Posts from Discussion of the Academy faction (Mages and Wizards). Tactics and their specific features.

Couldn't resist, I registered just to write this.
The Academy is the strongest choice, if only because of the hero, Nura.
Practice has shown that the speed of her development is only slightly, but faster than that of Necromancers, or even more so, other races.

Spell Power is an excellent choice for any Academy hero, except for her. She doesn't need Spell Power; moreover, Nura without Spell Power is much stronger than Nura with Spell Power on a map with a Mentor.

Skills for the ideal development of Nura:

Advanced Enchantment -> Mana Restoration, Wisdom, Secret Revelation
Advanced Magic of Light -> Righteous Fury, Storm Wind, Blessing
Advanced Magic of Darkness -> Master of Pain, Master of Curses, Master of the Mind
Higher Education -> Unveiling Secrets, Scholar, Keeper of Secrets
Advanced Logistics -> Scouting, Keen Mind, Finding the Way
Advanced Artifact Mastery -> Wizard's Sign, Artifact Absorption, Magic Mirror

Key skills: Storm Wind, Master of the Mind, Keen Mind
With a couple of Gargoyles, you can defeat 1000+ Archdevils, Dragons, or Titans.
P.S. I play on Hero difficulty, and Guard is incredibly powerful. I have recordings of battles.
P.P.S. For fans of Hafiz, Orah, and Razzak:
Hafiz can start breaking through some Guard defenses a week earlier, but by the end of the month, he hits a snag. He doesn't have enough mana.
Orah – +1 to initiative, and only by level 20 – it's not that useful, and again, she doesn't have enough mana.
Nura is capable of restoring the entire army, even on the verge of defeat, and she is the only one who can provide mana for 8+ Hives, and the opponent will never be able to move.

Let's get started...

I'll analyze the creatures...

Goblins, Elder Goblins.
We won't get much use out of Goblins. Only Elder Goblins are useful because they can repair golems.
Conclusion: upgrade to Elder Goblins and use them to repair golems.

Gargoyles, Obsidian Gargoyles.
They aren't very useful. They mainly serve as a shield against ranged attacks.
Conclusion: no need to upgrade them; it's better to spend the money on something more useful.

Iron Golems, Steel Golems.
They are slow, that's true. But they are strong and durable enough for their level 3.
Conclusion: upgrade them. Not urgently, first get Mages, and then focus on upgrading.

Mages, Archmages. Their attacks go through everyone on the battlefield, and Magic Fist is also good. And if you upgrade them... Fireball... Archmage is worth the cost and fully pays for itself.
Conclusion: upgrade them. Definitely.

Djinn, Sultan of Djinn.
At first, they don't seem very strong, but with the upgrade, new abilities appear. Djinns are ambiguous in all aspects; they seem strong, but what can they do? Magic... and that's it... They aren't very strong in combat.
Conclusion: you can and should upgrade them. But sometimes Djinns aren't very necessary. There are cases where it's better to quickly deploy Rakshasa Princesses instead of messing around with Djinns.

Rakshasa Princess, Rakshasa Raja.
Many advantages and practically no disadvantages. It's almost too boring to describe them. All positives. Conclusion: upgrade them.

Colossus, Titan.
You need to upgrade the Colossus as quickly as possible because only the Titan can bring enormous benefits with its shots. The Colossus... doesn't shoot... Conclusion: upgrade it.

If anything, correct me...

And what about alt-greys?

I'll leave the discussion of alt-greys to other forum members. It would be interesting to hear the opinions of other players.