My experience ain't much - but I'll weigh in my two cents just for the fun of it
. Some random points:
1) The additional 1 fire for the Master smith is quite critical because it gives you access to "Magma Bolt", "Magma Eruption" and forging "Elemental Armor". All are very useful.
2) Rainbow mage works only when you play with non-aggressive players. You need the help of the pretender for early expansion in most games - even for Ulm. If you need to add variety to the standard Ulm theme, it's better to pick a durable pretender with Blood, Death or Nature on it.
3) I don't think that IF is very weak. The Mastersmith is nice but the additional magic variety from the Black Priest could be a big boost. And they're cheap and could be built anywhere. If you could get Earth Boot, and have some lucky pick (not very hard because the Priests are cheap), you won't lose that many spells. As SurvivalistMerc said, you can always get "Blade Wind" with Earth Boot and "Summon Earth Power", not hard with the large Earth Gem income for Ulm.
4) I don't think IF should pick drain 3.
Drain 1 is too much
. The nation points is attractive but the research will be too slow.
5) Black Templars are fun for SP but seem to be expensive to be practical. I'll be happy to be proved wrong on this...