Warlock vs Mage in TBC

Good mornin’ all,

I was wondering if the “post-nerf” changes really affected the classes like people are saying. Since about a week before the prepatch, I was torn between maining a Mage or Warlock for TBC. I thought about it basically all week, played both classes, and at the end of the day chose Warlock because they’re cool af.

Fast forward to now: I’ve done all my prep, grabbed a few upgrades I needed, got my fast mount, farmed some gold, and leveled my professions. The other evening, a friend was kind of making fun of my choice, saying Warlocks won’t be nearly as good as Arcane Mage, that Arcane will be the dominant caster stacked in raids, and that I’ll struggle to find a raid spot.

I don’t necessarily care — I chose Warlock because I like the class, what it brings, the aesthetic, and the awesome fire horse. But I can’t lie and say I don’t like doing big damage in raids.

TLDR: With the post-nerf changes, is Warlock really in a bad spot compared to Arcane Mage? If so, is that for all of TBC, or just a Phase 1 thing?