I've seen it asserted in a number of threads that Air and Fire are "vastly" superior to Earth and Water, but the reasons why this is thought to be so are somewhat lacking. Usually it is in the context of EE content and especially for Shiradi Sorcerers.

I have a 24th level Sorcerer, but have not worked my way over to Shiradi yet. This is a Drow Draconic, but I am also working on a Bladeforged Shiradi, currently 16 Sorcerer/2 Paladin. I have played around with all four Savants and my experience is that Earth is easily my least favorite, followed by Air, then Fire, and Water is far and away the best (for me). I'm interested in some discussion on how the different Savants compare and why one is superior to another at different points in the game. I realize playing a Warforged in EE content as a Shiradi is very different than a lower level non-Warforged in heroic.

Some reasons I like Water better:

1. Polar Ray is the best single target damage spell in the game
2. Otiluke's Freezing Sphere is as effective (in my experience) as any other similar AOE and Cone of Cold is also really good. The other elements don't have two equally good options to cycle.
3. Ice Storm is one of the best area over time spells, due to secondary effects, and Water/Force items buff the damage significantly.
4. Meteor Swarm is largely unaffected by Cold restrictions, and the loss in fire spell power is negligible to over-all damage, so is still viable situationally.
5. The SLA's are the best three of any of the Savant's, by a considerable margin, so actually both useful and mana efficient. All three are useful against trash, and Frost Lance is as good as Scorching Ray (which is not an SLA). I understand Niac's may lose some viability in EE content due to the saves. Snowball storm is not the best, but good enough to cycle in when conserving mana. Obviously Fireball is better if your thing is AOE.
6. I am unimpressed with the Air Tier 5 special, although it is supposed to be mandatory for EE content. I prefer to kite from extreme range and avoid being in melee. The fact is, I don't like any of the top tier specials.
7. It doesn't matter what your Savant is as far as using Force spells--they are equally viable with any.

I'm interested in a discussion. What do you prefer, and why?