Warning: I'm just rambling, trying to gin up conversation.
I've played a good number of mini games and i must say, I really like magic in lotr sbg. The majority of mini games treat magic as either magic nets, a la immobilize and/or colorful arrows a la magic missile. I've got to hand it to gw. The spells they use for lotr sbg are very flavorful. Yes, they have the same generic net and missile spells, but the missile spell at least has a burst effect. Their other spells are very useful too. Who doesn't like bright light (immediately make all archers horrid? Yes please), or nature's wrath (banana peels for everyone
). I almost wish there were more magic users, however, that would eliminate the one thing i like most about lotr's view of magic. Pervasive, yet limited in scope.
The world of middle earth in oozing magic, yet gandalf does not blast holes in mountains a la DBZ or DnD. It's just great!