Power Word: Heal is doing something a lot of other spells do, and yes, is doing it a bit better than them all, but is majorly party dependent, and probably isn’t worth your slot.

Characters that are looking for a tool dedicated to manipulation will love this spell, but most any character can pick it up and find uses for it. Illusion magic has near endless utility gated only by your creativity and your DMs willingness to put up with it.

Maximizing the effectiveness of Hunger of Hadar comes down to keeping creatures in the area. Blinded creatures suffer from having all attacks made against them happen with advantage, and all attacks they make come with disadvantage.

Hex gives a tool to a suite of archetypes that otherwise would feel terrible without it a means of staying competitive and useful in combat without clearly outshining any other character.

As far as 1st level spells go, Hail of Thorns is offering a decent chunk of damage attached to a short or longbow hit. Large quantities of small enemies aren’t typically something martial characters are that great at managing. Hail of Thorns is a narrow, but cheap, answer to some of those encounters.

Grasping Vine is caught in this awkward area alongside being compared against some lower level options that seem like a far better rate for the effect you’re getting, ultimately leaving me grasping at straws for reasons to take Grasping Vine.

Friends is at its best in games where bar fights and conflict are the norm and often done just for fun. At the disposal of a bard who loves to sow chaos in a group who embraces it, Friends offers an easy way to expedite exposition while eliciting excitement in the form of coming to blows with whomever you charmed.

All in all Feign Death is fine. It's a neat ritual to pull out when you’ve got an incredibly stupid idea, just costs you preparnig it, and has some odd cases you’ll want to keep in mind should disease be a major threat.

Practical uses primarily exist in the exploration pillar of play, but the concentration prerequisite weighs down its actual utility tremendously. One or two unforeseen encounters can waste the slot by just breaking concentration. Whatever weather was a concern before can manifest again.

The actual cases where Seeming excels over lower level spells are rare. Spells that include the words “any number of creatures” and have durations without concentration of up to eight hours should be powerful, but in this rare case, the whole is worse than the sum of its parts.

As a concept for world building and as a tool in the hands of a villain hiding a powerful weapon or storing an ancient evil, I love Sequester. It isn’t ever a spell I think a player should consider taking, and ultimately is a waste of time for players to read in nearly all cases. It shouldn’t be a player option like this; Sequester is a DM tool, and should be treated as such.

For a 9th level spell, Shapechange delivers even with all the caveats holding it back. It can open up the game to new directions of play, offers ludicrous power at the majority of tables it's cast at, and holds up well against some of the strongest other spells in the book.

This is another one of those spells where it may not read particularly strong, but in practice with a creative mind and a diversity of environments, it can stand out as an amazing tool to have access to.

If you know you’re going against multiple forces where you can confidently say you can maintain concentration over the full hour for more than one encounter AND have it matter each encounter, it's great. Otherwise just take one of the known busted 4th level options.

Storm of Vengeance does a lot of little things, and no big ones. For a 9th level spell, if you really want it to be worth the slot, you have to get to and want Round 3s effect and round 5-10s effects all while maintaining concentration on the spell.

Sunbeam will work great in groups where fights are numerous and grindy. Functionally, it upgrades your action that normally would be spent on a cantrip to firing out a radiant Lightning Bolt that blinds things it hits. Numerically, we’re looking at an upgrade of only a d8 or two over cantrips cast while at a higher level, but with the massive upside of hitting sixty foot lines and afflicting a round long blind.

Sunburst does a lot of things, but does each of them worse than competitive other options do. This spell is just another in the massive suite of area of effect d6 damaging spells, but with the upside of having a blind on it. For one less d6 damage than up-casting a 3rd level spell, you get a potential blind and a bit of extra area.

You can move T-Rexes around with the power of your brain, restraining them as you do so, all for an action. The applications of this spell go far beyond what’s written, and can lead to some wild encounters you’ll be at the center of should you take this.

Beyond it being a great tool to aid meta table issues, Telepathic Bond will feel like a quality of life update your group can enjoy. The ritual tag makes it more like a feature than a spell, as you don’t need to commit any slots to use it. While other options for telepathy exist, this one is available to every 9th level or higher wizard, and can be constantly maintained without showing any signs of communication.