The first topic I am going to go over mana management. This is one of the most critical skills in arena if the games will last longer duration. Mana is Mage’s lifeblood without it not only you will not do any damage but you will most likely die. Generally speaking unless I am completely dry on mana and I die, I am doing something wrong.

Spells and Abilities

Polymorph

This is fairly common knowledge between Mages but I am still surprised how many Mages still do this. Rank 1 polymorph has the same duration in PvP as Rank 4. Therefore, it is more beneficial to the Mage to always be casting Rank 1. Rank 1 mana cost is 60 and Rank 4 mana cost is 150. Over the duration of an arena fight this will save quite a bit of mana. It is highly possible that this luxury will be taken away from us in WoTLK.

Frost Nova

The same goes for Rank 1 frost nova. Rank 1 frost nova untalented costs 55 mana and Rank 5 is 185 mana. The difference between the two is damage. However, the mana you save from Rank 1 130, which is 2 polymorphs and 10 mana.

Evocation