[Torin]

Your enemy is the best teacher.
But conquering 2 provinces and pumping PD require some more basic explanations.
I think that you must at least be able to beat the AI before you go into MP.
Thats a good start.

Perhaps if you want a challenging game the best way is organizing one yourself and inviting known players (known to you).

Not only bad players ruin games. Theres other annoying things like friends joining a game and being allied from the start.