[Twan]

I was speaking about endgame, when high level spells and indies/summoned mages with interesting paths are available (and matrixes are forged if a communion is needed).

Acting first means the ennemy
- can't cast army of gold/lead or fog warriors, so will lose all mages without armors, and any low protection troop, against a few rain of stones or earthquakes (when your own will be protected by one of these spells)
- can't cast antimagic so enslave with a mage with penetration gear steals half his army (or other mass MR spell work as well)
- can't cast any resist spell so the high level 25+ squares AoE destroy any troop at range
- will have reduced effects for all spells his surviving mages may cast as you will have used antimagic, a mass protection spell, fog warriors, all resist spells you want, etc... before their first action