Flame portal is super strong, it's a blink for 4mp! It doesn't end your turn and lets you gain incredibly precious distance that can completely change a fight around. You can let enemies close in on you, and suddenly appear on the other side of the screen so they have to do it all again. For mages with limited maneuverability, it's a godsend.
Poison, fireball, and most two-handed weapons are bad, yeah.
I really like the fire wand late game. It's got some creative uses like blocking arrows, burning toxic clouds, removing some summoned walls, and the combination of AoE damage and some agro pull is very useful.