Ezreal's Passive
TL;DR: Ezreal's passive is super effective and people are saying Ez sucks because they don't think of his passive sometimes. I've been looking all night for a solid and up to date discussion on Ezreal's Passive, because it seems like too many "Ezreal mains" don't understand how to properly utilize his passive. There are those who say, "Ez passive means you don't need Attack speed items." or, "Ez passive doesn't synergize with AP Ez." but there's no one pointing out that his passive even in pre-season 5 is still amazing. His passive means you can build an attack speed item of almost any kind. Want a Nashor's Tooth or Guinsoo's Rageblade to add to his AP a bit, it works (especially Rageblade because of the passive. 4% attack speed and AP after every auto attack and spell up to 8 stacks plus 5 stacks on his passive leads to some immense damage if you get Arcane blade in your Masteries). Or even another Zeal item after Trinity Force, like Phantom Dancer is sick. For those nostalgic "Blue Build" mids (or ADC :/) his passive works amazingly with Black Cleaver's Passive, 10% + 5% Armor Pen each auto attack with up to 5 stacks means up to 35% Armor Pen really quickly with his passive on. People have complained that, "his auto attack based passive pushes Ez players towards one playstyle only." and although that may be for a good reason, it doesn't mean it should be changed to fit the wants of those who want to play and ADC with AP. Heck Tristana can do it, why can't Ez do it? I mean... They're both annoying little girls, right? (I love both Tristana and Ezreal even if I make fun of them. Please understand I do it lovingly).
"How do I use Ezreal's passive correctly then Mr. Know-it-all Mc. Rantypants?" you may be telling your computer screen, and although you probably shouldn't be talking to your screen, that is an excellent question. There are many ways to properly use Ezreal's passive. There are of course the items that I mentioned that benefit from his passive, but along with those there are other uses for his passive (Otherwise I wouldn't write this article that potentially will be ignored). For starters, even if you don't have any of the item combos that mesh with his passive, Ez is an amazing tower pusher if the enemy wave and your wave of minions are under the turret. If you focus your auto attacks on the turret then w+e towards the minions you'll get 2 stacks on his passive giving 20% + 20-40%(you should e through your w so that you get the boost from your w) attack speed boost, then q the wave every time it's off cooldown and you'll get to 50% bonus attack speed in about 8 seconds give or take. Make sure you keep using your q to keep the passive going and w+e if you want for the added w boost. All that gives you a total of 70-90% attack speed bonus with e. With all that attack speed, an AD or Blue Built Ezreal can bring a tower down in 1 1/2 waves. plus if you want you can cs while pushing down the turret if you hit your q's correctly. Ezreal's auto attacks also apply quite a bit of damage, so if you can keep a stack up, your going to be q'ing and autoing your enemy to death and once you get a Last Whisper, Black Cleaver, or even Youmuu's Ghostblade, you can deal a ton of damage (Plus Youmuu's active gives you another 40% attack speed boost so with a level one w on you, full passive stacks and an active Youmuu's, you'll have 110% attack speed bonus, AND Youmuu's gives you more a better ability to chase along with your e that you might want to combo with w).
As a disclaimer, I'd like to point out that my ranking is Bronze 3, so I'm not a professional, but I have been an Ezreal main since 1/4 of the way through season 4. I've used him as Blue Build mid, ADC, and even Jungler (back when Feral Flare was still a usable item. Oh man people would get so mad when it worked). Since I'm technically Bronze trash (because honestly all of bronze and most of silver is absolute garbage) I strongly encourage the opinion of many people and although I disagree with the validity of AP Ezreal, I played him in the Jungle, so what do I know. Anyway, I hope this was an enjoyable read and look forward to seeing if anyone bothers to read this.
P.S.: Am I the only one who uses Ezreal's ult constantly without worrying about whether or not it hits. I find myself using it almost as soon as it comes off cooldown. Plus I get damage ratios for my ult and q that no one I've ever seen has matched. 21/9/0 Masteries and 2 Life steal quints, 1 AD quint, AD Marks, Defense Seals, MR Glyphs.