I also believe you shouldn't lose mana since you never actually cast the spell.
You don't lose your mana; therefore, you could cast a more powerful spell next turn....assuming you didn't gamble and lose.
Actually it does take your mana. Ive checked it multiple times.
I agree but I think the reasoning is. You use Mana to create the spell. When it fizzles you were not successful with casting said spell. If you think of it as a potion it might make more sense. You always use up your ingredients when you make a potion but your not always successful with the end result of the potions. Yet once you use the ingredients they are gone even if the potion failed. I think it's the same reasoning with spells and mana. Fizzle is basically your wizard failing to get the spell just right.
Alright now I notice that something IS wrong. At first I thought it was because my spells have a 10% chance of fizzling but it's more than that. I'm a Life wizard and I fizzle a lot. Nature's Wraith, Satyr, Leprechaun and Seraph fizzle quite a bit for me.
Sometimes I notice that when I cast a spell repeatedly, it fizzles every time. It may just be that the accuracy rate is low, such as in the case of a storm wizard, but when I switch to, say, scorpion, I find myself scoring hits almost every time. It may be a coincidence that different schools of spells don't work against some enemies, but this has happened too often for me to think that is true.