Hi there, this guide is written by ToxicCashew [IGN: CandyHaruki], an unranked ADC/Jungle main on the Oceanic server. I have been playing League for a year or so, hence I am quite knowledgeable in terms of lane matchups and item builds.


Ezreal is a highly mobile, versatile marksman who is generally played in the bottom lane. Ezreal can also be played in the middle lane as an AP mage. His low cooldown abilities and passive allow him to dish out high DPS whilst being extremely safe.

Ezreal excels in lane and into the mid game due to his high outplay potential, burst and mobility. His Mystic Shot gives him great poke in lane and a way to farm from 1100 range. Arcane Shift not only serves as an escape, it also gives great outplay potential. His ultimate, Trueshot Barrage gives him superb wave clear, high burst and global sniping potential.

+Positive Pros+ + Safe Laning + High Burst Potential + Low-Cooldowns + High Mobility + Attack Speed Steroid Ezreal is a short-ranged marksman which makes last hitting against champions such as Caitlyn a chore. However this is alleviated by being able to last hit with Mystic Shot. Due to Ezreal's high mobility with Arcane Shift he can afford to play quite aggressively and still stay safe. At 6 his ult, Trueshot Barrage gives him huge burst potential and waveclear. His Rising Spell Force is a great attack speed steroid.

-Crumbling Cons- - Squishy - Item-Dependent - Innately Squishy - Mana-Reliant - Skill-Shot Dependent Although altogether Ezreal is quite strong, he still has his drawbacks. Due to Ezreal being a "Marksman" he is item-dependent and squishy. Due to his "squishiness" he is prone to getting locked down by CC and killed. Since he will be spamming his abilities he runs out of mana quickly. Against highly mobile champions such as Zed who can dodge Ezreal's skill-shots, Ezreal's overall damage output will be reduced.

+ Synergy +

+ Leona + Thresh + Orianna + Jarvan IV

Due to Ezreal's dependence on skill-shots, he benefits and synergises with anybody who can lock down a champion and keep them in place. Therefore he benefits from most supports with CC such as Leona and Thresh who are currently very popular. He also performs well in a "Wombo-Combo" team composition due to his ultimate's AoE damage. Although Ezreal is quite safe, he still requires a tanky front-line in order to stop the enemy team from going to town on him.

- Counters -

- Graves - Akali - Vi - Morgana

Although Ezreal is quite safe in lane, he is countered quite hard by lane bullies. Against combos such as Thresh+ Draven, who can do a massive amount of damage whilst keeping you locked up, you will usually lose lane. Any tanky champions who can stick onto you and burst you down such as Vi will usually spell trouble. Another thing to take note is that since Ezreal is squishy, high burst assassins, like Akali will usually delete you.

AND OR

For summoner spells, you should always take Flash combined with another spell. Although Ezreal already has an escape, taking Flash allows him to be super safe. For the other summoner spell, excellent choices are Barrier, Ignite and Cleanse. Barrier is arguably one of the most overpowered summoner spells in the game for survivability. Having Barrier combined with Flash allows you to stay safe but still make aggressive plays. Barrier allows for some trekster baits and can often be used to surprise people. Another way to utilize Barrier is to use it to block the enemy's initial burst during a duel/skirmish. Cleanse is useful if you can utilize during the duration of those pesky 1-2 second CCs, in addition to removing debuffs like exhaust. However cleanse requires impeccable timing and position, so if you don't have very good micro don't think about taking Cleanse. Ignite combo'ed with your damage and your support's utility/damage can net you some early level 2-3 kills. This spell also reduces the healing of your target so it can be used to counter life steal and heals. However I would only pick this spell up in the mid lane as AP Ezreal. Heal is now actually quite a viable summoner spell since the 4.5 buffs and changes. Since the amount healed has been increased and the cooldown has been decreased, it is a viable pick almost all of the time although I still prefer barrier simply due to the fact that it is not mitigated by Ignite. The extra movement speed added by the buff is also a nice addition for whenever you are in a pinch. Ghost should be taken if you are a low level and do not have the means to access Flash.

• Greater Mark of Attack Damage/ Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage: 9 AD marks and 1 AD quint allows for optimal last-hitting and lane control. Since minions have low armor values, ArPen marks are considered unnecessary.
• Greater Seal of Armor: After the nerfs on Greater Seal of Armor, it is more viable to take a even mix of both Greater Seal of Armor and Greater Seal of Health. I decided the best mix of seals for me was 4 Greater Seal of Armor and 5 Greater Seal of Health as they give a good combination of both health and armor to protect from AA harass and magic damage harass from enemy supports.
• Greater Seal of Health: They are now amazing due to the buffs towards them however I wouldn't replace everything with them. A little bit of armor is still nice and appreciated. That is why I take a mix of 4 Greater Seal of Armor and 5 Greater Seal of Health
• Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: 5 MR glyphs mitigates the damage you receive. They are usually useful in lane to reduce the poke/burst from AP supports.
• Greater Glyph of Mana Regeneration: 4 mana regeneration glyphs helps greatly with your mana in lane whilst you are trading/last-hitting.
• Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed: Due to the buffs toward Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed and the nerfs towards Greater Quintessence of Life Steal, it is actually more efficient to replace the Greater Quintessence of Life Steal with Greater Quintessence of Attack Speed.

• greater mark of hybrid penetration: I take 9 HybridPen marks in order to boost the damage of both my autos and my abilities.
• Greater Seal of Armor: Same reason as to why I take 9 Ar seals on my Marksman page.
• Greater Glyph of Ability Power/ Greater Quintessence of Ability Power: I take these in order to benefit off the high scaling of Essence Flux and the recently increased ratios of Mystic Shot.

These are the standard masteries for AD Ezreal. The 21 points into the Offense tree will provide enough damage output whilst the 9 points in Defense are a must have in this "bruiser-heavy" meta-game. I personally like to take points in Blade Weaving and Spell Weaving as I don't feel the points put into Warlord and Frenzy are worth it. Feast makes up for the sustain we lose from not taking Greater Quintessence of Life Steal.

These are my preferred masteries for AP Ezreal. I take 21 points in Offense and 9 points in Defense. I take 9 points in Defense as I often find Ezreal requires a little tankiness whilst in duels. Rising Spell Force: This passive allows for strong 1v1 and it also greatly improves your DPS in skirmishes or extended teamfights. Due to the attack speed this passive gives, Ezreal's pushing is quite strong. Your ultimate, Trueshot Barrage synergises extremely well with this passive as hitting 5+ targets with your ult, will max out your passive and give a huge burst of attack speed.


Mystic Shot: This ability is Ezreal's most important ability and is what defines him as an unique champion. Early on in the game, this ability provides incredible utility. It can be used to last-hit, poke, trade and refresh cooldowns. Yes, whenever you hit this ability, it reduces all of Ezreal's cooldowns by 1 second. Later on this ability is still extremely useful for dueling, checking brushes, poking and stacking your passive.


Essence Flux: This ability is quite useless early on for ADC Ezreal. I don't like to take it early on due to the high mana cost and low damage. However, this skill is the pride and joy of AP Ezreal, due to its high scaling. It can be used for poke through minions and burst. Later on in the game, you can cast it on your teammates in order to give them extra attack speed for teamfights.


Arcane Shift: This is Ezreal's low-cooldown escape ability. This combined with Mystic Shot allows Ezreal to become one of the most mobile champions in the game. Arcane Shift can be used offensively when you want to catch up to fleeing champions or when you want to re-position yourself in fights. It can also be used defensively in order to escape. One special trait of this ability is that it allows you to escape from Rocket Grab even whilst you are being pulled. Since the AP scaling on this ability is quite high, you can also use it as part of your burst combo as AP Ezreal.


Trueshot Barrage: This ability has several uses in both mid and late game. It is a relatively strong ultimate and it does a massive amount of damage at level 6. You'll want to use this before a teamfight in order to stack up your passive and poke. Since the ability is global you will want to look for opportunities to push entire minions waves or snipe an enemy on the map. If you are experienced enough and have some luck, you can even use Trueshot Barrage to snipe buffs/neutral monsters.

This is the skill order for ADC Ezreal. Always take your first ability after you go to lane. You will want to max Mystic Shot first, getting points whenever you can in Arcane Shift and then max Essence Flux last. You will want to get points in your Trueshot Barrage whenever you can. I prefer to only take W when I have to since I just don't find it useful in the early game.
This is the skill order for AP Ezreal. You should take Essence Flux first, then Arcane Shift and then put another point in Essence Flux. After that put a point in Mystic Shot and max Essence Flux. Then you should max Arcane Shift since it is a gap closer and it has decent damage. Lastly max Mystic Shot. Remember to put a point into Trueshot Barrage whenever you can. Before going into itemization on Ezreal it is important to note that Ezreal is a mobile marksman/AP mage and I will often opt to take damage over defense.

The Doran's Blade start is extremely strong because of the sustain available due to the combination of Greater Quintessence of Life Steal and Doran's Blade. During lane, should you need the extra sustain, rush a Vampiric Scepter. Buying an early Sheen allows for mana sustenance and higher burst. However you are going to get a Phage 80% of the time. The AD, MS and health all help with trading in lane. If I do decide to go with the standard Blade of the Ruined King route, I will usually buy a Bilgewater Cutlass after my Phage. During the mid-game, you will want to have at least a Trinity Force and Tier 2 Boots. After these you will have to make a decision on your next offensive item. Usually I will take Blade of the Ruined King if I feel that I'm going to need the extra dueling potential and health-shred. Otherwise I will opt to go for Bloodthirster for the extra burst to squishes and survivability. After this purchase I will usually aim to buy a Last Whisper. Take note that even if the enemy team isn't building armor, Last Whisper is still a good choice for more burst. As we head into the late game, we will usually want to purchase a defensive item. It is probably best to buy this as your 5th or 6th purchase. Generally you would want to get a Guardian Angel or a Banshee's Veil, as they both do well to mitigate burst due to their unique passives and resistances. Note Banshee's Veil is great against poke and Guardian Angel is useless if the teamfight ends before you respawn. Banshee's Veil is a great choice when they have one game-breaking ability. Of course if they have multiple then Banshee's Veil is useless. Another more offensive option is Mercurial Scimitar as it provides damage, resists and an instant Cleanse. Although this may seem great, you should only get Mercurial Scimitar if you have excellent positioning and micro. Afterwards as my last item I will usually get Infinity Edge.

As AP Ezreal, you should start with Doran's Ring, for the mana sustain, health and AP. An alternative to this is the Crystalline Flask start, if you really need sustain in lane. On my first back I will usually either buy Chalice of Harmony or double Doran's Ring or Tear of the Goddess. After that I will buy my Sorcerer's Shoes. By mid-game, you will want to have at least Athene's Unholy Grail/ Archangel's Staff and Tier 2 Boots of your choice. Next you will want to build into Lich Bane. Afterwards you will probably want to build a Rabadon's Deathcap for the power spike. For your next offensive item, you will want to either pick Void Staff or Deathfire Grasp. Only take Deathfire Grasp if they have no MR. In the late-game you will want to be picking up either 1 or 2 defensive items to increase your survivability in teamfights. You will want to buy either Zhonya's Hourglass or Guardian Angel. Note, using your Zhonya's Hourglass is a great way to stall so your Arcane Shift goes off cooldown. Like I said before both these items are completely useless if the fight ends before you come out of stasis/respawn.

PRE-LANE PHASE

Once you load into the game, you should be heading bot-lane with your support. Your support should be anyone who can keep you safe and allow you to farm into the late game. You could choose to go a more aggressive route and have a champion like Thresh or Annie to initiate early skirmishes. If your jungler requires a leash, at least try to help them take the buff down to 3/4 health.

LAST-HITTING

Since the main goal of the laning phase is to get ahead of the enemy in terms of gold, you will need to have semi-competent last-hitting skills. Landing the killing blow on an enemy minion gives you gold, which is essential to the purchasing of item. This allows you to safely get farm without overextending. Last-hitting is extremely important in order to scale into the mid-late game. Until you get the hang of last-hitting you should try using Mystic Shot in order to secure CS(Creep Score) you otherwise wouldn't have gotten. A good trick to practice last-hitting is to go into a custom game and try to get perfect CS.

FREE POKE

Because you're last-hitting it would be safe to assume that your enemy laner is as well. By watching your opponent's movements, you should see a pattern where they would go closer to a low health minion in order to last-hit it. By waiting for them to go in to last-hit, you should be able to catch them in the middle of their auto-attack animation. During their auto-attack animation they cannot move until the projectile has left the champion. This means that the safest time in order to get harass in is this time frame as they cannot retaliate.

EARLY GAME HARRASS

In the early game, you will either be harassing with your abilities or a combination of both. A simple combo to perform early game is to auto, then use Mystic Shot and auto again. By doing this enough times the enemy laner should be low enough for you to either kill or force them out of lane.

EARLY WARDS

During the laning-phase, you will want to help your support ward key areas. On the diagram above I have marked areas which you should be warding regularly, when you are playing on either side of the map. Warding river and the tri-brush is key in order to keep you safe from the enemy mid laner and jungler. You should also ward your lane brushes in order to prevent a lane gank. An important thing to keep in mind is that, you or your support should be watching the map regularly.

As of right now Ezreal is probably one of my favorite marksmen. He probably has one of the most unique skillsets in the game.

Thanks for reading this guide, I will add more about mechanics later.

CREDITS

• jhoihoi for making her guide: http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/making-a-guide-101506
• IcyAlbie for giving me information on AP Ezreal.
  
  

  CHANGELOG

  
  -16/04/2014- Update runes and summoner spells to 4.5 patch -