DE is horrible in a long war. They have to pay extra wages, they lose defense that they are perfectly incapable of replacing efficiently and 30% spell power is inferior to +1% mana in war. After you workout the numbers and see how people play up on top you will realise what you just said is complete utter nonsense.

And Zauper, hybrids are far from dead. I am quite sure 20 A/Ts can NS more of your ogres than your 5 T/Ms can on our elf lords/knights/whatever. It all depends on whether the provinces know how to build and manage their provs efficiently.