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The Hard Data about Everyone's Favorite Chicken God - And What It Proves!

Astôlfo··7 votes·1,030 views

Notes Champion.GG data was taken from 6.12 However, no changes to Azir were made in 6.13 either directly or indirectly In addition, most of his matchups got bug fixes/buffs, with the exception of Vlad getting a few nerfs/statlowers+ratiobuffs, etc.

EDIT: 6.13 data is now out, and... Azir got even worse. Well, this certainly is amusing.

Winrates across Ranks - http://www.leagueofgraphs.com/champions/stats/azir Bronze+: 47.9% Silver+: 47.6% Gold+: 47.2% Plat+: 47.1% Diamond: 46.7% The LCS games (arguably the most skilled players): 50.8% Globally (across all ranks): 48%

Winrates over game length (Plat+) - http://champion.gg/champion/Azir 0-25 minutes: 42.87% 25-30 minutes: 47.67% 30-35 minutes: 47.94% 35-40 minutes: 47.62% 40+ minutes: 49.79%

Winrates over games played (Plat+) - http://champion.gg/champion/Azir 1-5 games: 44.4% 5-15 games: 45.17% 15-50 games: 47.37% 50-125 games: 50.28% 125+ games: 50.24%

Experience levels on Ranked players (Plat+) - http://champion.gg/champion/Azir 15-50 games (30.18% chance) -> 47.37% WR 5-15 games (18.44% chance) -> 45.17% WR 50-125 games (18.42% chance) -> 50.28% WR 1-5 games (15.77% chance) -> 44.4% WR 125+ games (9.91% chance) -> 50.24% WR

WR versus matchups (Plat+) - http://champion.gg/champion/Azir 45 listed total matchups. Over 50% WR: 9/45 50% exactly: 1/45 Under 50%: 35/45

Data of winning matchups (Plat+) - http://champion.gg/champion/Azir Cho'Gath - 53.47% winrate for Azir, but Cho'Gath has 0.88% playrate in mid, but is a general poor mid in Plat+ Yasuo - 52.9% playrate for Azir, Yasuo has 10.88% playrate, but is a general poor mid in Plat+ Heimerdinger - 52.67% winrate for Azir, but Heimerdinger has a 0.46% playrate, but is a general poor mid in Plat+ Kassadin - 51.79% winrate for Azir, Kassadin has 2.37% playrate, but is an extremely poor mid in Plat+ Lissandra - 51.37% winrate for Azir, Lissandra has 3.88% playrate, but is a general poor mid in Plat+ Ryze - 50.77% winrate for Azir, Ryze has a 1.96% playrate, but is a general poor mid in Plat+ until 125+ games on him Gangplank - 50.53% winrate for Azir, Gangplank has a 1.21% playrate, is a somewhat/decently strong mid Jayce - 50.52% winrate for Azir, Jayce has a 1.12% playrate, but has only a strong early which then falls off, and a generally low WR without a lot of experience Kennen - 50.2% winrate for Azir, Kennen has a 1.05% playrate, is a somewhat/decently strong mid

The one 50% matchup (Plat+) - http://champion.gg/champion/Azir Ekko - 50% winrate for Azir, Ekko has a 3.1% playrate, but is a terrible mid at the moment

Losing matchups (summarized because fitting all 35 would be ridiculous, feel free to check for yourself) (Plat+) - http://champion.gg/champion/Azir Lowest winrate: 40.9%, against Galio Number of sub-45% winrate matchups: 12/35 Number of 45-46% winrate matchups: 4/35 Number of 46-47% winrate matchups: 4/35 Number of 47-48% winrate matchups: 6/35 Number of 48-49% winrate matchups: 8/35 Number of 49%-50% winrate matchups: 1/35 Highest winrate: 49.53%, against Fizz

Winrate on his most common and highest winrate skillpath (Plat+) - http://champion.gg/champion/Azir W->Q->E->Max Q->Max W->Max E Maxing R whenever possible ... Which leads to 47.99% winrate

Winrate on his most common buildpath (Plat+) - http://champion.gg/champion/Azir Nashor's -> Sorc Boots -> Rylai's -> Zhonya's -> Void Staff -> Rabadon's ... Which leads to 45.65% winrate

Winrate on his highest winrate buildpath (Plat+) - http://champion.gg/champion/Azir Nashor's -> Rylai's -> Sorc Boots -> Rabadon's -> Void Staff -> Zhonya's ... Which leads to 48.96% winrate

Other statistics (Plat+) - http://champion.gg/champion/Azir Winrate: 44th of 48 midlaners listed - almost rock bottom Playrate: 3rd of 48 midlaners listed - high, but considering he's overhyped and a LCS poster-champ, it's not unreasonable Banrate: 8th of 48 midlaners listed - high, but considering he's overhyped and a LCS poster-champ, it's not unreasonable Gold earned: 24th of 48 midlaners listed - exactly middle Kills: 37th of 48 midlaners listed - very low Deaths: 30th of 48 midlaners listed - low, but considering his dashes/ult, it's not too farfetched Assists: 35th of 48 midlaners listed - very low Damage dealt: 18th of 48 midlaners listed - just above average Killing spree: 41th of 48 midlaners listed - near rock bottom Minions killed: 7th of 48 midlaners listed - high, but considering he's basically an APC, it makes sense

What people say about Azir (in general) "He's too safe" - Not too farfetched, given the data and his kit "He's too OP" - Call me an idiot, but all the data suggests the complete opposite "He's [censored] annoying to play against" - True, the soldier harass is a pain to deal with if you get hit, but obviously people are dealing with it quite well, given the data "Seeing him everywhere is annoying" - True, he's fairly common, with 11.79% playrate, making him the 3rd most common midlaner "His range (tether/dashes/etc) is too long" - Sure, it might feel that way, but it's obviously not helping him win that much, even if that is true "He doesn't need to pay attention to mana as much as other mages" - Sure, it might feel that way, but it's obviously not helping him win that much, even if that is true "He has no weaknesses/punishable weaknesses/whatever" - Sure, it might feel that way, but the hard data says everything about the complete opposite being true "You can't ever escape from him once he gets Rylai's" - Sure, it might feel that way, but Rylai's does that for a lot of mages/AP users, not just Azir. Also, it's obviously not helping him win any more, with the given data as hard proof. "He has no counters" - All the data points to the complete opposite.

Conclusions? Azir might be a pain in the royal buttocks to lane and play against, his soldier damage might feel unfair if you don't know how to play around it and get hit by them, it might feel like he has too much mobility, so on and so forth.

HOWEVER.

Even with all of that, Azir is an absolutely mediocre pick to play, with just about every single good statistic being almost rock bottom or otherwise terrible. Literally the only statistics he is okay at are lower deaths (with his mobility) and a good farm score (with his soldiers + ranged AAs which he builds attack speed into).

The other two high scores are playrate and banrate, but those have nothing to do with how good or bad he is. Azir is overhyped and misrepresented as OP by tons of people, which leads to people trying to jump on the non-existent bandwagon to play him, and doing similarly as bad as everyone else who tried the same.

Why is he overhyped?

  • He's commonly played in the LCS by various pro players, which makes him enticing, because then every other player thinks they can achieve the same results.

  • He's flashy and looks cool to play and watch

  • The aforementioned "OMG HERPDERP HE'S OP EVERYONE JUMP ON THE FREELO TRAIN" flawed idea.

TL;DR - Azir's not OP, even if he might be incredibly annoying to play against, and all the world of hard data exists to prove that. However, LCS hype plus the incorrect mindset he is OP leads to overhype + high play/banrates, even if he's a mediocre pick with terrible statistics and winrates otherwise.

Thank you all for reading!

13 Comments

Meep Man2 votes

Very good points here. However, I still believe that Azir is a bit of a "fated to be nerfed" champion simply because of his E. If he was immobile and had stronger area denial, that would be ok since he would die when he was caught out. However, his E makes him a champion with everything except sustain.

Astôlfo3 votes

Azir strikes me as a champion sort of like Zed. Both are commonly complained as unfun to play against. Both are overhyped and played frequently. Both are also terrible champions. However, just straight nerfs/reworks can't really solve the answer, because the very thing people don't like about them is what is so iconic to the champion itself.

Meep Man2 votes

I disagree that they both are terrible champions. A good Azir, no matter what the data says, is still extremely valuable to have on a team due what he brings to the table. Also Zed is not terrible at all as a champion He is complained about, people saying he is OP, but he isn't that good. However, that doesn't mean is bad either. The niche he fills of "I'm going to kill one champion or so help me!" is just annoying to play against some times. Azir, I believe, could actually use a small rework. They should really replace his E with something else since it is that mobility is offers that makes him so incredibly annoying to play against, even if it is what makes him so iconic. It just seems like bad design if what makes the champion iconic isn't even the most unique thing in their kit. "I can summon an army of minions, but more than half the reason people pick me is for my mobility combos." That just doesn't seem right. It would be like Nasus being picked for his E armor penetration and not his infinite Q stacks.

TyrekGoldenspear2 votes

I have another conclusion from your data. A lot of veteran Azirs dropped him due to the nerfs and a lot of new players (like me) picked him up, and since he is such a high skill champ to use well, it contributes to his lackluster win rate.

Think about it, most if not all the nerfs to Azir all affected his playstyle slightly.

For example, the removal of the E lockup removed a lot of the safety of the shurima shuffle. Many pros used that trick to split teams and win teamfights. He lost half his passive, some damage on his Q, utility in his W, and safety in his E.

Many people who dropped Azir then did so because he felt like a hollow shell of his former self. New Azir players didn't know of the nerfs thought he was simply the coolest champion they had seen and had to try him.

So they did, and fed the first few games. Then failed to contribute much in the next couple of games as they haven't yet established the champ's strengths and weaknesses.

Some give up at this point, but others push on and become one of the few godlike Azir players who can solo carry. Yet guess what?

Like a lot of marksmen Azir can't 1v5 a healthy team. He will be blown up exceptionally quickly because of his squishyness.

Azir is not only an item dependent champ, but a team based champ. I have played plenty of games where I'm the carry and have a good kda, and wrecked both my towers and stolen a few dragons.

The issue is that as soon as I get flanked I die, becuase for his soldier's power, he can only attack in one place at a time.

The point?

Maybe contributing to Azir's low win rate is the fact that he doesn't have the right team comp in every game where he personally performs well.

He needs a front line, he needs someone else to engage and lock up the enemy so he can tear them up.

I do not think Azir is OP, but I don't agree with your statement that he's a bad champ with mediocre stats.

Can you sit there and tell me that throwing a sand soldier into a teamfight and melting everybody isn't strong?

In conclusion, Azir has been changed a lot since he was released, and many people are still adjusting. He has a very cool concept and mechanic and he needs to be left to settle for a while so everyone can adjust.

Astôlfo2 votes

Yeah, I completely agree with your post. He certainly has high damage and various useful facets to him. However, various nerfs have hurt him quite a bit. In general, his oppressive laning phase makes people quite irritated to lane against him - aka, high banrate. He is flashy and picked in LCS frequently - aka, high pickrate. However, he's an incredibly high skill champion, which the nerfs did nothing but make that more punishing for new players. He's also dependent on team comps, and yeah.

+1 to you good sir.

TyrekGoldenspear2 votes

Thanks dude, +1 to you too.

The Last Ballad1 votes

good farm score (with his soldiers + ranged AAs which he builds attack speed into).

Don't forget that his aa's are near instant, and do not have projectiles. That helps massively since you don't have to predict when you have to aa to beat the minion bolt/have it land just after, but before the next.

Astôlfo1 votes

Bump.

Davarril1 votes

I can't tell if you're begging Riot to not nerf him, or are just being a passive aggressive douchebag.

You can quote the data all you want, but ignoring the community as a whole and regarding your opinions as "right" and everybody else who opposes your opinion is "wrong" is just a bunch of "I'm holier than thou and your opinions don't matter" bullshit.

Astôlfo1 votes

Wrong on both accounts. He does not need nerfs - at least not just plain nerfs. The problem is he's a bad champion, but still oppressive and unfun to play against because of various factors.

And data is the absolute truth, so I don't see why I should listen to subjective feelings and illogical, irrational, emotional complaints. If you consider it bullshit, feel free to leave the thread. I never required you or asked you to participate.

Sozan51 votes
  1. Bumping doesn't work on boards (only amount of upvotes matters).
  2. Data is absolute, true. However, your conclusions based on it are not, so stop acting high and mighty.

Anyways, data you provided (and I checked out myself on champion.gg) shows:

  • Azir is a high skill-floor champion that is widely picked up now (players have only 56 games on average with him), which skews the winrate heavily for him.
  • He is picked/banned in 31% games, so for sure he is not a weak champion. Besides, his pick/ban rate were always on the high side.
  • You are right in that he's not as broken as the community makes him out to be though (but you are not right when you say he is a bad champion).
Astôlfo1 votes

Yes he is a high skill-floor/ceiling champion. Yes, I noticed many new players are trying to jump on the non-existent "freelo" train. Hence, that's why I put the data for winrates across games played and experience.

Pick/banrate has literally nothing to do with whether or not a champion is strong or weak. It is solely based upon the playerbase's PERCEPTION of whether it is strong or weak. Which is often quite incorrect, such as in this case.

He is a bad champion in terms of actual results. He is also bad in terms of being extremely oppressive to play against for most champions/people. He appears/comes off as strong, and certainly, his soldier damage/Q damage + slow/E mobility/ult/instant autos/DPS-style AP build lend a perception of that. However, despite all that, he still somehow underperforms.

That is all I wanted to make the point. He looks strong and in probably all rights should be strong, but he's not strong when the actual data comes out. Which is what actually matters. Why? Because people know how to play against him/around him, and not let the game drag out till late game where he hits his second power stride (first being in somewhat early with soldier poke/harass), as well as the fact he's a difficult champion.

Astôlfo1 votes

Bump.

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