Now for me, magicka and its use is probably the most important aspect of my character's development in Oblivion. I always pick at least two schools of magicka as two of my major skills depending on what i want him/her to be i alter the schools. (For example My Thief/Assassin style characters have Alteration and Illusion as Majors)
So i ask, Whats your favorite school out of the six? and why do you prefer it?

Just in case you forget these are the six schools of magicka in Oblivion

Alteration
Governed by Willpower
Alteration is the magic of altering the physical world ie opening locks,making things lighter.
Alteration Spells include; Feather spells, Open Lock spells and Shield Spells.

Conjuration
Governed by Intelligence
Conjuration is the magic of summoning creatures, creating magical weapons and armor, and repelling the undead.
Conjuration Spells include; Summon Skeleton Spells, Bound Helmet etc and Turn Undead.

Destruction
Governed by Willpower
Destruction magic provides many means of inflicting damage on enemies. From Elemental damage to draining health and magicka as well as disintegrating armor.
Destruction Spells include; Shocking touch , Damage Health and Disintegrate Armor and Drain Fatigue.

Illusion
Governed by Personality
Illusion magic allows you to create light, make yourself invisible,charm others into liking you and more.
Illusion Spells include; Chameleon, Light, Night Eye and Beguile.

Mysticism
Governed by Intelligence
Mysticism includes spells that absorb, reflect, and dispel magic,sense life, and bind souls.
Mysticism Spells include; Soul Trap, Telekinesis, Dispel and Detect Life.

Restoration
Governed by Willpower
Restoration involves the magical healing and improving of living things. From Healing wounds and curing disease to improving skills.
Restoration Spells include; Heal minor wounds, Cure disease and Fortify Health

That's easy: Illusion.

Nothing like going invisible, sneaking up to a group of bandits, casting "Insanity" (Custom spell Frenzy up to level 15 for 25 seconds for an area of 20 feet), and then going back invisible and sneaking around the madness.

Also great for mage hunting (silence)

I have to agree with these two, Illusion.

Because as swk said, it's the most versatile skill there, at low levels and a high Illusion skill I could take on the entire IC on the hardest difficulty, on high levels well pretty much the same thing but on a larger scale.

I'm willing to bet my copy of Oblivion that Coognut'll say Restoration when he posts here.

Probably Restoration and Destruction so far, although I haven't really played about with Illusion enough yet as I've only just started a proper mage character. Restoration is so useful, and Destruction spells are just fun to use as I love inflicting damage on people.

Destruction, no doubt.
I mean, I'm don't use magic very much, and if, then only offensive spells. Nothing like unleashing a barrage of fire, shock or frost spells on your unfortunate enemies.

Cant go wrong with lightning thats for damn sure. I must say out of all the schools, Mysticism is probaly the least useful.

Yeah, well, personally, I find Conjuration just as useless. But thats just me, I just don't care about Summoning at all, and I've never used it.

But, agreed, Mysticm is rather useless. The only good thing about it is Soul Trap. Soul Trap's good, and at least I used it often enough for enchanting.

My favorite school of magicka is certainly Conjuration. This is mainly because I find it to be pretty awesome as a novelty, and besides that, summons are incredibly useful. You simply have to make sure you have summons that are strong enough for the enemies you're up against at your level.

Call in another Vote for Illusion. Simple fact that there is a spell for every type of enemy, and nearly every scenario.

quote BluePhoenix1990

I must say out of all the schools, Mysticism is probaly the least useful.

Detect Life for Thieves or to find invisible enemies, Spell Absorption to protect against magical attacks and regenerate magicka while doing so, Reflect Spell to protect against magical attacks with a counter attack, Reflect Damage to protect against physical attacks with a counter attack, Soul Trap to enchant new items and recharge used ones and for Atronach mages Telekinesis to recharge their magicka, is it still useless?

quote Nameless Noname

personally, I find Conjuration just as useless. But thats just me, I just don't care about Summoning at all, and I've never used it.

Summonings can be a good distraction if you want to escape an unnecessary battle, ones you can win but don't want to fight, also theres the Turn Undead to send armies of Skeletons and Zombies running, 3 seconds should be long enough for an enemy to give you a free shot.