How long before venturing online?

Hi everyone,

This was my fav game over 15yrs ago and I have just bought definitive edition at the age of 33yr to relive it again! I used to play only deathmatch and really loved big 3v3s on maps like oasis.

Anyway... I have just restarted and on twitch it seems no one really plays deathmatch anymore. Is this true?

It seems random map with the map unexplored is the way I should play the game now, as scouting, drush / frush etc are all essential tactical components of the game.

So my question: after about a week I have just been spamming Britons - I really like mass archers... still I struggle to beat the computer on moderate / hard 1v1 and esp 2v2 - my comp ally always gets over-run. The comp seems to rush ASAP @ Castle Age and often they have such a lot of military even when I’m following strict Briton archer rush builds for example...

So, do I keep plugging away at this until I consistently can beat it 1v1 / 2v2 or even 2v1 on hard before venturing online or is the gameplay so different that I should just get online and accept my rank will be low until I’m more skilled?

Thanks in advance. :)