I seem to really enjoy the Dark Phoenix set so I went out of my way to pug normal FL for the lookalikes since I can't use Rogue tier. Thankfully I'm done with that so I never have to go back in there again. I really would like to get the purple version too but I don't see that happening until well into Mists. I also transmogged my new polearm from LFR into the Black Ice but that Nexus theme sure looks out of place with the rest of the gear!
Adding to what he said: upon reaching 5%, it's best to go all out on DW and ignore any new add spawns (some groups can start burning at 10%). This is because at 15%/10%/5% there is a brief spike of raid damage from DW, with the 5% one being the most painful (it is quite difficult to heal through Tetanus on the tank and the raid damage spikes simultaneously). If you have a Paladin and/or DK tank then you're in luck since AMS and Divine Shield can help your reset Tetanus stacks. The 3rd set of adds is also perilously close to the berserk timer so at that point it's kill DW or wipe.
I find that gear maintenance (enchants/gems/reforges) can be quite expensive these days (Maelstrom Crystals going for 200g+), and if you never plan to use your Shadow set then it would be a waste to pay for all that. Personally, I do enjoy playing alts/off-specs but that comes at a high cost. :) But yeah it definitely seems that this patch they have downplayed the significance of VP for raiders.
That's kinda lucky. :P The one time it dropped for us I chose to pass it so I could save my roll for the other one from DW, despite rolling the highest I've ever rolled on any mount that time. On the bright side, our DK tank likes the quirky look of the mount (probably for the same reason why he uses a purple Judgement set).