What about changing Pretenders way of act?

[Cohen]

I noticed common troops become more and more worthless, ended the first expansion their sake is Pretender Fodder.

Pretenders are too often used as super warriors to destroy all and everything til they duel with another Pretender.

So on why not reducing the power of the Pretenders, perhaps enhancing magic skills ... ie: only them can cast Global Enchantments, certain magic item are forgeable only by them and so on ...

The Super Combatant is always a strategy ... take a good general (whichever a summoned one, a national hero or other) and equip it a lot ... use wisely the prophet to pump an SC ...

I'll bring you a confrontation with a well known figure. Lord of the Ring Sauron ... he reached the power to forge a mighty ring, and he's almost immortal ... he could be a "Pretender" in the Tolkien world ...
Since the first war, the one where he lose the ring, he goes in battle only when the enemy is under his own keep ...
He has power and magic and practice them by his keep ... he's elite emissaries like nazgul, and armies like Orcs and other evils which are all of them sent to conquer and obtain the power he needs.
So the Pretender would never move from his keep, nor teleport away and so on ... like the Sphinx.

I think this a figure of a pretender ...
This will keep worthing troops, leaders, economy, and not play a game based on a single piece called pretender that can crush entire armies.
Magic too makes troops meaningless after some turns ... if on play with standard research.