I have Sophie with my account as my only black unit. I am working on her as a long-term project for awakening because thats when she gets nuts. But in the meantime I use a Princess in a similar lightning rod role or mage/tank for similar damage. I also have Bernice and Julian aznd they are excellent units. I have also been lucky enough to CR my Iris with a second copy and the difference for deployment is negligible at only -1CR most of the time.

Go with #2. The only thing #1 really has going for it from a new account perspective (with units that help now) is 2nd Iris.