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Aatrox is awful

Lord Ligma··60 votes·4,049 views

With a 0.74 play rate he won't be getting any buffs or even a bone from Riot ever. He's a forgotten champ and it's so sad to see a champ that you love just die out. It was a sad day to watch Kalista die and I know he's been dead for so long. He's just been left behind all of the changes and he hasn't gotten one. Some people say he's broken some say he's garbage. I used to think that he was fine that he was neither op or underpowered. But as of lately he's just not good. If you don't believe me go play a few games as him. You'll be facing champs who do what you do but 10 times better. Try to sustain that 20 hp you get every third auto won't help what so ever. Facing a xin zhao? He'll heal for 30hp plus 20% of his bonus ad and 50% of his bonus ap with the added benefit of an atk spd boost. I'm not gonna complain all day.it's just the dude needs a f*****g bone Riot. Change his base stats and hit up his W with something to make it a little better. He's a good champ if you compare him to nothing but seeing how half your champs are just overall better picks he needs something to stand out. You buffed Garen for no reason. Not sure who went home with a happy ending that night but stop this bs and help out your weaker more underplayed champs.

84 Comments

Troll for Trump10 votes

He's either: A splitpushing zombie(like Trynd, which means he's unhealthy, and Riot would keep him out of meta)

or, when you build for teamfight, you have to be both tanky and dealing damage, like Xin Zhao. And like Xin, you can pick one and do the other poorly, or do both and do a mediocre job. Also like Xin, he falls off hard.

LA Losty3 votes

I dont know about you but i hate playing against Xin, he is not OP but i feel like he is unfun to play against. Anyway, i too hope that Aatrox gets changed soon, i actually used to play him before i reached lvl 30 and he was a lot of fun.

GigaPube1 votes

yeah i think riots trying to remove as much in-combat sustain as possible cos they probably consider it cheese, no arguments about that though, its always possible to catch even pro players off guard when its so hard to consider how much sustain they'll get per fight. its why they nerfed spell vamp, and vlad, and why anything with a substantial heal like mundo ult or voli passive is a slow, noticeable regen

Shadòw7 votes

problem with Aatrox in his current state is at risk to be too snowbally with too less counterplay when buffed.

he has 3 lifes with item 3026 and lots of sustain, he is that kind of Champion who can 1v5 your entire team when being too strong. the champ needs major changes imo.

Off Meta Evan6 votes

"you buffed garen for no reason." Garen was sitting at a 47% winrate, there was literally no reason to pick him over other juggernauts.

Yorick has better split push and can get past armor easier with his ult.

Illaoi better teamfight, damage, sustain, and honestly i think her wave clear is better.

Darius does literally everything garen does but better.

Nasus has better late game, better anti tank, better sustain, can get on an adc easier, tankier.

Mordekaiser higher damage, better anti tank, higher range, better split.

they gave him an armor shred buff cause every other juggernaut was just better flat out.

Raid Boss Morde1 votes

Morde flat out better? I find Garen to be WAY better.

He's my go-to top laner in ranked if I want a free win. 60% winrate with him compared to my 49% with Morde, and lane match ups feel much easier. Plus, I can actually do something around late game.

Off Meta Evan1 votes

garen has higher mobility and is better against poke comps but morde has way better cheese and lane bully potiential, which in solo Q goes a long way. if you think garen's better thats your opinion but from a numbers perspective morde does have higher range and higher damage.

Xenos111111 votes

I wouldn't say Nasus is a better anti-tank. The flat Armor shred doesn't make much difference if they have 250+ Armor, and his Q is better-suited for crushing squishies and towers.

Garen could shred % Armor from tanks with item 3071 extremely quickly and if they had the villain mark he could destroy them.

Obviously not gonna argue about the late game though.

Off Meta Evan1 votes

well nasus also has that whole, %hp ult thing but i was more so saying that he can DEAL with tanks better. Garen is a juggernaut, meaning that being a lane bully and fucking people's shit up is kinda his thing. champs that can play passive like Maokai Shen Sion are actually GOOD into him cause their kits actually allow them to cc him and walk away. Nasus is just kinda like "oh bruh you gonna farm all game? dude same."

Big Lincoln1 votes

he still has a 47% winrate

garen is still hilariously terrible and he needs bigger changes to remedy that

THE RlVER KlNG1 votes

Haha Tahm Kench has a 45% win rate but who cares about that fucker right?

MLDzXnRRR1 votes

[{quoted}](name=THE RlVER KlNG,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=nU5FhXEc,comment-id=000c0004,timestamp=2016-12-12T13:16:57.801+0000)

Haha Tahm Kench has a 45% win rate but who cares about that fucker right?

Too much mobility... If people stop building Rylais, Tahm should be in a better spot.

Xenos111112 votes

At least he had his moment, and he'll probably get attention in the near future. Aatrox has been in a bad spot for literal years.

Chamuel855 votes

Aatrox has been awful since about a month after his release (after a massive round of nerfs). He needs a big rework, and I have a suspicion that even if the next class rework is Divers. He won't be included or will only get tiny changes like Akali because "He needs way more work than a class rework can do." I bet Aatrox has at least another year or two before he gets the attention he needs.

Abandon1 votes

I have that feeling too but hears hoping that he will receive the rework he needs :c!

SpecterVonBaren2 votes

He wasn't even nerfed that much.

V5.11

 Blood Well
    Cooldown reduced to 225 / 200 / 175 / 150 seconds from 225 seconds at all levels.

V5.6

Massacre
    Now grants 20% of maximum Blood Well for each enemy hit.

V4.6

 Blood Thirst  Blood Price
    Bug Fix: Fixed a bug where the stance effect would sometimes trigger every 2 attacks instead of 3.

V4.5

Base armor increased to 18 from 14.

V3.13

Blood Well
    Passive attack speed changed to 30 - 55 (based on level) % from 50% flat. 
Blades of  Blades of Torment
    Base damage reduced to 75 / 110 / 145 / 180 / 215 from 75 / 120 / 165 / 210 / 255.

These are literally all of the changes ever made to Aatrox since his release. My own suspicion is that he was awful even when he WAS released and that people just hadn't gotten used to him or the state of the meta and items when he was released just hugely favored him because those changes are small in the grand scheme of things.

Chamuel851 votes

Oh, I remember the feeling that there was a lot more. Thanks for showing me this. That doesn't seem as much.

Off Meta Evan1 votes

well that blood well passive is a big hit actually. he was super stupid when released cause early game he was just this fucking monster that could 1v1 you in your minions but had crazy ass sustain to boot and a revive passive. the base damage and armor nerfs REALLY set him back, on top of champs like Darius Irelia Tryndamere doing what he does but better.

SpecterVonBaren2 votes

The point is, compare that to champs like Kindred, Kalista, Ekko, and Azir, who required nerf upon nerf upon nerf to finally knock into the trash bin. It took two nerfs for him to go from supposedly OP to trash tier yet most examples of difficult to balance champions still saw or see play every now and then (Pre-rework Yorick, Urgot, pre-rework Poppy) in professional play while Aatrox, even when items HUGELY favor him like release Feral Flare, is STILL at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to picking an auto attack centric melee champ.

I just cannot accept that his kit alone is what made him considered very strong when he was released, it has to have something to do with factors like the meta and itemization at the time.

Off Meta Evan1 votes

thats fair.

FrickendaChicken5 votes

The real reason Aatrox receives no buffs is because he can't be buffed. Aatrox is much in the same boat of Tryndamere, they're in a binary, locked state until a rework comes out.

Aatrox will always be better at splitpushing than he will at anything else, until they change certain aspects of his kit, such as his E. If they buff any aspect of Aatrox, without changing his kit around, his splitpushing has inherently been buffed. Buff his Q damage against champions? Now he dives someone in a tower that much easier, instead of diving on the ADC during a teamfight. But that's just an example.

The best way, in my opinion-as a rank 6 (Soon to be 7) Aatrox player, is to change up 2 of 3 things.

HIs E, currently, it does nothing but provide him a bit of damage, a slow to opponent's he's chasing down, and waveclear. This ability is typically leveled first for great reasons. He constantly harasses his opponent with it, he clears waves with it, it stops his enemies from running away, it stops them from chasing him. The biggest issue with it is how simple the ability is. You hit it or you don't, and if you don't, oh well. The ability's back up in 6-9 seconds anyway! I'd fully recommend replacing this ability for something else.

HIs Passive, Bloodwell is not helpful in getting Aatrox into a teamfight; It's great for getting him to stomp the enemy laner every 200 seconds or so. Again, it's so binary and simple, you have it or you don't, and if you do, jump on them and kill the enemy laner. If you don't have Bloodwell up, poke them first. Bloodwell needs something to boost him during teamfights, if they want to move him over to the teamfighting role. Such as, the more enemies around him, his Blood Price becomes more empowered, as long as he has Bloodwell ready. If it is not ready, Bloodwell empowers his Blood Thirst. Just a suggestion.

His Blood Price/Thirst. You deal extra damage to your lane opponent, based on your AD, or you heal yourself, increasing that heal if you're below half health. It's so simple which one to pick, you either heal yourself if you can't out-DPS an enemy, or you burst someone down with Blood Price. This needs dynamics or mechanics to it, or even just simple changes. "If there's an enemy champion near Aatrox's target, Blood Price effects them as well." or "For each enemy champion Aatrox is near, he heals for 10 extra health"

If at least 2 of those three changes happen, as well as some increased base stats, Aatrox's role as a Diver/Split-pusher can instantly change to Diver/Juggernaut.

-Sincerely, an Aatrox player who really fucking cares about Aatrox being a teamfighting badass

BoilTheOil1 votes

but the thing is tryndamere isnt complete shit

FrickendaChicken3 votes

Only because of his ult and free stats. Aatrox doesn't get the same free stats, although he builds them in the same way

Tryndamere is a whole other ballgame of "shouldn't exist"

Faustavian2 votes

Olaf I heard Ball of free stats?

THE RlVER KlNG1 votes

You say Aatrox doesn't get free stats and then proceed to list the two ways Tryndamere also gains stats - building up his passive and ulting.....

Umbra Z4 votes

Its sad when the enemy top locks in aatrox you know you won the game already, I honestly don't remember the last time I lost to an aatrox .

Rockm Sockm3 votes

This thread is full of it.

Aatrox sucked at release and has ever since. People keep acting like he was release Xin.

Since his release far more op champs have been released. Champs like Ekko, Yasuo and reworked Flora are more than you could ever buff this Aatrox kit into being.

Guess what? A drain tank is never going to be that scary.

Tryn gets up to a free 35 percent crit and can't die for five seconds. That is why he can't be buffed. Don't pretend they are in the same boat or zip code.

Twitch Chat2 votes

I could make him work if his knockup radius wasn't microscopic.

Lord Ligma2 votes

True his Q is a nice ability but it is pretty small for a knock up.

Faustavian1 votes

I think that's due to the utility of it, It can be used to initiate or escape, but not both.

Shrîke2 votes

Agreed, the fact that anything can literally interrupt his Q is just plain bad.

Shaco my BFF1 votes

There are two forms of Aatrox:

  1. One that gets fed and just kills everyone while sustaining like a boss.

  2. One that doesn't get fed and is pretty much useless.

A lot depends on the player playing the champion and who they're against, but Aatrox generally is unhealthy.

Xenos111111 votes

There are lots of champions more obnoxious than Aatrox when they're fed. Even if he's fed he's still easy to shut down with CC and dies quickly unless he invests heavily into tank items.

Shaco my BFF1 votes

You really haven't fought Aatrox with item 3153 item 3072 item 3074 item 3065? Especially, when you're only two or three items in yourself?

Mostro Gallo2 votes

No wonder people think he's an awful champion, who in their right mind would build this on him?

Xenos111111 votes

Yes, but for him to be impactful in team fights he generally has to use his only movement ability to engage. Sure he can 1v1, maybe 1v2 if he's fed but if you have any CC/peel then it's not hard to keep him off your squishies while they kill him from range. Unless the enemy carries are behind and can't outdamage his sustain he's not going to have an easy time.

Also, in lane he isn't even that strong so unless his lane opponent is worse than him he's probably not going to get that far ahead.

Shaco my BFF1 votes

But where's Aatrox's teammates? Do they just sit and watch Aatrox 1v5?

TheHappyReaperz1 votes

Or, you know, you could build LS on him, combo BORK with Rageblade, then get some nice defensive items. and serve as a split pusher/sustained DPS Diver.

2girls1mundo1 votes

I agree 100% with this. I so want to play him because he is cool but i just don't because he is crap. Build damage ... get 1 shot, build tank ... do no damage and still go down like a tonne of shit!

SirHeavyScrotum1 votes

The problem isn't that his numbers just aren't good enough, the problem is that his kit is "If I can auto you fast enough I can sustain but if I get CC'd I'm useless". The kit that made you like him is awful, and the reason he can't be good is because if he is good it's because his numbers are ATROCIOUSLY high and he's broken. He needs a rework, which I think he will get in the Diver update. Patience, League is a big game and there's a lot of things to other than rework Aatrox.

SpecterVonBaren1 votes

{quoted}

With a 0.74 play rate he won't be getting any buffs or even a bone from Riot ever. He's a forgotten champ and it's so sad to see a champ that you love just die out. It was a sad day to watch Kalista die

Bull. Me and millions of others enjoyed every second of that and anyone that says they feel she was nerfed too hard or that they miss seeing her has never actually played against Kalista in her prime or their memory is going bad because that shit wasn't fun for anyone having to play against it.

Frius1 votes

hes been trash for 3years+ since they shitted him in season 3 after LCS

TyroneWatermelon1 votes

No shit Sherlock

Loon op Zand1 votes

I haven't seen Aatrox in ages.

Hackurman1 votes

Fix bugs on Q. Every other CC screws it up, even slows sometimes. And while Aatrox is mid-air with his Q, a silence from Fiddle for example stops his Q.

E should be a bit wider right where Aatrox is standing, so it always hits champions you are on top of.

Buffs: give him a little extra HP and add passive to his R that increases max blood pool by let's say 10%/15%/20%. Increase attack range (without ulti) by a little bit. He has a long sword after all! Make R really instant, currently it has a slight delay. Reduce blood price damage and remove the HP penalty. Make him able to walk through minions and champions when ulti is active.

Miku Append1 votes

Inb4 the triggered Aatrox mains arrive....

Skias1 votes

He's so incredibly binary and the role of "drain tank" is extremely prone to being toxic. Vlad, Warwick and Mundo have all had their turn being completely unbeatable because of that play pattern. He's going to need a rework to be buffed. His current kit just won't cut it. He was just fundamentally flawed in design.

Prophet of Urgod1 votes

His rates are still better than Urgot's.

Lord Ligma1 votes

I'm surprised I actually got up votes. Normally an thing I post be it an argument or just a thing I like I get down voted to hell. Maybe Aatrox with see the Rift more when this update hits for him.

Starboyˇ1 votes

I bought Aatrox and played a few games with him and see what you mean. But I created a really fun build that's kind of broken

item 3046 item 3006 item 3074 item 3124 item 3065 item 3053

He heals an insane amount while doing tons of damage and being a little bit tanky, the only problem could be getting kited, ravenouscould be replaced with a bork or a DMP

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