I'm actually pretty happy with the pretender I picked, but thought it might be interesting to post the potential pretenders that people didn't take and consider how the game might have gone. Here's the Sauromatia you're not going to have to fight:
Awake Vampire Queen F2 W9 E1 D9 B2
Dominion 3
Order 0
Production 1
Cold 3
Death 1
Misfortune 2
Drain 3
Man, I love the bless, that would have been naaaaasty with Sauro's sacred cavalry. Unfortunately they're cap only and a dominion of 3 would make unlocking that potential very difficult. As much fun as having an immortal slugger of such proportions (ironskin, fire shield, quicken self, life drain + fear & high defense) I think I'd spend the whole game lamenting the lack of dominion to use her in. And drain 3! That's not a scale you often see, particularly with heavy misfortune (gem loss events are common...yuck!) which also stacks with the death scale (pop loss events common...yuck!)
Certainly fits the description "AI made beast" to a T!
