Its certainly mainly a matter of playing style.
I rarely take VQ`s,because I encountered already so many in my MP-games,especially before the fix,that its a bit boring for me.
I agree,that in order to take a VQ with quite strong magic,Death:3 is an option...with S&A at least.
I am more a defensive player and I just hate to know that my income is decreasing while not expanding.
You are right with population killing spells...but that doesnt matter to me in midgame at all,since I rely on summonings by then
I only take Growth 3 for the early game income advantage.
I am forced to take Turmoil:1 and since I dont need much resources,I of course take Growth instead of Productivity to get income bonus.
Your tactic just relies more on your Luck:3 scale than mine,in order to get enough gold early on to get your Celestial Masters,Temples,castles.
Also you have more difficulties,if you have a bad starting position,e.g. with strong indies and/or small provinces only bordering you.