I can't speak well for anyone else. I'm something of a stickler for making books/decks/teams on my own and only occasionally letting others' personal opinions on what is normal prevail. I believe the word for that is obstinate...
That aside, my book runs with creatures being an absolutely all important first second and third line of offense. In comparison to Jamillia, my mage runs and hides. I don't get in people's face to curse or drain soul. My trick is a well placed teleport into the horde. With that in mind, if I've gotten close to the enemy mage or his creatures, I've messed up or am about to play the game as carefully as I can. That one dispel and dissolve are there only to radically realign the scales, not to shift them a little bit at a time.