I know one of the big criticisms is that mana is a hard limiter. Unless you're god at planning, you can't make a mana specific build that isn't either health or mana fucked until like level 40. You're either gonna go glass cannon or battlemage because you have no mana. Sneak crit bonus completely tilts in favor of range builds vs magic.
Remove mana from the equation though, and the mage becomes the best class in the game in damage output and utility. Being able to use Expert level Thunderbolt as a long range greeting is understated in how effective it is.