[triqui]

I don't get the massive love for Vengeance of the Dead in these parts. It's only useful in a very limited set of circumstances. In this case it's strictly inferior to Mind Hunt in every way. (Significantly harder to cast and a succesful cast isn't a sure kill - remember, we're facing the Aegis here, so the pretender will need to have accumulated a massive amount of kills to succumb to the turn timer - I am assuming the pretender isn't protected by S mages here: Since the pretender is moving every turn, any astral mages used to keep him safe would be left stranded and easy prey. [Barring stealth-capable S mages, but we're getting really far into counter-counter-counter territory here...])

The Aegis is the key difference. Other than that single artifact (or the Gorgon Pretender), it's better than mind hunt in every aspect, assuming you can cast both. It's harder to counter, has no backfire aspect, only needs a single MR fail (opposed to Mind Hunt, which need two), and, the best part of it, requires Thau 4, instead of two paths at 5/6. Depending on your nation, S3D1 is easier to have than S4 mages, and you can have potentially higher penetration with a high Astral mage. A S9 mage will get +3 bonus to Vengeance, and +2 to Mind Hunt.

In this particular situation, yes, Mind hunt is probably better, assuming he does not have S1 mages protecting him, becouse he has bassically the only item in the game that does not become VotD a insta-kill. But overall, VotD is a incredibly powerful spell against SC, and it's cast only at Thau 4.