What's the issue? Provinces 10+ use 3* troops so long as you're advanced enough.
Round 1 doesn't change the stars. It just means you face fewer opponents than your SS
Heavy Melee should go through that especially if you have Valorians Valors.
Look..
a) this is Fairies. Not even all of my basic troops are 3* yet.
b) Yes, it does. I have NEVER had 3* frogs in Fairies. Ever. Last week I had the same amount of frogs. 2* frogs.
c) Please don't insult me with unwarranted and wrong advice. I understand how combat works. In my chapter 1* Valorians are vastly inferior to 2*+ Paladins. Plus, the 3* Frogs have a different magic effect that is devastating to slow moving Melee units.
Conclusion is this: I am losing literally double the troops I lost in the last crystal tournament without having advanced a chapter or researched any additional troop size since then. Which makes doing tournaments in mid-Chapters forbiddingly expensive.
Would be nice if Inno could stop assuming that everybody has a Fire Phoenix. Would also be nice if high level players could stop assuming that mid-level players are idiots.
Edit: I just realised I failed to mention in which chapter I am in the previous post so please subtract 5 levels of grumpiness from this post because your answer was based on missing information from my side. Apologies.