How to play for Tidefall

I got the game on release and played the first game and other 4x games too, but I am a bit lost how to correctly play around the tidefall.

So in my last 3 game attempts it basically ended up so that I got like 3 territories on the west or east side and the other faction got the other 3 or 4 on the other side.
Perfectly balanced as all things should be.

But after the new land gets revealed I kinda got stuck. The enemy had their first 2 territories in such a way that they completely cut me off from the main landmasses.
I still got some coast, but until the second tidefall the other factions could expand and even claim some wonder (not sure if thats the right name)

This seems kinda luckbased. The only options I see are:

1. Conquer, which is pretty difficult depending on the faction matchup
2. Hope you can sneak a scout unit through, which is possible but runs the risk of just getting block or else by the other player

Any tips on how to play this?
Mostly for Aspects or Tahuk

PS: The game otherwise just hits this amazing spot