I would miss synesthesia, mostly because it was so powerful. I would like more options that make other options equally effective. I'm a little tired of trip and reactive strike or synesthesia with true target. It gets old using the same stuff. Yeah I agree - synesthesia getting whacked...
If the player is average to slightly above average they will be able to do something. The misconception with spells is that you need the perfect spell to solve a problem. In reality some spells are just better at certain things than others. At the same the wizard always having THE perfect...