You must be playing alot in Dwarf vs Greenskin since I've seen lots of Zealots in Empire vs Chaos and lots of Archmages and White Lions in High Elf vs Dark Elf.

I played a Archmage (Shaman mirror) to lvl 10 and the mechanic was alot of fun and very helpful and it really encouraged the Archmage (and Shaman of course) to deal damage and heal. The same thing goes for the DoK and the WP. If they aren't hitting stuff in melee they quickly run out of Soul Essence/Righteous Fury and are much less effective.