Well its definitly funny how ppl have different opinions. I dislike pangaea because they basicly stay the same throughout all eras. They dont get different units, they just lose some earth/nature and get a bit of death in later eras, of course they get heavier armor as well, like all nations. Flavourwise, the white/black centaur/dryad theme is a decent idea, though they still feel the same to me, there should be 3-4 REALLY new units over the different eras instead of only black/white and death-pan.
All their national summons require death, so early era you are really disavantaged because you dont have natural death at all.
I most dislike the fact that they use cavalry (i.e. units that move fast and have good hp) for archers, because it seems like a waste to have "melee" stats on a longbow-archer.
What i enjoy about them is really maenad-hording, using a couple of pans with turmoil its really easy to get huge mobs of maenads. Decent AoE buffs would be cool though.
About the Lord of the Wild: I basicly always play with nation-specific pretenders who fit the theme because flavour is kind of important to me
You are probably right in that the Lord is a bad choice. Last game i had a N/B 8 lord of the wild but unfortunally blessing is kind of stupid if you only have the white centaurs to bless.
EDIT: yes, Dryads stealths and temple cost is a big plus, agreed.