Ultra-high IQ Starting Wizards and Mortality

[Shostak]

So, after once again seeing a post extolling the virtues of maximizing IQ in starting wizards, I decided to run such a figure against the sort of figure I've usually seen people choosing. Here are the adversaries:

Smartypants
ST 6
DX 9
IQ 17
MA10
Spells & Talents: Literacy, Staff V, Confusion, Clumsiness, Blur, Reveal Magic, Turn Missiles, Staff to Snake, Control Animal, Destroy Creation, 3-hex Fire, Sleep, Illusion
(Because Smartypants has such low ST, spells chosen due to their low casting cost while still giving options for both offense and defense.)

Ms. Wallflower
ST 11
DX 12
IQ 9
Spells & Talents: Literacy, Staff, Clumsiness, Fire, Summon Wolf, Turn Missiles, Reveal Magic, Blur, Image

I've run ten duels between these figures in a standard Wizard arena. Ms. Wallflower's tactic is to step forward summon a wolf or illusion of a wolf (1-3 & 4-6 on 1d6, respectively) into as distant a hex as possible at her earliest opportunity. Smartypants's tactic is to cast Staff to Snake as quickly as possible and to attempt disbelieve any creation on a roll of 4+ on a d6. In every singe duel, Wallflower has triumphed. This usually happened by then end of round 4. The only times it even came close to a victory for Smartypants was when Wallflower cast an illusion instead of a summoned wolf and then had it disbelieved. The next closest chance for a Smartypants victory was when the snake-staff took out a wolf and Wallflower was weak from two spell failures, but a second wolf dispatched the feeble Smartypants in HTH. There were some duels in which a silver dagger "staff" would have probably turned the tide in HTH with the wolf, but I did not allow any such bling as it would be unlikely to be available to most starting figures.

The limited data from these admittedly somewhat scripted duels suggests that any utility of a figure like Smartypants is limited to non-hazardous duty situations. I might try running some combats with more figures on each side, to see if the Smartypants type gives any long-lasting benefit to their side. But I doubt they will.

If you run any duels using a Smartypants type (feel free to choose whatever spells you want) please share your experience in a reply.