1) Clearly signaling my intent to my teammates is more important than everything else combined. Reclaiming my factory and commander is a strong signal, of comparable value to the actual metal sent.
2) While I'd planned my build ahead of time, I didn't adjust it for the need to grab an out-of-the-way mex by emergency building a Conjurer. The mex could've been safely taken a good 30s earlier. I should consider this whenever I'm committed to keeping my Commander at home.
3) Following 2, I started reclaiming my Commander too early, losing its inherent value during the period before my second Conjurer returned for no increase in net income.
4) I took too long to figure out my combat squad was unmonitored by enemy radar and start posturing inside regular vision. The pressure of even two visible Ronin on the enemy flank turned out to be important for holding the center.
5) The two Ronin one Reaver army was about as good at pressuring and holding ground as my recent performance with large armies, but at much less cost.
6) The fact that I plopped Cloaky meant that, from the opponent's PoV, it was more likely that I had a hidden ambush than that I only had three fighting units ever, and this was likely a major factor in rendering kworon8's army ineffective at pressuring us even after I was out of fighting units. My teammates, meanwhile, knew exactly what was up.
7) This strat clearly overperformed and I should integrate factory reclaiming into my regular gameplay. It would've been better to donate the commander, though, or to reclaim it somewhat later.
8) The general mechanism by which this strategy worked was that it limited the magnitude of mistakes I could make.