Why is Aatrox so...bad

Swollwonder·Sep 4, 2015·12 votes·7,995 views

I love Aatrox as a champion. I love his attack speed steroids making it seem like his swords slices through ten minions at a time and how his sword freaking glows and gets bigger as he cuts down his enemies.

But Aatrox is terrible gameplay wise. I'm relatively new to him but here's my experience

Top lane: the only way to keep blood well up is to push lane. The only way to keep your sustain up at a reasonable level is to push the lane. Aatrox almost always pushes lane and his gap closer is channeled not instantaneous. This makes laning tough for Aatrox as it is let alone actually killing your laner.

Jungle: your ganks are awful. You have your Q if you can even get in range and your e once you Q. Sated is pretty sweet on Aatrox but it takes longer to get than other sated junglers.

Why is aatrox just so...not good?

43 Comments

RebonackSep 4, 20155 votes

Because Riot tried to give him a little bit of everything and he ended up being sub-par at everything.

As opposed to Irelia, who got a little bit of everything and ended up being amazing at everything.

WhislaSep 4, 20153 votes

Hes not bad at all. Hes got a high learned skill curve and his playstyle is just really different then what most players are use to. He doesnt take a lot in the jungle to be good and he can farm better then almost anyone. In lane hes got really good harass with the sustain but right now top is more about burst which doesnt suit well for him at the moment. But good match ups with proper builds and he can fight almost anyone.

SwollwonderSep 4, 20151 votes

{quoted}

In lane hes got really good harass with the sustain but right now top is more about burst which doesnt suit well for him at the moment.

Which means he needs some kind of buffs

I'm not saying Aatrox CANT be good but the amount of effort to pay off is off in comparison to other champs

WhislaSep 4, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Which means he needs some kind of buffs

I'm not saying Aatrox CANT be good but the amount of effort to pay off is off in comparison to other champs

He doesnt need buffs, this is a bad way to look at the problem. He just had to be played with certain core items depending on who hes laneing against which most people dont know how to do. And bursty lanes dont always do well come mid to late game which is his trade off.

Aatrox is in a position right now where he can become very op very easily. Think darius status with out needing to land the Q...

Stars ShaperSep 4, 20152 votes

And lets be honest, his passive is just a delayed death that can be of help only during a level 3 dive.

Guyy FieriSep 5, 20151 votes

but if you combine his passive with a GA, you have a much greater chance of surviving a fight or having your teammates finish off enough kills before you come back alive for it to be ok

that being said, i don't personally commonly build a GA because I find that I usually don't need it...if you play aatrox right, you should be able to always your Q up for escaping...dont use it as an engage, use it to escape and regroup

Stars ShaperSep 5, 20151 votes

Using Q as an escape considering the character archetype is a joke (but ingame it's the best option).

Anyway, His passive is probably the most underwhelming of all the other champions.

Guyy FieriSep 5, 20151 votes

Maybe the reason I rather like his Q as an escape is because I play him almost like an assassin/duelist. I do a lot of split pushing and you don't really need the Q for engage that way. If you play Aatrox as a team fighting tank, then yes his Q is not as good because it's going to need to be a source of initiation. That's why I don't play him that way.

Stars ShaperSep 5, 20151 votes

My comment was not bound to actual gameplay but as thematic :P

Guyy FieriSep 6, 20151 votes

gotcha

CaptainAntiHerozSep 6, 20171 votes

It goes away too quickly, if it lasted more like tryndameres fury it'd be nice...

TyroneWatermelonSep 6, 20152 votes

Aatrox my main is a risky pick,if you cant cheese with him early,you lost. if you dont get kills earrly you totally lost. if you fall behind early you cant 1v1 adc at any stage of the game. however if you succesful early you can dominate the game,until late which he falls off due to no mobility,low base stats,no natural tankiness

SwollwonderSep 6, 20151 votes

I can agree with this. Usually this requires ignite top which I hate with a passion though. Additionally, he just doesnt snow ball as well as other champions would in his place. Still seems just not as good.

MLDzXnRRRSep 4, 20151 votes

I heard that he was op on PBE, then they nerfed him and released crap champion...

blkKalameetSep 4, 20151 votes

how does it take him longer to get to sated than others? he has no mana costs and can practically farm forever without needing to back due to his sustain.

hell, grab a few pots once you get devourer and you stand a good chance to solo dragon if you want. And if the other team has no hard cc you can literally dive into a 5v1 at end game and live.

he does need buffs tho, his E is so telegraphed that its almost useless. And his ult doesn't do anything that special but give him a bit more reach and attack speed. and on top of all that hes relatively squishy.

CreationFlawSep 4, 20151 votes

{quoted}

how does it take him longer to get to sated than others? he has no mana costs and can practically farm forever without needing to back due to his sustain.

hell, grab a few pots once you get devourer and you stand a good chance to solo dragon if you want. And if the other team has no hard cc you can literally dive into a 5v1 at end game and live.

he does need buffs tho, his E is so telegraphed that its almost useless. And his ult doesn't do anything that special but give him a bit more reach and attack speed. and on top of all that hes relatively squishy.

You'll survive in the jungle easily, but you won't farm fast, you have bad aoe and if you go blood price early you get ripped to shreds.

SwollwonderSep 4, 20151 votes

Actually getting devourer is what gates him. Usually takes me about 4 more minutes of farming in comparison to other champs IF i almost never gank

Hayaishi2Sep 4, 20151 votes

Because he was OP for awhile, but idk why is he never buffed.

SkiasSep 4, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Because he was OP for awhile, but idk why is he never buffed.

Because if he was buffed, devourer would spin him out of control.

SwollwonderSep 4, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Because if he was buffed, devourer would spin him out of control.

True but I believe devourer is getting nerfed. And who said you had to buff his life steal?

AL000Sep 4, 20151 votes

really problem is % health to use... which is not good on squishy or adc like him.... therefore reply on AA is not helping you...

aatrox is very weak against cc and mage/ranger (easy to be focus on).... aatrox really need 1 or 2 tank to jump into the teamfight...

Slamurai JackSep 4, 20151 votes

Because he doesn't scale. He's an auto-reliant champion without the tools to reliably auto people consistently and he can't afford to build enough damage to make his autos worth anything late game. Also everything else you already said in the OP.

Earl EulrichSep 4, 20151 votes

the "drain-tank" thing is just way too binary...so they keep him weak, as the alternative would be even more problematic for the game.

Faded LichSep 4, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Don Eulrich,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=lTVyBBwQ,comment-id=0008,timestamp=2015-09-04T09:43:29.628+0000)

the "drain-tank" thing is just way too binary...so they keep him weak, as the alternative would be even more problematic for the game.

Pretty much this. That said he isn't as bad as you're making him out to be. He's strong enough to use well in anything except perhaps the highest levels of play. Which, I'm guessing for you (as with the vast majority here) does not apply meaning if you put in the time you should be able to get results.

Just because they're not used in LCS doesn't mean they're bad. Just means they're not the tip of pyramid.

Stars ShaperSep 4, 20153 votes

The fact is that Warwick is the drain tank, Aatrox should be more on a damage route compared to wolfie.

Balmor0Sep 4, 20151 votes

His GA passive cripples him a lot his q has long windup and short range and costs 10% hp his E does magic dmg witch doesn't scale with armor pen his ult is unsatasfing and easy to escape from if you have dashes and he is easily kitable. His scaling isn't the best ether

RebonackSep 4, 20151 votes

Slightly more serious answer: He's weak because of his E.

No, really.

That's pretty much it.

He's weak because he has a fairly solid manaless poke along with good sustain. That is pretty much explicitly the reason why Riot murdered him.

They should just give him Sion's old Ult. It would make a lot more sense for him from a flavor standpoint. He's supposed to inspire fighters around him, right?

SwollwonderSep 5, 20151 votes

Meanwhile Vladimir

Not quite the same but still.

AbyssphereSep 5, 20151 votes

{quoted}

Meanwhile

Not quite the same but still.

To be fair Vladimir tends to get nerfs when he's strong because of his Q. His balance change history is almost exclusively nerfs.

Guyy FieriSep 5, 20151 votes

changing aatrox's ult makes him a fundamentally different champion...he is the AD version of Vladimir...can be tankier but does so through life steal (spell vamp in vlad's case)

RandomoniumSep 4, 20151 votes

He definitely needs some work. This is what I would do for him.

Passive - Move the revive to his ult and make his blood well less top heavy (i.e. make Aatrox more useful with lower blood well or reduce how quickly the blood well falls off.) Aatrox feels like trash unless his blood well is full which makes his revive useless because his revive uses up all his blood well.

Q - The animation needs to be faster or in some other way less susceptible to interrupts.

W - Might need minor tweaks but seems in the right ball park

E - I like the unique skill shot shape but the range either needs to be increased or it needs to be wider for it to actually be useful. Right now its way too telegraphed and easily dodged.

R - Keep the increased attack range and tone down the steroid. Make it so that if he dies during his ult he revives with health equal to a percentage of the damage he dealt during the ult's duration. Let him keep his blood well when he revives so he is actually useful. This gives strategy and counterplay because if he ults too soon he won't die during the duration and the revive portion of the ult will be wasted but if he ults too late then he won't deal enough damage to revive with a decent amount of health.

Guyy FieriSep 5, 20151 votes

My thoughts...

Passive - I like his Passive very much. He is resourceless (always a plus) (I know his abilities cost health but as long you are playing him right, you will heal up that health fast.) Aatrox is great as a split pusher in my opinion, especially when build AD/life steal. What makes it even better is if his passive is up, his blood well will fill fast, which makes a split push much safer because, if he gets jumped, he has an out. Basically, what I'm saying is that his passive doesn't need changes

His Q isn't terrible, I wouldn't mind the cooldown being lower but that's just my thought. Too many use his Q wrong, as an engage, not as an escape.

W, I agree, is in a good place

E, realistically, Aatrox's E is one of the easiest skill shots to hit. The range actually allows Aatrox to farm creeps from his back line of creeps and, if the opponent goes in for a minion, you would have enough range to hit him. The width, I feel, is fine.

His Ultimate is interesting, and with your potential changed I am intrigued. I think that actually sort of removes some counterplay tho because if you kill while Ult is up, you will likely not be killing him when he spawns, especially with increased healing and a full blood well. I could see that really screwing over many a team fight.

AdanChristoSep 4, 20151 votes

took me many losses and games to figure him out, focus his runes on attack speed, build hydra then tank, what i hate about aatrox is that he can get blown up real quick, he doesent do well in team fights after he uses his cc, it's tricky to play him right

Ser GarlandSep 6, 20151 votes

{quoted}

took me many losses and games to figure him out, focus his runes on attack speed, build hydra then tank, what i hate about aatrox is that he can get blown up real quick, he doesent do well in team fights after he uses his cc, it's tricky to play him right

Sounds like J4

DesideriumSep 5, 20151 votes

"b-but he's g-good in eu"

LadyRenlySep 6, 20151 votes

As long as he has his BS passive, he can stay bad for as long as I care.

SwollwonderSep 6, 20151 votes

Don't turret dive..?

Ser GarlandSep 6, 20151 votes

Aatrox is bad because he's potentially TOO good.

He's got a one ability gap closer knock up combo. Ranged poke that goes through minions Built in sustain Auto proc damage A revive Resourceless abilities Attack range and speed steroids.

IF he was too good he could potentially outstrip Jax Anivia Tryndamere JarvanIV Garen Olaf of their identities. Bitch needs a rework. He was lazily designed.

SwollwonderSep 6, 20151 votes

IMO Aatrox is a sub par XinZhao . I don't really understand why he couldn't be buffed to around the same level.

TyroneWatermelonSep 6, 20152 votes

[{quoted}](name=Ser Garland,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=lTVyBBwQ,comment-id=000f,timestamp=2015-09-06T17:14:48.635+0000)

Aatrox is bad because he's potentially TOO good.

He's got a one ability gap closer knock up combo. Ranged poke that goes through minions Built in sustain Auto proc damage A revive Resourceless abilities Attack range and speed steroids.

IF he was too good he could potentially outstrip of their identities. Bitch needs a rework. He was lazily designed.

1.gap closer 16/15/14/13/12 seconds cooldown,low dmg.hes no compare to Riven as he doesnt even have slight movement speed buff. 2.falls off HARD late,cost health pretty high cooldown at early levels,pushes. 3.every 3 hits,which is only can be spoken when below 50% hp,falls off late and countered easily. 4.again falls off late,to the point if you dont build LW you lost more hp than doing,if you do build LW you are even more squishy. 5.finally something good,but still only usefull when more than 50% of blood well.(baits ignite hard xddd) 6.Dont dare to call him resourcless with such health costs. 7.the only possible well desgined thing,attack range almost useless. you only talked about his kit,not weaknesses.

my list of weaknesses as my journy with him: 1.not very mobile,outside of Q long cooldown and nothing 2.relies on good early game and cheese. 3.most useless champion in LoL if loses lane. 4.easily countered via armor and ignite. 5.the fighter with the weakest base stats,listed as fighter/tank without natural tankiness. 6.hard to pull off correctly vs a good jungler. 7. even if super fed the best way to play him late is lee sin way,peeling for carries. 8.complicated build paths,no matter what you build you always lack something,either damage/tankiness/utility. 9.after the enemy get pair of boots and if they have some brain cells,one of the hardest skillshots to land in LoL. 10.basicly high risk medium reward i dont know why i play him but i love it

Ser GarlandSep 6, 20151 votes

{quoted}

1.gap closer 16/15/14/13/12 seconds cooldown,low dmg.hes no compare to as he doesnt even have slight movement speed buff. 2.falls off HARD late,cost health pretty high cooldown at early levels,pushes. 3.every 3 hits,which is only can be spoken when below 50% hp,falls off late and countered easily. 4.again falls off late,to the point if you dont build LW you lost more hp than doing,if you do build LW you are even more squishy. 5.finally something good,but still only usefull when more than 50% of blood well.(baits ignite hard xddd) 6.Dont dare to call him resourcless with such health costs. 7.the only possible well desgined thing,attack range almost useless. you only talked about his kit,not weaknesses.

my list of weaknesses as my journy with him: 1.not very mobile,outside of Q long cooldown and nothing 2.relies on good early game and cheese. 3.most useless champion in LoL if loses lane. 4.easily countered via armor and ignite. 5.the fighter with the weakest base stats,listed as fighter/tank without natural tankiness. 6.hard to pull off correctly vs a good jungler. 7. even if super fed the best way to play him late is lee sin way,peeling for carries. 8.complicated build paths,no matter what you build you always lack something,either damage/tankiness/utility. 9.after the enemy get pair of boots and if they have some brain cells,one of the hardest skillshots to land in LoL. 10.basicly high risk medium reward i dont know why i play him but i love it

Jarvan's Gap closer knock up combo is tied to two abilities and costs roughly 110 mana to use. It gets even more expensive as he levels up and the CD is about the same.
Again, J4's costs like 64 mana and also falls off late
Yeah, Jax and many many other champions have that 'every three hits' too. Aatrox is special because he can toggle between sustain and extra damage. Also if you don't commit to a fight with aatrox this sustain will keep him in lane, just like vlad. Its the same reason why Vlad can't be buffed. This sustain would have to be removed before Aatrox can be buffed. 5.His revive is what gives him an edge in fights. Even if you can out burst him in a fight, if his passive is up, he can heal for more than enough health to out trade his opponent next time. His passive needs a better indicator to communicate when it's down. 6.I call it like I see em, Just like Morde and Vlad, Aatrox can build enough sustain to negate these costs entirely. Mana users on the other hand..
His ult needs something special imo. Just an attack speed boost is kind of boring. When it comes down to it, aatrox is really just another auto attack champion when he should have important casting abilities, but he'll need real costs to justify them.

TyroneWatermelonSep 6, 20151 votes

[{quoted}](name=Ser Garland,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=lTVyBBwQ,comment-id=000f00010000,timestamp=2015-09-06T20:12:15.784+0000)

Jarvan's Gap closer knock up combo is tied to two abilities and costs roughly 110 mana to use. It gets even more expensive as he levels up and the CD is about the same.

Again, J4's costs like 64 mana and also falls off late

Yeah, Jax and many many other champions have that 'every three hits' too. Aatrox is special because he can toggle between sustain and extra damage. Also if you don't commit to a fight with aatrox this sustain will keep him in lane, just like vlad. Its the same reason why Vlad can't be buffed. This sustain would have to be removed before Aatrox can be buffed. 5.His revive is what gives him an edge in fights. Even if you can out burst him in a fight, if his passive is up, he can heal for more than enough health to out trade his opponent next time. His passive needs a better indicator to communicate when it's down. 6.I call it like I see em, Just like Morde and Vlad, Aatrox can build enough sustain to negate these costs entirely. Mana users on the other hand..

His ult needs something special imo. Just an attack speed boost is kind of boring. When it comes down to it, aatrox is really just another auto attack champion when he should have important casting abilities, but he'll need real costs to justify them.

1.j4 has short cooldown on Q which reduces armor,and still if he magically misses his q e his entire team rewarded with attack speed buff.

2.any champion run out of mana when spam abilities.also mana doesnt matter lane game as j4 dont "poke" as many as other champs.

3.riot loves the numbers 3,let me tell you something,it may seem retarded to you but as an aatrox main i can confirm his sustain is only useful when laning/recovering from fights,and his extra dmg costs flat health,often worth nothing without penetration and can be used 1-2 times late game before you get blowed up. aatrox doesnt need sustain buff,he better base stats and not adc's and buff to his only mobility spell. 5.his passive is good yeah,of course in lane and in fight and shit,but again,after playing aatrox tons of games,i can confirm 70% of the times the passive buys you time to escape,and doesnt give any edge,plus removes his attack speed buff. you are talking about lanning aatorx,i talk about after 25 minute aatrox. 6.he can negate his costs completely late game but still doesnt do any real damage,plus getting easily peeled since his only gap closer is his only mobility spell. mana users on the other...? late game mana doesnt matter unless you are like a retard who spam spells,mana doesnt matter in team fights(85% of the time) but Health costs do. all none mana users have no cost for their ult,except DrMundo . my best opinion about his ult rework,is keep its passive,change the damage to max %health magic,about of 8/11/14,and fear every target hit(minions cannot be damaged lol) by 0.5 sec.

ScreamPasteSep 6, 20151 votes

The real question is why people think he's bad at all.

http://champion.gg/champion/Aatrox His win rate fluctuates between 50 and almost 53 percent, and when mastered he has a win rate of 55%. That's fairly average, sure, but it's not bad. Aatrox just requires good game knowledge and he doesn't work well with all comps, that's all.