Wouldn't nerfing waveclear mages actually buff mages as a class?

the mana nerfs are really only a nerf in the case of spamming your spells off cooldown -- which should only be happening if you're playing some shit like Taliyah who permapushes lane and then roams. This is the exact playstyle Riot is looking to take down a peg. Other mages who did not/could not match that waveclear will now be indirectly stronger because these champs can't hard-shove them into tower without draining their mana bar, and D-ring helps the careful last-hitters out in this situation anyway by giving them back their 5 on-hit from preseason. We might actually see more than 4 or 5 mages consistently.

The only real concern is hitting AP support items when Janna and Lulu are the only good enchanters (in bot lane; Karma has migrated back to mid) and then not compensating any of the supports for the nerf. Especially when the meta is largely tank-support oriented. But mid lane? Nah. Mid lane's looking good.