Seriously, the only mages I can rock people with is LB or Cassi. I can bot with Malz I only play him as AD. I hate it, especially when we need an AP.

The only mages I don't have are vlad, ken, rumble, and brand (as far as riots tags are concerned). Id say its a sad fact that I can only play two of them with any decency.

It seems like when I play those champs, I get stuck with glass cannon or no damage mode. There feels to be no happy equilibrium.

If someone could lend me a hand here i'd be really grateful.

I'm liking Lux, she has CC(slow area, stun), can shield multiple allies, her ult is awesome and her cooldowns are great.

Just keep an eye on the minimap often, and avoid dangerous locations.

Also aim for cooldown reduction when possible, so you can cast more.

"Mage" is about as specific as "AD", so it's hard to give advice for that many champions. Most of them are at least playable on Dominion. The mages that really excel are either strong pushers in bot lane (Morgana, Soraka, Cass, Malz, Heimer), or powerful nukers in top lane (Kassadin, LeBlanc, Ahri), or ones that are OP in some other unique way (Ryze).

But other mages can do really well too. I've had gold medal games with Karma, Nunu, Amumu, Janna, Sona and others. You just need to find a build that works, and play sensibly. Exploit your strengths. Don't run in and expect to facetank Lee Sin in a 1v1 if you're building full squishy. Pick up Rylai's/Sweeper/ROA/Veil if you need some health.

If you named a couple of mages in particular, it would be easier to give some tips.

roll with a teammate or two at all times. a lot of AP chars can't 1v1 against tanky dps'ers who roam looking for a straggler.

If you aren't pushing bot, avoid running solo as much as possible. Either stick with a group, pair up with an initiator, or stay under a turret.

If you find you end up kiting through the jungle a lot then pick up a hextech sweeper. The additional vision is critical where an opponent would otherwise get to juke you, or make an unpredictable movement in the fog of war.

If the mage has no reliable CC or escape skills in their kit (or sometimes even if they do), Rylai's crystal scepter is necessary to help balance the lack. Every mage in Dom needs some way to counter gap closers and speedy champs.

Finally, don't commit yourself to fighting until death. If it's just you and you can't win the battle, leave it (unless it's critical that you help stall for your teammates). At worst, you may die anyway, but if you get someone to chase you off a point it could be worth it. At best, you can use this distance to manage cooldowns and kite your opponent to death, or into teammates.

Catalyst first on every Mage. Rod of ages at 5 minutes is possible, and is easy to get by 6 mins.

Most games I will try to get an ROA, a rylais, and a WOTA(hopefully stacking them with another mage).
With these items you can actually stay in team fights for long enough to actually matter. Throw In a glacial shroud or Ionian boots and you're startingto beast mode.

I realize that building survivability over ap lowers dmg a lot for many a Mage, but when you can get off 3-4 full combos(minus ult obv) with most mages, the enemy team should just be dead. Also people will focus you regardless of your hp values, so why make it easier on them?

If this doesn't float your boat, get Ionian boots, deathgrasp, and soul shroud. Basically you need hp values somewhere, otherwise expect to get domed.

I find CDR pretty important in Dominion on most any mage (anyone with mostly ranged magic damage). So much that I sometimes debate buying CDR boots over Spell Pen boots (you can always build Void Staff if they start building MR). It's just so much harder to hold your own in a 1v1 when any aggressive melee knows they can destroy you under your turret while you're waiting for your spells to come back up.

Rylai's is needed if you don't have an inherent kiting ability (or if you're kiting skills are able to be dodged like Brand, Viktor, etc), and is even more hilarious if you do.

Spell Vamp is useful as well.

Unless I'm doing really well I usually don't feel comfortable rushing a Deathcap for pure damage when I feel the utility of CDR, Slows, and Spell Vamp would serve me better.

Play them just like you play them on SR, but stay out of the jungle. Pretty much it.

Ahri- my favorite dom champ atm.
Starting items: ring, boots, pots. Upgrade boots to lucidity
Rush rylais, then wota, void staff (if tankys), rabadons, nlr.
Ahri is best top with her team but can bot if needed.
I use ghost/flash to maximize chance of escape since she is so squishy.
Once u have rylais u should be able to kite the **** out of almost anyone. Try not to use ult unless absolutely necessary for escape or you know you can take out 1 or several of your enemies. If ur ult is on cd be very careful about your position, for you will be very easy to kill with out it. Try to fight with team, stand in the background and distrupt the enemy with charm and hit as many people as possible with Q.
Once you get a hang of her she is sooo much fun to play. Enjoy!