Playing Against Azir?

LithiumWednesday·Dec 7, 2015·1 votes·453 views

I've played against Azir top with mostly success, but I don't really know what you're supposed to do mid.

His soldier range is incredible and unless you have a dash, he can easily hit you with Q and two autos for the Thunderlord's proc. Ganks dont seem to help very much because mid is short enough that an Q->E combo usually gets him out safely.

Obviously melee mids have the hardest time against him, but I haven't been able to do anything as ranged either because of his Q. His slow is simply too strong to walk out of and after he gets his attack speed is just absurd.

Do I just pick Xerath and hope he doesn't roam? Or should I try to ignore him and snowball other lanes instead?

6 Comments

PhantomGGDec 7, 20154 votes

I have no tips for blind pick, for imo blind pick is a luck game where you have no way to properly prep. However assumeing this is Draft, then you have a number of options.

Azir hates 2 types of champions.

1-people who are mobile and bursty

Why? for these champions can dodge his attacks with ease, and once they are ontop of him his only escape is his ultimate which he would prefer to not use because it is very valuable in team fights. Some azirs value the ultimate so high they will flash before useing it. (this is some, not all)

While yes his escape is very good, it takes time to set up

step 1-make a soldier step 2-Target a direction and press Q Step 3-Press E to dash this set up takes about 2-4 seconds to nail down and can even be stopped by standing in the path way he wants to go, people will use this ame trick against sions who are useing ult to escape.

That means while he is trying to run away with this combo you have 2-4 seconds to hit him, which is a LOT of time

So yeah abuse people who are mobile and have good burst, examples zed, ahri, yasuo, akali.

2-He hates people who do what he does because it becomes a skill match up on who does it better

Azir hates people who are good at zoneing and pokeing who also have good wave clear. This is because it makes his advantage nullified because you are doing what he is doing. It turns the match up into a skill match up in who can zone who better, who can poke who better, who can clear waves better and more efficiently.

These would be your Viktors, your Vlads, your Xeraths, your Malzahars and morganas.

Happy climbing!~

SniperkajDec 7, 20153 votes

i main Xerath, and once u get a little experience with him the matchup becomes hilariously easy. I can beat Diamond Azirs in lane fairly simple, and u can learn to do the same. Everytime his soldiers attack, he STANDS STILL, so u just charge Q and shoot it on top on him. When he gets 70 % HP, begin to throw W -> Q at him, he will super fast be forced back to base. Watch for ganks (dont ever move within 1100 range of him, to avoid Shuriman Shuffle into gank). Also, his damage takes a long time to come online, so with a lead you should be getting u will be so much stronger midgame. Group, siege, push and win in >30 mins.

He should not be allowed to roam. Get him low as soon as he is in lane, and if he roams anyway and ur team wont listen to ur "missing", then follow him. You bring more than him to a fight early/mid (as opposed to vs practically every other lane opponent for Xerath)

BeldairDec 7, 20153 votes

As an Azir mid player, both of them are correct. Azir's biggest weaknesses are that it takes time for his power combos, he has to stand still to do his damaging abilities, and his escapes can be easily picked off when you learn how to.

I don't know how many times a Zed, Heimer, or Ahri has beaten the sand out of me.

ltmetalDec 7, 20152 votes

His level 1 and 2 are pathetic. Pick fights with him very early on. When Azir uses his Q to aggress onto a distant enemy, he makes it difficult to trade autos on someone who comes back in melee range. Pop your gap closers if you see him use Q to harass or waveclear. Azir has very long cooldowns on his W and E. If he uses one often, punish him while it's down. Building Specter's Cowl first item removes all of his kill pressure 1v1. Azir should never be tower dove. He has multiple tools to disengage and kite out a fight lasting less than 8 seconds. Awesome counterpicks include (from hardest to still effective): Zed Talon Galio Kassadin Ahri Katarina Fizz Ekko Heimerdinger Irelia

VesarixxDec 8, 20151 votes

Depends on what you're playing, similarly to Oriana with her ball you want to position ass far from the soldiers as possible when you go to last hit so you have more time to react to his Q, ranged champs tend to do better against him or champs that have a ranged ability they can use to farm, so as Katarina use your Q to last hit as melee range is way too dangerous. Azir controls a large amount of space when you're laning against him, but once he uses his W in an area the potential space he can control shrinks to his q range around that soldier, playing as him to learn his ranges might really help in dealing with him in lane. Aside from that you could also try out roaming him if you are playing a champion with good Roams, Akali, Ahri, Katarina, Diana would all be good champs to use this strategy, though Ahri and Diana can also just kill him from pretty early on.

Guyy FieriDec 8, 20151 votes

Azir is pretty mama hungry early. If you can get a mana sustain advantage, in lane, you can pressure. Victor is a good counter pick during laning as he's one of the only midlaners who can wave clear faster than Azir. Multiple methods of hard engage are good too. He wants to do damage without having anyone in his face. If you jump on him (especially with his soldiers out already and his soldier dash used) he has no damage.