I've been playing the old school style mages for years and love them, now they are called "a focused mage." On that note, this is my general play style.
For me macros are the biggest thing with a mage in PVM and PVP. The must have macros for me would be (This is in 2d with UO Assist):
Targeting -
Last target
Last target (UO Assist, with range check last target enabled, Queue self/last target)
Target self (UO Assist, I guess there is a new target self option but I stuck with UO Assist for the target queue. You do lose out in area's like T2A where sometimes you can't target yourself because "the target cannot be seen"...)
Mount pet and dismount pet (UO Assist, need to record a macro)
Clear target queue (UO Assist)
Attacks -
Curse
Explosion
Energy Bolt
Flame Strike
Harm
Magic Arrow
Paralyze
Poison
Buffs/self preservation -
Bless
Heal
Greater Heal
Cure
Greater Cure
Chug Cure (UO Assist)
Chug Heal (UO Assist)
Munch enchanted apple (UO Assist)
Defensive/Fields -
Teleport
Energy Field
Paralyze Field
Poison Field
Wall of stone (can't teleport through these!)
Combo's -
I don't do many of the "spell combo's" in one macro as they just seem ineffective when you need that split second switch up. Two of the common spells with time delays are Mind Blast and Explosion.
The idea of a combo is to dump as much damage in a single instance. Most common "combo" is doing something like:
1. Explosion
2. Last Target
3. Flamestrike
4. Last Target
Mixing a debuff, like curse or enemy of one (mystic) or etc., are also good to get the most damage out. Sometimes you don't have the time to cast Flamestrike so you can toss in an Energy Bolt instead :
1. Curse
2. Last Target
3. Explosion/Mind Blast
4. Last Target
5. Flamestrike/Energy Bolt
6. Last Target
Practice -
When I try to dust a little rust off the magery I usually try to start off with smaller monsters and work my way up.
1. Lizard men and harpies are good to get into the swing of things. Generally a lot of spawn good field practice and little chance of death.
2. Orc's can be a good mixture with a few mages and some basher types. I don't care for the "newer" types of orc bombers and scouts but they can add a little bit of a play style.
3. After you have mastered the orc mages try out some liches. That throws a little bit of a need to heal and move around some. Play with them until you can stand your ground (not run) cast heals on yourself.
4. Demons next, they have more health. Playing with them until you can stand toe to toe is also good.
5. When I'm feeling like I have everything down is when I can stand toe to toe with succubi.