I like excluders. I have 3 medium supers for each hive, which I will remove in 2 weeks to extract, and place 2 back on each hive for the late Sept harvest. After the late harvest, all the empty comb is frozen for a week, placed back into the medium boxes, wrapped in plastic and stored until next May. I'll admit to some anx as I unwrap the supers each spring, but no sign of wax moths.
The wet comb from the last year draws bees through the excluder. Just me, I guess, but I HATE to work around brood in the supers. And cutting away brood would just kill me. If excluders were nothing but scrap metal, there would not be a market for them.
For drawing out new foundation, it is well to "bait" the super, allowing a frame or two of eggs and larvae to be added to the super. Then add the excluder, but you MUST FIND THE QUEEN AND GENTLY GUIDE HER INTO THE BROOD BOX. The bees will continue to run the excluder gauntlet just fine. I wouldn't run a hive without an excluder, but then I am fortunate to have a long flow.