In my eyes realizing that time is working for you and using this knowledge as a strategie is absolutely a viable option to play and win a mage wars game.
Besides that I am not a huge fan of that progression that games tend to last longer and longer. But this is not a players problem, it is a design problem. Or better it is a problem for me with the design. I hardly find time to play games in my life, and the longer they last, the harder it gets.
I really hope future releases will add more cards to counter long-game mechanics. That would make the game more playable for me. I guess also that composition organizers would be happy, too.
I still love the game as it is by the way...
But as it is now, if it is a plan to win over time - go for it! It's part of the complexity of the game and has to be used