The handful of decisions that get you to top 4.

Spend HP like a second wallet: bleeding to 50–60 to grow your economy is fine, but never coast under ~30 without a plan to stabilize. Take the safe top-4 line over the greedy gamble for 1st unless you're clearly the strongest board.

Fill the board to your level cap every round (level 6 = 6 units). Three copies combine into a 2-star (~1.8× stronger), so favor one 2-star over two extra 1-stars.

Tanky units on the front rows to soak hits; squishy ranged units and your main carry in the back row, tucked in a corner so enemies reach them last.

Combine components into finished items now instead of hoarding for the 'perfect' one. Put attack-damage items on an auto-attacker, ability-power items on a caster, and stack all three on one main carry before itemizing anyone else.

Every 10 gold you hold earns +1 free gold next round, capped at +5 once you reach 50. End early rounds on a clean 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 — never an ugly 7 or 13. Race to 50 safely, then spend only the overflow above it.

Each round, glance at the lobby: who's fielding your units (you share that pool, so your copies are scarcer), and who you fight next (if their board is much stronger, expect damage and consider stabilizing).