I neither PvP nor use single-tree sorcs, but I've seen a lot of comparisons come up...
Firstly, for PvP they're problematic if opponents are allowed to stack elemental absorb gear.
As for PvM, I think the lightning single-tree sorc is considered unequivocally to be the most practical. Any single-tree sorc will run into plenty of immune monsters. If you don't mind parking monsters (leaving them alone and moving on because you can't kill them), that's fine. If you want to actually kill every monster in the game, that means spamming Telekinesis to push monsters back while your mercenary kills them one-by-one. Cold and fire immunities are a bit more common, so lightning is the likeliest option. Furthermore, if one can get a mercenary with an Infinity runeword weapon, the Conviction aura breaks a greater portion of lightning immunities than cold or fire (basically, a whole lot of lightning immune monsters have resistances below 117%, so a level 12 Conviction knocks it below 100%, but for fire it's the other way around and most monsters that are immune have resistances that go above 117%). Gear that gives -% Enemy Lightning Resistance can then operate on anything that isn't immune.