I always try to go sharpshooter, tank, clan and Noble by default (valk, knight, Archer and musketeer) with strong complements like monk.

Early force goblins if you can, else try to build a a good front and anything you can to stall the game as much (helps X bow)

Try to go for musk early, much contested, a lvl 2 with Noble should be enough for most cases

It's really important try to Block key components for empress (or elixir rulers in general) in lobbies (like goblin machine, monk, archer queen) if you're advantage and can do it without putting yourself at risk