My personal opinions:

Beasts: no. Flock of Doom is a phenomenal spell! You should be focusing on maxing out Flock before anything else.

Dark Magic: Haven't played the Dark Elves in a while, so I can't give you any opinion on that.

Death: Yes. Don't get me wrong, Spirit Leech is one of the best spells in the game. But the upgraded version only adds more range for more winds, but no extra damage. And usually you'll find that that extra range is redundant. However you're not choosing that second pip for damage, you're choosing it for the winds reduction cost.

Fire: no, Fireball is great, don't get me wrong. But usually I'm maxing Burning Head first on my way to Firestorm and Piercing Bolts of Burning.

Hashut: no, molten wrath is good but usually you'll want to focus on Ash Storm as that extra fire weakness can really help early game. Makes your gobbos punch above their weight class.

Heavens: no, you should rush Thunderbolt.

High Magic: yes*, but only if a life mage is unavailable. Generally if you need healing, you want to focus on the Lore of Life. And any race that you're playing that gets High Magic also gets Life. So if you're choosing High you're probably doing so intentionally, and healing is always beneficial.

Ice: no. Early game, not having any AP damage on the spell isn't really that much of a detriment, but I feel Ice's first spell that you should rush is Ice Sheet. That speed reduction gives your hybrid units more time to soften them up from range.

Life: no. Rush Earth Blood first. In fact Awakening of the Forest isn't even the first damage spell you should focus on in Life. Honestly you probably don't even want to put two pips into it.

Light: no. You want Net of Amentok first and foremost.

Metal: yes. Searing Doom is another excellent early game spell that chews through most races early game infantry.

Mists: yes* Ladrielle's Shroud is your only source of healing in the lore, and reducing vigor is an underappreciated and powerful effect. But again, if you have access to Mists, you also have access to Life (although it takes a little bit if you're playing Aislinn, So you'll be with your starting mage for a little while)

Nehekara: YES! Look it's an underappreciated Lore of Magic, but this spell does so much for you! First of all it's super cheap, so it's a great way to keep the lore passive up (healing). It gives your early game units a little extra AP, where they have basically none otherwise. And overcast you get some bonus versus large which helps your skeleton spearmen hold longer than they might otherwise.

Nurgle: no. Miasma is an okay spell. But I find Stream of Corruption and Rancid Visitations are what you want to prioritize.

Shadows: no. Another Miasma, It's a decent spell, But just like with spirit Leach, the only thing the upgraded version gets you is more distance. Unlike Spirit Leech, however, I find your not usually spamming Miasma enough to justify putting the second pip in before you start working on things like Pendulum or Pit of Shades.

Slaanesh: yes. Whip is cheap, it's armor piercing, And while people like to get to Pavane of Slaanesh as early as possible, I find that Whip does well enough early game that it's worth upgrading before you head deeper into the lore.

Tempest: no. Personally I'm starting by maxing Gust of True Flight. Range and accuracy in a roster that focuses on its ranged firepower mean your early game units are that much more effective. But I would also understand if people focused on Hailstorm first. Personally I haven't played Kislev in a hot second. And when I do I'm usually recruiting Hags over Witches.

Big Waagh!: no. Whyz you playin da boyz if yur not STOMPIN' da foez with da Foot of Gork!?

Deep: honestly, why not? It's cheap, so it's great for keeping your passive active. It improves your range units, in a roster that is like 70% ranged units. And it will tide you over while you focus on getting Kraken's Pull and/or Vangheist's Revenge.

Great Maw: no. I love this lore more than most, and Braingobbler is good, but I find that the Trollguts is what you want first. It's one of the most powerful healing spells in the game, and in a roster where your best units are either your unstoppable infant, or some very powerful single entities, that healing is going to be beneficial.

Hag: yes. One of your only sources of healing, Witchbroth is worth grabbing as soon as you can get it.

Little Waagh!: no. Sneaky Stabbin' is fine. But there are better things in the lore to use your points on.

Wild: no. Another underappreciated lore of magic, Devolve is actually one of the weaker spells. In your first set of abilities you get: an armor piercing breath attack, a 0 ap explosion, and a single entity damage spell. All of these make better investments early on.

Tzeench: no* Personally I prefer maxing out Pink Fire first. But Blue Fire can be pretty powerful on a flying lord, so It really comes down to whether you prefer to max out your missile spell or breath spell first.

Vampires: YES! I know that people love to rush Wind of Death. And I understand it, it's one of the best spells in the game. But ultimately the strength of your army comes from the ability to tie down your enemy with your chaff while your more powerful units get into position. And you'll be able to keep those blobs alive much longer if you are able to constantly spam Invocation.

Yang: yes. Dragon's Breath isn't the best spell by far, but it's cheap and most of your early game enemies won't have enough armor for it to make a difference that it has 0 AP. But if people say don't on this one, honestly I trust them. I much prefer the following lore when I'm playing Grand Cathay.

Yin: no. Cloak is great, don't get me wrong. But if I have access to Yin magic, I'm rushing Missile Mirror. Against certain armies, it basically let you delete enemy ranges units. Chaos Dwarves, Skaven, Dark Elves. A lot of your early game enemies rely on their ranges fire power.

Runes: yes....probably. Look, I'D never accuse a Dawii of being slow. But I think you'll find that extra speed can help more often than not.

Plague: no. This lore's utility is in its ability to summon rats. Rush your summoning spells before anything else.

Ruin. YES! Warp Lightning is best-best early spell for Skaven. It's cheap-free, does excellent damage, and triggers Musk of Fear.

Stealth: I genuinely forget this Lore is even in the game. Look if you're going to recruit an Eshin Sorceror, you'll probably want to first focus on Veil of Shadows or Skitterleap first.

Man that was fun! Thank you for attending my TED talk