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Ezreal Build Guide by AllHailSain

AD Carry S3 Attack Damage Carry Ezreal Guide

AD Carry S3 Attack Damage Carry Ezreal Guide

Updated on September 5, 2013
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League of Legends Build Guide Author AllHailSain Build Guide By AllHailSain 8,302 Views 4 Comments
8,302 Views 4 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author AllHailSain Ezreal Build Guide By AllHailSain Updated on September 5, 2013
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Introduction

Hello. I'm AllHailSain. My League of Legends summoner name is MAXIMUM TRYHARD, and I've been playing league since August 2012. As a reasonably experienced player, my experience ranges through about 1400 normal games and 220 ranked games. I've spent a very large portion of those games on Ezreal and on Attack Damage carries in general.

This is my first guide, both on MobaFire and in general, so feedback is appreciated. If there is any missing information or incorrect information, please let me know in the comment section. Thanks!



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Pros / Cons

+Pros
SPACE +Excellent Earlygame Damage
+Strongest Kiting ADC
+Versatile, Objective-stealing
Ultimate
+ Arcane Shift
+Spammable Poke
+Fits In All Teamcomps
SPACESPACE -CONS
SPACE -Weak Lategame Damage
-Nearly Useless W
-Squishy
-Belongs in a Museum
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When Should I Play Ezreal?

Ezreal fits with nearly anyone, both in bottom lane and during teamfights. However, as malleable as his playstyle can be, the best time to choose Ezreal is against a team that has a lot of assassination power. For instance, if the enemy has a Xin Zhao in the jungle and an Akali in the top lane, choosing Kog'Maw or Twitch would likely mean an instantaneous and painful death in teamfights. Against these dive-heavy teams, Ezreal has the advantage because he can use both Arcane Shift and Flash, as well as slows from Iceborn Gauntlet to continue to add distance between himself and the enemy assassin as he kills them with little risk of death.

However, if the enemy has a Maokai and Nidalee instead, Ezreal is a slightly less optimal choice because carries with higher damage potential could easily live in teamfights and do more to help the team win than Ezreal could.
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Summoner Spells

Recommended:



Flash is a must-have on nearly any champion. The free escapability provided by it is just too good to pass up. Having Arcane Shift is not a reason to not bring Flash; having access to two gap-openers is absolutely game-changing.

Barrier is a good defensive spell that has replaced Heal as the primary defensive laning spell. If you plan on playing a bit more reactively or have a tough lane matchup, Barrier is a great spell.

Good alternatives:



Ignite is an agressive laning spell used to pick up kills. If you plan on winning your lane and winning it hard, Ignite is the best choice. Also be sure to bring Ignite if the opposing team has a champion that relies on health regeneration like Dr. Mundo or Volibear or a champion that has a ton of spell vamp or lifesteal like AD Sion, Mordekaiser, or Swain

Cleanse is wonderful if the enemy team is stacking hard crowd control. Being able to simply negate the stuns from ultimates such as Curse of the Sad Mummy, Summon: Tibbers, or Solar Flare can completely turn a fight in your favor.

Not terrible:



Ghost is a good burst of speed to help you position yourself in teamfights better. The problem with Ghost is it can be easily nullified by gap-closers or the infamous Cataclysm.

Teleport is a great summoner, but it does nothing to help Ezreal in teamfights, where he is most important. It can, however, help your team by allowing Ezreal to split push or instantly group with his team for a quick tower push.
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Alternate Runes

Marks

While I find that one Greater Mark of Critical Chance is quite fun to use in lane for that occasional crippling level 3 critical hit, using it is entirely optional and the ninth Greater Mark of Attack Damage provides more value. Additionally, it is perfectly fine to opt for greater mark of armor penetration over Greater Mark of Attack Damage. I personally prefer the latter because of the added usefulness in lane.

Seals

Greater Seal of Armor is really the only seal you'll ever want on AD Ezreal. They're the best runes in the game and they're cheap, so there's no reason not to use them.

Glyphs

Lately I've been trying Greater Glyph of Mana Regeneration on Ezreal, and I've found them to be a decent choice in lane if you plan to bully the opposing team constantly with Mystic Shot, however Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist is the much safer choice and it gives a relative boatload of magic resistance come lategame. If you're against a heavy poke lane such as a lane with Sona or Lulu, Greater Glyph of Magic Resist is also an option.

Quintessences

Lately, Greater Quintessence of Life Steal has been all the rage among ADC players, and Ezreal benefits from them greatly. They synergize well with his poke-em-down laning style and Mystic Shot procs lifesteal, so they're an awesome choice. Whether you take those or opt for three Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage instead is entirely up to you. I prefer Greater Quintessence of Life Steal, however.
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Alternate Masteries

It's hard to find a better setup for AD Ezreal in terms of masteries. However, if you plan to include Infinity Edge and Phantom Dancer in your build for some mad damages, including two points in Lethality and a point in Frenzy would be ideal. Additionally, if you're conservative with your mana, opting for a 21/9/0 page, with points in defense up to Veteran's Scars could work better for you than the recommended 21/0/9 page.
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Starting Items

Every game is different, so occasionally you're going to have different item setups to start the game. Typically though, you're going to want:



Especially in the age of Greater Quintessence of Life Steal, Doran's Blade is by far the best starting item on every AD carry. The extra HP it provides allows you to match up with the enemy ADC, who will likely also be packing a Doran's Blade. Starting with anything else puts you at risk to being plain out-fought.



If you feel you need the potions or need a jump-start into your Bilgewater Cutlass or Phage, then there's nothing wrong with this start. Just mind the fact that you will be squishy.



This start is for those annoying Caitlyn + Sona lanes that poke the living daylights out of you. Crystalline Flask provides enough health sustain for you to wait until you can engage and enough mana sustain to poke back.



I wouldn't recommend this start unless the enemy lane has a Blitzcrank, a Nami, or a Thresh, where the extra movespeed could make the difference in avoiding a Rocket Grab, an Aqua Prison or Death Sentence when your Arcane Shift is on cooldown. However, the situations where you can't avoid a grab with Arcane Shift are few and far between. Only use this start if you feel the movespeed is absolutely crucial.



This is just in case the enemy team tries to be salty and has one of those Lee Sin + Pantheon kill lanes that we all hate. In this scenario, you'll likely be using the Cloth Armor to build a Randuin's Omen later on.



This is another possible start against kill lanes. The Elixir of Fortitude gives you a lot of earlygame power to reach the point where you are less vulnerable. It's also awesome for baiting bad fights.



OP riot creates a potion limit. OPOPOP
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Endgame Items and When to Build Them

Here's how your endgame itemization should look:

Don't leave home without these:



Blade of the Ruined King has been mathematically proven to provide more damage on autoattacks and on Mystic Shot at a pretty low HP value (around 1.5k) than Bloodthirster making it the superior endgame choice even without the godlike active, which provides excellent chasing and kiting.

Pick one of these routes:



This build is geared towards early- and mid-game dominance. Trinity Force and its components do so much for Ezreal's earlygame damage and make him a true terror near the end of lane phase and in early skirmishes. Infinity Edge only adds to this power. This route does tend to fall off lategame, so be wary.

OR:



This setup is much more lategame-oriented. Iceborn Gauntlet doesn't provide very much until it's paired with other, more damage-y items, and Muramana spends the first 25 to 35 minutes of the game being a near-useless Tear of the Goddess or a sort-of-useful-but-not-as-useful-as- Infinity Edge Manamune. Once these two items are completed, though, along with Last Whisper, you immediately become the primary threat on your team in nearly all situations.

Final item YOLO



Statikk Shiv is generally a good item and is best when you have a lead coming out of the laning phase. If you already built an Infinity Edge, Phantom Dancer is, without question, the best choice. If you want to just straight up chunk people on a per-autoattack and per- Mystic Shot basis, buy yourself a delicious Bloodthirster.

Final item not YOLO:



As of now, Guardian Angel is my favorite item to use when I need more in the way of defensive stats. It's a must-have when the enemy team is going to MASSIVE lengths to remove you from the game. Alternatively, the remade Banshee's Veil gives wonderful stats and the spell shield is as useful as always. Buy it when the enemy team has a lot of AP damage or is built around killing you with one crippling spell, such as Infinite Duress. Randuin's Omen maintains its usefulness against heavy-AD compositions, and Mercurial Scimitar gives additional AD and helps against teams that stack crowd control.

Finally, let's not forget these:



You need at least one movespeed item. Ionian Boots of Lucidity are a conservative pick for firing off more Mystic Shots to get Iceborn Gauntlet procs, Berserker's Greaves are a more agressive pick, and Zephyr is hyperagressive and a very risk-reward pick.


Obviously, builds must be flexible, so feel free to be creative!
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Know Thy Support

Assuming equal skill levels between the two AD Carries and Supports, bottom lane often comes down to a simple game of Rock-Paper-Scissors. Poke beats Engage, Engage beats Sustain, and Sustain beats Poke. Most of the time, the style of your bottom lane is determined by the support, but can (and should!) be constantly adjusted to create advantages.

Having a good bottom-lane matchup on Ezreal is absolutely devastating to the opponent

The style Ezreal is most often identified with is poke, but his damage makes him versatile enough to fit in all three styles.

IMPORTANT: Below are general strategies outlining how to play with common supports. Make sure to be flexible in your play to adapt to the enemy lane! Refer to my Adapting and Lane Counterplay Examples section for more details.

Common Supports

Sona


Styles: Poke, Sustain

Sona is synergistically Ezreal's best support. The damage output that this combination puts out at early levels is absolutely insane. A Sona + Ezreal lane should look to agressively poke and zone the enemy ADC from experience and farm while avoiding straight up fights. Once Sona is level 6, look to create opportunities to finish off your low-health enemies using Crescendo and Trueshot Barrage. Avoid being initiated upon and ward well, as both Ezreal and Sona are very squishy.

Beware of: Soraka, Blitzcrank, Varus

Soraka


Styles: Sustain, Poke

Soraka works best with Ezreal when he takes advantage of Infuse to use tons and tons of Mystic Shots to annoy the hell out of the enemy laners. Use Soraka as an augmentation bot and throw your spells, and to some extent your health, around in order to bring your enemies low. Remember that Soraka basically nullifies enemy trades, so trade early and often! Also, Soraka is the only support that would convince me to grab a point in Essence Flux at level 4.

Beware of: Blitzcrank, Thresh, Tristana

Alistar


Styles: Engage, Sustain

Alistar is one of the biggest zoning presences in bottom lane if played correctly. If your support is Alistar, you can play a little farther forward than you normally would because of the threat of Alistar's killer Flash + Pulverize + Headbutt combo. While you won't be able to poke as agressively, your enemy ADC will likely miss a good amount of CS trying to avoid the very high damage and stun-lock that an Ezreal + Alistar lane offers. Remember, with Alistar and similar supports with high kill potential, stand on the other side of the width of the lane. This way, if the enemy wants to avoid Alistar, there's no way he can avoid getting near Ezreal and his high damage. On top of all that, abuse the sustain given by Triumphant Roar. It's no Astral Blessing, but it's a huge skill in lane.

Beware of: Thresh, Sivir, Caitlyn

Taric


Styles: Engage, Sustain, Fabulous

Taric, despite heavy nerfs, provides a lot for Ezreal. Taric's Dazzle is a potentially lane-changing spell and just one combo of Dazzle + Shatter + Arcane Shift + Mystic Shot will have your opponents trembling at your outrageous gems. Look to play this lane super agressively. Playing passively could cause you to be poked down, as Imbue costs a lot of mana and isn't nearly as good as Triumphant Roar.

Beware of: Zyra, Janna, Sivir

Blitzcrank


Styles: Engage

Blitzcrank does two things. He Rocket Grabs people, and he makes people deathly afraid of his Rocket Grab. Just like in an Alistar lane, make sure you space yourself so the enemy ADC can't avoid taking Mystic Shot to the face without getting pulled. Blitzcrank is incredibly simple at his core: if he lands a Rocket Grab, especially coupled with the high burst that both Ezreal and Blitzcrank have, the enemy ADC will die. Be careful of enemy poke, because Blitzcrank is as vulnerable to it as any support.

Beware of: Sivir, Lulu, Alistar

Leona


Styles: Engage

In a lane with Leona, you want to fight, fight, and fight some more. Ideally, in this lane, you will push up quickly to about 3/4ths to hit level 2 before your opponents. At this point, if Leona hits a proper Zenith Blade, somebody will die. If you fail to get a kill at this point, keep an eye out for good engagements and counterengagements. Be absolutely sure to compensate for any poke damage done to Leona and by every means necessary keep the lane on your side. Once Leona gets a point in Solar Flare, assuming a reasonably equal lane, the enemy should have no way of fighting you.

Beware of: Janna, Zyra, Caitlyn

Thresh


Styles: Engage, Poke

Thresh is a super versatile support who adds a lot to Ezreal's ability in lane. Like with Alistar and Blitzcrank, be sure you and Thresh spread out and make the enemy choose between Mystic Shot and Death Sentence. Ideally, you'll want to poke as much as possible and engage when Thresh can land his Death Sentence. For best results, keep this lane at either halfway or slightly closer than halfway to the enemy tower so that Thresh can use Dark Passage to set up some sudden and incredibly devastating ganks, especially if you have somebody like Maokai, Nautilus, or Volibear on your team.

Beware of: Zyra, Lulu, Sivir

Nami


Styles: Poke, Sustain

Trade early and often when paired with Nami. Nami has strong poke and reasonably strong sustain in lane. The best thing about Nami support is that she forces most enemy lanes to engage on either herself or Ezreal, and Nami has incredibly strong counterengage with both Aqua Prison and Tidal Wave. In an Ezreal + Nami lane, patience wins. Force the enemy to make a bad engage, and use the crowd control that Nami offers to gain the advantage.

Beware of: Soraka, Blitzcrank, Draven

Lulu


Styles: Poke, Engage

Lulu is, along with Sona, one of the very best supports for Ezreal. In this lane, you should be looking to completely starve the enemy ADC with hyperagressive poke. Not only does Lulu have incredible poke damage with Glitterlance and Help, Pix!, but she can completely shut down enemy engagements by casting Whimsy on the enemy ADC. Keep this lane pushed whenever possible early on and poke the enemy lane while they're forced to use all their energy to CS under tower. Always be mindful that Lulu has both Whimsy and Wild Growth when you're fighting; one or both of those skills being used can easily change an enemy double kill into one of your own!

Beware of: Thresh, Sona, Caitlyn

Janna


Styles: Poke

Janna is the queen of disengage. When paired with Janna, the enemy has to get through the knockup of Howling Gale and the knockback of Monsoon just to get near enough to touch you. Use this to your advantage and use your skills to harass as much as possible. A good Janna will amplify your Mystic Shot by using Eye of the Storm to amplify your attack damage. Keep in mind, however, Janna is MEGA squishy. Keep your Arcane Shift off cooldown as much as possible so Janna can use Howling Gale to keep herself alive if need be. Remember, fighting is your weakness in this lane, so only hard engage if you have some extra damage available, whether it be from a gank or an ability such as Karthus' Requiem.

Beware of: Blitzcrank, Thresh, Draven

Zyra


Styles: Poke

Zyra plays very similar to Janna, with some added versatility added. Zyra has a bit more durability than Janna and her plants apply a hefty amount of poke damage. In a way, a poke lane with Zyra is a lot easier to play than one with Janna because Janna's Eye of the Storm makes Ezreal entirely responsible for landing his poke, whereas with Zyra, the responsibilities are shared. Once Zyra gains access to Stranglethorns, be ready to fight, because if she lands a Grasping Roots, she'll lay down a ton of damage and a ton of crowd control for Ezreal to capitalize on.

Beware of: Nunu & Willump, Taric, Miss Fortune

Fiddlesticks


Styles: Poke

Fiddlesticks is a bit atypical as a support, but his Terrify is one of the strongest and most annoying crowd controls in the game, right up there with Puncturing taunt and Charm. One Terrify can totally shut down an engage or start one in your favor. Additionally, Reap is very high poke damage and even more crowd control. Play this lane agressively, but be very mindful of cooldowns! Fiddlesticks is very squishy and has no disengage if Terrify is on cooldown. This is one lane I would definitely recommend having pushed towards your side, both because you are especially vulnerable to ganks and it adds more opportunity for Fiddlesticks to pull of a devastating Crowstorm.

Beware of: Leona, Blitzcrank, Miss Fortune

Nunu


Styles: Lategame Dominance

Nunu & Willump is totally different from other supports because his defining ability, Blood Boil, shows its real power in teamfights. However, Nunu & Willump is a fine laner in his own right. Once again, look to lay down the poke and force the opposing lane to engage. With Blood Boil increasing Ezreal's attack speed, Ice Blast lowering the enemy ADC's attack speed, and Absolute Zero providing a massive slow and huge damage, a Nunu & Willump + Ezreal lane is very, very hard to engage on. Be very wary of burst damage, however, as Nunu & Willump stands out more the longer the fight goes.

NOTE: If you play with Nunu & Willump as your support, assume you will have the steroid from Blood Boil during teamfights. This should affect your itemization! Avoid items like Iceborn Gauntlet and Trinity Force! With Blood Boil in your back pocket, you should have Bloodthirster, Infinity Edge, Last Whisper, and either Phantom Dancer or Blade of the Ruined King. You can even take advantage of Blood Boil's movespeed bonus by avoiding boots altogether and getting Zephyr instead.

Beware of: Leona, Sona, Miss Fortune
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Know Thy Enemy ADC

Oftentimes, both in lane and beyond, there will be opportunities for you to trade damage with the enemy ADC without the involvement of either support. In lane, these trades usually consist of a couple autoattacks and skills and are rarely lethal. However, a few favorable trades can completely change the outcome of a lane. Here's how Ezreal trades with the rest of the ADC group.

(Note: I'm assuming no high-cooldown ultimates are used in these trades. Missile Barrage and Living Artillery are notable exceptions because they have low cooldowns)

Ashe


Trading potential: Favorable

Especially if Volley is on cooldown, Ashe doesn't have a way to trade favorably with Ezreal. Throw a few Mystic Shots her way whenever possible as long as she's alone. If she isn't, be very careful with your trading, as Frost Shot could lock you down long enough for her team to overwhelm you.

Caitlyn


Trading potential: Fair

Ezreal outdamages Caitlyn in most situations, but Headshot hurts and she outranges by a good margin. Be sure to fight in close quarters and don't let her fight you in a bush. You might want to use a start that includes health potions against Caitlyn

Corki


Trading potential: Iffy

Corki's Missile Barrage and Phosphorus Bomb, in addition to Gatling Gun all add up to some very high early-to-midgame damage. The outlook would be worse for Ezreal but Corki has very high mana costs. Abuse Corki when he's out of mana, but otherwise, beware of his damage.

Draven


Trading potential: Less-than-ideal

Despite heavy nerfs to Draven, avoid letting him hit you with Spinning Axe or Stand Aside into Spinning Axe. Ezreal will immediately be sent packing. Only look to damage Draven one-on-one with long-range Mystic Shots or if you have a decent item lead.

Graves


Trading potential: Favorable

Graves has a better quick burst with Buckshot, but its high cooldown allows for you to win any longer trades easily. In a one-on-one fight with Graves, make sure to save Arcane Shift to leave the radius of smoke bomb and you'll leave with higher HP for sure.

Kog'Maw


Trading potential: Starts very favorable, ends favorable

Earlygame, Kog'Maw will crumble in any exchange with Ezreal. Later on, Ezreal has to play the position game to come out ahead. Bio-Arcane Barrage cannot outdamage Ezreal, but beware of Void Ooze and Living Artillery. Take advantage of Arcane Shift to dodge these skills.

Lucian


Trading potential: Decent

A lot of Lucian's damage comes in quick bursts involving his basic abilities in conjunction with Lightslinger. He'll outdamage you if he hits everything, but both Piercing Light and Ardent Blaze are heavily telegraphed, so Lucian is pretty easy to outmaneuver. Once you both get your ultimates, try to fight him. Lucian has no way of hitting you with The Culling if your Arcane Shift is up and you position correctly. Watch his mana bar!

Miss Fortune


Trading potential: Fair

Get in, and get out. Quick trades work in Ezreal's favor, but due to the stacking damage of Impure Shots, Miss Fortune will start to win out after a few seconds of trading. Don't stand in her range for very long and Ezreal will win these trades.

Quinn


Trading potential: Favorable

Dodging her blind with Arcane Shift wins trades by itself. Quinn can't keep up in short skirmishes.

Sivir


Trading potential: Favorable

Boomerang Blade is Sivir's main source of damage, and Arcane Shift makes it easy to avoid outright. Her shield will block one Mystic Shot, but even if the shield gets popped, Ezreal still wins any damage trades easily.

Tristana


Trading potential: Favorable

Early on, Ezreal has the range advantage and can easily kite Tristana around. If she tries to get sassy and uses Rocket Jump for burst, use Arcane Shift to avoid it and she loses the trade even harder.

Twitch


Trading potential: Fair

Do not try to trade with Twitch if he uses Ambush to get the jump on you. If he doesn't, watch his mana bar closely. If he has enough mana to expunge, Ezreal only wins very quick trades. Be selective with your strikes and Twitch won't win the matchup.

Urgot


Trading potential: Iffy

If Urgot gets a lock-on, you're in for a world of hurt and should back out immediately. If not, make sure to abuse attack-move and Arcane Shift to avoid as many Acid Hunters as possible. Urgot is another champ that goes out-of-mana easily. Watch for this!

Varus


Trading potential: Fair

At especially early levels, like level 2, Varus can't trade with Ezreal at all. However, when he skills Blighted Quiver, he will outtrade if can detonate two or three stacks. Again, Arcane Shift should be saved to dodge Hail of Arrows and constant movement will make Ezreal as hard as possible to hit with Piercing Arrow. If Varus hits both skills, Ezreal is doomed. Otherwise, prospects are very good.

Vayne


Trading potential: Fair

Don't miss. Tumble can make you look silly if you don't value every Mystic Shot. Ezreal can win the damage battle easily but Don't Miss and DOUBLE don't let her Condemn you into a wall.
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Know Thy Enemy Support

Just like you, the enemy ADC has a support. Every support has weaknesses. Here's how Ezreal can best exploit them:

Sona


Make sure that none of Sona's poke is given freely. Every time she goes to hit you, hit her back or hit her ADC. If you can coordinate a safe engage onto her or her ADC, especially before she gets Crescendo, do it. Keep an eye on her mana bar!

Soraka


Astral Blessing has a 20 second cooldown. Use the window where its armor buff is inactive to harass and harass often. Soraka won't do as much in fights as your support, especially without her heals, so look to engage. Be sure to pack Ignite.

Alistar


Triumphant Roar is only so effective, and Alistar is melee range. Abuse him constantly with autoattacks and Mystic Shot. Beware of getting too close if his Flash is off cooldown.

Taric


Force Taric to sustain with Imbue. The mana cost on it will prevent him from using Dazzle, which is what makes Taric truly, truly outrageous. Do not under any circumstance go out of mana; you NEED Arcane Shift against Taric!

Blitzcrank


Ezreal dead counter Blitzcrank so hard it's sad. Rocket Grab is entirely avoidable with Arcane Shift and Blitzcrank is both squishy and melee; a bad combination against Ezreal. Poke him down, and be mindful of Mana Barrier if you decide to fight.

Leona


Don't let her land a Zenith Blade on you or it's going to hurt. Kite her around and harass her hard when her Shield of Daybreak is on cooldown. Do not engage against her without a large health advantage or you will lose.

Thresh


Poke poke poke poke poke. Be careful of Thresh's autoattacks; once he has a point or two in Death Sentence, they hurt even more than yours do. Be sure to Arcane Shift over the walls of The Box to avoid both the damage and the slow.

Nami


Aqua Prison and Tidal Wave both have slow-moving projectiles, so save your Arcane Shift until it's certain that you would get hit by them. Otherwise, look to fight her often as she is very frail.

Lulu


Winning a poke war with Lulu is difficult, but unless your support offers sustain, that's your best route. Do not try to engage without a large health advantage or Whimsy and Wild Growth will prove to be too much. Watch her mana bar; Lulu can go out-of-mana fairly quickly!

Janna


Janna's disengage is much weaker against Ezreal, who can just Arcane Shift over her Howling Gale, than it is against other champions. Take advantage of this and pile the damage on. Especially before she gets Monsoon, she can't hope to disengage against you.

Zyra


Zyra hurts if you stay in range of her plants too long. You absolutely cannot get hit by Grasping Roots and expect to come out in good shape. Use Arcane Shift wisely and, again, keep an eye on her mana bar!

Fiddlesticks


If you have a sustain support, this lane is easy. Otherwise, Reap will prove to be a huge obstacle. Fiddlesticks will likely outpoke you, so you have to find smart engages and he will fall. Once he gets access to Crowstorm, make sure you have sight in any bushes where he might hide. And, of course, watch the mana bar.

Nunu


Don't try to poke Nunu & Willump down too hard, as he has a lot of self-sustain with Consume. Instead, put all of the focus on his ADC. Nunu & Willump isn't much of a zoning presence, so you should have room to fight on your own terms. Beware of long engagements or Blood Boil will get the best of you.
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Adapting and Lane Counterplay Examples



This is your lane. Generally referred to as the classic poke lane, Ezreal + Sona is a common and strong lane. However, the biggest mistake you can make is to assume that you should be poking against everybody at all times because your composition is good at it. Let's look at some example lanes:

Enemy lane 1:



Lulu has insane poke, and Graves isn't too bad at it as well. However, to play the poke war and only the poke war with this lane would be silly, as Lulu could render you useless with Whimsy and Graves could easily burst down your poked-down self. The correct way to play this lane would be to abuse your sustain. This is what Sona can provide over Lulu. Weather the storm with sustain until Lulu runs out of mana, and then fight. Sustain > Poke

Enemy lane 2



Yikes! To play the poke game with this lane would mean a lost lane, because Soraka can heal it all off while Miss Fortune abuses you with Double Up over and over, and to sustain would be an awkward standoff. The correct way to play this is to engage with Crescendo when Astral Blessing is not active. Crescendo can lock them down long enough for Ezreal to burst Miss Fortune before Soraka can heal the damage off. Engage > Sustain

Enemy lane 3



Sometimes, though, you do just want to poke like mad. Poke > Engage
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A Word on Kiting

I've referred to kiting time and time again throughout this guide knowing full well that some new players might not even know what it is. Kiting as a ranged character is to keep enough distance from your assailant so that he cannot do damage to you while doing damage to them. The most common way of kiting is by way of rapidly moving in between autoattacks, but many ADCs have abilities that enhance their ability to kite by giving them an opportunity to open more distance. Examples include Graves' Quickdraw, Vayne's Tumble, Corki's Valkyrie, and most relevantly, Ezreal's Arcane Shift.

So, the key for Ezreal players is to make the best use of Arcane Shift and Flash to put themselves in the best position to both do as much damage as possible AND stay alive. Sometimes, you'll be able to kill the enemy Tristana as you kite their Renekton because the Tristana is poorly positioned. Another time, you might have to just kite the Renekton back as you slowly kill him. Or maybe you're not getting focused at all, and you don't have to use your Flash. And, of course, there's always those instances where you Flash, Arcane Shift, use your Randuin's Omen and your Blade of the Ruined King, and you STILL die to their deadly trio of Jax, Zed, and Xin Zhao. It happens. Nobody is perfect at balancing damage and escapability, so don't feel bad. The key to all of this is PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. Ezreal is the best kiting ADC in the game, so he's perfect to learn this with.

One more thing; never let yourself get talked into "focusing the enemy ADC." THIS IS NOT YOUR JOB. Your job is to do as much damage as possible while staying alive.
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Trueshot Barrage



Trueshot Barrage is one of a few skills, along with Whirling Death and Enchanted Crystal Arrow, with a global range. Add to that, Trueshot Barrage does very respectable damage. However, it's not the best ultimate in teamfights unless the enemy team is clumped up because it stops your movement entirely, making you vulnerable. Here are some uses for Trueshot Barrage

+Sniping a low-health enemy champion trying to recall
+Stealing blue buff from the enemy jungler (ward it!)
+Sniping Baron Nashor and dragon (ward 'em!)
+Clearing out a minion wave in an unoccupied lane
+Pushing your lane in preparation to recall
+Rapidly stacking Rising Spell Force
+Stopping an enemy tower siege
+Forcing enemies to back off of their own tower

Trueshot Barrage is a versatile ultimate and thanks to Mystic Shot's passive, it has a low cooldown. Use it whenever you can find a use for it!
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You Belong In A Museum!

In order to be a successful Ezreal player, you absolutely must smartcast your taunt. Personally, I bound mine to the "T" key and love it there for the accessibility (It's RIGHT NEXT TO YOUR ULTIMATE!). In lane, show no mercy. Every time an autoattack, Mystic Shot, or anything else hits an enemy, press that hotkey loud and proud. Nothing makes your opponent lose lane more than the incessant shouting of:

You belong in a museum!
You belong in a museum!
You belong in a museum!
You belong in a museum!
You belong in a museum!
You belong in a museum!
You belong in a museum!
You belong in a museum!
You belong in a museum!
You belong in a museum!

Don't tell me you're not demoralized just by reading that. If you say you aren't, you're lying and you belong in a museum.
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Conclusion

Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed my Season 3 Ezreal guide. In the future, I may write more guides on the other champions I play, such as Varus, Kog'Maw, and Nami.

For now, though, I'd appreciate feedback! Ask questions, and tell me what I can do better!

Thanks!
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