When I'm reasonably close, I like M/S because of the option to retain some control over the stereo width / ratio of direct to indirect sound when decoding M/S to stereo. IME, the problem, as I move farther back from the source -- especially in crappy sounding rooms -- is that the more I dial back the Side to remove indirect sound and "room boom", the more mono the recording becomes. I generally don't prefer mono-ish recordings. Even if the PA is mono, a stereo environment (room, crowd, etc.) is a big part of what makes a recording "come alive" for me. So I generally try to avoid mono-ish recordings, if possible.
In cruddy sounding rooms -- at a certain distance -- I generally prefer spaced cards (hypers would work, too) because it provides better stereo imaging while still minimizing indirect sound and "room boom". The trade-off, of course: do I want better stereo imaging (spaced) or better indirect sound and "room boom" rejection (M/S). At a certain distance, in a cruddy sounding room, it becomes increasingly difficult to achieve both. In these cases, I'll run the cards with wider spacing and smaller included angle. The greater spacing provides difference-in-time stereo (which M/S does not offer) while the smaller included angle provides greater direct sound relative to indirect sound (though not as much as reducing or removing the Side in M/S, unless the included angle approaches 0º). Now, running spaced cards, I've lost the flexibility of decoding in post, but in these cases I basically know that the only way I'll get a suitable recording M/S is to dial down the Side so much that the recording becomes very mono.
(FWIW, I've used Stereophonic Zoom as a rough guideline for getting started with my spacing / angles, and adjusted accordingly to my tastes and environment. I've long seen tapers running wide spaced cards with a very small included angle, and I'd never really had anyone explain effectively why (think "dude, it just works"), until I read Stereophonic Zoom.)
Another key question to consider: does one prefer difference-in-intensity stereo (coincident configs, like M/S, XY) or difference-in-time stereo (near-coincident or spaced configs). Some people simply prefer difference-in-time stereo, while others prefer difference-in-intensity stereo. My personal preference: the closer I am to the sound source, the more I prefer difference-in-intensity; the farther I am from the sound source, the more I prefer difference-in-time.
Not sure if that addresses your questions or not, or even helps, but...$0.02.