I would like to say that this is my first guide I have made here on mobafire. Many people say that blue ez is the only way to build and that ap mid doesn't even come close, but they are wrong. Ap mid ez is a monster if he gets even 2 or 3 kills. He can chase people down, and kite just as effectively. He can take out half of someone's HP with a point blank ult. and has the sustain to never be out of mana

Pros

Great harass with the W
Super slippery and hard to gank/burst because of the E
great at farming
super low cool downs on everything because of the Q
great burst or long range intimidation on the R

Cons

Very skill shot depandant
highly weak to roots, stuns, and mutes
ult deals less and less the more people it hits
high risk build, if you fall behind it can be very hard to catch up

I take the flat AP quintessences because you need to have a good amount of ap to start with so you can farm and harass better from the start. I took the scaling ap glyphs because it will give you a steady source of ap as you level and make it so you are always on par with ap. I got the mana regen seals because it gives you extra sustain in lane which leads to more farm and more harass. I got the magic pen marks because it prevents enemies from building magic res and shutting you down.

My mastery build is fairly typical for ap mids. I got the extra turret damage because if you are playing right you will be in lane while your enemy is back allot so you will have many chances at hitting the turret. I took the spell blade because it goes nicely with your Q. I got the slow reduction because cc is deadly to you. I got the mr masteries because you need to be able to take some poke from your lane enemy

I believe it is clear why you buy those items, but I will clarify it anyway. You start with the ringand potsbecause you have little ap and need to get the ap from the ring to harass well. The ring also gives you much needed mana regen. I rush the chalicebecause once you get it, you can harass like there is no tomorrow and still have mana to farm and arcane shiftout of ganks. The Rabadon's Deathcapgives you much needed ability power. With ez, cdr is big, the more you can cast mystic shot, the lower everything's cool down is, so when you have cdr to the point were you only need to wait about 20-30 seconds between Trueshot barrages, it is amazing. That's why I get Ionian boots of lucidity You get the Rylai's Crystal Scepterbecause the slow allows you to chase down opponents with your mystic shot, and to kite with your essence flux and mystic shot. Lich baneadds damage to your mystic shot, which is much needed because you aren't building AD. Because of the rate at which you can cast spells, the Liandry's tormentadds up to allot of extra damage.

You start with Q because it is your cheapest and longest ranged of your basic Q,W,or,E moves, it also has the lowest cool down so is best for level 1 fights. I then max out essence flux first because it deals the most damage if you Q,W,and,E moves, goes through minions so you can hit the enemy while they are hiding, and lowers attack speed giving you an edge when getting ganked or when your fighting an ad mid. I then max arcane shift because it is you escape tool, your gap closer, and your best kiting tool. I mac mystic shot last because you only need the 1 point in it to lower your cooldowns, it also deals the least damage when your all built up. Always take your ult at levels 6,11,and 16

When farming, if you don't have your chalice, be careful, try to only use spells to get farm when you have too. Make sure you put your mana toward harassing and avoiding damage. once you have chalice you want to last hit mostly with your Q, bu try to keep your mane around or above 250-300 in case you get ganked. in the late game you can use your ult to farm distant lanes, but only if you are sure there will be no team fight before you can get it back up. when you are trying to farm ad the enemy team is present, play carefully, use your Q on any minions that you can, but don't go out or away from your team and risk getting killed, you could easily get killed by cc before you can E out of bad situations.

Ap ez is much harder than blue, do not expect this build to be easy. Ap is better, it is just harder to get good with. In the end the practice pays off though. I have played blue and AP and I can say that they are nearly equal, but Ap makes use of all abilities, kites with all abilities and not just Q, and does more damage with the ultimate. I have reached the conclusion that AP is better, but you need to try both for yourself and see what you choose