They can try sure, but arcane mage isn't famous for it's tankyness. It's more to remind you that arcane has alot of damage and a poly but everything else about them is pretty dogshit, and they are still a tier above ele, which is wrong imo.
My two cents:
Arcane is A Tier because they do things that other specs can’t.
With good positioning, they’re an exceptional zone control spec due to the pressure they create with Arcane Blast and Missiles (Missiles being unique in its ability to continue pressuring an enemy even when they are fleeing and become out of range).
There’s also Nova which, when used correctly and with a team that knows how to not break the roots, is arguably more impactful than Earthbind Totem, which can be melted down with a spell or two and is a 50% slow as opposed to a long-duration root.
Blink > Ghost Wolf (in my opinion) in a team fight situation because the instant gap it creates is more problematic for enemy melees than the static move speed bonus from ghost wolf (which requires you to not be casting other spells). A mage can Blink and immediately begin pressuring the enemy team again from range, whereas Ele needs to hop in and out of Ghost Wolf to achieve comparable mobility, which eats GCDs.
AND, they have poly, which is, well, poly.
Ele, in my opinion, fits perfectly in B Tier. It’s a very strong spec, and has a good toolkit, but it doesn’t do anything that can’t be accomplished better by another player on your team. Earthbind and Shear absolutely deserve a spot on a roster, but that spot is more appropriately filled by a Resto Shaman. Arcane’s toolkit, on the other hand, can’t be backfilled by another A or S Tier spec and, as such, are more “valuable” in a tier list because their utility is unique.
Edit: Also, for those who haven’t played Ele much, they don’t “feel” as good in practice as they sound on paper. Shear doesn’t have great range, meaning you frequently need to over-extend to hit a key interrupt on a back-line healer, which is risky and leaves you exposed. They don’t have nova and blink, so when they ARE overexposed, their only tool is Ghost Wolf which really is not that helpful. Maelstrom generation is slow, and can only be built by abilities with a cast time (meaning, you’re only efficiently building maelstom in a clash situation where you’re standing still a lot), their burst with Earth Shock is good but not nearly as consistent as other “burst specs”, and their off-heals are not instant-casts (meaning they’re useless when you’re pressured and trying to retreat or reposition) and extremely mana-intensive. Arcane Mage, on the other hand, is very “fluid” to play, they get a ton of up-time, and the tools in their kit are more disruptive to the enemy team (Nova and Poly are both trinket-worthy, whereas nothing an Ele Shaman can do will require trinketing).
