Phoenix/1.03

Phoenixes are basic fliers. The Phoenix is the most useful basic flier around and both High and Wood Elves rely heavily on them. The reason is purely because they have the ability to convert mines, something which is usually only done by a race's General or your Hero. However, they are also limited to just the Elven races.

Dark Elves
Their combat capabilities may be underwhelming but their ability to convert buildings can really give you an edge over your enemy. Normally you would have to rely on your Hero or General, but being produced at tier 2 allows the Phoenix to take on this task while your Hero attends to other matters. Flocks of these can give you almost complete map control.

Benefits from Black Ward research.

High Elves
The Phoenix helps the Elves make up for the lack of mine fillers with their ability to convert buildings. Fortunately for the High Elves, they also have access to the Income and Trade skills that can help bolster the usefulness of what ever mines they do capture. So if they are struggling to control the map, they wont be falling behind too quickly. Outside of their ability to convert, the Phoenix has no other purpose - its combat capabilities are poor and it can't take many hits at all. Once the High Elves have established a strong foot hold of the map, they can send their Phoenixes to early retirement.

Benefits from Healing and Holy Relic researches.

Wood Elves
The Phoenix serves a very important role for the Wood Elves by converting mines. Typically, the Wood Elves suffer from an utterly terrible economy that's made worse by not having access to any mine filling units. As such, they need to rely on the raw income of the mines themselves - forcing them to claim as many as they can. Being able to convert buildings is one useful trait, but being able to fly makes it that much more useful. By being a flier, the Phoenix can ignore terrain and reach those un-guarded mines much quicker than a land based converter would, giving the Wood Elves a bit more much-needed time to get themselves together.

Combat wise, the Phoenix is down right terrible. Even a full flock of them wont achieve much and will struggle to take down a mine-defending tower in the middle of the map. Therefore it's pointless to build more than a few at once. Late game you can pair them with Griffons or / and Sprites to clear the area around a mine, allowing the Phoenix to safely capture the building without the threat of a random enemy tower forcing them to turn back.

Benefits from Eagle Eye and Healing researches.