[Ewierl]

A or S are big benefits for the Gorgon, for Cloud Trapeze/Teleport. No amount of flying strat move is as valuable as the ability to pop in before army movement... if she's flying, you have to anticipate enemy movements, but if you jump her with rituals,

Similarly, having her Awake is key- she's a huge boon to early-game expansion and rush attacks. Therefore, you can't afford to get S/A very high... and low Astral is a surefire way to get killed by Mind Duels in MP. Therefore, I prefer Air. (I have actually seen the AI send a lone mage with mind duel in SP, shockingly; they won't do it consistently/spamming though.)

My favorite is E4,A4,N4; Dom 9; Turmoil-3 Sloth-3, Growth-2 Luck-2, Drain-2. You get magic screwed in late game with the Drain, but you can often expand hard enough early to make it worthhile.

This build doesn't do a lot with the sacreds, though you might recruit a handful- your early expansion is mainly Gorgon, especially if you spend turn 1 building her a Hide Shield for your initial 5N gems. The main reason for A4 instead of A2 is to build crucial Air boosters and Staff of the Elements.