Posts from Is there a need for a HotA tournament? Auto-translated

I don't know about Cassiopeia; she seemed like the weakest link in the list of possible starters to me.

It depends on the deck. You're probably right for HL+U, but on smaller decks where you need to play quickly, she's perfect.

And if you participate, but it's better to play in tournaments on SoD, what should you press?

If you participate, what's the point of playing in tournaments on SoD?

Click anyway! :D

While I haven't fully tested Cassiopeia outside of Jebus Cross yet, I can say one thing for sure in that context – there is fundamentally no better hero. She's essentially the same as the Behemoth, except with Troglodytes that have 10 speed. The double-Griffin Conservatory on 112 falls with the loss of a few single units; in the worst case (with morale), you soak up losses from Sailors/Pirates + from the 3rd hero. The top damage against Griffins with Bless is 520+. The max-level Zephyr Mage wrecks 111 with only a few single units lost. And I'm talking about a level 0 hero with the starting army – just a buyout + 2 heroes from the tavern. Even the Behemoth, to achieve the same tempo, would need at least to level Offense and be in the Dungeon. And considering he got nerfed in HotA, Cassiopeia is simply an arch-hero. The comparison with Ignatius doesn't work – Cassiopeia has Offense in addition to Tactics, which makes a huge difference. And again, the main point – 10 speed on native terrain. With Tactics, that's 13, so even shooter blocks are no obstacle at all. Based on the combination of factors, she is unambiguously the strongest hero. If we're talking about HL+U, then initially the units the hero specializes in matter for tempo, and later – the hero's level-up progression. And Cassiopeia's level-up progression is simply brilliant, considering her starting skills. That's my take on it for now ;).

The thoughts are correct; Cassiopeia is designed for this style of play, and she gains a lot of tempo in "her own" scenarios.

The problem starts in "not her own" scenarios, where one careless move or bad morale can result in losing half a stack. Also, you can't take nymphs into Dragon Utopia-hives, nor into many ГО either.

Which of these outweighs the other requires tests in real games; it is difficult to evaluate this mentally.

In my tests for Jebs, Corkes showed the best results — he starts off mediocrely, but as he gathers 6-7lvl caches and canned meat (which is even more convenient for him to carry through swamps) and levels up, he quickly becomes a beast.

However, these were tests from a time when zephyrs and workshops didn't exist yet. With them, Cassiopeia's position definitely improves.