Holy fuck, this is why I hate Aatrox threads. Even if done in satire, the amount of absolute disillusion on how weak Aatrox actually is legitimately tilts me.
"The reason Aatrox's numbers are terrible is exactly because his kit is too strong."
"Ironically all this is true, that's why riot keeps his number super low, and keeps him in the trash can. :-("
"You're absolutely correct about Aatrox's kit being absurdly powerful, because it is. The kit is inherently toxic and broken."
Absolutely clueless to what the words toxic, broken and/or too strong mean.
Aatrox kit in a nutshell:
P - Guardian Angel passive with relatively long c/d, good when up but when popped Aatrox is almost guaranteed to die. Attack speed steroid based on skills that use hp. Attack speed was nerfed from 50% flat -> 35% scaling into 60% lategame. Was buffed for slightly better cooldown (this buff is appreciated).
Q - Long c/d 1 use engage or disengage tool, self-stuns but also knocks up others in area long enough to land 1 auto attack while they are airborne. Has pathetic scaling. Has not been touched by balance. Does not work well with colossus considering he uses 10% of his current hp to cast.
W - A generic three hit passive. Has Bonus AD scaling. The heal is only relevant when freely auto-attacking and/or when you're below 50% hp. The damage portion is nice but it does not scale of any other stat besides bonus AD.
E - An AOE slow slow. Decent poke with mixed damage but hard to increase due to hybrid scaling. Hard to land past laning phase. Pretty long cooldown until later ranks. Does very little damage later on. A little love tap on the base damage when he was good, didn't really change much.
R - Generic burst damage with pure ap ratio. Attack range increase is pretty unique but an extra attack speed steroid on top of his passive attack speed makes it less efficient than if it gave bonus AD or some other offensive stat. No nerfs after release but received incredibly niche buff that helps him charge his P if his R lands on enemy.
Now, I don't know if this is just me but isn't there just too LITTLE in his kit for it to be considered O/P? Because I can't see anyone pointing out anything in his kit that is actually O/P.
Does he have... invisibility? Nope.
Does he have... strong ad ratios? Nope.
Does he have... crit chance or armour pen? Nope.
Does he have... a refreshing shield? Nope.
Does he have... multiple dashes or a extremely low cooldown dash? Nope.
Does he have... long lasting cc or utility? Nope.
Does he have... good base stats? Nope.
Does he have... extremely high burst potential outside of snowball? Nope. (I'm not counting AP Aatrox because that is a gimmick at best).
Does he have... good sticking potential? Nope.
Does he have... tenacity or cc immunity? Nope.
Does he have... damage reduction? Nope.
Does he have... true damage or high %hp damage abilities? Nope.
The list can go on.
If it was just numbers, he would still be regarded as someone with an inherently broken kit and would still see play competitively. Fiora is an example of a champion who has a pretty disgusting kit but her numbers were gutted. However she is still popular, she is still capable and she is still strong. Aatrox barely took a nerf. His core kit remained the same and nothing really changed except his clear time in the jungle and having a bit more attack speed in lane. That's it.
"If his numbers were competitive, Aatrox would be permabanned." The only way his numbers would even be anywhere near as high as it needs to be to actually make him 'O/P' is if the devs purposely cranked it all the way up. And by all the way up, I'm talking ratios of total AD over 1.0, i'm talking base stats that are almost 1.5x his current base damage. There's no way in hell they are just going to do that so even if they buffed everything slightly, it wouldn't change the fact that Aatrox's biggest problem is HIS KIT. NOT HIS BASE DAMAGES ON SPELLS OR HIS LOWERED ATTACK SPEED. IT'S HIS ENTIRE KIT THAT'S HOLDING HIM BACK. IT IS BINARY AND IT IS WEAK.
If you look at the direction fighters are going (Kled, Camille) you'll see that they have A LOT of innate power and strong defensive spells. They also synergise with much more keystones and have much more flexibility in their kit. Nearly every fighter has sustain now. Nearly every new iteration of melee champion is receiving true damage, high mobility, big powerful aoe ultimates and cohesive kits that not only fit their theme but also enhances their player's experience and skill. Yet here we are, talking about a champion who has been barely touched mind you - has a playrate SO LOW that champion.gg can't even find data on him anymore and yet is meant to be "held down because he's too o/p"
Tl;dr - Aatrox whilst capable in the hands of a good Aatrox player is capable at best but is a detriment to the team at worst. He is nowhere near the levels to be be even considered to be "toxic" or "o/p" so for you fools who have 1. barely played him or 2. barely played against him to state that he is somehow "too toxic and o/p", I'm calling you out on your bullshit and begging you to please never talk about him again. Thanks.
I am ready for the downvotes.
