Magi

Magi- AKA the Magical Strategy Game! This is a freeware game for the PC, available at Getmagi.com, wherein you play, well, a Magi.

This game contains examples of:


 * Awesome but Impractical - A few of the higher level spells are like this, the biggest offender being Dispel- Sure, it SOUNDS powerful- (Nuking everyone's spells and summons, as well as reducing everyone's non-blue channels to 0), but you need to open all seven of your own blue channels to cast it, has a relatively high casting cost, and it only works half the time.
 * Awesome Yet Practical - Conjur Meteor. The highest level red magic spell, it's exactly as powerful and useful as it sounds.
 * Beam Spam - Anyone can do this with Magic Missile and a high enough Incantation stat, but The Sorceress has this as an explicit ability of hers. This can be a surprisingly effective strategy.
 * Black and White Magic - To be specific, it comes in Red (Attack spells), Blue (Defense Spells), Green (Summons), and Black (Curses).
 * Boring but Practical - Magic Missile. Everyone has it, but given it's decent attack power, and low casting cost, you can expect it to be the single most frequently cast spell in your repertoire, regardless of class/build.
 * Combat Medic - The Dryad
 * Dangerous Forbidden Technique - Doombolt. It has 110 power, it's the only spell that carries damage over from your opponents shields and summon to him, and it casts rather quickly. The downside is, it saps a decent chunk of HP every time you cast it...
 * The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard - Sure, the "Ball of Power" may have been closer to your opponent than you, but sometimes they'll still open all seven red channels then chain-cast Meteors at you when the best you have is Fireball at your disposal.
 * Crippling Overspecialization - This is a game that rewards being well-rounded. Sure, making a character with Resistance 1 and all the other stats pumped high might SEEM like a good idea at first, but without at least some well-roundedness your strategy will most likely not work... Want to be a Glass Cannon or Mighty Glacier? Alright, but it's your funeral...
 * Death Is a Slap On The Wrist - Dying only takes 2 or 3 extra years off your in-game time limit, unless you're playing on one of the more difficult settings...
 * Dynamic Difficulty - As you do better, your opponents will scale up slightly faster. If you lose, your opponents will scale down.
 * Power Levels - Never explicitly available for viewing, but before each match you and your opponent will play a quick game of "Magical Tug O War"... The closer the glowing blue ball is to you, the stronger your opponent is compared to you.
 * Save Scumming - Fully possible, and you might want to given the difficulty of this game, and the fact it autosaves after each difficulty...
 * Squishy Wizard - Averted, as even with average stats you (and the other wizards) can withstand being shot, poisoned, punched by golems, and set on fire repeatedly over the course of a battle. This is further averted by the mages who have "Resistance" as their Edge/Specialty stat. They're practically Made of Iron.
 * Status Buff - Blue magic gives you these. Black Magic is the school you want for DE-buffs.
 * Sucking-In Lines - While no spell gives this specifically, each spell has a different charging effect and you WILL learn to fear certain ones. (Including the large blood-red patch of fog that rolls in over the battlefield when your opponent is summoning a Demon.)
 * Summon Magic - Although in this case they behave more like Attack Drones, with their action frequency (and power) determined by your Communion stat.
 * Who Wants to Live Forever? - With the easy answer of "Me!". The entire game is more or less you preparing for your final battle against "The Death". If you win, you become immortal. If you lose, Death claims your soul. Either way, you have to roll a new character.