Talk:Varus/@comment-178.41.46.140-20120512211935/@comment-50.103.5.219-20120514004235

The only time you would ever do that is if your range and harass is strong enough to zone the enemy without fail. Generally speaking, this is not worth sacrificing your carry's gold-farming to accomplish, though it is necessary in rare circumstances.

The reason you mostly put AP Mages in mid to begin with is because Mages are more skill-based than item-based compared to Carries (who are by far the most item-based archetype in the game). Most AP Mages reach the peak of their effectivness earlier than Carries do as a result.

So, by aiming to zone/gank, mid you're really denying their solo exp, which inhibits the Mage's stronger mid-game. At the risk of over-simplifying the concept, I'll summarize this as "Carries need gold, Mages need exp."