Trinkets: SoH vs MDF

I picked up the Spark of Hope and the Cover of the Keepers last night. The instance was good to me.

Spark of Hope vs Majestic Dragon Figurine

MDF: 180 Spirit (when fully stacked).
SoH: 100 spirit, plus 42 mana saved off of every spellcast.

SoH Pros:

• Constant 100 spirit. Don't have to build up to it, which is good when buffing or on short trash pulls, or when damage starts heavy.
  
• 42 mana saved off of every spell cast. If chain-casting insta-cast spells (back-to-back on a 1.2 second GCD), this results in roughly 175mp5 saved from being used (give or take GotEM's reductions). The true mp5 saved by this will vary based on how often you are casting and which spells you cast, as well as procs and use of Nature's Grace.
• This mana reduction will not add to your mana regen... it will only save you mana.
• To put the mana savings into perspective, consider that BoW is 91 mp5. Casting 2 spells in 5 seconds with SoH equipped will almost match the mp5 returned from BoW. Imp BoW is 109.2 mp5, or 2.6 spells cast within 5 seconds with the SoH equipped. I am very, very likely to be casting 3 or more spells within 5 seconds, so this proc will save me more mana than impBoW is giving back to me when it matters.
  

MDF Pros:

• Built to 180 spirit.
• Easy to keep stacked in a long fight.
  
• 80 more spirit over the SoH gives it extra healing and regen (when stacked 6+). Accounting for the Living Spirit talent, this is 92 spirit (13.8 healing) lost if I swap to the SoH.
• 92 spirit roughly equates to 27.6 mp5 while casting with full points in Intensity (92 spirit = 92 mp5 out of combat pre-3.1, x 0.3 from intensity pre 3.1 = 27.6 regen while casting. Blizzard has stated that the changes to oo5sr regen and intensity should not have changed the while-casting regeneration rate... much... so I feel this estimation of 27.6 mp5 while casting is still safe in spite of the changes to spirit, to which I cannot find the exact new equations).
  

Personally, I think that the SoH is gonna give me far better returns than the MDF's transient 80 spirit. That 13.8 healing from the MDF is, of course, as transient as the spirit it is derived from, requiring a full 10 stack of the MDF's spirit buff proc for the full 13.8 healing bonus over the spirit given by the SoH. Also, I doubt that the lost amount of spirit-based mana regen from the MDF (estimated at 27.5 mp5) is anywhere close to the raw mana savings on each spell cast from the SoH (roughly 125 to 175 mp5), so I will gladly give up the transient 13.8 healing in trade for the superior mana savings.

SoH wins out, for me. (My other trinket that I am pairing it with is the Illustration of the Dragon Soul.)


What about DMC: Blue Dragon?

I will point back to Averna's post at Nerf this Druid, where she found that the DMC:BD equated roughly to 77 mp5, on average, depending on gear and luck with procs, post-3.1. SoH still wins out!