[Ivramire]

Yes, but you have to realize that mages don't have an strong auto-attack in between spells (Like Archers,Fighters, and Clerics), and the majority of our spells have casting times and cool down, except for Magic Missile and/or Fire Bolt, and that's if you leave them both at level one (with or without empowerment into cool down for each).

Magic Missile will more that suffice as a filler attack between stronger hitting skills.

+9 Armor does negate low defense, but it's rare and expensive, in game and real life via Spark Cash transactions. MDEF is, on average, not much higher than the other classes (maybe somewhere in between 70-100 points), it depends more on if your build is Full INT or INT/SPR, and what kind of SPR bonuses are on the gears the opponent player has equipped. I know Clerics and Archers with SPR that matches and rivals my own, and it can be difficult battling against them, if I didn't +9 my weapons.

Mages are the class that benefit most from CS, even among other classes if they CS to the limit.

With the caveat of if they CS a lot. All classes benefit from CS, (Clerics arguably the least) but my point is that Mages seem like they gain the most.

As far as SC, I normally don't use it unless it's for enhancing, or extenders for long party raids/grinds where I don't trust the clerics, hate losing EXP unexpectedly from low HP/Defense, a Guild War, or Soloing troublesome areas, like Trumpy Remains and Burning Rock. In PvP I try to fight fair, and kill people with skill, versus spending unnecessary real life spending.

With the caveat of if you CS a lot. Always assuming equal terms and CS-usage in PvP, out of combatants and classes, M.Def seems something you can't enhance against.