Which creatures from the alternative upgrade options do you choose?

The jumping demons in Inferno are truly awesome. Finally, they have a tangible use beyond just setting up portals and moving three squares per battle. The "Explode" ability is complete garbage. More often than not, it hits your own units, or there's only one enemy nearby. By the way, what do you think about the shamans in the "Beggars" faction? They seem cool, shooting red lightning, but to do that, they have to spend a turn on a sacrifice, plus the lightning often hits your own units, so you can't really use it much, and the damage is terribly small. 120 shamans only dealt 400 damage... and that was just to the first target; against others, it's much weaker. It seems like you should split them into several groups, but then you have to place them all next to the goblin, and there won't be room for other units in the army. Besides, the enemy isn't always divided into four groups and conveniently positioned for using the lightning... The ones that are supposed to be fighters are even funnier. They need to make 5(!) sacrifices to be any good, and they also need to slow down a bunch of people. And that wastes turns. So, I haven't found a specific use for them. They're also expensive, but you have to take them because of access to the Executioners. In my opinion, the only thing they're good for is occasionally using the slow ability and keeping the enemy at bay that gets close to the nearby units. Maybe I'm missing something, and they have some special role? Enlighten me if I'm wrong.