Hehe, I'm sure they have thought of it, I was just curious what would happen.

A few questions. I've seen a lot of "mage runs in with bop". Is this bop before or after the mage gets into combat? Our main problem was the mage boss getting 1-2 nukes off on some random person before he settles on our mage tank.

We tried the paladin pull, the imp pull, and initially the mage bop pull with limited success. It's just so random to the point where it's very fustrating, plus nothing conclusive on the web on a method that works. Everyone seems to do it a different way. I've even seen a pull where the mage fireballs and then runs to the door... which would be my preferred option. Basically how does the mage initate the pull without getting killed?

You BoP him before the pull, so he doesn't get killed by Veras/Gathios, and he runs in. That way, he'll only get hit by Smite, but that can be interrupted. Add MDs and you're set, it's pretty easy. If you BoP after the combat begins, agro will switch to Paladin, which might result in his death.

You can also counterspell the smite with a 2nd mage, which isn't a terrible plan anyway because it gets Malande moving.

You should also be aware that the mage is currently bugged (and has been for quite some time). He'll run directly away from the mage before stopping to cast his first arcane bolt, preventing a solid spellsteal. Very difficult.

For the BoP, mage gets just inside range of a pyroblast and opens with it. As soon as the pyroblast hits the mob, we use the BoP. Misdirects and other tanks peel off the mage tank quickly.

We tried the imp and hated it.

I have never had an issue with getting just inside the 41-yard range, getting BoP'ed, casting Fireball, blinking immediately up the stairs, and hitting Spellsteal, even after Zerevor started his erratic pull behavior. You can even get a Counterspell off on Lady Malande this way if you're quick about it.

We still use the Imp to pull, but we position it differently.

As you walk in on the room, we put the Imp on the far right. This means that the Mage runs away from the imp, and towards the Mage tank. Makes for very easy Spellstealing.

We have the mage use invisibility to get behind them, he doesn't aggro them here. Then he starts winding up a spell and a paladin simultaneously runs in and bubbles. Worked like a charm today.

Switched to this method a couple weeks back and haven't had a bad pull since. I tweak it slightly by having my Paladin BoP me about ~1 second before my Pyroblast completes so that I have maximum BoP time after I Blink. In all the pulls I've used w/ this method, Zerevor has always run towards the back of the dais before he starts casting. (Sometimes to the left, sometimes to the right, but always towards the back of the room.) As such, I always have a decent time window to get into range and Spellsteal before he stops to cast.

In addition, this method eliminates the occasional LoS problems I used to have as a gnome. In the past, I'd eat Savory Deviate Delight, but with this method I don't even need that anymore.

On an admittedly crappy attempt this evening, it seemed like there were continual small heals going through ticking up council's health. I don't see any additional healing effect in the combat log. Is this just some display issue?

It's their HP-redistribution buff. It spreads damage around to the other adds, so Gathios the Shatterer's health will constantly be going up slightly.