general tips n tricks for new players

[Arilian]

I do not like glory. They eat up a lots of runes and they are not needed as i always run around the first few islands and start with 1k+LDS anyway.

Concentration is great early for mages, it is way more easier to get medals even if the spells are weaker.

Less is More - with mage you probably do not need 5 stack of units. Try get a good lvl 5 unit, if you are out of luck you can get an Emerald Dragon wihouth fight for sure. (rusty anchor where you need 50/50/50 troops for the bandit)
If you get at least order 2 +heal it will never die, no loss victories garanteed and you have an easy way to get medals.

Until you have 1900 LDS for the dragon it is indeed a good idea to start woth 5 inquisitor, however i think it is best to go to scarlet get the archmages from the small island (hopefully 4) and spam shield with them. Very eays and early medals garanteed with this method. You can also push troops into traps...

Later with a mage I have found the best way to kill is to use fog+fire rain.
Less is more is still applied - if you use 2-3 stack of dragons in mid game it is like the enemy do not have melee units as they never get them. You can easy outheal ranged and enemy heroes so no loss also granted by this. Make sure you have enough mana/regen.