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Ezreal Build Guide by btejedor

AP Carry Ezreal, the Prodigal Mage - Super In-Depth ( Season 6 )

AP Carry Ezreal, the Prodigal Mage - Super In-Depth ( Season 6 )

Updated on March 23, 2016
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League of Legends Build Guide Author btejedor Build Guide By btejedor 14 4 686,514 Views 10 Comments
14 4 686,514 Views 10 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author btejedor Ezreal Build Guide By btejedor Updated on March 23, 2016
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Spells:

LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Ignite

Ignite

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None





Welcome
Greetings MOBAFire!!
Welcome to my first guide: Ezreal, the Prodigal Mage!
My name is Borja and I play under the username of Zafiro in the EUW server. Ezreal is my all-time favourite champion and I have been playing him since I got started in Leage of Legends.

Here I present you the guide to AP Ezreal. Though it is not seen much nowadays, you will see how it is a really viable option, even for ranked.

My purpose was to make a very in depth guide so you guys reach a full comprehension of the champion and his playstyle. I am open to criticism, so feel free to send me a message with your suggestions and advices. My goal is to make of this guide a great one.

Without further a do, let's dive into Ezreal, the Prodigal Mage








Strenghts and Weaknesses
Playing Ezreal as a burst mage has nothing to do with AD Ezreal. He is a completely different champion with a whole new set of strengths and weaknesses that I am going to cover now.


Pros

+ Deals tons of damage in teamfights
+ High poke and burst damage
+ Good sieging potential
+ Very safe pick due to his kit
+ Can help the sidelanes after level 6
+ Super fun to play



Cons

- Very squishy
- Difficult to farm in the early game
- Has mana issues in the mid game
- Lacks wave clear
- Has no form of CC or utility for your team
- Every ability is a skillshot, so you will deal no damage if not precise


In depth
AP Ezreal's main source of damage is his burst. Being one of the highest in the entire game, he can shot carrys if they get hit by his full combo. In teamfights, if he manages to hit his AoE skillshots through multiple targets, he may easily be putting out more damage than the rest of his teammates combined. He is very good in sieges due to his range. Arcane Shift is what makes AP Ezreal viable, it allows him to be in a safe position in the backline, dodge skillshots and reposition to stay alive in teamfights while dealing a lot of damage. Trueshot Barrage can help the sidelines, deal with splitpushes and clear waves from any part of the map.


But he has his weaknesses. If the enemy manages to CC him, he won't probably survive due to the fact that he is very squishy. He has troubles farming in the early game and he will find himself behind in CS more often than not. In the same token, he has no wave clear apart from Trueshot Barrage, and he better save it for an incoming teamfight. The lack of crowd control and utility is the reason why he's not played in the proffessional scene, but he's very viable in solo queue. And last but not least: remember that every ability is a skillshot, so he better hit those or he will deal no damage whatsoever.





Flash is mandatory

Flash is the best summoner spell in the whole game, and you will take it in all of your matches as AP Ezreal. Can be used offensively to gapclose into an enemy putting yourself in range for your full combo, but you will be using it defensively more often than not. Ezreal being a glass canon, you need to have an insurance when you are Arcane Shifting offensively, and Flash offers you exactly that.

Choose One

Take Ignite to have a higher kill pressure in lane, or any at all. When facing an enemy laner that you have the edge against (like Diana and Akali pre level 6), Ignite may get you a kill in the early game. Otherwise, if you are facing a lane bully that you have no kill pressure against, there are better summoner spells for you. Remember that Ignite halves all healing received, so it is a good option against the likes of a late game Dr. Mundo or Nasus.

Ezreal's squishiness makes very fragile and your HP bar will get melted if hit by any form of CC. That being said, consider taking Cleanse when you are facing a heavy hard CC team. If you get focused down in a teamfight, Cleanse may save your life, abling you to reposition quickly whthout having taken a lot of damage. Cleanse is a safe option when facing an enemy midlaner with hard crowd control. Being hit by Ahri's Charm, Twisted Fate's yellow card or Ekko's Parallel Convergence can be fatal.

I advice to take Teleport when you and your enemy laner have a low kill pressure in lane (i.e. Karthus, Anivia, Azir...). Both of you are going to focus on farming from a safe distance in the early game, which makes Ignite and Cleanse pretty useless. Even though you already have global presence with Trueshot Barrage, Teleporting into a fight or sideline will be huge and can mean the start of your snowballing. It also lets you instantly return to lane after backing, so you won't loose much CS and your turret will take less damage.






Rune Page
When it comes to runes is ideal to have more than one rune page, so you can choose the best one according to the matchup. It is obvious that you won't need the same stats against Azir that against Zed. Down here I go in depth on the runes that suit AP Ezreal best, aswell as recomendations for each matchup.

Marks
Greater Mark of Magic Penetration runes are the way to go for most mid lane mages since the vast majority of their damage is magical. Ezreal's 3 out of 4 spells deal magic damage and the enemy laner is going to be runing magic resist glyphs more often than not. Greater mark of hybrid penetration runes are worth to be considered, because you will be AA'ing your opponent in lane and Mystic Shot deals physical damage too.


I recomend you to run Greater Seal of Scaling Health in most matchups because Ezreal has one of the lowest base healths in the entire game due to the safety of his kit, so having extra hp as the game progresses (216 hp at level 18) is very beneficial. If you are facing a heavy burst AD midlaner ( Zed or Talon) you must take Greater Seal of Armor, since that will diminish a lot of the damage taken by their harass in lane.
Seals


Defensive
Glyphs
Here you have several options: Greater Glyph of Magic Resist are the safest option for the early to mid game. These are good against AP midlaners who have kill pressure in lane or will constantly poke you (like Ahri and LeBlanc). Or you can run Greater Glyph of Magic Resist to be safer in the mid to late game.

Glass Canon
If you have a comfortable lane you can skip the defensive glyphs and go full glass canon. Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power runes synergize well with Rabadon's Deathcap and will increase the damage of your burst even more. The last option you have is Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction runes for the late game, when teamfights will be lasting longer and the 15% CDR will let you use all of your abilities more often.


Greater Quintessence of Ability Power is the best option you have for quints since they grant much needed AP. Mystic Shot has a poor AP scaling, so flat AP is not going to make much of a difference in your Q. But it will signifcantly amplify the damage of Essence Flux, Arcane Shift and Trueshot Barrage, so make these runes count and hit the enemy with those abilities as much as you can.
Flat AP Quints

Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed runes are heavily underrated, 3 of these + Fleet of Foot will give you 20 movement speed from the start of the game. In the laning phase you will dodge skillshots much better, enabling you to stay in lane for longer. AP Ezreal being all about positioning in teamfights and not taking too much harass in lane, makes movement speed a crucial stat for him.
Movement Speed






Ferocity Tree

The first choice is a no-brainer, Sorcery will grant you 2% increased damage on all of your abilities. After that, Double Edged Sword is the way to go. Another 2% increase of damage is great for a burst mage. You will take 2% increased damage though, which will make you even more squishy.

I can see why people go for Vampirism on most mages like Ahri, Diana, Ryze, etc. That is because this champions will have to get close to the enemy to deal their damage, so Vampirism will grant them more sustain.

But AP Ezreal is different, you won’t be usually taking a lot of damage: you will go in, cast your full combo and get out. Vampirism will grant you next to nothing in teamfights. That’s why you should take Natural Talent to increase your burst.

I take Bounty Hunter here. It is a great snowballing mastery to take, granting you up to 5% increased damage in the mid game if you managed to kill all of your opponents at least once. Since you don't have any utility in form of CC, Oppressor makes no sense.


Cunning Tree

I think Wanderer is very useful, movement speed is a key stat on most champions, and AP Ezreal is no exception. It will let you get to the lane quicker and roam more effectively.

Here it comes to personal prefference. I personally go for Secret Stash . It turns your Health Potions into Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation that will grant you more health and some mana, this is now very important due to the removal of Mana Potions. Runic Affinity is your other option, only consider swapping Secret Stash for Runic Affinity when you are duo queuing with a jungler.

It is no surprise that we are taking Merciless at this point. 5% damage increase is always better than little mana sustain. After that, take Dangerous Game for increased mana sustain in late game teamfights.

Put 5 points into Precision for some flat and scaling hybrid penetration. Lastly, we take Thunderlord's Decree since it is the best option for burst mages. It will let you put up even more AoE damage in teamfights.






Ezreal's Abilities



Ezreal's kit screams one thing: DAMAGE!
All of his abilities deal damage, and quite a lot to be honest. I will go over each ability, providing relevant information as well as tips and tricks for all of them. Play to your champion's strenghts while being aware of his weaknesses



Rising Spell Force (Passive)
Ezreal gains 10% bonus attack speed for 6 seconds every time he hits an enemy with his abilities, stacking up to 5 times.

Apart from its use to tower push, it is not a very useful ability when playing Ezreal as a mage. This ability was thoguht for AD Caster Ezreal, when you will build him mainly AD and not so much attack speed, and the passive is going to let you increase your DPS in teamfights.

It has a use for AP Ezreal though, and that is if you build Lich Bane:
When you got yourself a Lich Bane, the next autoatack is going to deal 75% of your AD + 50% of your AP as Magic damage (once every 2 seconds). So autoatacking right after using Essence Flux or Arcane Shift will deal good damage ( Mystic Shot already applies Lich Bane passive on hit).

If you manage to hit a champion with any of your spells, your attack speed is going to increase. Making it faster to autoatack right after hitting your combo, applying Lich Bane`s passive.

I recomend you to always throw that last AA right after your combo. That is because if you miss Mystic Shot, Lich Bane's passive would be wasted if you don't autoatack.



Mystic Shot (Q)

RANGE: 1150
COST: 28 / 31 / 34 / 37 / 40 Mana
COOLDOWN: 6.5 / 6 / 5.5 / 5 / 4.5
PHYSICAL DAMAGE: 35 / 55 / 75 / 95 / 115 (+ 110% AD) (+ 40% AP)
Ezreal fires a bolt of energy in a line, dealing physical damage to the first enemy hit, and applying on-hit effects. If Mystic Shot successfully hits an enemy, all of Ezreal's abilities' cooldowns are refreshed by 1.5 seconds.

It has a poor AP scaling and deals physical damage, that's why we are going to max it last. Putting more ranks in it may increase your DPS but not by a whole lot, and we have already stated that AP Ezreal is more about burst damage than DPS. That's why you will benefit more from ranking other abilities.

That being said this ability is very important has more uses than you think for AP Ezreal.

Mystic Shot is the ability with the lowest cooldown and mana cost of your set, so you can use it in lane for farming whenever you need to. Its long range lets you farm from far away when you are low and it is extremely useful for farming under tower aswell.

I recomend you to put a point in this ability at level 1. AP Ezreal already farms poorly enough in the early game to not take Mystic Shot as soon as you can. While Essence Flux is reliable to hit the enemy with in the lane, the benefits you are going to get for taking Mystic Shot at level 1 are higher.

It applies on hit effects, so it procs Lich Bane's passive. With it, Mystic Shot is going to deal considerable damage even at rank 1.

If it hits, will lower the cooldow of every ability by 1.5 seconds. This is actually very important. That's why you will cast Mystic Shot at the end of your combo and not before. Lowering the cooldown of every ability will let you have your combo ready sooner, so don't hesitate to spam Mystic Shots in teamfights. When you are being chased and need to jump over a wall to escape, if you have Arcane Shift on cooldown, hitting the chaser with Mystic Shot can save your life.

Don't forget to throw a Mystic Shot to the raptor camp when you are returning to lane to lower the cooldown of Trueshot Barrage.


Essence Flux (W)

RANGE: 1000
COST: 50 / 60 / 70 / 80 / 90 Mana
COOLDOWN: 9
MAGIC DAMAGE: 70 / 115 / 160 / 205 / 250 (+ 80% AP)
ATTACK SPEED: 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40 %
Ezreal fires a wave of energy in a line, dealing magic damage to enemy champions struck, and granting all allied champions struck bonus attack speed for 5 seconds.

If the circumstances permit, Ezreal can boost himself with Essence Flux

This is your main source of damage in lane. That's why you are going to max it first. It can go through the minion wave, so you can harass the enemy laner when he comes to melee range to last hit or whenever he is in range.

At early levels it already deals big damage, at rank 3 (level 5) it has 160 base damage, which will hugely harass the enemy midlaner if you manage to consistently hit it.

In teamfights, you will try to hit Essence Flux through as many champions as possible. Position yourself correctly to be able to do so. At max rank it deals 250 base damage, and has a 0.8 AP ratio. So it will decimate carries in the mid-late game if you are ahead. A lot of your damage is going to come from Essence Flux in teamfights, so your presition is key.

When your team is taking an objective, Essence Flux through as many allied champions as possible to buff their attack speed. In teamfights, hitting enemies with it is more valuable, but if you are low on HP and getting closer to the enemy is going to mean your death, you can still Essence Flux your ADC, amplifying his DPS with that 40% attack speed steroid.

There is a little trick that you can do to increase your own attack speed. Using Essence Flux and Arcane Shifting on it, will give you the attack speed buff from Essence flux plus the 10% attack speed buff from Rising Spell Force. This is of little use when playing AP Ezreal, but there you have it.



Arcane Shift (E)

CAST RANGE: 475 // BOLT RANGE: 750
COST: 90 Mana
COOLDOWN: 19 / 17.5 / 16 / 14.5 / 13
MAGIC DAMAGE: 75 / 125 / 175 / 225 / 275 (+ 50% AD) (+ 75% AP)
Ezreal blinks to the target location, firing a homing bolt that deals magic damage to the nearest enemy.

This ability is what makes AP Ezreal viable and a safe pick. It is the ability most similar to Flash in the entire game, and it also deals big damage. It has a longer range than Flash itself, and you can blink over almost all of the walls of the map.

Arcane Shift is going to be the start of your combo. Remember that the damage will be dealt to the nearest enemy to the position that you jump to. So for it to hit an enemy champion, no enemy minions should be nearby. If by any chance it does not hit your objective, you will loose in a lot of the damage of your combo.

During the laning phase it will be very difficult to hit, because the enemy will be safe from it inside their minion wave.

You can reliably hit it when your jungler is ganking for you, and the enemy is running away from the minion wave to be safe under his tower. When he goes out of the protection of his minions, Arcane Shift on top of him and complete your combo.

In the mid and late game only Arcane Shift agressively if you are confident you can kill an enemy with your combo. Otherwise, save it. You will die if you Arcane Shift forward and then get focused down. Again: Ezreal is a safe pick if you play him inteligently.

You gotta be in the backline, throwing your spells from a safe distance, and only going in to finish off a carry. I cannot stress more how squishy you are. Remember: you are a glass canon.



Trueshot Barrage (R)

RANGE: Global
COST: 100 Mana
COOLDOWN: 120
MAGIC DAMAGE: 350 / 500 / 650 (+ 100% AD) (+ 90% AP)
After gathering energy for 1 second, Ezreal fires an energy missile in the target direction, dealing magic damage to enemies it passes through. Each enemy hit reduces the missile's damage by 10%, down to a minimum 30% damage.

Trueshot Barrage is the ability that defines Ezreal. A global projectile that will damage every unit it passes through. It is your most important ability, and it has a lot of uses:

With it you can help the sidelines without having to move away from mid lane. Throw a Trueshot Barrage every time you see your allies are trading in their lanes or when a gank is going on in them.

You will be able to cross map snipe if you see an enemy surviving a fight with low health.

Since it grants vision, you can check if the enemy is doing Baron or Dragon, and if you are lucky, you may even steal it. Also, throw a Trueshot Barrage every time you see your enemy midlaner going to take his blue buff.

It clears waves from any point of the map. This lets you stop a split push or defend a tower, denying the objective to the enemy team.

And last but not least, Trueshot Barrage deals huge AoE damage in teamfights. Try to hit as many enemy champions as you can with it. A good Trueshot Barrage in a teamfight will easily deal more damage than any of your allies. If you manage to hit the carries too, you will win that teamfight more ofthen than not.

Your main goal is to hit as many enemies as possible, and the best time to do so is when the teamfight just started. At that time is when most of the CC's are going to be used, and it's going to be pretty hectic. All of this going on, will make it difficult for the enemy to spot an incoming Trueshot Barrage, and even if they do, they will have a harder time getting away from it.

Note that if Trueshot Barrage is blocked by Wind Wall or Unbreakable, a huge amount of damage is going to be denied, almost surely wining the teamfight for the enemy team. Wait until those abilities are down to throw Trueshot Barrage.

It is recommended to throw Trueshot Barrage from the fog of war, since its cast time of 1 second is enough time for your enemies to react. Its damage is reduced by 10% for each enemy hit, so try to hit your target directly. Avoid Trueshot Barrage from flying through a minion wave or jungle camp.






Starting Items

Doran's Ring is your default starting item, especially when facing a lane bully that you won’t likely kill in the early game. It grants everything an AP midlaner needs at the start of the game: ability power, flat health and mana regen. AP Ezreal will have mana problems in the laning phase if you spam your abilities, so try to last hit with your autoatacks and use your mana to poke the enemy. Doran's Ring passive will help your mana sustain too, so try to farm using autoatacks instead of spamming Mystic Shot to get its full benefits.


This is your go to item when you are looking to snowball from the start of the game. Enemy mid laners with bad pre 6 laning phase are the ones you can snowball from (take a look at the match-ups section of the guide). An early kill with Dark Seal will heavily increase your presence in lane, making it easier to keep bullying your enemy laner. Whenever you are looking to start with Dark Seal, take Ignite to get early kills.


Each of the 2 Health Potions that you will start the game with grant you 150 effective health over 15 seconds, which is key for the laning phase. These will help you stay in lane for longer, letting you save enough gold for your first purchase. Now cost 50g each.
If you took the Secret Stash mastery, which I personally recomend, Health Potions turn into Total Biscuit of Rejuvenation. These will grant you 20 HP + 10 mana instantly, and last 10% more than the default Health Potions. In season 6 they are even more useful due to the removal of Mana Potions.


The Stealth Ward is the best trinket item you can get at the start of the game due to what it offers. You can place it in the foe's jungle to know their jungle route, or in the river mid brushes to spot incoming ganks. Stealth Ward is great for the early game since tt lets you place a 60 second ward every 120 seconds FOR FREE!!. When your support and jungler already bought a Sightstone for themselves, and are warding effectively, swap Stealth Ward for a Sweeping Lens.



First Back
The items you are going to purchase the first time you return to the shop will depend on the matchup, the gold you have and how the lane is going.


The recent buffs to Needlessly Large Rod made it cheaper, so it's easier to afford it in your first trip to base. Getting it will significantly increase the damage you deal with Essence Flux, Arcane Shift and Trueshot Barrage, due to their AP scaling. That's why I recommend you to buy it in your first back.


Sheen will give you better wave control thanks to its passive. It is going to amplify the damage of Mystic Shot, and the 200 mana will let you spam this ability more. Sheen is good if you are being forced to farm under turret and don't have the option to harass the enemy midlaner so much. If that is the case, focus on farming for now and wait for your powerspike.


If you happen to visit base with less than 1200 gold, you can go for an Aether Wisp. It is a good item for the laning phase since it grants AP and movement speed. It builds into both Lich Bane and Luden's Tempest, so you can decide which one you want to get first later on.


If you started with Dark Seal and managed to get some glory stats, you can take the risky (but very rewarding, believe me) route of rushing Mejai's Soulstealer in your first back. It is more risky than before: faster stack gaining but quicker stack losing.
But if there is one champion that will benefit the most from this Item, it is AP Ezreal. The safety of Ezreal's kit lets you mock death, and a good Trueshot Barrage in a teamfight will lead to the stacking of sweet glory.


Depending on your gold:
+1250 => Needlessly Large Rod or Sheen
850 – 1200 => Aether Wisp or Sheen
450 – 800 => Amplifying Tome
< 400 => Boots or a 2nd Doran's Ring



Core Items



As AP Ezreal you want to buy these items in the vast majority of your games because they are the ones that will bring you more damage overall. But remember that League of Legends is all about adaptation, so think about who are you playing against and build accordingly.


Luden's Tempest is a great item for teamfights due to its passive. Buy it as soon as your enemies start to group up, usually in the mid game. The passive also helps clearing waves with Arcane Shift (Mystic shot won't proc it because it deals physical damage). A good Trueshot Barrage + Luden's Tempest passive will deal a lot of damage in a teamfight. Also grants movement speed, which is an important stat on AP Ezreal.


This item is going to amplify your damage more than others if you proc it's passive often ( Mystic Shot procs it on hit, almost doubling its damage depending on your AP). If you don't autoatack after the use of Essence Flux or Arcane Shift, you will be wasting Lich Bane's passive and you'll probably benefit more from other items. Keep that in mind if you buy it, which I personally recomend. It also grants movement speed, which is going to let you do more aggresive plays with less punishment if you don't succeed.


Rabadon's Deathcap is great for AP Ezreal since you will build him full AP most of the time. Rabadon's will increase the AP of every item, rune or mastery by 35%. A must buy in every game.
The question is the following: when should you buy it? Well, buying it earier is less gold efficient since you have less AP at the beggining, but makes more efficient all of your future purchases. I recommend you to get Rabadon's Deathcap later in the game, as a third item or so. You will benefit more from other items as your first and second purchases, and then powerspike when you get yourself a Rabadon's.


Void Staff is going to increase your damage more than other items if you buy it at the correct stage of the game. It starts being worth taking it over other AP items when the enemy champion has more than 100 magic resist (source). That's why you should buy it at that point, when your enemies are stacking MR.
Even if you have the gold to buy a Rabadon's Deathcap as 4th item, if the enemy has more than 100 mr, Void Staff will grant you more damage to that target. Your full build should always have a Void Staff in it.



Boots (Choose One)

By default, always go for Sorcerer's Shoes as your boots choice. The vast majority of your damage is magical and magic penentration is going to amplify it. If your enemies are not building any magic resist item at all you can go for a different choice. I don't recomend it though, because your enemies have some sort of MR in their runes and masteries, and they will end up building MR anyways.


Ionian Boots of Lucidity are a viable option if your enemy is not building MR whatsoever. Having your abilities up more often is good, but in a burst mage CDR is never better than damage, and magic penetration will give you more damage in most cases. That's why you gotta check what your enemies are building and purchase accordingly.


Tenacity is a useful stat if the enemy has plenty of CC, but I don't really recommend to get this boots over Sorcerer's Shoes or Ionian Boots of Lucidity. You shouldn't really get stunned at all if you position correctly and dodge skillshots with Arcane Shift.



Situational Items

Great item against double AD compositions since the armor will be more efficient. Also useful against burst because of the active. I recomend you to rush Zhonya's Hourglass against Zed and Talon, both the armor and the active are of great use against both picks.
In teamfights Zhonya's Hourglass will save your life too. Be in the backline, and if the enemy focuses you, pop Zhonya's inmediatly, don't wait to be at low health. Zhonya's Hourglass’s active can let you wait safely for your abilities to be up.
Even Ezreal being a safe champion already, you will be using Zhonya's active more than you think, so don't overlook it.


Consider buying Abyssal Mask if you are having troubles in lane against a mage that has kill pressure on you. It will be usually beneficial against the likes of an Ahri, Akali or Diana after level 6. The magic resist that Negatron Cloak provides may save your life when those burst mages go all in. Abyssal Mask is gold eficient so it is never a bad purchase. But it is made for the early stages of the game, later on you will be more difficult to catch because you will stay behind the protecton of your tanks. Your goal is to be untouchable, and your kit lets you do so.
In the late game, sell it for another item that grants you more AP.


A lot of mages tend to rush Morellonomicon in the early game, but AP Ezreal benefits more from other items at the early stages. CDR is not so useful in a burst mage, it is more important to deal enough damage to kill your enemy with your combo than to have it up more often. CDR becomes more useful as the game progresses and the teamfights are lasting longer, letting you perform your combo more than once.
The best thing that Morello's offers is grevious wounds. Halving all healing received is massive against a late game Dr. Mundo and Nasus. That’s why getting a Morellonomicon in the later stages of the game is completely justified.


Rylai's Crystal Scepter is very useful for AP Ezreal. It not only gives you crucial HP, but also grants utility, something Ezreal doesn't have at all in his kit. With the most recent buffs to it, Rylai's Crystal Scepter makes each of your abilities an on-hit slow. This will make it easier for your team to chase a target down, will also let you kite and escape.
I find this item specially useful when you are underfed. You will not deal that much damage anyways, so the best thing you can do at this point is to help your allies get the kills, and Rylai's Crystal Scepter is going to do exactly that.


Archangel's Staff is not a bad item by no means, but I don't think it really suits AP Ezreal so much. It's true that you will find yourself out of mana often, and as you stack this item, emptying your manapool will be less likely. But, again, if you are playing AP Ezreal is because of his burst, and for that to be most effective you have to build him full AP from the beggining.
Rushing a Tear of the Goddess will delay your powerspike, since it will delay your first AP item. It is good for long teamfights though, because you will never empty your manapool with a stacked Tear of the Goddess. It's a great item to have stacked at the mid-late game, but for that you will need to sacrifice your early game. It's really personal choice, I leave it in your hands.


Extremely snowbally item, and actually fits Ezreal very well, due to the fact that he is not going to die if you play safe, and you will still get the stacks on it. Staying in the backline and using Trueshot Barrage is going to bring you a lot of assists if not kills, which will stack Mejai's Soulstealer for sure. Since you will play catiously and from a safe distance, you won't die often, which makes Mejai's an item made for a fed AP Ezreal.
Due to the heavier punishment of dying with this item in the current season, you will have to play safer than ever and be very aware of the limits of your damage output when going in.





Laning Phase
This whole Playstyle section is very important, because if you fully internalize it, it will let you make the best decision and buy the most suitable items for each station of the game. It will also let you understand why I am recommending to use these runes and masteries, aswell as the items in the list.

AP Ezreal has a very safe early game due to the fact that he can farm from very far away with Mystic Shot and has a blink ability ( Arcane Shift) that lets you reposition and get away from harm. That will let you stay in lane for longer and farm up until you have the desired gold to make your first purchase.

Try to save your mana when farming, dont spam Mystic Shots if you can farm with autoatacks, because that mana can be put to a better use if you use it to poke your enemy laner.

The biggest drawback of AP Ezreal is how bad he farms, so always keep an eye on the position of the wave and try to keep it away from your tower as much as you can, since if the enemy pushes it will make you loose some CS. If you find that you are getting behind in farm, don't panic, that's pretty standard. Due to the lack of wave clear, you will only be roaming at the cost of a full wave of gold and experience that will likely have melted to your turret by the time you come back, so be clever with the timing of your roams. Every time you back, try to buy Vision Wards and Health Potions with leftover gold since these will let you stay in lane for longer.

Ezreal benefits a lot from blue buff, so the kindness of your jungler will be highly appreciated. If you are not getting them, well, it's okay. It is solo queue at the end of the day and you have to make do with the resources that you have.

Level 1

Some people tend to put a skill point into Essence Flux to harass the enemy laner at level 1, but I think that the benefits you get from having Mystic Shot are higher.
Not only Mystic Shot will deal similar damage than Essence Flux if you at level 1, but it will let you farm more effectively and it's on a shorter cooldown.


I recomend you to get a point in Essence Flux by level 2. With this you will be poking enemy champions that come close through the minion wave, and the cooldown of this ability is half the one of Arcane Shift at rank 1. Also, the likelyhood of hitting Essence Flux is higher than hitting Arcane Shift since the latter will damage the closest enemy yo where you blink, and your enemiy mid laner will likely be close to their minions at level 2. Also, you won't probably be needing to use your blink defensively due to the lack of kill pressure the enemy laner will have at level 2. If you poke your oponent down below half of their health, you will have some kill pressure at level 3 and on.
Level 2



Lvl 3-5

Take a point into Arcane Shift at level 3, that is quite a powerspike to AP Ezreal. Hitting a full rotation of your spells will deal a huge amount of damage, and if they already took some harass and are low enough, it may even get you first blood gold if you are running Ignite. On levels 4 and 5, take a point into Essence Flux.

You have to harass the enemy laner with autoatacks and Essence Fluxes if they are inside of their minion wave. If you constantly poke them and manage to get them below 30% HP they may run away from their wave looking for some safety under their turret, that's your window of opportunity. At that point, when they are not surrounded by minions is when you can Arcane Shift offensively and Ignite, followed by Essence Flux and Mystic Shot, securing a kill in most cases. Saving Mystic Shot for last has two advantages: it will reduce by one second your other abilities' cooldowns; and because it's range is so long and the projectile speed so high, you can hit it even after the enemy Flashes away.


At this point you have to take a look at your sidelanes every now and then. If either top or your duo lane is trading, having the help of an on point Trueshot Barrage can mean the difference between a kill and a death, which will help you and them to snowball your lanes. If you see a gank incoming to either sidelane, don't hasitate to ult there.
Lvl 6+


Ezreal may not be the best farmer of his own lane, but the wave management he can offer to the sidelanes is one of the most important characteristics of his kit, and it is often overlooked. Apart from granting you some gold, this can safe some of your turrets and putting an end to an enemy splitpush in a matter of seconds.



Skirmishes

AP Ezreal excells in skirmishes and small fights in the jungle and river. The absence of nearby minions is going to let you land your full combo, since your Mystic Shot and Arcane Shift are single target abilities. If one of those would hit a minion instead of the enemy champion, you are going to loose out in a lot of your burst damage.

Skirmishes don't use to last enough for you to cast your full combo more than once. So don't be afraid to Arcane Shift forward to deal all your burst damage to the enemy champion your team is focusing on.

Every time you do your combo you have to keep in mind that Essence Flux and Arcane Shift are skill shots, so the enemy can dodge them. Take your time to aim and make sure you don't miss them, because if this happens, it can mean your death instead of a kill.


Your combo should look like this: >>
>>



Objectives - Sieging

When you and your team are taking an objective it's mandatory that you Essence Flux your teammates to increse their DPS and destroy that objective faster. Whether it is a turret, Baron or Dragon you should keep that in mind. Try to Essence Flux your AD Carry or another member who benefits from an attack speed steroid.

Ezreal is an excelent champion for sieging due to the long range of his abilities, especially Mystic Shot. Spam Mystic Shots when you are approaching a turret to poke the enemy from outside the turret range. With Lich Bane this will be more effective due to the increased damage of Mystic Shot. When the enemy team is low enough, they will have to surrender the turret, fearing they will die if your team dives them.

Trueshot Barrage is a huge sieging tool aswell. If you manage to hit their entire team, they will sudently be pretty low. They won't be able to stand a 5v5, and will have to back out of their turret.

If your team is running a siege composition, you may want to take more CDR than usual to be able to poke the enemy more effectively with your abilities. If you take this route, you may want to max Mystic Shot over Arcane Shift. You will loose in some damage of your combo, but in excange you will have it up more often. You decide.

Teamfighting
Ezreal is very squishy, you are a glass cannon so keep that in mind. Teamfighting with AP Ezreal is all about positioning yourself away from danger and dealing damage from a distance. Abuse your range and save Arcane Shift for defensive uses.

If you think you can Trueshot Barrage through the entire enemy team, don't hesitate and do it no matter what. By solely doing so, you will probably be dealing more damage than anyone in that teamfight. This is easier to do at the beginning of a teamfight, when the enemies are going to get CC'd. It will be a lot going on, so it will be more difficult for the enemy to spot a Trueshot Barrage approaching.

Use Mystic Shot and Essence Flux whenever you can. Essence Flux is a very big source of damage for you, try to find the best angle and hit as many enemy champions as possible, this will deal a lot of damage aswell. Spam Mystic Shots since they will keep lowering the cooldowns of your other spells and thus, increase your DPS.

You are the highest damage dealer in your team so play it very safe. If you are not being hit and constantly dealing damage, that will surely translate into a won teamfight.

A step taken in the wrong direction may mean you get CC'd and surely melted down before you can even Arcane Shift away. You lack any form of resistances apart from Zhonya's Hourglass. So save Arcane Shift to jump away from harm or dodge a CC.

Only Arcane Shift forward if you are confident you can delete an enemy carry with your combo. I cannot emphasize it more, play very safe, even at the cost of not dealing damage for some seconds.



DPS vs. Burst

CDR in AP Ezreal

AP Ezreal deals a lot of damage

Why you should read this guide





Farewell!

That’s it for my guide Ezreal, the Prodigal Mage. I have learned a lot making it and I hope you did as well.

Be sure to send me any advices that you may have, I am open for constructive criticism. I am sure this guide is going to be changed a lot since I'm certain I missed something. For any questions, message me, I will be glad to answer you all.

Special thanks to jhoijhoi for her outstanding guide tutorial; it helped me out a lot.

This is all from me. Now go out there to the fields of justice and try AP Ezreal out, I wish you good results! Tell me how that went! See you soon.

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