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I also like the idea of what I call skill-oriented magic combat. For ages, on Clandestine MUD, we used a "cast blah" see result system that is standard on most MUDs. Most newbies would play spellcasters, as being a caster class was easier to learn than being another class - and we could not easily correct this, as it does not make sense when balancing player-killing to have spellcasters to not be on par with other classes.
Recently, we stripped away that system and went to a chant system for most spells, which requires timing, forethought, counter-spelling, movement, etc - and added in a more complicated-to-use ranged spell system... this has made casting a lot more dynamic and benefits those with more skill who want to play caster classes, without being over-powered.
Specifically, though, for your ideas - here are my suggestions. I really like the idea of a very powerful(but simple) "fireball" spell taking up a ton of mana and dealing heavy damage. Timer it - make sure it cannot be immediately recast. Otherwise, Mages will find ways to quickly restore their mana and keep "bombing" their opponents with powerful attacks. If balanced right, spells that drain a lot of mana and are on various "timers" will allow casters to face meleers, though with caution.
As to your combined casting idea - here is what I suggest and warn of; first - be careful that it is not boring. Simply linking up and casting a spell may be effective, but it won't excite players. Instead, link up and cause a "mini-game" to appear; for instance, some kind of "magic elemental bar" that they have to balance, or some sort of short, but randomly designed maze where they have to find each other's "spiritual" self by moving around and finding each other within a short period of time(say, 30 seconds to a minute, depending on the size of the maze) and then join together to "cast" the spell. All of the sudden, you have a dynamic, skill-oriented, always changing mini-game that runs the ability to team up for spells... casting can be made fun with things like that. We use ideas like that on Clandestine for casting, fusing with other players, escaping from Hades, travelling to remote areas via a doorway, blacksmithing, technocrafting, and more.
In short, anything can be made dynamic and skill-oriented without messing with the "balance fundamentals" of the system. If you can first player-test a system that is balanced(aka, combined casting is not over-powered and mages are comparably strong to meleers), then you can go from there to make all of your skills dynamic, creative, and even into mini-games for certain things(especially combined skills/efforts). I know this has been a mainstay at Clandestine MUD for a long time, and is probably our best feature.
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