[chrispedersen]

My opinion:

1: Mad dash for indies.
2: Initial expansion, against opponents still using national armies, but increasingly supported by spells.
3. Transition to endgame where armies are mostly superflous - pawns of play against the SC's and uber mages that have become de rigeur. Characterized by wishes, master enslaves, tartarian factories.

In the first phase - your pretender is an asset.
Towards the end - you're protecting your pretender.

Interesting Game idea: Disable Call God. When your pretender dies.. you're out!