[AreaOfEffect]

Communions is one way to boost the effectiveness of the Nahualli. Another is to cast Light of the Northern Star. I find that being boosted to astral 2 opens up many doors that are all very low on the research tree. Paralyze, Mind Blast, and Stellar Cascades are you mainstays. Combine Light of the Northern Star with a reverse communion boosted with Power of the Spheres and you can have over a dozen flying S3N3 mages who can all survive at least one stray missile by changing forms.

Still, I can't argue with brute efficiency. The Mictlan Priest is indeed a more then worthy commander. I would never underestimate this strategy simply because I myself wouldn't use it. There is also room for something in between. After you've built your second castle, switching to Nahualli to shore up your battle magic while using the priests to power the research would likely be a the better of both worlds.

Edit: Agema, there are plenty of uses for the A1 mages when given the right research. They can be used to protect you back lines using a combination of Aim and Orb Lightning. Phantasmal Warrior can also be surprisingly effective when spammed. Going back to Aim, they make decent candidates for some of the magic ranged weapons, especially with a water bless. Finally, when you cast storm you can easily upgrade them all to A2 mages, which screams lightning bolts. Note that storms can be really helpful in protecting you jaguar warriors and moon warriors from arrow fire.