The Different Types of Azir Drifts.

So, as some of you guys know, I am an accomplished and proud Azir main. More often than not, I see people confused with how drifts work and what exactly is going on when a drift occurs.

Safe Drifting (E>Q same time): What most Azir players do in sticky situations, to avoid taking too much risk, is just E and Q directly after. This basically means you go as far as your Q range and maybe a bit more, which is not very far. This is usually done right as you spawn a W, and is very quick. The reason it is safe is, once you practice drifting enough, it is almost impossible to fail this one as there is a very large margin of time to activate Q while in flight. This can all be done within literally a quarter of a second, which is why it is very good to escape jungler ganks in lane and threats in general.

Max Drifting (E>Q at last second): These are the drifts we all want to see. Basically, the Azir player will E and right before he reaches his soldier, he will Q even further. This will allow you to get both the full range of Q and the full range of E, aswell as giving you more angles to work with. This is considered a very risky type of drift as there is a very small margin in which you can activate your Q if you are going for it. A lot of the time the Azir player will end up activating Q too late, meaning he just stops at his soldier's original position and does not follow it to the next area. This is a very good strategy for moving over multiple walls if you need to do so.

Poke Drifting (E>Q after E is finished): This is a higher level tactic that Azir mains like me will utilize, yet it looks like a fail to the average spectator. Basically, you only drift to your soldier's original position, and then, right after you finish flying, you use Q at max range. This will allow you to get a very long range and quick poke on the enemy without flying all the way to them, keeping you relatively safe. This is very good for securing kills in the middle of teamfights if you still have E up and want to execute that ADC without getting into his team, or just nicking someone under their tower in lane without tower diving them.

Backwards Drifting (E>Q same time, but in opposite direction of E): This is generally not very practical, but i've seen alot of jukes happen with it and it can be very good at blowing the enemy's CD's. What happens is, right as you go into flight in one direction using E, you press Q on the exact opposite direction (180*), causing you to fly to the original soldier position and then turn around and in the same flight, fly to where you pressed Q. This has minor risks associated with it, but generally as long as you avoid hitting the enemy in your path you will be fine.

Shurima Shuffle (Safe/ Max Drifting + Ult): This is what we all came here to see. Once you have your drifts down, its time to secure some kills doing it. Basically, you want to make sure you press ult while still in flight, but where you are about to land. This will ensure there is almost no reaction time from the enemy. Just make sure you get close enough to them that the ult's hitbox will pick them up and throw them the direction you want.

The Ultimate Combo (Backwards Drifting + Ult): By far the hardest and most impractical Azir combo to pull off. I have yet to successfully do one in any non custom game, but there are a couple instances of them being done on youtube (mostly in ARAM). Basically, you perform the backwards drift with your original soldier being right next to an enemy. As you first fly to them, you need to cast ultimate (the hard part here is catching them within your ult's hitbox). As you are flying back to your Q, the goal is to pick them up from the original soldier's area and throw them to where you wanted to finally land. If this play is ever seen in LCS or pro play, I guarantee you whoever performs it will permanently make a name for themselves if they haven't already.