[Ink]

With reverse communions you can have more mages in the communion actually casting spells, however in this case there is no communion fatigue reduction, and the slaves don't get boosted in their paths. What they do get is simply the buffs the masters cast on themselves. Thus, if a simple buff (such as earthpower) on all your mages would provide sufficient power/fatigue reduction to handle casting a desired spell, then it might be a better option than a normal communion.

A specialized type of reverse communion is the linebacker communion. The mechanic is the same: every slave gets whatever self buffs the masters cast. However now the idea is to turn a bunch of mages into thugs: have masters buff up with Invulnerability, Mistform, Regen, Quicken Self, Personal Luck, Twist Fate, and whatever else. Then a bunch of fragile mages suddenly become very difficult to kill. Masters can even retreat the battlefield once they cast their buffs, removing them from harm way, and the effect on the slaves continues (interestingly, the masters don't share all the buffs, they only get whatever they had cast).

I'm just waiting to see the Bogarus linebacker communion strategy: they are ripe for it. Maybe even better are the R'lyehs of all ages: all their mages are high hp and boast life drain.