Advantages of Mages over other races.

It's difficult to play as the Academy, starting with city development. It's no secret that even building mages requires 10 sulfur, which is problematic in itself at the beginning. So, in the first week, you can only build Gremlins and Imps. Building Golems is not profitable – you lose 5 crystals (or whatever that blue stuff is called) and can forget about your dreams of building a Djinn altar. I prefer to play as the Hive – it's the only hero who can realistically compete for resources at the beginning of the game; all the others are useless.
The advantage of the Academy is its mini-artifacts. By equipping your army with these items, you get practically terminators.