Tanky Azir vs. Damage Azir?

Radioactive589·Mar 4, 2015·2 votes·3,525 views

Hey other Azir players! Ive recently been playing a lot of Azir and have been having issues of being nuked to no end in games. My question is should i be building tankier or just use my kit to better survive?

My current build is usually: Morellos, Nashors, Sorc Boots, void staff, rylai's, zhonya's Runes are: Magic Pen reds, Scaling HP yellows, flat MR blues, and flat AP Quints

Open to anything really so feel free to say whatever about builds, gameplay styles etc. Thanks!

6 Comments

ErockandrollMar 4, 20151 votes

Probably should wait until the buffs hit on the next patch cycle. Riot realized he got over nerfed.

I would Probably build some Tankyness, but I typically don't like his DPS builds. With his some what short range, I feel that Burst damage from Q + auto while spamming soldiers, works slightly better at Zoning than flat DPS. Especially when you get a good amount of DPS from building AP and CDR.

Volt CruelerzMar 4, 20151 votes

Please see here for some calculations I did regarding different Azir builds. Each have different strengths and weaknesses. Right now, sustained builds are less viable because his range is shorter, so I typically go Double Morellos because it gives you so much so quickly.

At the moment, he's rather trash, so don't take anything too personally at the moment. Just wait till 5.5 or go try him on PBE (he's sooooo much better).

TehNACHOMar 4, 20151 votes

Do you happen to know how to play ADC at a high level? Like, most people can sub in for the ADC role if they are forced to, but do you understand all the tiny intricacies about kiting and consistently executing DPS damage?

As he's essentially AP Marksman, damage Azir only works if you've actually mastered the major skills required to operate a Marksman in the first place. This means proper kiting, a tank-buster build so you can attack the frontline and thus never put yourself in danger while still staying dangerous, and prioritizing your life over the enemy's life. Your job during team fights is not to kill everyone, it's to never stop auto attacking. Orb Walking is important to this and so is target selection (you generally can't reach the back line without putting yourself in danger. It's important to remember this since you can't auto attack if you're dead).

Icy AuronMar 4, 20151 votes

Azir MUST be at least slightly tanky. Whenever I lane an Azir, it's a free win, because people build him completely wrong. Every burst champion will beat him unless he's tanky enough to survive the burst and dish out his damage (which is DPS). Also, by building him glass, you completely lose the ability to do anything aside from sit back and hit people with soldiers. You can never use your ult offensively, and you can't even E > W into enemies as an engage, because you'll die from a strong gust of wind, not dealing any damage.

Maybe I'm biased because I lane Anivia, but people were complaining that Azir was a lane bully, and I always beat him in lane with one of the worst early game champs in all of League. Something doesn't add up.

C9 Suh DudeMar 4, 20151 votes

Azir Definitely do ability power he's mostly ability power. But if you'd rather do damage I would suggest that next. When you play Azir make sure to stay behind the fight until a tank on your team engages because you are as squishy as Jell-O. For items get:

item 3116 item 3174 item 3158 item 3089 item 3157 item 3151

For masteries you want:

21.0.9

Let me know how it works out :).

Kitten of EvilMar 4, 20151 votes

I haven't played him since the nerfs, mind you, but I always built him a bit tankier than others -- item 3116 item 3151 item 3115 or item 3165 item 3158 item 3157 item 3001 ... I sometimes get Deathcap but not always.

I don't find his AP ratios to be that great, so I built him as tankier with more sustained DPS. His soldiers proc Liandry's, which is helpful since you can easily poke with Q+auto-attack and then back off.

I won't pick him up again until they buff him back a bit. I've gotten him in ARAM and it was a sad sight.