You either ban her or Olaf.
In case you banned Olaf and got an Irelia, just play the level 1 a little aggressive until your 3 melee minions drop less than half health, then you pretty much let her push and don't try to trade unless you can predict where she's going to Q with your own Q, NEVER go in with your E, if she lands her stun you'll lose your whole health bar and she'll dive you, or you'll just die on the spot, after you both get your ultimate abilities do not walk in the middle of the lane, even if you have a kill or two on her, always play back and dash backwards, and dodge her E even if you have to flash, if she's good enough she can literally dive you from 100 to 0 under your own turret even if she doesn't have any type of lead, and once she finishes her Blade of The Ruined King it's pretty much over and the probability of you winning a 1 vs 1 is pretty much non exsistent, so you'll have to adjust your plays on her mistakes, if you're ahead a good strategy is to proxy and try to 1 vs 1 her between her t1 and t2 towers, other than that just rush Tabis/Eclipse, Executioner's is a viable option as well. So just wait for your jungler, you're better in teamfights.
Olaf
You either ban him or Irelia.
In case you banned Irelia and got an Olaf, level 1 he'll try to spam poke you with Qs and auto attacks, if he lands 1 Q he'll pretty much walk to auto attack you and grab his axe to reset the cooldown and keep repeating that, you'll die in 10 seconds if he lands every Q, so you basically have to dodge the first Q he throws and punish with your own Q, post 6 you just can't beat him unless he's dumb enough to dive you, he will ghost + ultimate and run you down, and then he'll flash on top of you if you flash away to gap close you, rush Tabis/Eclipse or Yomuu's, you can kill him before 6 if you dodge every Q, and after 6 your only hope is to bait his ultimate with your own ultimate or flash, he's killable if you have ultimate advantage, but he still has ghost so he can just run away from your full combo, don't let your jungle gank you unless one of you is fed enough to do enough damage to kill him through his shield/healing sustain, Executioner's is a viable option, you're also better in teamfights.
Kled
Now this guy is annoying, his early game is insane, but that's not the problem, unlike Darius who's early game is the strongest but he lacks mobility, this guy has tons of mobility and he's so slippery especially if he's 1 HP from going invulnerable after losing his lizard HP, it's winnable but it's extremely hard to deal with his all in, from level 1 until 4 he'll try to run you down with his E and you'll pretty much just have to lose your health because you don't have enough damage, so try as much as you can to not get hit by his first dash, as it resets his dash again, so if you dodge his E dash, go in for a full combo on him, if you don't, just walk back until he either dashes on you again so you combo, or he dashes away which you can then punish, don't get baited into thinking you can kill him if his unmounted bar is up, or if he has w up while unmounted, he'll just get his whole health back in an instant if you get close, try to space him when he's unmounted or just chill and play slow, you outscale him pretty hard after level 11 if he doesn't have a lead and you're way better in teamfights.
Fiora
I wasn't going to put Fiora in Extreme but a good Fiora will literally beat you harder than both Irelia or Olaf, but Fiora is way harder than both of them so that's why.
A good Fiora will basically harass you early game, and all in you late game using her W stun, all you have to do is hold your E until she uses her W, you win after level 9, but she outscales you so hard in the late game, she's very mobile with dashes and movement speed and can burst you down in an instant, a good strategy to counter her ultimate is to stick one side of you to a terrain and just throw your Qs on her without dashing, once she blows her W it's your chance to poke her, this is mostly a skill matchup, until lategame where she just annihilates you, you still out-teamfight her but she'll be a menace in the sidelane.
K'Sante
“This is K'Sante, a champion with 4,700 HP, 329 Armor, and 201 MR, has Unstoppable, a Shield, and goes over walls. Has Airborne, and the cooldown is only 1 second too. It costs 15 Mana. The W CD is even refreshed when he transforms. He has true damage on his passive. Then, when he stacks Armor and MR, he gets Ability Haste too, Ability Haste to his Q, and his spell casting speeds up. Then, he has an AD ratio, so his W…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” - Showmaker.
Winnable, early game is fine, mid game too but just don't get too close, in late game avoid any 1 v 1 with him. Oh and don't try to tower dive him, please.
Riven
4 dashes to escape every single one of your abilities, so you can't poke with anything other than your Q + E, and even then she can just harass you, rush Tabis, lane will be pretty standard until level 6, if you then walk up to her, she'll full combo you from 100 to 0, so just play it slow, Sterak works really good against her, it's winnable but you really need to know how to space against her 500 dashes.
Jax
Doran's Shield, probably the only matchup where it's better to start E to avoid his Counter Strike at level 1, after that you basically never E in, only throw basic Q1s and wait for him to jump on you, if he jumps you just W him, E back and hit your combo, avoid his E at all costs, after 6 you can space his ultimate but it's pretty hard, he wins extended fights so don't fight him in his ultimate, can be pretty annoying and scales pretty well, don't get baited into rushing Tabis as he has mixed damage, just chill and build boots according to the whole enemy team not just Jax. It's a skill matchup but it's Jax favored,.
Kayle
Easy before 6, one of these matchups where you just have to stomp her early on or you lose the game, she might be frustrating as you'll find most Kayles going Fleet Footwork + Swifties against Aatrox which is pretty much unplayable, if so just ask for ganks, when she gets 6 go for short trades as she just wins the extended ones with her ultimate and auto attacks.
Akshan
We all know what ranged toplaners are, basically just grab all the minion EXP you can and give CS, it's not worth losing your whole health bar at level 1 in 5 seconds, you can interrupt his E with your Qs, so just Q1 + E + W and wait a split second before doing your Q2, he most likely will try to E away and you'll interrupt it, if done correctly you'll drop him, he's extremely mobile and has infinite stealth, so be on your guard at all times, you one shot him if you get two or three items without him getting a lead, play safe, and usually ranged toplaners get stomped really hard if your jungler does one or two successful ganks in the early game, ping for his roams, if he roams you push, he outroams you but you outpush and outsustain him.
Vayne
Ranged toplaner, and not just that, but also VAYNE, lol, grab commet and punish with your Q if she Q's into you, after 6 just play safe and try to bait her ultimate, if your jungler ganks you early game this'll be much easier, you one shot her after two items supposing you land your abilities, just don't try to force your abilities on her, be patient with the matchup, rushing Edge of Night into Yomuu's is really good to negate her E and have some catch power, but if you miss more than 1 Q you'll die, so it depends on your own mechanical skill.
Cassiopeia
Definitely winnable but pretty hard, after level 2 just play safe until you get your first recall, she has a lot of consistent DPS but you can win the duel if you dodge one of her Qs, don't use your E until she does or else you'll be stuck in place taking spits after spits from her until you die without touching her, rushing Hexdrinker into Profane or Eclipse is a really good option.
Yone
No, Yone does not counter Aatrox, he's actually pretty easy as you'll encounter him more than 50% of the time, level 1 just walk up and try to land your Qs, when he has his Q3 knock up just walk away and try to dodge it, he'll contest for priority and win it 90% of the time, just walk back and don't get baited when it's his level up timer, if he E's you just E Q back and don't be afraid to use your W on him, and try to hit him when he's in his E, if his E is down after level 5, go in blindly and hit your full combo, after he hits level 6 play a little bit safer, if he all ins you bare in mind that you can buffer your Qs whether he uses his Q3 on you or his ultimate, so a good strategy is to Q1 him, he'll E in, E back into Q2, and hold your Q3 while you're auto attacking, if he ults you instantly Q3 BEHIND YOURSELF, it will buffer it so that when his ultimate animation is done and he's behind you, he'll get dunked with your Q3 and you'll win the trade, don't be afraid of him, just play smart as most Yone players are stereotypical and they'll pretty much do the same combos over and over, they'll charge the Q3, E and try to hit you, so don't keep falling for the same combo he's doing and you'll be fine, also bare in mind that his W shield is underrated, try to wait for it to expire if you're poking, very skill based, he outscales you but you can still beat him late game, one of the most fun matchups for me.
Darius
Lane bullies are just lane bullies, he's easy if you just avoid his level 1 to 3 all in cheese, Aatrox can E into his Q easily which will win you the 1 vs 1 most of the times, you win after level 9 if you don't get hit by his Q and just land your abilities, he's immobile but just be wary of his ghost cooldown.
Camille
Skill matchup, her early game is weak (not as weak as yours lol), but your mid game is better, you can stack your Q3 and wait for her to dash in with her hookshot, late game she's really strong but you can still win against her, after level 6 be very cautious if you're trying to poke her under turret or if you're dueling her and going for a Q3, as her ultimate will negate it, so it's best to hold your Q3 until after she ults.
Gwen
Gwen outscales you as usual, but it's still winnable even in the late game, dodging her ultimate is a MUST, just keep wiggling and E away if she casts her first barrage of needles, you can also dash away from her Q to avoid the true damage or to avoid it as a whole, definitely winnable but don't be stupid enough to go in brainlessly, watch her stacks and if you're going for a long range Q she'll most likely W it so don't get baited.
Kennen
Annoying but winnable, you outscale him but he's on par with you in teamfighting, if not a little bit better, if you dodge enough Qs you'll be fine, rush Hexdrinker and Mercs and he'll have basically no damage, he still can escape everything you try to throw at him and he'll end up slowly eating away at your HP while his HP is full, so go for small trades until he uses his E and you can then punish.
Illaoi
Don't get hit by the E, don't get hit by the E, don't get hit by the E, don't get hit by the E, oh, also try to push as much as you can and don't play for kills and ping your jungler the hell out of your lane if he wants to gank.
Renekton
Fun matchup, you take turns doing your combos, you can buffer your Q if he tries to stun you, avoid his beefy combo after 6, as he can pretty much drop 70% of your health or more in an instant, play at a distance and only try to Q1 him without E, if he dashes in you dash back and Q2 into W, if he has no dash you win the trade, simple but still he can surprise you with a load of dmg on his level 6, he also has great gank setup so beware, rush Eclipse and Tabis and you'll win, you outscale him pretty hard, oh by the way, if you're less than 40% HP under your own turret and you decide to farm instead of trying to Q him, you're dead.
Rumble
I don't know, he's one of those champions where you don't understand how you died, it's pretty easy to land your combo on him tho, you outscale him really hard but he still has crazy damage, try to avoid his E poke and care for bush cheeses, you win lane but don't go overboard when trading because his extended trades are really punishing, your best trading pattern is to wait for his overheat and space well enough to hit your full combo without him responding.
Volibear
Rush Executioners, dodge his E and you should be fine, short trades only as he 100% wins extended trades, don't stay under turret with low health as he's going to dive you with his ultimate, if he stuns you, you're pretty much half HP, so just E backwards and W him if he starts running at you, play it slow and steady, you can win it but it's a skill matchup, you heavily out-teamfight him.
Yorick
Yorick is pretty easy but hard at the same time, save your E for his W, his ghouls don't die from your Qs but you can auto attack them, you outsustain him but you need to space away from him, don't try to all in if your Q is on CD, don't fight him if he has his Maiden, poke him down and dodge his E and you should be fine, you outscale him hard late game but his sidelaning pressure is insane so be wary.
Udyr
He has insane early game damage and waveclear for some reason, after you're level 5 you can contest him for the wave, just play spacing and when he uses his passive with his R just run back, let him proxy if he goes for it, it's a spacing matchup so just be wary of him when he has ghost available, he has really good gank setup as well so try to stay healthy during the laning phase.
Akali
She's annoying but it's pretty winnable if you rush Hexdrinker into Eclipse, she'll bully you until level 9 which then you can bully her, late game you won't be able to touch her unless she's dumb enough or gets CC'd, you can win her in a fair 1 v 1 but she can also win, so it's skill, your W reveals her in her shroud so that's one thing to note, also don't just spam your Qs when she shrouds, try to wait a little but for her to appear, most of them run Teleport/Ignite so if she uses her shroud just trade with her, you can interrupt her E but it's pretty uncommon, try to avoid her early pressure as much as you can.
Tryndamere
You win this if you don't get cheesed with his full rage auto attacks, level 6 don't go in for trades unless you're certain you'll win it, after 6 he'll try to tower dive you if you're less than 50% HP, you can basically win if you space correctly and poke him out, his E is fairly easily interruptible, you outscale him but he's an annoying sidelaner so be wary.
Gnar
You win this lane, just don't get hit with a lot of his Qs and you should be fine, his Mega Gnar isn't that strong so don't be afraid to fight him in that Mega Gnar form, don't get too close to his turret as he can use his ultimate to push you in his turret, has a lot of CC so he's got decent gank setup, but you usually win trades and all ins if you can interrupt his E jump, either that or just bait his E jump out and tehn use W after he uses his E jump for an easy trade.
Jayce
This is an easy matchup if he doesn't have phase rush, if he does, it's pretty much even, all you need to know is that if he swaps from hammer to cannon you go all in, land your full combo as he won't be able to escape unless he has flash, other than that, just poke with Q1 + E and run away until he decides to hammer you, he scales really well but you're better in teamfights, Edge of Night works really good into Jayce but rushing Eclipse is the best.
Tahm Kench
Tahm Kench can be easy, but if he's playing with his team he'll be pretty strong, try to dodge his :P, as he has pretty high early/mid game damage as a tank, if he ever walks up to your Q range instantly punish, as he has no escape from your W and you can interrupt his W with your own Qs, he's really good in teamfights though so watch out.
Pantheon
If you somehow don't die before you reach level 6, you just run him down, he has no escape but has high burst, let him burst you after level 6 and just Q1 + W, Q2, and wait for him to use his own E, even if you reset your Q it's fine, you'll outdamage him if you're above level 6/7 and let him go in first, if he has ignite just play a little safer, rush Eclipse into Tabis.
Yasuo
He's pretty easy to beat but just don't fight him in your minion wave, be patient and he'll walk to you, try to predict his E when he walks up to all in you, so hit your Q1, auto attack and hold for a second and then hit your Q2 behind you without dashing, he'll most probably dash and move into your Q2, then hit your Q3 + E on him easily, your W is pretty much useless if your minions are around, so just play back but you hard win, he scales decently but you can still beat him, if he has a Diana or something on his team and you're getting babysitted then gg lol.
Skarner
Reworked Skarner has decent damage and roaming power, but you stomp him easily, rush Profane into Eclipse or Serylda's.
Gangplank
He's free early game, try to space his Q as he can spam it on you for free damage, always try to kill his barrels instead of auto attacking him, he has no escape from your combo so you should be fine, easy lane, but don't facetank everything.
Cho'Gath
Pretty easy, don't get hit by his Q as you can easily dodge it, if he ever walks towards you use your ultimate instantly and unleash everything you have, you need to heal as fast as possible before he silences you just to avoid getting 100 to 0.
Sion
You interrupt his Q with your 3 Qs easily, he has no mobility so you'll land your combo every single time, you outsustain him, don't be afraid to fight him if you're half his HP, he's weak early on, he has decent scaling and will often splitpush into ult for teamfights, Serylda's/Cleaver/Eclipse will destroy him.
Garen
He's easy until level 6, pre 6 you'll just keep poking and you'll mostly win trades if you space well enough, he'll usually wait to use his W on your Q3, so you can wait it out or just use it nevertheless, but don't get tempted to tower dive a low health Garen as his W + Q silence can bait you hard and he won't die, so play it carefully and avoid reckless all-ins, after 6 your main goal is to keep his health lower than yours, you have the range advantage with Q and you can keep your distance with E and W, if you're low enough he'll just flash Q to silence you, ignite, and ultimate and there's nothing you can do, so don't get low enough for him to do that, Eclipse rush is the best option for me.
Ashe
We love the slows.
Soraka
Insane healing value with Aatrox.
Seraphine
Really good CC followup and heals.
Nami
Insane damage amplifying and healing with CC.
Hwei
Really strong AOE combos with Aatrox, his ultimate and E1E2 can help you land your full combo on more than 3 people, Hwei and Aatrox can literally clean up a full team in a 2 vs 5 scenario.
Cassiopeia
The ground CC is really good with Aatrox.
Amumu
Alistar
Xin Zhao
Rammus
Elise
Zac
Vi
Nocturne
Viego
Ahri
Master Yi
Talon
Zed
Karthus
Evelynn
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Ashe
We love the slows.
Soraka
Insane healing value with Aatrox.
Seraphine
Really good CC followup and heals.
Nami
Insane damage amplifying and healing with CC.
Hwei
Really strong AOE combos with Aatrox, his ultimate and E1E2 can help you land your full combo on more than 3 people, Hwei and Aatrox can literally clean up a full team in a 2 vs 5 scenario.
I am Ulsur, a Master tier Toplane/Jungle main since season 4, I have a lot of experience with pretty much all champions in the game, Aatrox is by far my choice of a perfect champion and the most fun for me as well, I peaked 420LP ever since I started playing Aatrox in over 70% of my games.
I made this guide because Aatrox is a very easy to learn champion but with probably one of the highest skill ceilings in the game and can be very rewarding if played correctly, which is why he's prioritized in pro play and in high elo solo queues.
This is a work in progress, it will soon be an extremely in-depth guide, I've made sure to include the most important points like the runes, builds and matchups, so stay tuned!
I am not your enemy, I am THE enemy (14.7)
Build Guide By Ulsur
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