My level 25 sovereign and his level 8 trainee, in a fight against a Stalker with 12 attack, 0 defense, and 18 hit points (see image). I hit auto-play, my Sovereign uses his first two moves to cast Burning Blade, which he already has on himself as a strategic enchantment (though the trainee does not), and to cast Giant Form.

A few things are wrong here:

• The Sovereign has his full 121 hit points and can likely one hit, or at most two hit, the stalker to death combined with the following:
• The Sovereign has impulsive and a horse. He can reach the Stalker and get two attacks before it moves.
• Unmodified, Burning Blade is 10 mana and Giant Form is 15. Flame Dart is 14, my Sovereign has evoker and other caster traits out the ass, and I have 3 fire shards. One Flame Dart kills the Stalker, guaranteed, before it moves for less mana than the two buffs.
• My weaker level 8 trainee was already hurt going into the battle, so the Sovereign likely should have emphasized the fastest route to victory even more than normal.

Not a big deal in this game because I'm bringing in 50+ mana/turn. But the AI of auto-play definitely took a bad route to victory in the battle.