[PvK]

I'm with thinktank on this. Sages are good, but you're not "already screwed", except by that very outlook.

Sages are not fundamentally better than other good provinces of many other types. Sages help research a lot, but they can be made up for in other ways.

Sage provinces can be taken from enemies, or fought over by multiple enemies who think they are super-important to have. They can also be hit by Fires From Afar, assassins, etc.

PvK