[Xietor]

Again, if you are Ulm and facing an elephant rush you need your pretender to fight, not forge etc. and solar rays can be researched very quickly. And the pod cannot stand up to solar rays.

That is why, in my humble opinion, the best pretender for withstanding an early elephant rush is Father of Winters. D magic is easy to tie in to. you do not really have to have a death pretender to end up with tartarians in the endgame.