So why do my Ezreals keep building these items in ranked?

Lethality Ezreal is a build that was popularized by Korean solo q players dating back a few months now. It has widely been accepted as a VERY strong build for Ezreal, especially in solo queue. You stray away from Muramana because Essence Reaver does everything you need and more.

When to go this build?

I find more times than not (especially solo Q) this is my preferred carry build. It SHREDS through champs after 2 items. There are times that I wouldn't go it though. When the enemy has 2-3 tanks then I might second guess it. Also if the enemy is very ranged as well, I'd go the standard meta build that I outlined earlier in the build options section of the guide.

Otherwise, I'd say let it ride. I've had tons of fun and success with this build. And after all, if the Koreans are doing it then they're obviously doing something right. LEL.

As with all my guides, I'll provide a quick overview of Ezreal and his abilities for anyone new to the champion or the AD carry role as a whole.

Passive: Rising Spell Force Ezreal's abilities create a stack of Rising Spell Force for every enemy they hit, up to 5x and lasting for 6 seconds. This timer refreshes for every ability hit. Each stack grants 10% bonus attack speed, up to 50%.

This ability is why the build works so well, and why I said to take no attack speed runes in the earlier part of the build. Ezreal CONSTANTLY has an attack speed steroid due to this. This makes him unique from other ad carries that have to build zeal items, take attack speed runes, etc.


Q: Mystic Shot Ezreal fires a bolt of energy in a line, dealing physical damage to the first enemy hit. This applies all on-hit and on-attack effects at 100% effectiveness. Note: If Mystic Shot hits an enemy, ALL ability cooldowns are reduced by 1.5s, including Mystic Shot (Range 1200 units, Cost 28/31/34/37/40 mana, Cooldown 5.5/5.255/5/4.75/4.5sec)

The bread and butter of Ezreal. You will always be spamming your Q out. It will almost always be up in teamfights, due to the fact that it lowers the cooldown on hitting a target. It applies ALL on-hit effects as well.

W: Essence Flux Ezreal shoots an orb in the targetted direction that will apply a ring around the first enemy champion, monster, or structure hit. This ring lasts for 4 seconds and the next auto or ability procs the orb and deals additional magic damage. (Range 1200 units, Cost 50 mana, Cooldown 12 sec)

E: Arcane Shift After the cast time (0.25 seconds) blink from your current spot to a location up to 475 units away. You also fire a bolt of magic damage that damages the nearest enemy. (Range 475, Cost 90 mana, Cooldown 28/25/22/19/16)

Such a good ability. Literally a free flash that does damage. It can reposition you. Note that Arcane Shift also reveals the target that you hit, even if you do not have vision of them. So good.

R: Trueshot Barrage Ezreal fires a global projectile in the targeted location. It grants sight and flies through all targets, dealing magic damage to them. Minions and non-epic monsters take 50% reduced damage. (Global range, Cost 100 mana, Cooldown 120 seconds)

A pretty awesome ult overall. You shoot a sickle shaped projectile (320 unit width) that goes across the map. This can be used to farm minion waves from across the map, to stop recalls, to kill steal, etc.

Pros:

Shreds squishies
Absurd 2 item power spike
Extremely safe laning phase
Ability to poke throughout the game
Low cooldowns (Ability haste is so busted)
So much damage
Makes you feel like a champ when you destroy the enemy team
One of the best spammable taunts in the game. Who needs a map?

Cons:

Skillshot dependent (rip if you can't aim)
Heavily reliant on positioning (in teamfights/laning/etc)
Weak/mana hungry prior to Essence Reaver
Struggles to kill tanks
No inherent CC (Though you get a slow from Serylda's Grudge
A fairly expensive build
Higher skillcap than other adcs (who just auto/etc)

Before going into laning, I'd like to talk about who I like banning while playing Ezreal. I usually go for very bothersome champions like Seraphine if she's not on my team, or things like Yuumi, Vayne, or other champions that give you a hard time. Refer back to the threats section of the guide, but also use your own discretion. Champions like Master Yi and Udyr will also just run you down and give you a terrible time.

In most matchups buy a Doran's Blade and potion. If you're versus heavy poke, feel free to get a Doran's Shield instead. The recommended shop items will tell you to get a Tear of the Goddess. That's so 2000-and-late. We're in 2021. We're in the future baby, we're going lethality and we're bringing the pain train.

Be sure to max Q when possible, and put a point into E at level 2. My ideal early back is around 1k gold if you can sneak a reset, for a Sheen and boots. Though if the enemy sticks around/sustain is going well/you're stomping/etc wait out for Caulfield's Warhammer and boots, which would be 1.4k gold.

Your goal is to poke the enemy whenever possible, when they try to farm. You can also safely use your Q to farm minions that they may try to zone you out of. Play off your support, and take safe engages when needed. Just be aware that due to the auto attack nature of most bot lane carries, you tend to lose out in early all-ins. We're in it for the scaling.

Ward up your river (or tri-brush if you're on Blue side), and stay safe of the enemy jungler. Many people will try to camp Ezreal early, as he's a major pain to deal with later in the game. Don't play into their hand. Ezreal will tend to push the lane early as well if you spam Q too much. Try to just last-hit, unless your jungler is nearby or if you're playing for a tower shove and reset. Be sure to get Boots of Lucidity when possible as it will give you more ability haste and is extremely cost efficient at 900 total gold. I often rush it before finishing my Essence Reaver.

In my other guides I tend to refer to this as about 15+ mins into the game. People are starting to hit their first item power spike. By now you should be working your way towards Essence Reaver completion. And after that you will NEVER have mana issues. Due to the nature of the item every time you hit with your Q which applies on-hit effects you will regen much more mana than you lost. Just don't miss every Q, 4head.

Look to help out your jungler in getting dragons. Ezreal is super annoying for the enemy team at Drake fights, as he will just constantly poke and peck and them until they either force a fight or retreat.

Your 2nd item will be Duskblade of Draktharr. Not only is this item a load of fun, it makes Ezreal so absurdly slippery. You get ability haste, lethality, and all-important Passive that turns you INVISIBLE for 1.5 seconds on champion takedowns. Which is basically a lifetime for a champion like Ezreal with insanely short cooldowns. This makes you even more slippery and hard to track in teamfights. By the time they know where you are you've probably already re-positioned once or twice, pelted them with Qs while invisible, and still gotten Arcane Shift back up.

This is when Ezreal really begins to shine. You'll have 3-4 items, a TON of ability haste, lots of lethality, and be extremely strong. Play fights out slow. Use your Flash when needed honestly, as you'll have your E up almost all the time. Surviving and escaping is much more important than cooldowns. Also feel free to use your Trueshoot Barrage as a means of finding vision on objectives, as the cooldown is so insanely low due to your Q lowering CD on all things. Using your ult at the start of fights (during the all too famous "LET'S ALL ARAM MID FOR NO REASON" phase of solo Q) to chunk down the enemy is very useful as well.

As a whole Ezreal is a very rewarding champion. He has a higher skill cap and learning curve than other auto attack based champions, but can easily be learned. Think of him as a caster based champion/mage that plays in the bot lane. Work on your skillshots, and the results will go far.

In closing I'll say that this build still has merits even though Divine Sunderer is WAY too strong right now. This build isn't as safe as the DS one, but still does way more damage than people expect. Especially against teams that aren't inherently tanky. **cough cough NA solo queue cough cough*. I want to again thank you for reading my guide, and good luck out there on the rift!

11.24b: Nothing for this Ezreal build this patch. Vayne saw a nerf to her additional R damage bc she was dominating bot, so that's nice. And some Kai'Sa and Varus buffs bc of their global winrates.