In the log run magic missile will disappoint you. you have skinks of all types and salamanders to get rid of small and lighter unit's.
In 8th the easiest way to get red of enemy lord's is to break them in cc and run them down. So it's much better to hex enemy unit and upgrade your own. Life and Shadow have the best 2 spells for that.
the 2 lores have it all.
let's look at life.
Crowd control - 6th spell Dwellers, and shield of thorn's.
flesh to stone, and earth blood allows you to receive very few wound's, so you can win combat.
awakening is a MM.
throne just makes every thing better, and gives you immunity to miscast.
and regrowing your troops is just as a bonus, plus thanks to the ability to restore model's you unit's can be samller, thus you can have a greater number of harassment troops. And every time you successfully cast a spell you can heal you multi wound models.
Now Shadow
Miasma, reduces characteristic's - the most versatile spell in the game. it's uses are unlimited.
you don't want to get shot - d3 to BS, you need more hit's, and want your opponent to hit you on a 5+ -d3 to WS, you want to discourage your enemy from charging -d3 to M, reducing I helps in times you want to kill off you enemy before he gets a chance to strike, but Lizzies tend not to benefit form it all that much, but if your next spell is pendulum, then lowering I is nice. when reading the spell it's average, but in game terms it's gold.
stead of shadow's will allow your slan to be where you need him to be, which is away from harm, plus the lore attribute allows the slan to switch places with another infantry model, even when in cc.
enfeeblement -d3 to strenght, beautiful hex, if they cant wound you they cant win combat.
withering, T3 abomination is not that scary, plus wounding your opponent's elite infantry on an 2+, help's you win combat.
pendulum is good against monsters and war machines, especially Stank's. combined with stead of shadow's can be devastating.
pit of shades, a need's a little luck, but great crowd control, and can easily get rid of warmachines. will do more damage than any fireball will ever do.
having you LD stand in for S on saurus warriors is insane, even on skink's it's scary. it only work's better on DE black guard or Witch elves. This is one of those game winning spell's. your troops will tare through any thing with 2 attack's and strength 8.
What the shadow life combo gives you is the ability to take few wound's, and put out an incredible amount of damage. Giving your saurus warriors or TG the ability to take on any death star you opponent can think of.
Imagine reducing a 30 WoCh regiment strength by d3 and then casting dweller's.
what will happen to an opponent's unit if you reduce their T by at least one, just before landing a few salamander templates on them.
the the amount of deadly combinations that come out of these two lores is immense, and some tournament's will not allow you to use both these lores.
the problem with death is it's range and having your slan with in charge range is asking for trouble, and the fact that you cant depend on it to damage your opponent.
and with fire dwellers and pit can deal more damage than any thing fire can dish out, plus life and shadows have better hexes and augment spell's. not to mention the fact that they are more versatile, and that is the thing you want in a competitive environment.
Get in a few practice games and see how both options work for you.
only exception is Light , who fits good , but need diforent army list (cold ones and hero on naggas).
) since i try Shadow with lists with one slan (i had and engine) and i am curius to see how ll works with 2 slans.