Me, too. I never run for gold units and I won many times vs them.
Indeed, you are correct OP. Personally, I win almost all of my matches with no Gold units, but with many synergies.
However, this is kind of "old-school". Currently, for the past couple patches, the META is about building early Gold units, and this has been buffed - ALMOST to the point where the early Golds are worth more than their balanced re-sell value.
Gold T1 units should NOT theoretically be able to carry matches (that's why they are worth only $5). We're getting close to where they can...
...
Dude, you actually HAD TWO Golds on your team. I take 1st place about a dozen times/week with 0 Gold units.
It's not easy. It IS fun.
lol !! you just got lucky with your items i bet you got a bunch of
in your auto attackers