Counter-heroes in duel mode (3.1). Auto-translated

interesting replays appear almost every day, whenever I manage to free myself from work and play.
1. Shax vs. my Axel. Proper focus during the game allows Axel to take out the orcs, even when he runs out of ammo.
2. Helm vs. Osi. The ending is interesting here; I didn't think I could win. It turns out that Helm has a shock attack with decent damage (I haven't used it in a long time). Respect to the developers for this.
3. Shax defeats Vitya; it was just a very inexperienced player.
4. Deidra vs. Deidra. A legendary mirror match. I didn't think that Afiron wouldn't know this mirror match.

Sinithar is trading with Orson! This is quite rare.

For Helmar, in addition to his usual spells (fire, vengeance, regeneration, mass light), I often had to cast Shock, and sometimes even Lightning and Meteor (for example, in a duel with Karl). Here's a replay that's relevant – in it, Helmar could have used crystals more effectively. And I was lucky with the mini-art on the Titans, and the opponent's overall tactics were not very good (he would have been better off defending). I probably shouldn't have thrown mines, but I thought I could blow up someone else besides the Jarls. By the way, Jalib's regeneration is very effective, despite the lack of a skill in light. Sometimes he manages to heal the Phoenix.
Ildaryk, thank you very much for the interesting posts. Axel's defensive tactics against Shaka are very revealing – the main damage was ultimately done by the archers.

Ora vs. ORA. Opponent: Wirtual_PL. The challenge in this battle was to quickly defeat the golems at the end. We lure them into the wall of fire, place a mark, and finish them off with crystals!

An interesting battle against Arximag1984. Garuna doesn't really stand a chance against Razazak, but if Razazak makes a few mistakes, things could change. P.S. I was playing as Razazak.

Why are the chances so low? In my opinion, there are plenty of them here; you just need a little luck. I'm not that strong in Razaz, but it seems to me that Garuna has the advantage.
And another match: Anwen versus Axel. Of course, the opponent didn't play very well, but where can you find players who play properly these days?

In my opinion, the Razazak - Garuna pairing is quite balanced, but there are random factors: Razazak's morale and mini-arts, Garuna's morale and luck, and the arena. On a moderately open terrain, Garuna is usually stronger, although sometimes Razazak's archers with high morale can manage to outshoot Garuna's most dangerous stacks before they gain rage.
We had a funny battle with erazial, and the finale turned out to be unexpected for both of us:smile07:

A very good game, both for Razazak and for Erathia. Everything is played correctly, with many good decisions. However, I would highlight a couple of Sorceresses for slowing down enemies or dealing punishing blows.

I tried to identify 10 of the most interesting and tactically rich matchups, and here's what I came up with: 10.) Vittorio - Anven - This pairing is much debated; currently, most believe Anven is stronger (I have a slightly different opinion). The dragons of Anven somewhat spoil the fun, as they are unpredictable and can wipe out half the army. Overall, with Vittorio, you need to be patient and fight to the end, even though it may seem hopeless at first. 09.) Ossir - Iris. This is the most popular pairing on the server due to its apparent simplicity, but there's still a lot to consider. 08.) Ravena - Deirdra. You have to try very hard to win with Deirdra, but it's worth it. 07.) Ravena - Letos. A pairing for true connoisseurs. 06.) Hagesh - Shaq Qarukat. You have to think about every move here. There are tactics and counter-tactics. Hagesh intimidates the wyvern for most of the battle. 05.) Marbas - Letos. It's a bit more challenging to play as Letos here. But both have many different spell combinations, which is interesting. 04.) Orson - Letos. This pairing is very appealing to me. Not everything is obvious in it. Letos casts Dominate and alternates slows. A lot depends on the amount of mana – 60 or 105 makes a difference. 03.) Vittorio - Axel. A classic. The hallmark of version 3.1. 02.) Vittorio - Ora. This pairing fought for 1st place but lost. To enjoy the game, you don't need to use Armageddon; I recommend setting aside some mages to remove magic and enjoy the tactics. 01.) Jallib - Vittorio. This is the leader in terms of battle complexity; you need to think seriously about it, for both sides. At the same time, the battle can end quickly, for example, when vampirism is transferred to the Rakshasa. So, the leaders in terms of complexity and tactics in my ranking are Vittorio and Letos. But you can argue about that... Pairs that I also considered but, for some reason, didn't make it into the top ten: Nimus - Vittorio, Nimus - Deleb, Nimus - Iris, Nimus - Orson, Nimus - Ravena, Nimus - Erin, Marbas - Orson, Marbas - Vittorio, Marbas - Letos, Deleb - Deirdra, Iris - Letos, Vittorio - Orson, Ravena - Shaq, Helmar - Anven, Helmar - Ossir, Carli - Anven, Carli - Ora, Carli - Nimus, Carli - Vittorio, Carli - Orson, Carli - Ravena, Ibba - Ossir, Ibba - Deirdra, Ibba - Jallib, Ibba - Marbas, Ibba - Axel, Ibba - Orson, Ibba - Deirdra, Ibba - Letos, Ibba - Nimus, Anven - Deirdra, Anven - Ora, Anven - Deleb, Anven - Iris, Anven - Deirdra, Anven - Garuna, Ossir - Carli, Ossir - Ora, Ossir - Letos, Deirdra - Razazak, Deirdra - Axel, Razazak - Ora, Razazak - Ravena, Razazak - Synitar, Razazak - Garuna, Razazak - Erin, Ora - Letos, Jallib - Nimus, Jallib - Garuna, Jallib - Marbas, Jallib - Letos, Jallib - Erin, Jallib - Synitar, Nimus - Marbas, Nimus - Iris

... a battle can also end quickly, for example, when vampirism is cast on the Rakshasa...

Doesn't the ability of mages to reflect magic onto a random target stack apply to positive spells cast on themselves, including the enhanced version of this ability that Jalib has as a specialty, with a higher probability of deflection, specifically into the enemy's stack?
As far as I remember, only Vitya could cast vampirism in this pair, and only on himself, so how would it be deflected and affect Jalib's Rakshasa?

Actually, in 3.1, there will be more interesting matchups than in 2.1 or 1.6. The mechanics of the fifth installment allow for finding tactics that the developers didn't even plan for. I agree with the list, although I didn't find a pair like Jalib-Dira, for example. That pair is old and overused, but still, or Jalib-Ayra. And there are too few Orcs. Surely, someone who knows how to use them best can find some decent and interesting pairings among the Orcs, for example, Shaka-Ora or Shaka-Sinit?
Regarding the reflection of Vampires, it's true; Vampires are reflected, and not only by Viti, but also by Leto and Jal.

Regarding the reflection of Vampire, it is indeed the case. Vampire is reflected, and not only by Vityaz, but also by Leto and Jalam.

To be more specific, is it only the 5th-level Vampire spell that is reflected? Or can all magic spells targeting a specific target, rather than an area, be reflected if the opponent is only Jalam (or any hero from the Academy with the Magic Mirror skill)?
And what about spells cast not by the hero, but by unit-casters?

So, I was trying to remember, but I just couldn't recall a specific instance of a vampire's spell being reflected back onto their own troops. I guess I'm getting old. I tested a Knight-Jalib: out of 19 attempts, the spell was reflected 7 times on humans and 1 time on mages. That's what I found.
Edit: Any single dark or chaos spell is reflected, by any mage with a mirror, with the probability described in the manual. It seems that Jalib's ability makes the probability of reflection on his own troops minimal.
Vampirism is an interesting spell from a mechanics perspective in Heroes 5. It's a dark magic spell, but it has a positive effect, so it can be "cleansed" by adepts and reflected by mages with a mirror.
I'll add a replay of the Jalib mirror match. It's interesting because it wasn't decided in the first 2-3 turns, but rather quite late in the game. And if the opponent hadn't made a few small mistakes, it would have gone to the endgame.

By the way, a question: which mirror matches do you find the most interesting? For me, Deidre-Deidre (it's a classic) and Iris-Iris are particularly interesting (strangely enough, it's not just about luck). Letos-Letos is also not bad, but the random amount of mana can take away the intrigue at the very beginning:( I know that the fairest mirror match is Ravenna - Ravenna, but I don't like it and I don't know how to play it:( And new replays: Orson - Carly: interesting use of the stun rune in combination with readiness, I underestimated it and paid the price, although I won in the end. Deleb - Shaq: it seems that Shaq should first cut the brood with a direct attack, and not the devils, then the victory will be his (this is in addition to other mistakes). Ibba against Viti on the Abyss: it seems my opponent forgot that Ibba has teleport.

Orson - Carli.
You were lucky with your opponent; first of all, the positioning was incorrect - leaving archers unprotected...
In normal games, I have never won with Orson against Carli, and I have never lost with Carli against Orson. Although, it was very unexpected for me. Everything depends on the runes.