Yeah, to make it a bit more special, magic would be such a joke. And provide a credibly threat.
I remember reading an Iron Man issue randomly without any context when I was younger, and IM and Mandarin were like on their last legs, fighting within an insanely huge Dragon spaceship/airship thing that was falling to the ground, like blood and tears. The Avengers were all screaming on the ground. It was Black Widow, Justice and Falcon - the three you'd rather not have in that situation.
Apart from that, never read any issue with Mandarin.