[8.1] Changed the runes on the first build and made a new rune setup to provide a new safe rune setup since there are a lot of damage dealers running around top lane.

P.S. If you can win lane, take the first build's runes Press the Attack and domination secondary, if not take Lethal Tempo or Grasp of the Undying and make sure to have Second Wind and Iron Skin to survive laning phase.

Hi everyone, I'm Jeff_Curry in Plat/Diamond Elo in NA and have really enjoyed doing theorycrafting builds for awhile and finding out what actually works. This is my second guide here now so still learning so be gentle ples. I main Top/Jg and have been an Aatrox fan since I've started playing league back in S6.

Aatrox was reworked in S7 and now with Lethal Tempo, he is back in action for the top lane. The problem with Aatrox's rework was sometimes you die before you can stack your passive, Blood Well, which gave you that Guardian Angel passive and crazy attack speed buff. Stacking that attack speed buff, with Lethal Tempo as well as his W, Blood Thirst, he gains two attack speed buffs while healing/dealing extra damage each third hit while making it easier to stack his passive. Also, Aatrox gained small buffs to his early game during the balancing patch for the preseason and with Overheal it works well with his kit and his build letting him have a built in Bloodthirster with the reforged runes.

I've only tried this out a little bit so far but it seems to be working with the new runes, its just a matter of tweaking which other secondary runes to take and optimizing his build for either more damage or tank since he is in a weird spot of damage dealer/brusier. So finding that balance is key and can really make an unkillable Aatrox with high damage and attack speed.

Precision and domination rune trees work best for him, especially for stacking attack speed and lifesteal. Taking Lethal Tempo allows for stacking insane attack speed with his passive and increasing how often you proc his w, Blood Price. Overheal gives him that built in Bloodthirster for his kit and build. Legend: Alacrity or Legend: Bloodline work best for Aatrox since both work with his kit, it ends up being preference of do you want more DPS or more sustain with crazy lifesteal. A general rule could be taking Legend: Bloodline up against tanks since they would not have the damage to beat out your lifesteal and is why he is good at beating tanks in the first place. Lastly, Last Stand or Coup de Grace are both good since the first allows you to make comebacks with higher damage and thus higher lifesteal, the second rune allows you to finish off enemies and build that lead. So try taking Last Stand if you are going for full lifesteal so you can have crazy comeback plays.

For the secondary runes we take Domination and stack more lifesteal with Taste of Blood and Ravenous Hunter to complete the insane sustain.

Explaining the basic build, Blade of the Ruined King is always a buy for Aatrox since every stat is perfect for his kit since he needs the AD, attacks speed, and lifesteal. Ninja Tabi or Mercury's Treads to allow better in lane trading so buy according to the type of damage you are laning against. Black Cleaver is a pretty good item on Aatrox at the moment because it gives good tank stats, that also allows him to tear down armor and shred his target. The Phage passive allows him to chase down a little better when skirmishing and the bonus CDR lets you jump around and all in more with his ultimate Massacre. We buy Guardian Angel not only because it is annoying, but in team fights if you get bursted before getting your passive off, it lets you get back in the fight and possibly get a third life if you can get your passive. Annoying as hell for the enemy and not troll. Consider getting one of the other tank items if behind. Spirit Visage is also perfect for [[aatrox] as it gives a little more CDR, tons of health and MR, and the bonus healing for all the lifesteal from our runes and kit.

I list Randuin's Omen but that is for safer more consistent play. Most of the time you will play Aatrox as a split pusher so it will probably be necessary to build Titanic Hydra or Ravenous Hydra for AoE wave clear. Find your playstyle and if you end up splitpushing more than grouping consider grabbing one of the hydras and Phantom Dancer to assume the perfect split pusher build.

Bloodthirster is okay, not the best since we can get the Overheal shield now and Aatrox's AD ratios aren't very good. HOWEVER, Sterak's Gage seems to a great buy even without Trinity Force. His passive Blood Well gives him bonus AD alongside the bonus attack speed. The bonus AD comes from base AD which Sterak's Gage raises. So, I'm considering testing this more and seeing if this is worth being part of the main build. Lastly, Guinsoo's Rageblade is good because of how well it works with Blade of the Ruined King and Black Cleaver, just not a great buy because of the high price and (I believe) Aatrox no longer has AP scaling after his rework in S7.

P.S. If against a really, REALLY bad matchup tank Doran's Shield.

P.S.S. I have seen a challenger Aatrox main build Gargoyle Stoneplate consistently for his 3rd item and have above a 53% win rate with it so I assume it works well since you dive in with Q and just turn it on.

In most cases Aatrox is good against tanks since he can out sustain their damage with his W Blood Price in lane. However, when up against lane bullies i.e. Renekton or Darius consider maxing his E Blades of Torment first to avoid fighting until you poked them down low enough where it is safe to CS or go in for a kill on them.

In most cases though max W, then E, R when you can, and max Q last.

Take Teleport for most cases as it allows global map presence and chances to get ahead that way and the ability to TP back to lane early without losing lane pressure is also important. Ignite is good for lanes you know you will dominate and want to secure some kills to go for a greedier build. Ghost is popular with some Aatrox one tricks since it makes it harder for people to get away from him. Lastly, always take Flash since it's possibly the best summoner spell.

Pros

You are

Aatrox.
You have stacking attack speed from your passive, runes, and items.
You have a built in Guardian Angel and can even get a Guardian Angel for max annoyance.
You counter most tanks.
New runes have made Aatrox viable again.
You lifesteal like crazy with the new runes, your W, and your items.
Your kit is simple and easy to learn with possibility to carry most games.

Cons

You are still not meta and do not have a perfect item build.
Aggressive laners can freeze you out of CS and punish you if you misposition.
You get kited easily if the other team has peel or if you jump in at the wrong time.
Your kit is too simple to some and leads to easily being read and outplayed. Practice with

Aatrox to become good with him, he's easy but learning a champion's capabilities is part of playing League.

When you hit level 3, your combo should be Blades of Torment, wait about a second, dive in with Dark Flight and just start autoing away! This is probably going to be the best way you'll be able to trade using Lethal Tempo.

Another trick is to trade when the 3rd AA on Blood Thirst is ready so you can go into the trade with slightly higher initial damage.

Overall, this patch has not really touched Aatrox that much since he was not buffed/nerfed and neither was his items. There will be a slight change to Lethal Tempo lowering the CD from 10 seconds to 6 seconds soon I believe (I saw it in a PBE video the other day). As for Overheal, Triumph is really good and pretty broken though it will be slightly nerfed soon too I believe. Though I would suggest Triumph for the jungle since it will reward you for ganks more and if you end up in a 2 VS 2 situation it is better. Also you can not use Overheal that effectively in the jungle.