Why Azir is One of the Best-Designed Champions in League; and Why He Needs Help

Cross posted from reddit, but I wanna know what you guys think of Azir's issues in general, and what I see as his strengths.

Recently, I've seen a lot of posts complaining about Azir - his winrate is low, he has so many bugs, he's clunky, his passive sucks; the list goes on. And sure, Azir may need a little tuning right now to make him smoother and to balance him out a bit. And he's riddled with bugs, we all know that - might even need to be disabled while they fix them. But in terms of kit, I think Azir is one of the best-designed champs in this game. Let’s be clear – he needs work. He’s not good enough yet. But I think he can be one of the most compelling champions in the game. Older champions are notorious for having kits that don't really fit together, and they can make for problematic gameplay when skills don't mesh (COUGH old Sion). Some abilities may seem to have very little use or just are uninteresting - Ashe's Hawkshot fits her lore, and it's definitely useful lategame, but it's largely unsatisfying.

But why is Azir good (or even great)? Part of it is that his kit works well together, sure, but that's sort of a given since his abilities are all based on his W aside from ult. What makes Azir's kit interesting is that every ability has choices related to how to use it. This makes for more nuanced gameplay for the person playing Azir and also makes for more counterplay - being forced into the wrong choice can be disastrous. For Azir, this could mean using Q forward when you need it to extend an escape, or using the E for the shield when it should be used to reposition. Choice based gameplay can be pretty closely tied to what are sometimes termed “overloaded” kits – Thresh is the poster child for this. However, it’s my opinion that as long as the many different parts of an ability aren’t so complex as to be esoteric, different functions makes for more interesting gameplay. Thresh’s hook can be used to peel, to gapclose, to engage, to zone; his flay in much the same ways; and as a result, Thresh is fun.

Look at Azir and you’ll find much the same nuances. Do I use my Q to extend my E’s range, or to create a safe zone around me? How do I place my soldiers? Do I knock them up for the catch, or go behind for the Insec ult? Any of these decisions can mean a huge spike in Azir’s damage or contribution to a teamfight, but at the same time can put him in grave danger. What’s more is that there is no real “standard” play with Azir – sure, W Q E R is a great engage, but he’s adaptable (here are the Orianna comparisons again).

But what really makes me think Azir is one of the best-designed champions in the game is that his kit is all about one concept – commanding rather than dirtying his hands. He attacks from afar, directs from afar, and should he be caught up to, he’s horribly fragile – but just like a proper emperor, he disdainfully tosses away his enemies. It’s a great union between lore, concept, and playstyle. When you make a play, there's an innate satisfaction that comes with having pulled off a play that is so suitable to the champ that you're playing.

What makes Thresh frustratingly powerful at times is that improper use of his abilities does not have a huge downside. Missing a hook means you lose power for 14 seconds, but that’s about it. Conversely, landing a hook is an absolutely HUGE payoff. (Obviously, sometimes missing a hook is awful, but not always). So how does that translate to Azir? Well, when you mess up with Azir, the tradeoffs are quite huge. A soldier out of position means death or a huge lack of damage. The lack of Thresh’s innate tankiness means going in on a bad engage is a BAD engage for Azir. So what does Azir need to make him better? Because he definitely needs help, I’m not arguing that.

Well firstly, bugfixes and QoL fixes. He’s clunky as hell, and he needs to feel smooth. That recent post about how awful he feels? Yeah, I agree. This is actually even more important for Azir than most champions because he’s built around constantly adapting smoothly. But there’s something bigger. Azir is all about making those right choices – and if you don’t, you WILL be punished. But if you do? You get some good AOE damage. His ult is great, but correct positioning and use of Azir’s abilities isn’t rewarding enough. I think his kit is perfect as is (I particularly love that you only get the shield and knockup on E if you stop your movement short), but the rewards associated with the risks he takes should be greater. This is a champ who could be devastatingly powerful (again, ORIANNA), so I get being careful with his initial stats. But he just needs… more (attack speed buff?). Maybe bugfixes will even be enough! He sure has a ton of them. But I saw Velocity post that they’re working on it, so I’m sure Riot knows what they're doing. These are just my thoughts in defense of the champ as a whole.

Thanks for reading the whole thing, if you did! I appreciate it.

TL;DR: Azir’s playstyle is awesomely organized around a central concept of “the emperor from afar,” and his playmaking potential is huge – if he actually had the stats and smoothness to do that in a great manner. He gets punished hard, so he should punish hard in turn.