The problem faced my mid lane mages

I used to play many things, but more than any others, i loved mid lane mages. I liked how they had to combo their spells, manipulate their enemies positions. and how they had definite windows of strength and weaknesses. But it is increasingly apparent that mages are no longer able to function.

The reason for this is that they are no longer able to compete with assassins. Assassins, in general, have an intense area of threat. If you go too close to an assassin, expect to take a lot of damage, however, beyond that threatened area, they usually don't have much offensive ability.. Mages used to be able to counter this using long range harass. BY doing enough damage from greater range, the mage could keep their opponent low enough that when the assassin finally took their opportunity, the mage could have a decent chance of winning. Essentially, assassins had the advantage in an up front fight, but mages had the advantage in attrition.

However, the preseason changes nerfed mana regeneration across the board. And this has created a huge rift between assassins and mages. Assassins are opportunists, usually blowing their entire kit in one go, spending the rest of the time farming/playing positioning games. mages, on the other hand, are fairly reliant on whittling their opponents down over time before committing everything they have to secure the kill. This means that mages need to invest in either mana regen or a significantly large mana pool. This used to be accomplished by simply buying an early chalice. It seems to be the case that many of the mana changes were implemented in order to force more variety in build path regarding mana regen. However, no item was brought up to fill the gap. Mana regen items for AP champions are the Grail, Talisman, Frost Queens Claim, Morellonomicon, and archangels staff. Out of these, archangels staff is and has always been a late game item for mana heavy champions, and talisman and Frost queen are support items granting unnecessary stats. Grail and chalice function nicely, if a flat mana item is bought as well, but for most mages those choices are limited to rod of ages and archangels, both of which are early investment for later payoff items. There are a few champions able to function cautiously with morellonomicon, but for many champions it simply cannot keep up with mana expenditure. Also, it really does not serve the purpose until it is a complete item, as forbidden idol has very weak stats.

At the current state, most mages need some combination of morellos, chalice, or a mana item in order to approach the same freedom of play they had before. Needing to invest in these items will often delay more effective damage items, which assassins can build straight toward. This serves to heighten the relative increase in assassins mid game power. mages are often faced with the choice of buying more mana regen and not doing enough damage to compete, or buying damage and losing their ability to function after Katarina shunpos away from 3 volleys.

Quite frankly, it no longer feels good to play a mage. Fighting against an assassin usually feels oppressive, rather than just being challenging. Picking an early mage is nearly a guarantee that you will be up against an entire class of characters you struggle to compete with. I do not feel rewarded for item purchases, because there are no options to serve the function you sorely need. I often leave games frustrated and sad that my favorite role is no longer capable of functioning as successfully as it used too.

I trust that riot had their reasons for nerfing mana regen. But i would argue that they simply hit it to hard. Chalice has been reduced to a more "reasonable" item, but it was dominant not because it was so good, but because nothing else really accomplished the job. The change needed to meet both sides halfway. Nerf the chalice a bit, but bring the other items up to the level where they can compete. Many mages NEED an early source of mana, and chalice happened to be cheap and effective. Morello, on the otherhand, now is similar in effectiveness to the chalice, but costs 3 times as much. Wither another cheap, effective mana item needs to be added, or the base mana regen needs to be increased enough that the new percentage system on items can actually keep up.

It is eternally frustrating watching an entire class of character become nonviable in the face of a class i never really enjoyed. I would like to hear if anything is being done to help mages compete, or at least an acknowledgement that Something needs to be done

As it stands, this really isn't fun anymore.