Talk:Singed/@comment-5490997-20121030215309/@comment-4068613-20121031062236

He does gain more mana than he loses, over the entire duration. Not by much, though, and he likes to use his ult to engage, and the immediate expenditure of mana is brutal if you're already low.

So yeah, in summary, it eventually pays for its own mana cost, but you still need to pay up-front. Which means that by the time it's done paying for itself, your prime engaging time is nearly up.