Premise: the rework has just been released, so most of my consideration are gut feelings, and a bit of what I could grasp from a couple games.
- Runes
For now I'm kinda undecided between Conqueror and Grasp:
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Conqueror converts a good amount of damage into true damage, which probably makes Aatrox scary vs tanks. Otherwise, Aatrox just doesn't feel like has a lot of tank-killing potential, besides black cleaver of course. The caveat, if I'm reading it right, is that Conqueror actually lowers Aatrox's sustain, since it converts (NOT adds) damage, so he'll actually end up dealing less physical damage, which is supposedly the only source of damage that heals him.
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Grasp instead boosts his healing, which by itself isn't that insane actually. He's not like Illaoi or Darius, who heal based on their missing HP, regardless of the damage they do. WIth Aatrox you actually need to deal as much damage as you can in order to sustain. And since you'll still be landing some AAs inbetween casts, one or two %HP heals are quite welcome. It also adds 5 HP each time it's procced, but you never take Graps for this, on any champion.
Right now I don't see other interesting keystones for Aatrox, for these reasons:
- Press the attack - Lethal Tempo: Aatrox doesn't benefit from pure AA builds anymore.
- Fleet Footwork: maybe, but it scales with bonus AD, which from what I see you won't be getting lots of. He's a juggernaut now, and shouldn't work well with squishier builds. So you definitely won't get as much heal from FF as you'll get from Grasp.
- All 4 domination keystones: They are made for upfront burst damage, which shouldn't interest Aatrox players. Predator might be a niche, if jungling, for faster ganks, but I'd say that it will quickly lose usefulness by mid-late game.
- Aery - Arcane Comet: they scale with bonus AD, and not a lot of it anyway. So I'm not sure that you'll be boosting your damage by a lot with them, especially not with Aery.
- Phase rush: you can try, but keep in mind that Aatrox can't move when casting Q, you can only reposition with E. But in between casts a MS boost might find some use. Still not the best keystone for him.
- Aftershock: not bad, given you have some CC, but it has a long CD. It will help you if you want to go full tank and intiate, something that Aatrox may be able to do. But if you want to go for dps, just any other keystone is better.
- Gurdian: why? you're not a guardian
- Inspiration Keystones: you can probably make something out of all of them, though their use cases aren't that straightforward. Inspiration could be ok, since you can add an AA inbetween ability casts.
For the lesser runes I don't want to be too specific, I'll just say that all 4 trees have something interesting for Aatrox IMO, so it all boils down to what keystone you want to take.
2: Items
Black Cleaver into Steraks. I don't really see other choices. He NEEDS CD reduction, does only physical damage and is melee with no gap closer, and needs health and overall survivability. Death's dance is probably a good choice, but his abilities are AoE, so he will only heal for 33% of the damage he deals. It can still be a lot in crowded situations, but otherwise you're probably safer going tanky.
So BC + Steraks + Tank items (possibly a spirit visage). Maybe put a Titanic/Ravenous Hydra or a Death's dance if you're ahead and feel like you can survive. Depends on how aggressive you want to go.
3: Playstyle
Sorry but I think it's too soon for now to say. One thing though: enemy minions focus you only if you hit the enemy with basic attacks and single target abilities, so as long as you attack the opponent with just your spells, which are all AoE, you should not be afraid of retaliation. Also, you heal from all damage you deal, not just dmg you deal to champions, which means that you'll probably want to go for a trade while inside a minion wave (something that few champions actually want to do early game). I think this last part is something you should capitalise on during the early, especially on laners like Quinn or Teemo, or Irelia who work mostly with AAs.
Lastly, your ult let's you tower dive with impunity, putting to shame even Tryndamere.
