, time was lost, and it was the 4th day. To avoid falling behind, I decided to capture two Castles at the same time. I placed Poisoners, gave one to a hero, and sent them to teach the Tigers a lesson. The second hero, with Cerberi, went to the third Castle, where Skeletons were waiting for him. So, on the 6th day, both Castles were mine. In both Castles, I hired Chaos Knights to make it easier to break through and avoid losing morale.
The army moved slowly, relying on the enormous firepower of the Poisoners (first 2, then 4, then 6). By the beginning of the 3rd week, I somehow cleared the lower part of the map (I was playing as red), and I decided that there was no point in going up to the Altars because I simply wouldn't have time. I decided to embark on a desperate raid. With the help of 11 Poisoners and 3 Demons, I broke through the border with Ifrits and Minotaurs (it's amazing that the Minotaurs deflected an attack only once during the entire battle, and that was at the end and didn't play any role, while the Demons froze them perfectly). The Chaos Knights gained level 3 magic, and I decided to send them back to the city (in vain; the spells didn't really work, and I lost 2 days).
In the end, at a turtle's pace, I finally crawled into the enemy's territory. I moved slowly, and right in front of the Castle, I was caught and defeated by a powerful squad of enemy heroes because there was nothing to fight a unit with 90 armor, Robe of the Guard, and 70% resistance (the creatures were constantly disabled by a swarm of Wasps).

Thank you for the game

Oxygen_hl (Fortress, Blue) def. LordZezuk (Necropolis, Red) — Eldorado, 1-2-5 (Expert, 6 min)

The opponent wanted to eliminate the Barbarian early on, but he hesitated and left him. He decided to counter with a race that has no combat units. The result is clear. :smile51:

Everything is going smoothly and according to plan; we are cutting, strangling, throwing, and hanging – in general, it's a normal civilized life. On turn 2-1, I emerged with a combat unit (5514) and a fast unit (35). Then, I moved directly towards the enemy. There's not much to describe, except for the final battle, where the opponent's main hero demonstrated amazing skills in consuming liquids, drinking about 15-20 potions in the battle and then collapsing on the hard stone floor of his own castle (presumably from drunkenness).

Thank you for the game.

Oxygen_hl (Stronghold, Blue) def. LordZezuk (Necropolis, Red) — Eldorado, 1-2-5 (Expert, 6 min)
I knew I shouldn't have left him with the Barbarian!:smile21: But! I started complaining from the moment I crossed out the Barbarian for him. And Oxygen says that according to the rules, he should be the one to cross it out first. We started over. And then Oxygen cast a spell on me, because, believe me, I still can't understand why I left him with the Barbarian!!! Moreover, I chose some kind of garbage for myself!:smile48: Also, I didn't know the map very well and couldn't figure out how to play. I asked for advice:smile45:, and he said, "Just move like a knight." Very helpful advice, I must say.:smile17:
My Necromancer also refused to learn melee, he was only eager to learn warfare:smile21:. As a result, when it was already 5101, there was nowhere else to go, but it was already too late. I already drank a bottle of vodka and became an alcoholic. I didn't want to fight, then, while drunk, I tried to kill the Elves with skills of 5402, and that's where I died:smile34:. And Oxygen wanted to enjoy killing me and made me reload. The next day, he cornered me in the castle:smile14:. But the final battle was fun:smile52:. My Lich, an experienced alcoholic, would have defeated his Barbarian in two counts if there were more bottles:smile53:. But the forces were unequal. 5402, level 10, against 5545 (if I'm not mistaken), level 15:smile42:. During the entire battle, my undead managed to knock down the Barbarian only 2 times, while he died from the recoil about 15 times:smile05:.
Well, if there were more heroes, we could have brought 10 bottles for the feast:smile13:. But two carriers can't carry much. As a result, the booze ran out, and the Lich died a brave death. Please add the name of the fearless alcoholic to the diptych of our clan!:smile49:.
Oxygen, thank you very much for the game! I crave a rematch:smile10:. Believe me, next time I will stock up on exorcism or some kind of cancel spell for the draft. And I won't provide you with such an easy advantage anymore!!!:smile19:

Oxygen_hl (Haven) def. CTPAHHuK (Academy) — Spleen (Expert, 8 min), 144

The factions were chosen randomly.
At first, something was generated, I don't remember exactly what, but I didn't like it (it seemed like lord against lord – dull and even duller). I got bored and restarted. The second time, the factions we played with appeared. As usual, the starting positions were changed.

I set out from the castle with a tactician and started leveling up. On the second day, I defeated the goblins with crossbowmen and put a squire from Azerbaijan behind a stall to trade apricots, in order to fill the royal treasury with taxes. On the fifth day, I captured a gold mine and defeated the darklings.

After that, I remember very vaguely what happened day by day, because the time it took for each turn increased directly proportionally to the desire to finish the game. We played in three sessions, so part of the walkthrough has been forgotten.

During the game, according to the old woman, I was half a step ahead of my opponent, but by the finale, we were practically equal. I defeated the underground masters of the Order, and my opponent beat the upper-tier units. We met on his territory, and the armies looked approximately like this:

My rabble:
General 20 (combat 5003, tactics 5554),
Dark Priest 14 (Death 455),
Paladin 20 (Grand Master of Life, combat 3033),
Battle Mage 19 (Grand Master of Order, and also skilled in combat), Prophet 20 (Grand Master of Scouting, pathfinding, life, combat 3001),
13 angels,
34 crossbowmen

The guests' football team:
General around 19 (closed tactics, combat + 50% bonus from cloak)
Seer 19 (Master of Order, Grand Master of Scouting, pathfinding)
Life Mage, I don't remember the class or level (Grand Master of Life)
Another Order unit (Grand Master of Order)
22 nagas
2 sorcerers
14 titans

The battle started amicably – we tucked our tails and scurried into the sled (which, I must say, I only dug up in the enemy's underground). Then followed 5 turns of shuffling, squeezing into a narrow corridor, whispering sweet nothings, and shy glances at each other – we were approaching each other, sniffing, sizing each other up, as if to kick each other in the side.

5 turns passed, and my tactician died a heroic death in a corner under a bush. The corpse was sadistically burned with acid. The Order mage and the Life mage died for the opponent, covering the trembling tactician with their bodies (nearby, all the crossbowmen were eager to strike the rep with a sword from under the bush).

In general, I eventually overwhelmed the enemy tactician and sent him to his grave. After that, the opponent preferred not to resist.

Thank you for the game and for choosing the map. It was interesting.

SlOxy (Haven) def. CTPAHHuK (Academy) — Spleen (Expert, 8 min), 144

From a loser's perspective.

My start was slower, as was the rest of the game. I took the gold mine at the same time as my opponent, but I didn't attack the goblins before it, and afterward, I couldn't figure out how to bypass them without Titans. I had already driven all the Azerbaijanis out of my neighborhood, and I prefer science, so I took local mages and other useful units. Then I went to attack the Dark Knights and talk to the teacher, retrieve the dragon's slippers, and free the runner.

My grandmother constantly reproached me for being weak, maybe because I took the runner later, or maybe because I spent a week and a half with Hobbits, with whom I freed the first lord. But in any case, by the end of the second week, as soon as I took my second Castle, my opponent already had three.
After the second Castle, I went for the second lord and Titans on Spleen's metro line. After spending all my tokens and having a great time, I got off at Nevsky Prospekt station and walked along it, visiting all sorts of shops and pastry shops. Along the way, I met homeless people who were harassing everyone. They diligently shook a mug of beer in front of me, saying that I looked gloomy and that drinking would make me feel better. Yes, I was already anticipating SlOxy's pressure, but no, this wasn't a reason to start drinking. Sober and wanting to stay that way, I made it to the third Castle and from there, along Gorokhovaya Street, I freed the witches, then exchanged a Naga for the teacher and went home to listen to lectures on modern magic... it was difficult to listen, my heart was already pounding in anticipation of SlOxy's attack, and in a half-dream, I imagined that very mug of beer...

As soon as the last bell rang, some unknown force, aka "I need to get drunk," took over me, and in an alcoholic frenzy, I rushed to the homeless people. I forcibly took the mug from them and started drinking, drinking, and drinking. I became very blue, and then a thug came out from around the corner and said something about two rubles. I said that I was coming from a lecture, that I was a scientist. Here are my Titans, talk to them, and leave me alone in the sled. Before the thug's heels could sparkle, a second one came out... and his heels sparkled even brighter.

In general, there was no point in showing off anymore, and I headed towards the third Castle, where a caravan with Titans and Nagas had just arrived. It hadn't even gotten dark yet, and they were already in the ranks of my final army. While I was sleeping and dreaming of a great victory, the scouts watched the enemy's movements all night. In the morning, I had a hangover and two pieces of news about my opponent's strength, and both were bad, as bad as the hangover. SlOxy's heroes were stronger, and there were more of them. Two couch potatoes and Angels, a teleporter with crosses, and a Necromancer with a tactician in a magic resistance cloak, under which the Angels and Knights were cleverly positioned... in general, even the horses' knees trembled when my football players, whom SlOxy knows all about, hit them with a whip.

Yes, in the final, everything was simple, as the winners say. Even the bookmakers didn't want to take bets, saying there was no point, kid, just go home, amen.

So I went. And I got beaten. And I deserved to be beaten. After all, SlOxy has always been impressive with his rapid development in online games, and this time was no exception. I read about fan-made mods, but I still don't know how he managed to upgrade to SlOxy with 4 heroes, but he did it. And that's how it turned out that one head is better than all the others, and two heads... why even play? :D

Lu41k (Strength) def. Drakkoska (Nature), Lezkandra (Expert, 6 min) 241

Well... it was a long time ago... we were playing, playing... and then we finished Lezkandra :) I hadn't even played her through completely before. So, it was interesting to play her all the way through. We chose the factions randomly. From day 1, I was leveling up a runner and an assassin, and I took the upper mine on day 121, if I remember correctly. Then I bought a barbarian and made her an Fire Guardian. I went to clear things out... First, I cleared a path, then I took the second mine, and then I defeated the neutral phoenixes and water elementals (I think they were water elementals). I took a dwelling with creatures, and by that time, I had placed birds in the castle. Then I tried to take the tavern, but it didn't work out... so I gave up on it and went to fight the undead... In the end, I almost died myself... I escaped in time :) Anyway, I defeated them on the second try :) By that time, I had already made the General :) I went to the underground... and started learning all sorts of things, training on everything I could :) I gave the General an altar of life to eat, hoping to get a bandage :) I got a bandage :) I was afraid to go to the city for a long time, but in the end, I went, and I killed everyone :) By the way, the city was Chaos, so I also learned some magic and so on :) I killed the dragon golems near the castle and took a level 4 spellbook, and I gave it to the Fire Guardian, and now she was strong :) Well, in general, the armies in the underground just amazed me... Monsters! That almost killed me... I ran upstairs, freed the Warlord from the dungeon, took the tavern and artifacts. Then I went to fight the neutrals in the underground... I almost died several times, so I got scared and decided not to break through to Koshe, but to sail across the sea. I killed the hydras and venomous snakes at the shipyard... and sailed... But not too quickly, so by day 3 of aimless wandering across the sea, I was already regretting that I hadn't risked breaking through. Anyway, I landed on the shore, snatched gloves from under the noses of the neutrals, captured the city (it turned out to be my own), killed the devils guarding the book, and went up to Koshe :) Well, there I easily defeated the Lich and his army, and I saw my opponent :) I broke through the passage, where I lost 2 birds (they were poisoned... it's a pity... I didn't expect the venomous snakes to give them a morale debuff, and I didn't have time to heal them). That's how the day ended. The next day, I came to Koshe. The final battle wasn't very long :) Arrows and Inferno did their job :) All that was left was to take the city and that's it...

P.S. Nastya, thank you so much for the game and for choosing the map (I admit, it was unexpected)! :) I finally played the map from beginning to end :)

Oxygen_hl (Asylum) def. Lee (Asylum) — Iron Man (Expert, 8 min), 147

The cunning strategist Lee started the game as early as the Phoenix meeting, managing to drag a slightly tipsy me onto the unloved Iron Man. As for factions, we amicably scribbled Chaos for each other.

Seeing a mage and a shooter at the start, I decided not to restart. Everything went like clockwork: on day two, a mine and gloves. The heroes, as expected, dutifully died on the golems to reach the castle without wasting turns. But then the problems began. At the passage to the second castle, a group of dead hooligans was holed up. The hooligans were stealing phones, punching all passersby, and ruining the atmosphere. I couldn't slip by unnoticed, I didn't have enough mana. They took the phone, gave me a black eye, and sent me home.

Then standard procedure: the second castle (again by a crooked goat: the mage in melee finished off the last three minotaurs with pokes), lords, Efreet dwelling. Then to the capital and to the level 4 dwelling. At the dwelling, a flock of disappointment birds awaited me: hydras versus my opponent's dragons. I started to sorrow, then stopped. Happiness isn't in black.

Around the same time, I saw Lee leveling Nature mages. It wasn't entirely clear what the final result would be: demonologists with venoms or druids after all. I, on the other hand, bought a Death Tactician right at the start. In short, I decided to base the battle on the principle of Lyubertsy thugs: quickly hit them on the head and scram. That is, mass direct damage Chaos. So, raise two Chaos mages, a Death mage (for hand-to-hand, to take down summoned Phoenixes/Mantises or heroes), a Tactician, and a Runner (also a Chaos specialist).

Throughout the game, the Mage Guild showed that Lee intended to feed me nuts everywhere they could fit. He was ahead both in army strength and income. However, closer to the end, he started losing pace. Nevertheless, he was the first to break through to the fourth castle (I was stuck on an unclaimed dragon, trying to collect tribute from the few surviving madmen on the respawn).

The opponent burst in like a hurricane, stopped near the third castle, and froze. Honestly, I was a bit stunned by the opportunity to attack fully decked out with bonuses, while the opponent would be completely without them. But oh well, we didn't argue. Finale:

My goofball cowboys:
GM Chaos
GM Chaos
GM Chaos
GM Death
Tactician (Ring of Health, Ring of Regeneration, Haven armor, Mind Shield, defense 135).
34 Efreeti
5 Black Dragons

Everyone has resistance not below expert, defense not below 80.

The villainous occupiers:
Master Chaos
GM Chaos
GM Nature
GM Nature
Tactician
22 Efreeti
5 Black Dragons

After the first round, the enemy Tactician was on the floor, and that, alas, was no knockdown.

Thanks for the game.

Oxygen_hl (Asylum) def. ZYbr (Asylum) — If these walls could talk (Expert, 6 min), 12?

From their home base, they scattered in different directions: the fighter rushed east towards the castle, taking a dozen death knights with him; the chaos mage, checking his compass, drove a herd of orcs and rogues south – towards gold and a castle. On the fourth day, both castles were tediously captured. The gold was looted even earlier, on the third day.

Then they joined forces and went through the map, looting and taking the hard-earned possessions from the peaceful inhabitants.

I don't remember the exact date of the finish – we survived. Later, ZYbr reported technical problems, in connection with which he acknowledges defeat.

I will not insist on a victory by default; on the contrary, I would gladly finish the game.

Thank you all.

Oxygen_hl (Asylum) def. Lee (Asylum) — Iron Man (Expert, 8 min), 147

Crafty Mitriy wrote a report hot on the heels, right on the goalpost I was trying to score a consolation goal in :smile33:

I must say I tried honestly :smile51:

First half:
I built everything in order
gloves, tent, rock, passage (ballistas and militia?), lord's castle, money, dwelling level 3
built a dragon on day 122, bought it on day 123, and went to the dwelling, there I killed 2 Black Dragons and bought one, returned to the castle, learned Cloud of Disappointment, and reached the bridge with 5 heroes: Tactician, Runner, Hero with Cloud, 2 Druids, 2 Black Dragons, and 9 Efreets + had to spend money on imPs and speed potions and Anti-Magic bubbles....

Down a shot for bedtime and off to sleep

Second half:
Passage: Angels and Monks 34 34, Angels in the first row and Monks 15 15 16
It was very tough; they have high speed and resurrect
Immediately two stacks flew in and killed my hero painfully, then I caught 2 angels at a time in the cloud, made a Hive swarm, summoned elementals, removed retaliation strikes, hit with Efreets with Slaer, and finished off with dragons. In the end, I lost 2 heroes to aspirin and not a single animal :smile02:
I hobbled to the castle, replenishing mana from a mana bubble, took the castle 2 days earlier than Oxy (considering that my second turn and his first, so it's all three turns)
Went left (I was turquoise) to the teacher, to a spot (magic dragons guarded it with elementals). I was afraid to fight them, but need forced me (consolation goal and all that). Well, fear has big eyes, but hands do the work; I took the spot, but only gave Death Magic to the Druids (I decided to save turns - silly me. Well, I also didn't realize there was not only magic but also cancel there :))
Back up to the teacher, no longer afraid of anything :0) Right, to the mines, picked up a cup +3 morale, smashed the Thunderbirds with Cyclops, then replenished mana at the fountain and recruited 3 dragons (can that be?) Then to the 4th quest house, killed 41 Thunderbirds, and nearby there was a chainmail 20 guarded by Champions and Crosses with a Shield of Fire (:smile17: I kinda freaked out) didn't take it, went past up left to the mines and teacher, and stopped near the house with Order Magic with a basin in front of the last Gold Mine guarded by 21 Dragon Golems...... day 134 ended
I'm COOL and I feel grandma wasn't lying! :smile51:

Drank some vodka and went to sleep....

Third half

Took the gold mine with 21 Dragon Golems in the basin, entered and to the teleport. There were Magic Dragons with Earth Elementals and Mantises 34 34, 14 of them with Wasp Shooters. Took a helmet +20 percent of something, I don't remember if it was attack or defense, dove into the teleport, end of day 135 near the basin of 1 castle

Day 136: took a Pandora's Box (killed Titans), then Phoenixes along the road to the island, the guild, and stopped near the teacher
Day 137: trees, altar of tactics, on trees no money (sold gems saved for trees), 7500 short for 3 heroes, went on unfinished, and didn't give Resistance to anyone (shooting was especially fun, and Combat :()
Day 141: start from the second castle with Summon Phoenix, run to castle 3
Day 142: went on a cult hike to a spot
Day 143: looted the Champions, caught up with 4 dragons, no money for cool chainmails :( but reached the basin with the house with Order Magic)
Day 144: a screw-up happens..... Everyone says cigarettes are bad..... I arrived, but the turn was received and half of it was skipped.....
Rushed for the Legendary Axe with 3 and 4 Black Dragons and 10+11 Goblin Knights, beat them up (here, for the whole game except the final, I lost 1 Efreet at the end of the battle to speed up the process. I flew with Efreets at the Goblins, Phoenixes and my Black Dragons were standing there, turns took too long to skip, almost had a heart attack from the surprise). Regrouped, rushed to the passage
I have 4 Black Dragons in the middle of the square, 18 Efreets..... I hit without losses, threw 2 clouds, which almost don't work on Titans, into the thick of Phoenixes with Dragonslayer and Dragon Strength and Cat Reflex, they all died, removed 2 imPs and cursed poison
I'm writing in the battle to Oxygen: "Man, time's up!" He so nobly asks, "Load?" I write: "30 seconds left, I'll make it..." (kinda felt ashamed or didn't get it, but I refused) - in vain
The battle was without losses, not counting immortals and mana..... firmly decided to drink mana and into battle.......... drank, ran....... at 0 seconds stopped near army number 2.....
This is the second mistake
Day 146: made 3 movement points
Unsuccessfully broke through the second guard, lost an imprtal along with a Druid and all my mana
Entered the castle, restored the hero, and there were no immortals, none in the shop :smile53:
Feel like smoking on the second turn
Oxy moves fast, I don't like that, meaning he's running to ambush in the bushes to wait for me :smile10: and I decided not to run into the darkness without magic
(Again a mistake, I should have run, gave him another day of preparation (remember 1+ at the spot, 0.5 days at the second guard, and 1 day now restoring magic)
And here's the finale:
Day 147: I run with restored magic to the basin and down and right to Oxy's 3rd castle....... I don't reach the bench with immortals by 3 movement points, and unfortunately, the castle accordingly :smile13: I stand
How differently everything could have been, you can only ask Oxygen if I had been here at least these 1.5 days earlier...... a tournament is a tournament.....
He attacked, such a handsome guy, and immediately killed the Tactician, dispelling all illusions of a possible victory.......

Three nights, went to drink vodka before sleep for the victory.....

Now I'm writing and I understand that it's all about the VODKA and the cigarettes, if you remember

I'm writing in detail, maybe someone is interested... I tried honestly.. to score :smile02: :smile49: :smile04:
Thank you, Dmitry, for the game and for 3 excellent evenings

The tournament is over
I chose not very successful goals

Yes, Kosha is here, as usual. I'm occupying vacant spots for no reason. :)
P.S. Thanks for the game. It's a pity that it didn't go well.

Shnurov_hl (Academy) lost Oxygen_hl (Necropolis) — Quiet World (Expert, 8 min), 212

If you use a rasp instead of a file, this map could be turned into something great. But more on that in a bit.

From the very start, I decided to turn all chests into money to get devils as quickly as possible. I ignored my second home castle to take an orc hatchery, graveyard, eye lair, dwarf mine, and venom dwelling down below. This certainly provided a huge amount of money (which is actually what allowed me to get devils on day 6), but I overlooked the gloves held by the secondary guard. Monsieur Shnurov, however, took them on the second day. As a result, he gained a significant advantage in speed.

By the time my opponent had taken their third castle, I had only reached the second. I felt like I was falling behind miserably. I pulled myself together and started diligently running between castles.

During the game, I wondered which heroes to take into the army? For a long time, I couldn't find scouting; eventually, I found it in the military school below. My runner only started leveling up in the third week. He never actually became a "runner," but he became a seafarer (master); later I bought my own native runner (chaos) and raised him to grand master in a few days.

So, I definitely wanted an Order hero, but a runner would have been nice too. As it turned out, with open stealth and seafaring, you can't climb both of those trees. In the end, I initially planned for the finale: a tactician, a death mage, two order heroes, and a runner. But midway through the game, I wondered: what will I do against "sanks" (sand-walkers)? The following plan was born:
1. Create a fast Assassin with two speed crystals from the Dungeon. According to my calculations, he outruns devils under a tactician. The idea is that the assassin moves first, cancels the tactician, and the devils put him in the grave. All on the first turn, before the opponent recovers.
2. To prevent the devils from getting morale (otherwise they'll ruin everything by moving ahead of the assassin), we make a knight's move: take a chaos hero into the army. The morale of the assassin and devils is reset to zero, and we don't care about the Haven heroes. If the plan with the devils fails and the opponent has "sanks," order heroes won't save us.

Everything was going well; I started speeding up, all castles were taken by the third week, center mines captured, gold collected, and the grail placed in the castle (maybe I put it there on the fourth, I don't remember exactly). I went to clear the underground. Before the Dragon Utopia stood 25 KD and 23 venoms. I had to dump almost all my mana before I cleared them out. The Dragon Utopia itself was handled without problems by 6 devils with Vampiric Touch. Near the Dragon Utopia, I get a Seaman's Hut (jubilation), and inside the Dragon Utopia — Fizbin of Misfortune (pure ecstasy). From there, I steer out, pick up the devils, and run to the island without brakes.

I stop two steps from landing on the island; a squad of 6 beasts (all 2 levels higher than me) and 20 nagas pop out. And I have one grand master of order who only knows Mass slow, Blind, Berserk, and Mass Dispel; another master of order who knows all the same things but without Mass Slow; a tactician (who knows how to tremble in a corner); a runner (believe it or not, he can run — that's it); a swimmer (unoriginal, also only knows how to run); and a grand master of death who knows regular Cancellation, Terror, Sacrifice, Death Call, and other useless junk.

The first turn went like clockwork. Shnurov's tactician slammed face-first into the floor. But the opponent had no intention of surrendering. A teleport of 20 nagas followed into my rear (right to the tactician), and a battle of counts began. Shnurov tried to prevent my devils from moving, while in turn trying to strike with his "legs." I dreamed of doing everything the opposite way. Blinds, wasp swarms, berserks, hypnoses, terror, and so on were used. The parity was broken by Shnurov's nagas, cleansed by a crusader (the guy with maximum morale often moved last and cleansed everything, that little brat). My tactician and runner went to sleep together. Neither side had tacticians left. The battle ended when I managed to berserk the annoying crusader, who immediately rushed into hand-to-hand combat with the devils, which is why he died quickly. Then I killed the last order mage with the devils and put terror on the nagas.

The opponent retreated (and rightly so; they wouldn't have let him move anymore). But continuing the game seemed impossible since I sank both of his boats. Shnurov ended up trapped at the respawn. Which is very sad, as it would only have gotten more interesting from there.

Thanks for the game.

About the map:
1. Town Gate gives total control over the map. Here, it's not just a crowbar — it's a bucket of crowbars.
2. Fourth-tier skills are a roulette. Well, that's actually true for any map.
3. Instead of boats, it would be nice to have a shipyard. So that a good game doesn't cut off due to a shortage of ships.
4. Only one passage between players is still kind of bleak. It ends up like Iron.

Thanks everyone.

Shnurov_hl (Academy) lost to Oxygen_hl (Necropolis) — Quiet World (Expert, 8 min), 212

There isn't much to say.
When drafting, Oxygen gave me a choice between Plains and the relatively unknown Quiet World.
My chance was in the element of surprise, so I ruled out the familiar Plains. Oxygen was incredibly surprised. I was also surprised by my own audacity. :-D

I quickly looked at the map in the editor. The draft went as it went. My preference was to eliminate Nature and Chaos.
My opponent didn't play as Barbarians.
As usual, there were some clumsy moves at the beginning. For some reason, I didn't restart the starting lord. I developed him into a Sorcerer (Order). As a result, by the endgame, he became a Grand Sorcerer (!!!!) of Charm, and only a Master of Magic.
For some reason, I went for Undead. Although the Order + Life combination, along with a map with open spells in the tower, would have been much better.
Also, regarding the development.
The Runner didn't become a Grand Runner by the fifth week.
I tried to develop a Life Mage. He ended up becoming either an Expert or a Master of Resurrection....

In general, the development was rough. :-D

Despite all this, in my opinion, I wasn't weaker than my opponent in terms of army.
But the significant difference in class made itself felt, especially during the endgame. I've lost absolutely winnable games more than once or twice in the final battle.

I don't want to make excuses, but how can I not say that in 2 Order castles and 1 Life castle, there wasn't a single Dispel spell (there were Charm spells, but the stolen Immortal didn't give anything special). I probably shouldn't mention that there wasn't a Cancel Charm spell either? ;) Also, there wasn't a Death Grip spell. Which would have been decisive against 8 Devils.
But there's no point in blaming the mirror if your face is wider than your shoulders.
Dima was stronger and deservedly won.

Thank you for the game.
Congratulations on winning the tournament.