Faith in the future update(s) of Aatrox, and discussing Aatrox's kit.

Alright first of all, Aatrox has an awesome story behind him, and a good vo to boot, but he's never really been in the best spot. From what I could gather Aatrox is a tricky champion to balance because of his kits simplicity, if his numbers are too high, he's unstoppable, if they're too low, he can't do much of anything better than other champs with a similar role in the game. Be it split pushing, diving, or jungling. His ap build can be good but even then he's outclassed by other champs with better capabilities.

I mostly created this thread wanting to discuss Aatrox, what makes him great, what could make him better, and what defines him most as a champion. I love the guy, and I would play him if he weren't in the state he's in. Riot seems to be really into meshing champion narrative into their gameplay, and so far with their latest reworks and releases I think they've done a really good job. With the exception of shen, his new kit is better than his old one, but the sword feels clunky, and it bums me out that it's likely to stay that way, but I'm getting off track here.

So with the great way reworks have been handled as of late, I have the utmost faith in riot that they can make Aatrox have a healthier kit, while keeping what makes him unique still intact. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying one of his abilities has to stay exactly the same, but I think he could benefit from a rework on the same level as say, poppy or ryze. Personally I wouldn't mind if he all his abilities were changed as long as he kept his defining features, such as;

1. His sustain. His w is kind of a key component of his kit, and the toggling it to do damage is neat and fits his narrative nicely. However I do think there is something to be said for how more often than not it's better to leave it off. That being said his w could still enhance his auto attack(s) to do more damage, while moving the sustain to his passive or somewhere else on the kit, or perhaps being a passive on his w.

2. His revive mechanic. I think ability can possibly be removed completely if riot comes at redesigning Aatrox in a completly different way than what I'm guessing here. But there's no denying how it's something that helps define him more or less, even if other champions have similar abilities in their kits somewhere. Moving it to his ult as a passive could possibly prevent pre 6 cheezy tower dives that you can't do much about if you're caught off guard for a second. But if he's better in the jungle than anywhere else then that could give him the current problem of "sucky gank before 6 syndrome".

3. His self buff. His ultimate is a pretty awesome steroid for a fighter, and the ap ratio is the meat of ap aatrox. However, I think it's fair to say that this ability is underrated because it's on Aatrox, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think possibly changing the effect to increase allies attack speed or damage/ap would tie into his narrative better, as he is supposed to inspire those around him to fight on. However those who've been around for a long time will know that a similar mechanic exists on 's e and that it's been significantly nerfed due to how much value it had. From what I've been told if you had a nunu and j4 you could forgo buying attack speed as an adc because of the value you could get from nunu or j4 alone. I think having a buff that increases size, and attack speed is a core part of Aatrox, and that changes to this ability if any would be needed would be a good topic of discussion.

Now as for aspects of Aatrox I think wouldn't be missed I'd have to say his q is pretty weak in practice despite sounding really good on paper, and the most common complaint of his e being shaped weird. I think he would need some form of cc, but his q in it's current state can be interrupted fairly easily and that's a problem. His e can take time to get used to, and that in itself isn't a problem, in fact I think it would be cool if Aatrox was a champ that was difficult to learn and play properly in a similar fashion to azir or riven.

In closing I like Aatrox, I would love to see him with a better designed kit, and I have absolute faith that he will become better in the future. He's supposed to be getting some changes soon, and I truly appreciate that he hasn't dropped of the radar. Also reaper Aatrox just saying.