I played Aatrox some more just to see

Yup. Still awful. I built tanky, and it was shit.

Hes still much weaker than old Aatrox. I die faster with tanky items compared to old Aatrox with 2 offensive items.

I can't engage a team fight often because I had no way to build up stacks prior.

Sometimes you find yourself in a situation where you are having to choose between trying to build stacks so you can get your revive, or keeping your sustain on so you can try to live and stay in the fight. Both are shit options and you die either way.

Stop trying to shoehorn Aatrox into some weird idea you have about him Riot. You wrecked him. I am going to main Olaf for now. Better passive attack speed, great active heal and bonus attack speed, better poke than Aatrox, great spam-able true damage, passive resistances from ult, and bonus AD and movement speed during ult. He can build tanky, do great damage, and chase down enemies. His spam-able E works great with Spell blade too.

I am now an Olaftrox. The word to describe a former Aatrox main who now mains Olaf.