I mean, my plan against Jund when I was a fisherman was to land as many Adepts and Spreading Seas as possible, then use Kira and Master to close. So yeah, I guess.
These days, Mariner is so much better curvewise (and it’s stackable) that it’s my plan when I’m on Spirits. I was also always a lot more worried about discard than removal running Spirits for the reasons you mention.
As for Vial, it depends. For Spirits it’s a card you shave (though leave in 1 on the draw, 2 on the play) but Humans I leave them all in. Partially that’s because of mana considerations, but it’s also because Humans needs every opportunity to just get value, and sometimes you get lucky Vialing in something to save a Lieutenant or Champion from Wrenn or Bolt. Also, I run Charming Prince and Vial’s the only way to really use the flicker ability.

On a tangentially related tribal note, Unsettled Mariner in conjunction with consistent pressure and a some interaction in the form of counters or removal have really been a great play for tribal decks like ours to go. I’ve always thought that New Jund (sans Dark Confidant) tends to stumble badly if players counter or remove a timely spell. Your article confirmed that belief for me. So if we set the targets of Meddling Mage, Spell Quellers, and Deprive to Plague Engineer and stomp the gas pedal we can certainly hold our own. Just watch out for the old school Damnation. Also, how do you treat Aether Vial in games two and three? Traditional wisdom has always held that Vials should come out, but with the increased pace of Jund thanks to Kroxa should we be leaving them (or one) in?

Here’s to all the Plague Engineers in the world suddenly getting lost.
Cheers.