ME Mictlan

[Baalz]

Hmmm, loath as I am to join the group clamoring "<my_favorite_nation> is totally nerfed!" I must admit I have a hard time figuring out anything useful to do with ME Mictlan...they just seem significantly weaker than Mictlan of either the other two ages. They lose all the best things Mictlan has going for it (the best bloodhunters in the game, good cross path blood mages, cheap holy researchers) and in exchange gain...Coutails? I'm at a loss to find any really good use for this flying 3N 3S mage, as in something to build a strategy around. No real effective battle spells, no terribly interesting summons, not even any really cool items to forge. Other than the Coutail all the mages are now single path and not terribly strong, though at least (I think) they're not old anymore.

So, how to play this nation effectively? About the only option seems to be to go for a bless strategy, and good luck once the research race heats up...

It seems to me pretty clear cut that ME Mictlan is not as powerful as they are in the other two eras, obviously you'd need to play them quite differently without the blood magic... can somebody smarter than me can see a devastating way to play them?