When deploying code to a controlled production environment I've had use for a custom DB Initializer that only validates the existance and compatibility of the DB. It never runs any missing migrations. With that, the application's DB user won't need dbo permissions (which is typically not desired in production environments)
Using migrations is still a great way to keep track of the schema during development and deployment. Either the migrate.exe tool can be used during deployment, or update-scripts are generated and handed off to a DBA.
Would a pull request for a new ValidateDatabase strategy be accepted? (A better naming suggestion would be welcome)
The current implementation can be found at http://coding.abel.nu/2012/03/prevent-ef-migrations-from-creating-or-changing-the-database/. It needs i18n support and probably better choice of exception classes to make it to the official code base, but it shows the concept.