Get this, or you're building Azir wrong

Scaling. CDR. Runes.

I know I'm not the only person who does this, but it merits mentioning to those who haven't heard of it.

Azir has one stat that he's completely dependent on: CDR. Every build and guide you'll find will say the same thing; 40% CDR is mandatory. The issue is that you immediately have to dedicate two of your item slots, and a sizable chunk of gold and time towards that. It delays Azir's monstrous late-game potential, and limits his full build threat.

NO MORE.

First, I'll address the biggest argument I anticipate against scaling CDR runes: the loss of early-game power. Yeah, you're swapping out your blues or quints for them, losing some early AP or mana regen. But honestly, no matter how you build Azir, he's super weak early, and I contest that you're better off planning and rushing for his mid to late game, rather than making an always inadequate effort to get him early power.

To dig a bit more into why this is such a strong option, consider this. You got 5% CDR from masteries, and another 15% CDR at lv 18 from runes. When you look at it, it's pretty easy to see why this is so strong: at lv 6, you have 10% CDR, lv 12 gets you 15% CDR, and lv 18% leaves you with a nice 20% CDR.

With scaling CDR runes, you only need to get ONE of or , instead of two. This MASSIVELY frees up your build, letting you get whatever damage, bulk, or whatever MUCH faster. You hit Azir's infamous late game a FULL ITEM sooner!

What some will point out is that you don't actually hit 40% CDR until lv 18: it'd be a lot faster to get it by just building the two items. That's true, but I think it's a pedantic critcism. For all intents and purposes, the 35% CDR at lv 12 is fine, and I'd say an Azir with and 35% CDR is a much more significant threat than and 40% CDR.

TL;DR: Azir's late game, at mid game.