As a low diamond/high plat Aatrox enthusiast I implore you; BUFF THE POOR GUY

Please?

No seriously, please consider looking into his state. I feel like you guys have forgotten about him.

Side-note - I do have to congratulate the guys at the balancing team on the Viktor rework though...it gave him the edge he needed to stay viable during long, drawn out games. He's now become my second most played champ in the game. I just received an in-game survey asking me to rate Viktor's performance since the update and I gave it a thumbs up.

Back to the main topic...Aatrox is my most played champion and yet I've never received a single survey asking me to rate his overall performance. Ever. C'mon guys show him some love. While I'm still maintaining a slightly positive w/L ratio on him I never pick him for games where I want to go in and try to win a hundred percent. Why? Because every single top laner other than him atm is way better.

Some examples from my own experience, a well played Irelia can easily dominate Aatrox by level 7-9 unless the Aatrox has managed to rack up some kills earlier. Even then it's a close fight. Later in the game she's way more useful than him.

Jax...well it's jax. Pretty even until he gets his t force. Then jax does what jax does. You're screwed unless you've racked up a good lead early on. Even then jax will always have the upper hand.

Nasus....

Maokai...

Etc. You get the point yes? Sure Aatrox is quite strong early but that's all. Mid game any other top laner surpasses him and late game he's just 'meh' unless he's stupidly fed.

I've tried jungling as Aatrox as well but it's more of a niche...might work, might not. Clear times are bad.

Mid lane, same deal. Although I've done a lot better with him on this lane than any other although I think that's mostly because my enemy mid-laners don't have much experience fighting against one. Aatrox is barely ever played. When he is, he's usually in the top lane.

Tl;dr - Aatrox is not at a good place right now. He's a champion that you either dominate during the early levels and use that to stay relevant throughout the game or you're screwed. Cannot take teleport on him since...well, lane dominance is key to staying relevant with Aatrox. If your enemy lane opponent is smart enough to just avoid getting killed early on, they've pretty much won the lane.

He's too high risk (in terms of the effort it takes to lane with him) and little reward. Ever single top laner in this game has ways in which they're way more useful to the team.

As a closing note I'm sure there are way better Aatrox players out there. But I'm ranked around #550 something on the top list so I think I do know a bit about his current state.

If anyone else has played him more than I have and feels differently, please do enlighten me to your build.