Wood was easier, in many respects, with its strengths being its versatility and the speed of being able to cast magic. The downside was how easy it was for wood objects to explode in your hands. Or catch fire. There were very good reasons non-unicorn mages used large staffs made of ancient and rare woods, lovingly and carefully crafted almost to a fault, enchanted, engraved, and infused with spells and augmented with magical crystals. It was all to get the most bang for their buck, as it were… and with less likelihood of their tools exploding on them.