Who would you say is the best spell caster in the game?
Taking cost, range of spells at there disposal, Mastery level and any other special ability they possess?

If you include pts value and special rules, then the obvious answer is that Khamul is the best caster in the game, closely followed by other Ringwraiths eg the Betrayer and the Knight of Umbar, and Druzhag.

If pts value was not a factor, Saruman (both good and evil), Radagast, Galadriel, the Mouth of Sauron, Kardush, Gandalf and some of the Legendary Formations (The Council of Wizadry, the White Council, the Twilight Ringwraiths, the Nine are Abroad) would be better value.

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

Who would you say is the best good side caster?

Galadriel.

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

Or Saruman the White.

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"... Telchar wrought it in the deeps of time."
-On Andùril, The Lord of the Rings

What's the reasoning behind your decision? What makes them the best?

TH both have useful magic and very good spcial rules for a reasonable cost. Galdriel can kill HtK and VHtK monsters fairly easily and can give heroes Might, and if I'm not mistaken can heal too, among other things, and Saruman has healing spells as well, stops enemy charges etc. Radagast should be up there as well I think.

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

I'm sat looking through the book now and I think Gandalf looks better then Saruman, touched by destiny is huge wouldn't you say? And his blinding light looks good. Why can Galadriel kill HtK and VHtK monsters easily? What's she got that the others haven't to help in that way?

She can cast Visions of Woe on them after Sunder Spirit, its her closest spell to SfC. Some people say Gandalf is better, others say Saruman. Saruman's abilities are a little more powerful IMO.

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

Touched by Destiny is huge, but so are Spells of Ruin, and Voice of Saruman is quite nice as well. I think Entangle+Nature's Wrath, with Spells of Dismay and Panic Beast. Do that on a VHTK monster twice or thrice, and it'll be quite about useless.

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"... Telchar wrought it in the deeps of time."
-On Andùril, The Lord of the Rings

Touched by Destiny is huge, but so are Spells of Ruin, and Voice of Saruman is quite nice as well. I think Entangle+Nature's Wrath, with Spells of Dismay and Panic Beast. Do that on a VHTK monster twice or thrice, and it'll be quite about useless.[/quote]
Entangle & natures wrath and panic beast are spells of wilderness not dismay and Saruman doesn't have those spells, Radagast has them though!

What's the best way to protect your magic casters? Particularly on the good side as none of them have epic strike, because soon as they come into contact with an enemy formation they can easily get Dueled and killed?

Radagast is also a very good caster.

Non-ES maic casters (which are most of them) avoid ES duels with the following techniques 1. keep them constantly on the move so as to avoid entering combats against them. 2. Call heroic fights to force a roll-off between the duel and the heroic fight. 3. Cast spells which force heroes to use might to resist so they can't call a duel. 4. if they are a monster kill them first, 5. get a dueler hero to kill heir dueler heroes first.

Take your pick with the above.

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

Entangle & natures wrath and panic beast are spells of wilderness not dismay and Saruman doesn't have those spells, Radagast has them though![/quote]
I meant to explain why Galadriel is so good against monsters. I know they're not dismay, that's why mentioned them separately.

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"... Telchar wrought it in the deeps of time."
-On Andùril, The Lord of the Rings

I meant to explain why Galadriel is so good against monsters. I know they're not dismay, that's why mentioned them separately.[/quote]
I'm still not following what your saying, Galadriel cannot call entangle, panic beast and natures wrath, therefore she isn't good against monsters.

Wait, she doesn't have Wilderness? In that case, I'm mistaken, sorry.

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"... Telchar wrought it in the deeps of time."
-On Andùril, The Lord of the Rings

Galadriel can cast Sunder Spirit and Visions of Woe on a monster to kill them, just like a Wraith can. I accidentally placed Buhrdur too close to Galadriel in my last game and suffered the consequences. Gulavhar more than made up for it though.

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"I am the Flying Spagetti Monster. Thou shall have no other monsters before me"
-FSM.

So can Gandalf and Sauruman, so she's not better then those 2

Saruman is my favourite for access to Ruin - removing shields from your opponent is useful, he has Courage 7 (only Gandalf the White is equal off the top of my head) and 50% of charges at him don't work before rolling for the distance.

Depends what you need to use them for thought, really

Sauruman only has 3 might tho! I think touched by destiny is so good, that means over 8 Turns Gandalf can call 11 epic actions to Sauruans 3!!!