Is azir worth learning?

the ultamate·Feb 15, 2017·1 votes·6,080 views

I've been really fond of Azir for a while now, and I'm considering buying him. He's got a hefty price tag of 6300 ip and he's on currently free champion rotation. I've tried playing him in customs many times and i'm completely useless at him, even to bots . I've asked a few of my friends and they've said that he's really not that good and the nerfs made him "Useless". After doing some research i found out that he's just extremely hard to play. Is he still viable or just very difficult, and if so is it worth going through the trouble to learn him?

I'm mostly a "weekend warriaor" so I don't that much...

Any replies would be appreciated!

6 Comments

Umbral RegentFeb 15, 20174 votes

I'm not a hundred percent sure myself, since I mostly just played Azir up to MR7 and put him down to serve as a trophy that says "I did this" to make me feel better, but there's one thing I can say with the moderate experience I have with Azir, and - assuming Riot has Azir balanced enough that he's roughly mediocre in lower skill-class, but still just a teensy bit above average in higher skill-class - it's this:

Azir is a solid Champion to pick up if you want to learn a high-input, high-output Champion. Your friends may say he's useless, but honestly, Azir has never truly been useless, like you said, you've found that his strength is hidden behind a steep skill curve. Of course, being restricted to weekend play, he may not be an ideal champion to pick up, but it is worth noting that having a Champion like Azir with high mechanical skill being a prerequisite for strong play can potentially open you up to become more skilled at a wide variety of different champions.

Of course, this is again coming from someone who played a wild stint of lucky matches with Azir and then put him down after I got my glorious blue banner and probably now would only ever play him in bots or customs to show off Gravelord or WK + MR7, so, take it with an unpalatable pile of salt.

TyrekGoldenspearFeb 15, 20174 votes

At this exact moment I'm afraid it isn't ideal.

You're trading a powerful laning phase for an unstoppable late game that may never come.

Valderis VandalaFeb 15, 20171 votes

I'd wait for the rework and see what the word will be on that before picking him up.

He is far from useless against bots though, kinda really OP against them (but really, what isn't?), just means you haven't figured out how to abuse the bots and their dumb AI. Bots don't really react to your sand soldiers so it's easy to get a lot of free poke off against them.

He is useless early, but a monster late, but will always be difficult to play, and given that games don't really go late much anymore he can feel really bad to play right now.

the ultamateFeb 15, 20171 votes

I'm still level 24 :p

What i meant i am useless at playing Azir even against bots, the intermediate are slightly smarter than beginner bots

Valderis VandalaFeb 15, 20172 votes

Don't worry, you'll get the hang of it eventually. Bots are really dumb, like really really dumb. They seem to have really basic scripting that forces them to be really predictable.

For example, if you are alone and they have you outnumber in lane you can force them to continually chase you until you reach your tower. This always works and makes for very predictable movement on the bots part that can be abused.

Another example is when their health reached a certain threshold they will simply start to flee without fighting back.

There is another health threshold that forces bots to become more standoffish.

When you are alone in lane and so is the bot, a lot of their movement is based on how many minions there are in lane, if they have more they will be more aggressive, if they have less they will withdraw more.

All of their skillshots are also very predictable, they will always use them the same way, making them easier to dodge. Do be mindful once they get their ultimate ability, that usually changes their skill use order.

You can also force movement from bots by using bushes, they will usually try to follow you if they see you moving into a bush even if this would be a really dumb idea for them.

Bots use the recall once they get low enough but never run too far, just always just out of sight. If you can get close to them without being seen you can get a easy snipe for a easy kill. Be mindful of enemy minions, and use your wards in bushes for vision.

Having teammates with you changes most bot behavior though, so keep that in mind.