Since I was in a similar situation a year back, I thought maybe some of my experiences while transitioning from LGoH to GoW may prove useful to others (even if I’ve been out of touch with LGoH for a year). 
First and foremost: while both are match-3 games, they are very different in multitude of aspects, and thus it is advisable not to let the initial constant comparing (graphics quality, lack of diagonal swipes…) get in the way of discovering all that GoW has to offer. GoW is infinitely more casual for those who seek a slower pace, while allowing the competitive crowd to go all out in whichever events they prefer.
Either way, as soon as you’re familiar with GoW’s basics and board, you should probably change your game speed in settings to x4 and try to join an active guild that matches your gameplay style.
GoW is a polar opposite of LGoH in one main aspect that you’re all probably very familiar with (since it’s one of the main reasons players periodically leave LGoH): power creep. Here, you will be able to reliably use troops that were released years ago, be it in specific events or even in your casual daily tasks. I have found this to be an important indicator of how long I will be able to commit to a game, since my past investments are not rendered virtually useless within a few weeks.
If you’re familiar with Sniperweed and Alex at the LGoH forums and are not particularly thrilled at how they treat the playerbase, you may probably want to explore these forums a little before setting your expectations: you will find the GoW moderators’ and devs’ SOP by lurking a little, especially any official news threads. You will then have to decide on your own how much time you wish to invest on potential interactions with them based on your observations, and this will hopefully save you some frustrations due to any misplaced expectations (I became mostly a lurker once a specific dev decided to start deleting comments [Not a Bug] Great Maw + Copycat bug but they also show signs of improving/streamlining their processes when they find something to be suboptimal Changes to bug reporting ). Bottom line: absorb as much as you can so you can decide how much time/effort/resources you can invest to maximize your enjoyment.
You’ll learn the ins and outs through practice, and even though it is tricky to take on bigger opponents until we get a few solid Legendary cards, persistence will get you there sooner or later, and the ride can be super enjoyable: after slightly more than a year of play, I have just crafted Dawnbringer and Zuulgoth, and I am still enjoying the game like I did from the start (possibly a little more, since I have more troops to play around with), so here’s to hoping many of you can find a long-term home in GoW.
Feel free to ask forum-dwellers for advice whenever needed, since you’ll likely find that the community is passionate and helpful!
no matter the struggle of a new beginning we will face it all together and they r worth the trouble … all heavy gamers and super kind hearted ppl … we play hard and we laugh even harder 
the guild is already at 13 ppl … opening 1 by 1 each position… they already love Gow and play hard and took it from the dead last position 13k positions upwards 
I appreciate ur welcoming very much as it was difficult for us to find that the game we loved so much became unplayable 
