Yes, Aura is powerful, and I simply don't understand how one can so ineptly utilize her abilities. It's an absolutely incompetent move! Reducing the number of mages in the early stages of development means rare instances of the hero taking a turn, because for a mage, the weather effects and spells are more important than the troops.
In the case of Aura, especially at level 18, I simply can't imagine what could have caused such an effect. I won't even mention Counterspell and Reflection. It feels like Aura was developed as a warrior with terrible troops. What's the point of her in that case?! Either the guy is just not very bright, or he decided to play a prank.