I've seen an AI Lich do pretty good as an SC, but I seriously doubt the AI decked out a pretender in all the gear necessary to be really lethal and then got killed by an Arrow. What kind of pretender did you kill with it? If it was a Wyrm or dragon, I'm impressed
As far as good early-game non-battlefield spells are concerned, I'm usually partial to site-searching (Dark Knowledge, Voice of Aspu, the Thaummaturgy 2 ones). Not flashy I know, but it gets you a boost in your gem economy for the big enchantments and emergency summons.