Thank you for the comment, Glid! I am glad my guide has been helpful for you! As luck would have it, itemization is the next advanced section I am working on. It is taking a while to complete since this is a very busy time of the year for me and itemization is a complicated subject—difficult to summarize (it is already the longest section of the guide, so it will need a lot of trimming once it is done before I can release it). So keep in mind as I answer your questions that these are not steadfast rules, and there will be a lot more information about it in the guide soon.


The optimal time to build T2 boots on Azir for most games is after the second item. This is because if you build T2 boots after the first item, you will not complete your second item until slightly after 20:00. By skipping boots and rushing your second item, you can usually reach the 2 item power spike on Azir and still have time to set up for Atakhan while most of the enemy team is still on one item. This is very useful, as Azir is primarily a team-fight-focused champion and doesn't need the extra mobility to stay alive when playing front-to-back for objectives. However, just because it is most optimal doesn't mean it is always viable. Sometimes you will need the extra move speed and slight damage boost to keep up in the side lanes. Without getting too much into the advanced details right now, in your elo, I recommend only going boots after second if you are ahead and have a plan to use the item advantage, otherwise go it after first. Also, if you are playing Mobile Duelist, or building Tank Azir, you will want to always take boots after first item (mobile duelist needs move speed, and tank azir needs damage).

For T3 boots, you should always only take them after completing your core. If you complete your core at 3 items, you can upgrade to T3 next. If it takes you longer to finish the core, then wait longer for the T3. An exception is if you have an odd amount of mana before an important objective fight and can't complete an item, in which case it is sometimes beneficial to get T3. It is a risk, so you have to be careful. If you are unsure of the importance of the objective and how you will take it (which is perfectly normal for ranks around emerald and below, don't worry) then just get components for your next core item. Since I can't list both T2 and T3 boots in the item pages, I just opted to put them in the third slot (T2).

TL;DR T2 after first item, or after the second if you are playing F2B and want to make an Atakhan play. T3 after your core items are completed.


This is a great question! When it comes to your second item, the laning phase will usually be over long before you can complete it, and so it is not worth trying to take it second. HOWEVER, in difficult matchups vs AP it is often very useful to get an early Null-Magic Mantle (on your first or second back) then hold onto it until you can finish your mask third. This will greatly increase your early survivability. If you decide to do this, then you should skip your T2 boots (still take T1) so you don't fall behind in items, then finish T2 before your mask.


You are right about burst and anti-tank. Glass cannon is less about countering the enemy team composition, and more about abusing your team's macro. It is the best build path for taking objectives quickly and accelerating a game when you are ahead. The build starts similarly to a regular DPS build with the 3-item core (Nashors, LiandryShadowflame, Void). Nashor's is taken first for DPS. Shadowflame is a good snowball item to take instead of Liandry's when you win lane, then Void Staff completes the core. From here you could either pivot into situational items (defensive, slows, damage, etcetera) or go full glass cannon by getting your Rabadon and Guinsoo. It is also the least consistent build, as it relies on both you winning your lane (Shadowflame), and your team winning mid game (not needing to delay your core), and late game (not needing to build defensivelysituationally).


Lich Bane is an expensive item, so Cryptbloom helps you keep up your momentum in the late game. It also offers ability haste (something very helpful against squishy comps) and healing. Squishy champions tend to have a lot of mobility, escape tools, andor play from further away. The extra ability haste helps to kite them and close distance. Squishy champions also usually deal a lot of damage, so the healing helps you escape or continue your attack after killing an enemy. Shadowflame is an expensive item and doesn't offer any of the additional versatility, so it severely limits your options.


Void Staff gives a lot of value in the late game (more than shadowflame) even if the enemy team doesn't build MR (just from base MR alone), especially if the enemy team has a lot of melee. However, if you can afford an early Rabadon's, you can definitely take that third, then save your void staff for later if you need another damage item. Cryptbloom can be taken instead of void if you are behind and need a cheaper damage item. Bloodletter's is usually only really good on tank Azir because it takes a while to stack (and that stack is per champion). There is possibly a case to be made for it when going a slightly more bruiser lethal tempo build with absorb life and conditioning into a short range comp with lower MR, but it isn't something I would bother worrying about.


HP and gold. Tank builds in general (and this applies to Azir too) have higher core item sets of about 4 items. Abyssal mask (or frozen heart into AD) are extremely cheap items that help round out the build earlier. It also gives HP, which scales with your resistances, runes, and riftmaker. Overall, HP is more valuable for the Tank Azir playstyle than attack speed, as you won't be doing as much DPS, but your individual attacks hit harder.


When going the DPS build, most of your damage in lane comes from frequent poking and shortextended trades. In team fights, you will be alive the longest and controlling areas, so you will have to use more abilities. The tank build helps you to slow down the laning phase by dealing damage with Liandry's and Grasp, so you can rely less on your Q. In team fights, you will not be alive as long and will spend some of the time in stasis, as you are the primary engage, so you need less mana. Teams that are more AD heavy are usually tankier so fights can go on for longer, so the extra mana from frozen heart gives all that you need. For the burst build, your extra early game damage from HoB allows you to use slightly less abilities while still dealing more damage and proccing manaflow. During team fights, you will be bursting people down more quickly, so fights are shorter and mana is less important. At that time though, your manaflow will be fully stacked.


I hope that answered everything for you! Itemization is difficult to summarize in completion because of how naturally detailed it is, and the notes for each build are already pretty lengthy. Hoiwever, after taking a look back, I think the full builds notes can afford to have some notes copy and pasted from the individual item notes without making them too long. Your comment should help me improve that section more, so thank you! I hope you'll enjoy the full advanced itemization section too when I am finished with it. In classic Divine Azir fashion it gets highly in-depth, explaining the full theory of itemization, including item build timers, core synergies (why core items even exist on Azir and when to diverge from the core), runeplaystyle synergy, and briefly touches on win-rate statistics (though I might remove that one for brevity, I haven't decided yet)! Good luck on your Azir climb!

Thank you so much for the comment! I am really glad my guide could help. Reading through your questions has given me a lot of ideas I can use to improve the guide, especially for newer players. I will definitely add more knowledge checks throughout, as I already have some ideas of where they'd be useful. As for your other questions, they'll all get a spot too once I figure out how to best incorporate them without making the guide too long. For now, I've addressed all of them below:

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If you can afford it, Blasting Wand is always the best choice! It adds the most DPS (waveclear) and burst (trading). For your second back, your choice depends on what you need. Recurve Bow will give better wave clear, and Fiendish Codex will provide better (and more frequent) trading. If you have to take a recall before 850 gold, then Amplifying Tome + Dagger is better than a bow. In skillshot matchups, early boots can also be good. In general, though, the components do not matter too much; just buy the most expensive ones you can afford.


(I am going to assume this is for mid lane). Aside from low damage, the reasons Azir is so bad in river skirmishes is that he 1. has mana issues and 2. doesn't do burst damage. In lane, you can zone your opponent with your soldiers and harass their last hits. In the river, fights are extremely short, and there are too many places for your enemy to go, which means your soldiers are no longer useful once they get in their 1 or 2 autos. Most other mage midlaners can throw out a single, low-commitment ability to do a ton of damage or CC, and assassins can get an early kill or at least auto-attack or use combos with energy. For Azir, you will have to commit an extended trade or sand drift combo to do even close to the same amount of damage. The problem is that now you have used up a ton of mana while essentially wasting soldiers, whereas in lane you could have continued to use them to zone or hit minions after the trade. Every ability you use as Azir in the early game is a huge commitment. If the little extra bit of damage you deal does not contribute to a kill, you have just handed over lane priority to your opponent.

So, in short, it is not that you are completely useless in skirmishes, but doing 200 damage to a jungler or top laner who can shrug off the damage means a lot less than doing 200 damage in lane. Instead, you can do more for your jungler by locking your opponent to lane, keeping them from joining. If they do anyway, then they will miss out on a ton of CS, meaning that you can keep priority with your item advantage, allowing your jungler to take more impactful objectives in the future. If they are an assassin, you cannot follow them anyway (they will just kill you). In both cases, the most you can usually do is ping danger. Once you have your ultimate, it becomes a lot easier to secure kills or peel for a jungler, so there are slightly more situations where it is beneficial (you'll learn to identify those). Just remember that in the laning phase, any ability you use outside of the lane is a massive advantage you are giving to your midlaner.


Itemization can get pretty complex and I plan to add a full section for it in advanced, but I can summarize for now: Most DPS champions have what's known as a 3-item core. These are a set (or one of a few different sets) of items they always need to prioritize to reach their maximum potential. For Azir, this is Nashor's Tooth > Liandry's Torment/ Shadowflame (against tanky/squishy comps respectively) > Void Staff. Completing the core gives the champion the major power spike they need to contest with the rest of the champions, so completing it as soon as possible is the biggest priority. Anything beyond this core can be considered a situational pick. That includes items taken after those items, before they are completed, or sometimes instead. I include notes on each item page on when the secondary or highly situational picks can be taken, but I'll simplify it a little more here:

If you were able to complete your 3-item core right away, it likely means you are ahead or even and you should have no trouble getting enough gold for a Rabadon's Deathcap 4th. It is the best gold-to-damage investment overall. However, if the enemy team still has a large threat (maybe a fed member, or an ability like Unstoppable Force) that can shut you down, then taking a defensive item ( Zhonya's Hourglass or Banshee's Veil) 4th will help keep you alive. As for after that, it is completely up to you! If you want to go an additional defensive item you can. If you want Rylai's to deal with mobility, go for it. If you want another quick boost in power and have feats, upgrade your boots. After your 4th item, anything is up for grabs (but games usually don't go on this long). If you are behind or struggling, then sometimes you will have to delay your core. This could mean taking a Blackfire Torch before Nashor's to keep up waveclear against an artillery mage (the burn will help you clear and trade from a distance), replacing Void Staff with the cheaper Cryptbloom for a faster power spike against squishy comps, or even an early Oblivion Orb (to counter lifesteal) or Seeker's Armguard (to counter assassins). There is more to it than that, but in general, if you can avoid delaying your core, you should.

For the most part, the same logic applies to runes too. The rune pages I give are the most ideal versions, however, there are secondary options that can be slid in as replacements based on what you need. Every substitution you make will weaken your full build but may help you overcome struggles you anticipate having.

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By the way, picking up Azir as a bronze player is an extremely noble thing to do. I don't have to tell you how difficult it will be, but I think you'll learn a lot by doing so, and I hope you have as much fun with him as I do! If you have any more questions in the future or want to let me know how your journey is going, don't hesitate to reach out.

Thank you so much! “Monstrosity” is not a word I expected, but it is really flattering. I’ll keep on doing what I’m doing!

Thanks for the comment! I won't lie, Azir is a really tough champion to pick up. You will have to play a lot of games before you feel comfortable on him. But, I also believe he is a great addition to any player's champion pool as he is super versatile, has few true counters, and is extremely fun once you build the muscle memory. If you do ever decide to start playing him, I've added a summary of each section so you can quickly gather some details before going into a game. Maybe it will help you keep up in other parts of the game so you only have to focus on mechanics.

Thanks for the review, Fruxo! It will be a huge help. I agree with your suggestions and have started making changes (also, thanks for catching the poke rune page)!

I agree with your comment on "the most in-depth", and I've changed the title. My biggest concern for doing so initially is that I wanted the URL to stay consistent and noticed changing the title would change the URL. I see now that the old URL still works (redirects), so it turns out my worry was misplaced.

I will respond again when all the sections have content. I'm eager to see what you will think of the completed guide!

PS. Your comments on the presentation mean a great deal. I put a lot of thought into the color scheme, trying to make a guide worthy of a Shuriman emperor.