Help! I'm playing against human players with mages, and my hero is Orac, while theirs is Laslo.

The strength of the Academy lies in the Hero, so my choice is the Oracle! And IMHO, you shouldn't turn a mage into a warrior (focusing mainly on attack-oriented skills). Everything should be in moderation! 2 magic skills + defense/attack + leadership + school of darkness/light (for mass spells, but again, everything needs to be adjusted to a specific opponent). Super Ability (SA) is a great ability (super ability, i.e., complete knowledge of all magic, with the hero having expert level in all magic skills). I don't play Heroes of Might and Magic VI, we usually play HotS (Heroes of Might and Magic V), that's how it is...