Viktor Top says it all: it's time for MANA to be an actual resource again

Viktor is top now, other mages have been top before and none of them have ever been healthy there. Precisely what would slow them down yet keep them relevant in other lanes is if mana was a relevant resource once again. It really is that simple.

As fair as most mages currently are, they all deserve much less base mana and mana per level so that their horrible mana items can be significantly buffed to compensate and create a lever to control what mages can and can't do. Items like Iceborn Gauntlet should be completely ignored regarding these buffs to mana items as an example of what is and is NOT ok for mages to be building early game.

Do RoA, AA and GLP have anything in common? Yes: they all suck! They offer more mana than what is relevant in this nuke-or-be-nuked pushing bonanza meta. These items are clearly unbalanceable without an archetype that uses that much mana, and that list is at MOST two whole fingers long in Mana Ezreal and Ryze, who currently has the lowest WR by a county mile not because of his reworks but because of the items tailor-made for him that even he can't make much use of. These items suck so much!

Make these mana-heavy items better, and make mages want them. Give them good, relevant stats and passives. Let their build paths be worthwhile. Make the finished items more expensive and even more rewarding. Make mages go OOM without them. Last but not least, include an expensive advanced mana item in their build paths so that there's a controllable benchmark for builds that want some baseline mana but also want to make use of more unique items like IB without breaking them in top lane.

Please don't continue to act like the champions with longrange special damage nukes and hard CC aren't unique enough to warrant special treatment with their items, especially when AD mids have had PLENTY! of it for so long. Treat this class like a class. Give them their own items and reason to buy them beyond mobility and burst damage. They clearly need them.