Seriously considering a warden but a few questions.

[Jaltir]

And next to Sauron, Gandalf is probably the most powerful wizard that ever lived (though I'm not a lore person, so I could be wrong on this too).

IANALM (I am not a lore monkey), but I recall a discussion in glff about magic in LoTR in which a lore monkey said that Gandalf eschewed the overt use of his powers because using his powers would allow Sauron to locate him. That is why the few times Gandalf uses magic are of the subtle variety, as you listed, or are done when the Enemy has already located him, as in the battle on Weathertop.