This isn't an attempt to refute the above post, but it reminded me of a point I've been meaning to make.

>I'd still bet my yen on drow over dwarf shaman, if the players
>are equally skilled.

If a dark-elf shaman and a dwarf shaman were facing off in some kind of Thunderdome-esque two-man-enta-one-man-leave steel cage match, I might well bet on the dwarf shaman. Both characters have unique strengths, but I can make a pretty compelling argument that the dwarf's might well prove better in a shaman vs. shaman duel.

However, there are many other fights and situations in which I would bet that a dark-elf shaman would perform better than a dwarf shaman.

There's a popular misconception (not shared by everyone, I'm glad to note) that if character A tends to beat B, then A must be better than B. If B can wipe the floor with X, Y, and Z and A has a hard time with X and Y, that might not be the case.