User blog comment:Willbachbakal/(Item Concept) Fixing Mana/@comment-5588011-20151211174029

Things I wholeheartedly agree with:

Ultimates costing no mana.

Mana items solving their mana issues way too easily, Tear basically resolves your issues with its huge mana pool.

Pure mana/mana regen items feeling really bad to buy.

Mana items distorting champions. (I do not believe mana-regen items distort champions.)

Things I do not agree with:

The removal of mana regeneration and mana as a stat. I think that mana as a stat is fine, however mana providing a flat amount for all champions is not. The current saturation of the stat for tanks and mages is painful to see, however the stat's possibility to be purchased should be kept. A stat should become core to purchase, should it be for delaying the powerspike that champions have, allowing emphasis on early-game champions. However I agree that with a champion's reliance of mana/mana regeneration early it makes itemization for other stats early an issue, though I do believe that this can be fixed through new items and less a complete rework of the stat itself. tldr; I believe that mana should be purchasable, but reliance on the stat should be lessened early.

The removal of mana regeneration and mana is also a nerf to supports, with their low AP ratios, with the removal of mana regeneration, they lose the ability ability to make impactful plays constantly, which should be a high-point of caster supports who function less with mana and more with mana regeneration and constant impact. Even with the addition of AP to support items, support items lose their distinction as support items and blend more into mid-lane items with a touch of team-supporting instead of "I buy items to emphasise my character's abilities." Which I personally think is a bad thing.

Furthermore with the removal of mana and mana regeneration, should you reach a point with no mana, that feels even more frustrating especially to mages as you're gimped by your inability to resolve an issue about your champion - mana issues.

The opinion that mana/mana regen is a wasted stat could be interpreted both ways, currently I feel as if mana should have an obvious difference compared to energy - if you have mana you are strong constantly until you run out, if you have energy you have peaks of power in comparison. I feel Riot could do a lot more work to emphasise the differences between energy and mana.

I could see your version working, but I don't think it would feel the same.