So your basic question seems to be: Surge or Promote?
This is a rather strange question as those two summoner spells fit very differently into the current Meta-game. In fact, I don't believe there is ever a hero I could imagine having to choose between those particular spells as they serve very different roles. So instead, let's assume that you want to know when these two spells are appropriate (and not make a choice between them).
Surge
Surge is a rather recent introduction into LoL and is still having its place in the meta-game examined. While it does act as a much needed steroid for a number of champions missing one (eg. Twisted Fate or Teemo), it suffers on champions who require a lot of farm (i.e. most carries). In comparison to spells like Ignite and Exhaust, Surge (while scaling better) just doesn't guarantee kills the same way through early/mid-game. Now, it's true that Dominion has a shortened early/mid-game, but it's just as true that it has a shortened late game (where this spell really shines). As a result Surge is frequently not the best choice for champions (even carries).
Promote
Promote is another spell which hasn't yet found a good place in the overall meta. However, having been around longer, there are more obvious cases where people use it (i.e. in Dominion going bottom against a Champ who has trouble clearing lanes early on, like Tryndamere or Yorick). Given Promote's role in taking down towers, it's no real surprise you see it more often in Dominion than Summoner's Rift. Usually, you want Promote to push your creep wave into a tower allowing for a better engagement at a node. This frequently means you find Promote on Champions who have trouble clearing lanes or who are good initiators. A Champion that requires more farm or is main DPS (i.e. a carry) is a less likely place to find promote as it doesn't fit their role well.
Garrison
I'm surprised you're reading a lot of information that Garrison is a poor choice; it is quite a good spell. The problem with Garrison is that it really only shines is defending nodes in Dominion. Very frequently people don't do this (usually because it's less exciting). However, there are a large number of places where your team can really benefit from Garrison (solo bot, or even defending top). Garrison can break a channel (from further range), stop a wave push, or even heal a node, all very useful things in Dominion. Even if it only forces the other team to break off an engagement then it is directly translating into victory points (something few other spells do).
When to get it? When you're running a 3 Node defensive strategy or against a team with a lot of floaters (e.g. Rammus)
When to avoid? When you're filling a more important role (i.e. Carry) or you're going for a more aggressive strategy (i.e. running floaters)
Flash vs Ghost
Both of these are excellent spells (and there are even times when you might get both), but in Summoner's Rift, at least, the current meta-game has stabilized on Flash being invaluable. This is largely due to two factors:
- Flash lets you get out of (or into) range of abilities and champions
- Flash lets you "jump" over the twisting terrain in SR
However, in Dominion both of these reasons are less effective. The terrain in the Crystal Scar has fewer features you can "jump" with Flash, the faster game play means champion deaths are less impactful (thus saving, less important). While still a great spell, Flash is nowhere as dominant in the Crystal Scar as it is in Summoner's Rift. Instead, two other features dominate The Crystal Scar which make Ghost a frequently more picked spell:
- Non-linear attack routes
- Contested towers
Having multiple paths to engage (and less vision) often means you are forced to move to positions very quickly. This is the reason champions like Rammus are so frequently banned. What's more, it's frequently a strategy to rush to the top tower at the opening of the game to assert the defender's advantage. In a rush strategy (fairly common) it is necessary that most of the top defenders have Ghost to out pace the other team. As a result Ghost may not enjoy the same dominance that Flash has in SR, but is still a powerful spell (and a frequent choice).
When to get it? Both Flash and Ghost can be great spells on any Champion
When to avoid? Only when you have something which is much higher priority or more synergistic with your strategy (like Zombie Karthas was).
You never stop to try and last hit the minions, except when you're playing support; then you'll leave the last hitting to the carry you are with. But at times it's good to push minion waves to the enemy tower (either using your spells or starting to auto attack), since enemy towers can and will deny gold (and XP - only when your opponent isn't there) from your opponent. But you always have to look at the map when you are going to push, because overextending and dying to a gank is worse then letting your lane opponent farm.
Conversely, if the enemy is pushing his minions closer to your tower, you can start auto attacking the minions to get them down faster, but even while auto attacking you still need to watch minion hp so you can get the last hit.
Best Answer
TL;DR
Warding Totem
Sweeping Lens
Scrying Orb
Detail
Usually you want to start with the warding Trinket since it's pretty much the safest and most useful trinket of the three at start. It gives you a free ward for either vision or sometimes even a free flash for champions with Friendly-Dash abilities (Katarina, Jax, Lee-Sin etc). When jungling it can also give you vision control for either more safety or better counterjungling.
The sweeping lens is a really strong Item but most of the time it's only good later in the game. A lot of people buy it as a jungler but usually you should avoid buying it at the beginning because if you buy it early the enemy will still spot you before you can clear the ward. The only time you can actually buy this at the beginning is if you play champions that rely on vision breaks of bushes (Thresh, Blitzcrank, Leona) but even there it's situational and most of the time an extra ward is a more decent start. You want to buy this item if you have a Sightstone as a supporter or for additional objective/jungle control as a jungler but that generally happens in the midgame. Another situation where you could buy it potentially is if you are facing Champions that rely on stealth (Twitch/Akali) but remember that you need the Full upgrade for 475 gold to obtain True Vision.
As you've already mentioned, the orb is a rather useless item. You should avoid buying it on Most champions and the only champions that could actually benefit from it are champions with high-range targeted abilites like Caitlyn or Nocturne. But usually it's still a better choice to take a ward on these champions.