First off, there are other builds out there that work. The thor build actually also works in PvP but you need a team to help support you (just like warriors need a team built around them).
Another popular build is S/D using 0/10+x/0/25+x/30 with as utilities either double arcane skills and MF or blink, arcane wave and MF. (using ogre runes)
Ele comes down to knowing your rotation. The strength of d/d comes entirely from auras protecting you. The strength of the s/d build comes from shit tons of healing with very high burst (relying on bursts like air1+2+3+4+5>earth 2+3+4>fire 2+3+5) to bring down most builds. Firegrab does a lot of damage but you need to be good at positioning and latency greatly impacts this.
Ele also has a couple of things you need to always have in the back of your mind. You can't beat condition classes. You can't "beat" other bunkers. And your "healing skill" is the signet but you never activate it. If you need health go into water to heal.
If you know you'll be in a reasonably hard fight (mesmers) pop your elite before you go in! The cast time is way to long (and thus easy to interupt) mid-fight.
You can use blink to take advantage of the terrain. Nearly every cap point has some sort of elevation where you can insta port to while other classes have to run around. This can take of pressure for a couple of seconds while you pound the enemy making them go defensive.