How to get a nodes list filtered by their name?

I've always wished for server-side (ie. on the iControl server) filters. For search and to implement exists() type functions, this would be helpful. Instead, I've had to resort to yucky hackery like performing a no-side effect API call on a single entity in question and see if it throws a "not found" exception. This is just one of those head scratching limitations of the iControl API.