You definetly thought that Fiora would be up here, right? Well in that case i have to dissappoint you because Irelia rightfully deserves her own place in the [EXTREME]-Tier. If you didn't ban her because you like beeing bullied then expect an almost impossible laning phase. Any Irelia with hands will try to freeze so that you overextend and she can easily jump on you and auto attack you to death. Almost every Irelia player I've encountered tried to all-in me as soon as I appeared for a fraction of a second on their screen. So if you decide not to ban her here are some tipps of surviving that creature. Get either Executioner's Calling or Bramble Vest first item + Plated Steelcaps. Let her push the wave so that you can freeze in front of your tower and ONLY trade when you are near your tower.
Fiora
This is basically the most known match-up for Aatrox since a Fiora with hands can be a really pain in the butt. Nonetheless i don't put her into [EXTREME] because unlike Irelia you have small windows to win against a Fiora. Avoid getting hit by her Vitals and go for Executioner's Calling or Bramble Vest. Try to bait our her W and trade when it is on cooldown.
Camille
Go Bone Plating and rush the damage components of your item build first. Dodge her W so she can't proc your Bone Plating for free and trade when you can hit free Q's while she farms. Save up your W when she goes for a stun with her E and kite away from her. If you follow these steps she shouldn't be all to difficult but the problem is that she will outscale you hard. Try your best in the early game and respect her gank setup potential with R.
Riven
This match-up can easily be [MINOR]-Tier but if the Riven player is an OTP with 2 million points you should be very careful. If you feel confident enough you may go Conditioning. If not go Bone Plating and look for short windows to trade when she wastes her E because most Riven players use it as a disengage tool. But keep in mind she can 100 to 0 you after level 6 with ignite if you didn't manage to get a lead in the early game.
Tryndamere
Very cheesy laning phase so be careful where you position yourself in the early game. Tryndamere player usually try to start a fight by dashing through your minion wave with E and running you down with full fury. Never let him freeze the wave and go Plated Steelcaps first for maximum safety.
Jax
Jax can be hard at times. He was a candidate for [EVEN]-Tier but the problem is he will outscale you. If you fall behind in the early game you should rush Plated Steelcaps and stay out of his Q range since he will abuse the fact he can just run you down with Blade of the Ruined King. Look for trades if he misses his E stun after jumping on you.
Darius
In my opinion it is a really unfun match-up because you always need to be in the right position against a Darius, espescially if he has Ghost. If you E to far into him or just missstep once he can run you down with Ghost. Try to find max range Q's and keep him at a safe distance until you can all in him with R. Executioner's Calling / Bramble Vest is a good option.
Kennen
This match-up is almost as annoying as the Illaoi one. Take Second Wind with Dorans Shield and try to farm without getting harrassed to much. You can't really trade against Kennen if he knows what he is doing. If he wastes his E you can try to run him down since it is his only escape tool to your W.
Illaoi
Very annoying match-up. Kill all tentacles that she spawns, dodge her E at all times if possible and harass her from a safe range with Q. If you get hit by her E you should go out range since she will get free damage on you.
Malphite
Really annoying match-up since you deal no damage to him after his first items. Concentrate on powerfarming and roam with your teleport since there is no point in tickling a rock.
Gwen
Don't go for long trades against this creature. Keep her at range and harass her with your Q after she uses her Q or has no stacks on it. Be careful at Level 6 since she can run you down with her R and ignite.
Graves
Annoying early lane bully that tries to shove in waves to rush Lethality items. If you have hard times laning against him try to keep your distance and farm with your Q1 and Q2. Don't let him stack his E passive since he gets tons of armor and outdamages your healing. Rush Plated Steelcaps if you need and hold your W until he wastes his E so you can go for a good trade. If you manage to chunk him down to about 60%~ HP you should be able run him down with ignite and your ultimate.
Kled
This is a weird one. Go Second Wind with Dorans Shield. Dodge his Q or else you will receive 60% Grievous Wounds without him having any Heal debuff items. If he misses his Q you can basically all in him but be careful when he dismounts. Most Kled players will ignore everything and try to run you down in order to get remounted.
Tahm Kench
The current Toplane Tahm Kench got his sustain with E butchered to the point where you can actually win all-ins in the early game. Keep in mind though that the only thing they nerfed was his E so don't get cocky and dodge his Q's and go for trades that are in your favor.
Vayne
This lane can go 2 ways. You stomp her or she stomps you. If needed sacrifice minions in the early game if she tries to run you down early. Buy Plated Steelcaps first item and Q poke her. If she usese her Q offensively you can combo her since her E is the only way of keeping you away but it has a high cooldown and mana cost.
Viktor
I don't know how long the trend continues but as long as Viktor Top is a thing he will be in this Threat Section. A good Viktor will keep his distance from you, unless he does that he will most of the times have a hard time against you. But if you let him poke you down actively things can go sour pretty quick. Play this match-up as if it is any other ranged match-up. If you took armor in your runes you could rush Mercury's Treads to minimize his poke damage.
Yone
Respect his all-in potential and go for short trade until he is low enough so you can run him down once he goes for a trade with E. I usually try to predict his Q and sidestep to go for a good trade or maybe even a kill. Beware of his CC because you will most likely die (if ganked) when he is able to connect his Q knock up with R.
Gnar
Try to not get harrassed until you get all your abilities. Play around his E since it is his only escape tool against your W. If he is in melee form keep him at range since his R can be a good gank setup.
Nasus
This lane can go 2 ways. Either you destroy him in lane or he destroys you. Try to freeze the wave against him and all-in him if he tries to go for cannons. As soon as he reaches his Sheen and bramble vest powerspike, things will get pretty rough. Try to avoid beeing overextended in lane since he will run you down with Ghost and R if you are not cautious.
The best advice i can give is to freeze asap in the early game and ping your Jungler for help.
Jayce
This match-up is pretty much decided by skill. A good Jayce can still lose though if you play your cards right. In the early phase he will most likely try to autoattack you down and poke you with his Q. It's fine to missout on minions as long as you are able to soak up the XP. Try to look for some Q pokes at lvl 2 and pay good attention after lvl 3 since you can actually go for all-ins at that point. Of course it depends on how aggressive the Jayce plays. If he tries to jump on you with his Q and use his E knockback for damage you can look for an all-in or at least a massive trade as soon as you hit your W. He will have no way of keeping you away from him without his E so you can position yourself to hit your sweet spots without any interference. You can rush Plated Steelcaps if he tries to rush Serrated Dirk since it will nullify the early powerspike in damage. (First sign of him trying to rush it if he goes Long Sword as his first item).
Sylas
Respect his early damage and don't let him connect his 2nd E. Trade when he is disengaging or when his E is on cooldown. If you wan't to be extra confident buy Executioner's Calling or Mercury's Treads.
Akshan
Play very carefully in the early levels. If he has the "Press the Attack" rune and ignite he will definetly try to kill you as soon as he hits level 2. Second Wind and Dorans Shield is highly recommended in this matchup so you can survive the early laning phase. When you hit level 6 you can fight him again like any other ranged match up though. You can rush Plated Steelcaps when you have problems laning against him.
Lucian
Not often seen but still possible. You might not take the optimal runes against him but it's fine. Avoid getting hit by his Q when he is farming and go for a combo if he uses his E to engage on you.
Yorick
Playing against Yorick can be easy or hard. All-in him if he misses his E since it's the only way for him to deal proper damage with his ghouls. If he hits it you should run AND ONLY USE YOUR E AFTER HE PUTS DOWN HIS W or else you might get stuck and easy to kill for Yorick. Try to harass him with your Q until you can all-in him. If his maiden is up you should be extra careful about getting hit by his E.
Wukong
Go Boneplating and Dorans Shield. Stay out of his range and don't trade unless you have all abilities up. If he Es into you kite backwards and in case of him using his W to disengage you can use your Passive Autoattack to heal on his clone or your Q's.
Mordekaiser
If he misses his Q and E you can try to give him a full combo and do this until he is low enough to all-in him. If he immediately sends you to Brazil (uses r on you) use your R to gain movement speed and dodge his Q since it his is main source of damage. After he misses you can fight him again.
Kayle
Q poke her at Level 3 and all-in her if she wastes her W. Punish her early game or she will punish you with her late game.
Renekton
Avoid going near him in the early game when he has at least 50 fury since he will try to run up to you to get a free empowered Q with amplified healing. Rush either Bramble Vest or Executioner's Calling depending on your playstyle. Respect his level 6 and look for trades if he wastes his E since it's his only escape tool.
Pantheon
Rarely seen in the new season but if you should encounter a Pantheon top he will most of the times go assassin/bruiser. You should go Plated Steelcaps first item to screw up his laning phase since having more movement speed is a key factor in this matchup. Go Bone Plating and avoid getting poked so he doesn't procc it. If he goes for a short Q, retaliate him with first Q and if he decides to jump on you E backwards with 2nd Q and W so he has to use E. As soon as he wastes his E you can pretty much all in him with ult, as long as your other cooldowns are up.
Garen
Haven't played a lot against Garen lately. Try to stay in range if he has Q up. If he runs towards you simply E back and Q W. Care if he is Level 6 and has ignite.
Heimerdinger
If you know that the enemy Heimerdinger will be toplane you should take Magic Resist in your runes and Second Wind. Go with Dorans Shield to maximize your health regen since he will most definetly try to poke you down. Don't try to fight him in the midst of his turrets. If you are good at side stepping try after getting level 6 to bait out his E by you popping R and running towards him. Unless the Heimerdinger is a psychopath his defense mechanism should make him press E on you and so predict that and sidestep it. Without his E his only chance to survive is to burst you down with his W and turrets, which shouldn't be enough when your healthy.
Shen
Go Boneplating for this one. Play around his E and stay in max range to harass him with your Q. When he uses his Q to farm minions you can also go for a trade since he will have no damage when he E's into you but only do that immediately after he uses his Q since it has a low cooldown. If you get hit by his E save your abilities and run away until he disengages so you can try to get an even trade.
Volibear
Like any other immobile tank/bruiser, Volibear is a minor threat in comparison to other match-ups. Respect his E damage and trade from range. Kite with your E backwards whenever he engages with Q and when he is low enough you should be able to all-in him with your ultimate.
Gangplank
Gangplank will try to poke you down early on with his Q so taking Second Wind with Dorans Shield is highly recommended. You should look for trades after level 3 since his Level 1 and 2 is superior to Aatrox's. If you manage to connect your W he is pretty screwed as long as there is no barrel nearby that he can explode for movement speed. If possible, disrupt his movement by destroying the barrels in the middle of a trade since its his main source of utility and damage. Without the barrel movement speed you can easily hit all of your Q's and get a kill against him.
Urgot
A good Aatrox will always beat a good Urgot. Go Dorans Shield with Second Wind. Urgot is a very slow champion and needs to hit his E in order to really have kill pressure on you. You can easily try to bait it out by hitting a Q>W and just side-stepping his E. You can abuse his early game really hard BUT be careful as the game goes on. If you don't have a massive lead on him he can still be dangerous when he hits his E and gets more tanky.
Sett
Go Bone Plating everytime against Sett and try to trade with him when it's up. You generally want to disengage when he hits his E on you and start fighting when you get out of his range. If possible save up your E when you start trading so you can dodge his W or predict it and sidestep before trading any further. Caution is advised because he will beat you if you try to just go full ham on him. Space between ur abilities and auto attacks because his auto attacks do the main damage.
Dr. Mundo
Dr. Mundo with his new passive is really good for poking him with your Q since he will receive extra % damage if it's up. Get Executioner's Calling as an first item and all-in him if you manage to hit your W-Pull.
Ornn
Ornn is considered a good match-up for Aatrox as long as you don't fall to far behind. Stay at max range and don't get hit by his empowered autoattacks after you get hit by his W. Be aware that he can knock you up with his E when you are near walls and get a good gank setup.
Cho'Gath
Cho'Gath is a good matchup for Aatrox since he is completely immobile and easy to combo. But don't forget he can become a problem when he gets his tank items slowly so getting Black Cleaver / Serylda's Grudge as 2nd items are viable options.
Warwick
Rush Executioner's Calling or take ignite. He will try to cheese you in the early game and permanently Q you when you get in range. If you trade against him don't get greedy and keep in mind if he has the summoner spell barriere, since most Warwick top players take it to fool you when they are low since they will activate barriere and heal half of their hp back with 3 autoattacks.
Singed
If you encounter a Singed go for Magic Resistance in your runes and go Second Wind with Dorans Shield to get max healing from his poision damage. If you get up to close he will just fling you away and gets a free escape. Poke him at max range and position yourself so that when he flings you, you can cut off his escape route.
Poppy
Good Poppy players will definetly be hard to play against. If you don't manage to get an early lead be very cautious with trading since Divine Sunderer Poppy with bramble is able to 1v1 you. Look for teamfights than side laning since you will get more out of it.
Lillia
Rarely seen but Lillia Top is still somewhat played. If she is low on her passive stacks she has no way out of your W except her slow W. She is very squishy and you can easily keep her at range and harass her.
Sion
Maybe the easiest match-up for Aatrox. Go Conditioning with Dorans Shield. You can cancel his Q at any time and abuse the fact that he is immobile without his R (except if he goes Prawlers Claw). Be careful though because a tank Sion will outscale you.
Teemo
Yeah so this lane shouldn't be any difficult if you are patient. You go Second Wind with Dorans Shield and basically wait for Level 3. If you hit your W you can just give him a huge combo and maybe all-in hin if he is low enough. Don't let him harass you pre-level 3 and you should be fine.
Hecarim
Hecarim is such a nice champion to have on your team when you are playing Aatrox. He provides a perfect engage and together with him you can clean up the enemy backline without any problem. Even when your team is behind, together with Hecarim you can turn around games pretty easy.
Kennen
With Kennen you will have no worries of engaging whatsoever. With flash and rocket belt he can start any teamfight that he chooses and all you need to do is to follow up correctly.
Rammus
His kit is literally engage and run around in teamfights. With his R and W he can just facetank the complete enemy team while standing in the backline and having 500 resistances.
Kayn
Rhaast and Aatrox can carry whole teamfights if they position well enough to no get bursted out in the beginning. Rhaast has very good sustain and CC with Aatrox + he can go invincible for a short time with his R, giving you a good opportuniy to dish out damage while he is tanking.
Braum
His Shield is really good in-case you get catched and he provides good CC with his passive and R.
Nautilus
Nautlius provides a good engage and has enough CC for Aatrox to hit his Q's reliably
Sejuani
Just as any CC Tank, Sejuani is really good because of the her ultimate beeing able to pick off single targets and having a good engage with her Q dash.
Rakan
A good Rakan can pick the right teamfights so you don't have to. He isn't as tanky as a Alistar or a Sejuani but he can quite frankly get the job done and even catch the enemy backline with his R.
Rell
Really good champion since she can provide good cc and her ultimate pulls everyone into her, making it easier for you to hit your Q's.
Nocturne
Eradicates enemy visibility and can jump on the enemy carry because he literally just sees him? Wow this champ will definetly help you to pull of good flanks.
Galio
If you flank the enemy this guy will definetly be a big help with his ability to AOE taunt people and his Hero's Entrace (also gives you a small shield against magic damage).
Xin Zhao
In the current patch Xin Zhao can literally just jump into the enemy team and press R to stay safe from the enemy carries and fight the frontline. He will be a good distraction for your flank.
Yasuo
If your Yasuo isn't the 0/12/1 Stereotype then he could be useful because most players don't know that your Q counts as a knockup. Remind your Yasuo of that fact because it can have a game changing impact when you hit a Q on the enemy carry.
Kayle
If Kayle is ahead she will proof herself very useful since she can make you invulnerable when you engage with her ultimate and finish off anyone you couldn't.
Zilean
Generally good champion because of his ability to give you 99% movement speed in late game and revive you when you engage or get engaged on.
Trundle
Wether it's Trundle support or jungle doesn't matter. His E can be used to catch anyone in it's range. Also really good to completely remove the resistances of the enemy tank.
Yuumi
If you are the only one ahead she will definetly stick for the rest of the game to you. Having a Yuumi isn't bad since she provides extra movementspeed, healing and CC with her ultimate. But you might get overconfident having her on you.
Olaf
Olaf is a good distraction when he uses his R to run through the frontline while you can flank the backline.
Kled
Rarely seen but there are Kled players out there that play him MID/ADC and his R is without a doubt one of the best engage tools for any team.
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Hecarim
Hecarim is such a nice champion to have on your team when you are playing Aatrox. He provides a perfect engage and together with him you can clean up the enemy backline without any problem. Even when your team is behind, together with Hecarim you can turn around games pretty easy.
Kennen
With Kennen you will have no worries of engaging whatsoever. With flash and rocket belt he can start any teamfight that he chooses and all you need to do is to follow up correctly.
Rammus
His kit is literally engage and run around in teamfights. With his R and W he can just facetank the complete enemy team while standing in the backline and having 500 resistances.
Kayn
Rhaast and Aatrox can carry whole teamfights if they position well enough to no get bursted out in the beginning. Rhaast has very good sustain and CC with Aatrox + he can go invincible for a short time with his R, giving you a good opportuniy to dish out damage while he is tanking.
Braum
His Shield is really good in-case you get catched and he provides good CC with his passive and R.
Nautilus
Nautlius provides a good engage and has enough CC for Aatrox to hit his Q's reliably
Sejuani
Just as any CC Tank, Sejuani is really good because of the her ultimate beeing able to pick off single targets and having a good engage with her Q dash.
Rakan
A good Rakan can pick the right teamfights so you don't have to. He isn't as tanky as a Alistar or a Sejuani but he can quite frankly get the job done and even catch the enemy backline with his R.
Rell
Really good champion since she can provide good cc and her ultimate pulls everyone into her, making it easier for you to hit your Q's.
Nocturne
Eradicates enemy visibility and can jump on the enemy carry because he literally just sees him? Wow this champ will definetly help you to pull of good flanks.
Galio
If you flank the enemy this guy will definetly be a big help with his ability to AOE taunt people and his Hero's Entrace (also gives you a small shield against magic damage).
Xin Zhao
In the current patch Xin Zhao can literally just jump into the enemy team and press R to stay safe from the enemy carries and fight the frontline. He will be a good distraction for your flank.
Yasuo
If your Yasuo isn't the 0/12/1 Stereotype then he could be useful because most players don't know that your Q counts as a knockup. Remind your Yasuo of that fact because it can have a game changing impact when you hit a Q on the enemy carry.
Kayle
If Kayle is ahead she will proof herself very useful since she can make you invulnerable when you engage with her ultimate and finish off anyone you couldn't.
Zilean
Generally good champion because of his ability to give you 99% movement speed in late game and revive you when you engage or get engaged on.
Trundle
Wether it's Trundle support or jungle doesn't matter. His E can be used to catch anyone in it's range. Also really good to completely remove the resistances of the enemy tank.
Yuumi
If you are the only one ahead she will definetly stick for the rest of the game to you. Having a Yuumi isn't bad since she provides extra movementspeed, healing and CC with her ultimate. But you might get overconfident having her on you.
Olaf
Olaf is a good distraction when he uses his R to run through the frontline while you can flank the backline.
Kled
Rarely seen but there are Kled players out there that play him MID/ADC and his R is without a doubt one of the best engage tools for any team.
My name is Hecki and I've been playing League of Legends since Season 4. I was a top main since the very first days when I started playing league. I never mained any champion because none fitted my playstyle until the day Aatrox received his rework. Even though you can't compare the first reworked Aatrox to the the current one, he still is my favorite champion gameplay and lore wise. After playing Aatrox since the day he got reworked I can confidentially say that I've mastered this champion (even hit Grandmaster for the first time in S11 and aswell S12)and now I want to share my knowledge with anyone trying him out. I may not be the best Aatrox in the world but that's not my goal. Because of my achievement of hitting Grandmaster in Season 11 and 12 I decided to finally write this guide in hopes of helping anyone playing this champion, despite Aatrox having a high skill cap and tough match-ups.
SEASON 12 GRANDMASTER :
SEASON 11 GRANDMASTER :
How to play Aatrox
I won't make this chapter to in-depth since I think that you can't generalize a certain playstyle in every match-up. I want to give general informations and important tips about Aatrox and if you should have any other questions try to catch one of my streams and ask them personally! (Link in Chapter below)
So where do we start?
The Darkin Blade (Q)
Let's begin with how you should treat your most important ability The Darkin Blade. My suggestion is to save it up for early trades and maybe last hit minions when you are not able to walk up. You generally shouldn't be actively trading before Level 5 since your Q has a high cooldown and only does significant damage when you are able to connect every sweet spot. It's also very important in ranged match-ups that you don't let yourself get poked down and wait until you hit Level 5 so you can start poking with your Q1 and immediately disengage after hitting it. If for e. g. Lucian or Vayne dash into you to continue the trade because their ego will be hurt after you poke them, you can freely hit your Infernal Chains and go for an all-in as long as your The Darkin Blade hasn't expired.
Infernal Chains (W)
After receiving the buff Infernal Chains desperately needed (lower cooldown) it can be used more frequently for trading or farming. You generally save this ability up until you can safely hit the enemey with it. Infernal Chains is able to initiate a deadly combo where you can hit all Sweet Spots of The Darkin Blade. Also good for escaping by hitting Infernal Chains and using The Darkin Blade with Umbral Dash kiting backwards.
Umbral Dash (E)
Umbral Dash is more then a short dash. It can be used to jump over medium sized walls and by doing that you can actually extend your The Darkin Blade range (I will try to create a gif how it looks and post it here when im done]. It is also very important not to waste it when starting a team fight since you have no other way of escaping except when your World Ender is up but even then you need to hope that you can run away quick enough.
World Ender (R)
Now for Aatrox his ultimate. To use World Ender to it's full extent you need patience. Sometimes enemies will try to bait it out by engaging on you and then back off immediately. Don't panic and watch closely. As soon as they are to overextended or commit to an all-in you can use World Ender. In teamfights you want to use it when your team manages to start an engage and you need to catch up with the movement speed you get from World Ender. Aatrox shines in teamfights when he is able to score kills/assist so his World Ender resets, paving the way to become an unstoppable force. The only things that will kill you in teamfights is CC and miss positioning yourself. At best you want to flank with World Ender and run straight to the enemey backline, provided you went the bruiser build. If the carries are able to escape you can back off and help your team fight the enemy frontline and win teamfights that way.
Basic combo to hit all sweet spots
Combo for kiting/escaping enemies
(Harder)combo for close combat where you cannot reliably hit your sweet spots
Twitch Channel
Follow me on Twitch if you don't want to miss any (high quality) Aatrox gameplay. I can also answer any questions about Aatrox in case this guide hasn't enlightend you yet to become at least a Masters Aatrox player.
[14.23] BECOME THE WORLD ENDER | (GRAND)MASTERS AATROX GUIDE
Build Guide By Hecki
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Aatrox received his rework. Even though you can't compare the first reworked 
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