As for Gnomes - Grey Elves do better because their high Int not only grants a higher DC to any Int based spell, but possible even more spells, as well as more skill points, etc.
However, Shadowcraft Mage is gnome-specific.
My characters:
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Sarah, human gestalt druid/totemist Adrian, human rogue Calypso, half-nymph human gestalt druid/miscellaneous