Interesting  subject.

I once won against a  player with much higher influence than me, and wondered how I'd done it. Recently I lost against an equally advanced player with  much lower influence.

Firstly, did they have lots of T1s ,and where there different kinds? 

Secondly, did you win these level 6 troops, or purchase them, or build them yourself after unlocking them? A post elsewhere  says unlocked troops have no resilience .

Thirdly, what about Hero equipment?

Fourthly, did you attack a tile or a town? Attacking a town ,may have given time for  a change of Hero equipment, or the addition of boosts  against you and for the defender, which may have been previously added  before resource collecting from a tile.... A trap ?in either case possibly.

Lastly, if you have one, look at the battle report to see where you fell short on statistics

JWILLIAMS won’t have a battle report since they lost.

I definitely smell a trap.

Seems I learned something today.

I thought not having a battle report was something to do with the different levels between opponents and knowledge bonuses from the oracle. 

It does don't explain how I won against a stronger opponent though