There seems to be a trend in terms of Mage "balance"

As the items get worse, removed or otherwise, the champs themselves feel worse and a bit debatable in how they might be more viable for support roles provided they have the pre-requisite CC. While I won't say it's entirely that mages are on the decline, I will say buffs to other portions of the game like masteries have definitely negated a large amount of what they can do.

So I guess I should ask: What expectations do you as a player have for an AP Mid?

Basically, what I used to understand a mage to be was supposed an alternative damage type capable of carrying a game when the ADC is countered. (Originally)

Despite there being some mages that are "fine", not all mages are showing the same tolerance and that definitely feels more symptomatic of runes, masteries and items than the champs themselves in many cases.

And then comes something I notice every so often... a big one: BARON. Hello Baron Buff, so nice of you to shield minions against SPELLS. The primary dps of mages. While I realize this is supposed to counter waveclears, it's definitely hyper-noticable if you play AP, that your base defense capabilities are severely inhibited. It's as bad as the vision items put in the game to counter specifically Teemo.