What's the consensus on two Lvl 2 casters vs one Lvl 4? Does the Lore matter a lot?
The only reason to take a Lv4 is if you want to run an offensive Magic phase of your own. If you're simply looking to play it defensively and stop your opponent from getting spells off, then a pair of Lv2's work fine. (give one of them a Dispel Scroll, and the other the Staff of Sorcery for the bonus +1 to dispelling)
What Lore you choose is more or less a personal preference and can really depend entirely on your actual list rather than like in 40k where certain Psychic Lores are just plain outright 'broken-good...'
Lots of people like Death for the character sniping spells, while it's also got a couple brutal Hexes, and the ability to run a near-never ending Magic phase thanks to the lore attribute. Purplefun of course is purely a giant middle finger to half the armies in the game as well.
However, you need to build your list around exploiting the abuses of Death magic to really make it worth your while. For example, the Ld-bombing potential of it is near pointless if you don't bring units with the Fear/Terror rules and/or their own unique Ld-effecting shenanigans. (such as Slaanesh Daemons who are utter b***ards with Ld nuking combos!)
Likewise, against the likes of Elves who have naturally high initiative and fewer characters, Death is massively gimped when compared to other lores such as Shadow, (which can neuter their movement + helpful hexes + Mindrazor FTW), or Light, (augments can counter elves' natural elite stats & ASF), or even Fire, (lots and lots of S4 damage spells vs. those T3 pansies)
Other times, you can build your entire army around exploiting the augments of a particular Lore, such as the High Elves ability to combine a nasty gunline with the Everqueen & Lore of Light... Or else an all cavalry army built around the Lore of Beasts, etc...
Magic Lore choice in Fantasy is definitely a lot more tactical & list dependant, unlike 40k where you can just roll up Invis and break the game.
