Did the Elders seem a bit...nerfed to everyone?
They did to me. Let's look back on what we know.
1. Mavra was there, and she is considered a Wizard level talent as per Blood Rites - not a mere Sorcerer (who are only skilled in destructive magic). And was implied to be the least powerful and important of the Elders as she had to be the drummer. Considering what we have seen of her this says a lot.
2. The other Elders seemed pretty strong (although none used Mavra's typical "dark energy" magic). Perhaps Jim decided to do more thematically, or perhaps he decided there is more than one style of magic that the Black Court Elders use.
3. However, Dresden referred to them all as Sorcerer's rather than Wizards. Now while this is possible, it seems unlikely that
Mavra's Elders would be less knowledgeable and proficient than Mavra herself. No more likely than Luccio being more proficient and knowledgeable than any member of the Senior Council - even if she is a better battle mage than some of them. SO for Dresden to refer to them as Sorcerer's is incongruous and seems both arrogant and unreasonably dismissive, if not outright foolish and uninformed.
4. On the other hand, they didn't seem to be that skillful or smart. Sort of brutish and crude. Not even as scary as Grevane, even though physically they surely are still more scary than most. Certainly not the almost godlike terrors of the Red Court (the Lords of the Outer Night) - which I will grant are quite different to them considering how they might have gained their power. But there is a snag.
5. The snag is that in an old WOJ when asked "Who could beat Mab?" Jim answered that most couldn't even if they wanted to, but only a few beings/groups we had met had the horsepower, and even then this assumed Mab didn't have her army and was outside of her domain. Granted, the rankings and list might have changed a bit but the answer was this:
Quote from: Warden John Marcone on March 04, 2009, 05:48:02 PM
I’m still curious about who could hurt Mab. Other than Titania, nobody comes to mind.
Hmmm. In terms of pure, raw power, several who have appeared or been mentioned in the books could pull it off, though neither side would really “win” as much as “continue to exist.” Plus, the sudden absence of Mab would do freaking HIDEOUS things to the earth. But here’s who has the necessary horsepower do it:
o Titania–though it would be a coin toss. Almost literally.
o The Mothers (who wouldn’t)
o The White Council. As in, ALL the White Council. Every wizard on the planet. And they’d need her Name.
o Drakul.
o Ferrovax.
o The Red Court–again, ALL the Red Court, though their odds wouldn’t be good.
o The entire White Court–very, very long odds on that, but if they actually pulled it off, whoever took Mab would effectively control her power.
o Cowl (if the Darkhallow had succeeded).
o A union of the old Elders of the Black Court. They were freaking scary until the Whites arranged to have them hounded down by mortals.
All of that, of course, assumes that Mab is standing there alone, outside of Faerie, and not commanding an entire nation, literally millions and millions and millions of nightmarish creatures of every description. Which she does.
There’s a REASON that when Mab said, “Sign these Accords and abide by them,” people listened. 
I don't know what book Jim read, but I doubt all of them even with Drakul could have taken Mab. Now let's say Drakul was holding back in his fight against the Wardens, sure. Maybe he could do it. Let's say that perhaps those 6 Black Court were not all the "old Elders of the Black Court". Maybe some have died since then - the quote does say the White Court had them hunted down. Maybe some didn't even join Drakul and were waiting back at base (although Jim said in an interview the Drakul normally likes to surround himself with a small A-Team of vampires and it was Dracula that tried to spread the thing and turn it into a Court).
Also, was Jim really saying that the entire Red Court of Vampires (let's say 1000 vamps) plus the 13 Lords of the Outer Night (each of whom is almost a demigod) AND the Red King (Kukulcan) would be required to beat JUST the Queen of Winter herself? I'd have accepted all the normal Red Court Vamps, or the Lords of the Outer Night + Red King. But both seems like far more than necessary.
Just seems all a bit inconsistent - which is somewhat expected over so many years of writing a series. But still, it would be nice to get some clarification on whether those Elders in Battle Ground were the ones he referred to, and if so, why did they seem so weak? It seemed like without Drakul that Harry and the Wardens (not even including River Shoulders and Listens-to-Wind) could have taken them out.
And I have a whole other thread on how underpowered and underwhelming Drakul was. Sigh.
