Hello, my name is Ryver and this is my guide on Ezreal!

Ezreal was the first champion that I played when I got into League seriously (before that it was just me fooling around with Garen ADC, etc.), and I still love playing him because of his fun kit and high mobility. Although the meta changes a lot in League, with different champions becoming good or bad often, I feel Ezreal is always one of the strongest ADCs when put in the hands of a skilled player.

I really hope you guys enjoy this guide, and upvotes are always great! :)

That being said, on to the guide!

(8.2 Notes: Yeah, Ezreal got nerfed. Oh well, he's still pretty viable if you are determined to win.)

Pros:
+ Extremely fun playstyle
+ High range from Mystic Shot
+ High mobility
+ Earlier powerspike than crit champs (Cait, Jinx, etc.)
+ Once mastered, extremely strong
+ Safe

Cons
- High skillcap
- Skillshot-based kit (requires good aim and a good hand)
- Not a "late-game" ADC
- Once you get behind, it's harder to come back

Well, Preseason 8 has rolled around, and it has brought some heavy changes with it. If you are reading this guide, it's safe to assume that you already know about the new rune system that has changed the landscape of league of legends. Fortunately, with the new runes has come the return of Ezreal to the bot lane. Rejoice! And all of this can be attributed to one thing:
Kleptomancy.
You see, before preseason 8 rolled around, Ezreal was in a decent spot. As a jungler, that is. In AD carry, however, he was horrendous. He was so bad that if you tried to pick him in your ranked games, someone would dodge. He was so bad that even Lucian (who had been nerfed to the ground after his appearance in the mid lane at worlds) could stomp him. He was so bad that even if you were 5-0 in lane, you would still have to play a near perfect game to emerge with a victory. Yet, us Ezreal mains persevered. Some of us strayed at times, but we always came back to Ezreal and his open, loss-filled arms. We prayed for something, anything that would bring him back to relevance. And eventually, we got it.
It was called Kleptomancy.
Basically, Kleptomancy gives abilities like Ezreal's Q, Mystic Shot, the ability to grant you either gold or consumables when said ability damages an enemy champion. Since Ezreal deals so much of his damage through his Q, his gold income with this rune becomes insane. Once you start snowballing, there is no stopping you. If you go 5-0 in lane nowadays, there I a very good chance you will win that game. Apart from Kleptomancy, the other runes play more of a supporting role. Biscuit Delivery gives you a nice boost in sustain in lane, and Future's Market helps you increase your leads.Finally, Cosmic Insight, Manaflow Band, and Scorch give you CDR, mana sustain, and a little more damage, perfect for Ezreal.

As of right now, the best Ezreal build is the Triforce>Manamune>Lucidity Boots>BORK build. For a more in-depth look at Ezreal's itemization, make sure to read the notes included.

(also, feel free to try my special build! Pretty fun and strong when you're ahead!)

Rising Spell Force (P): Ezreal's passive is a attack speed steroid that increases when you consistently hit other champions (or anything) with your abilities. This stacks up to 5 times. This passive is extremely good for Ezreal's DPS and also good for turret siege (Explained later in tips and tricks)

Mystic Shot (Q): This is Ezreal's bread-and-butter ability, as well as his main source of damage. It procs Sheen, which is why it synergizes extremely well with Triforce, and it reduces ALL cooldowns by 1.5 seconds if it strikes an enemy, which is really nice in teamfights and 1v1 skirmishes.

Essence Flux (W): Unless you are building AP Ezreal, this ability's only use is for taking down objectives with your team, because when it strikes an ally, they gain attack speed.

Arcane Shift (E): This is both Ezreal's main escape and engage, and the reason why Ezreal is regarded as one of the most mobile ADCs around. Use it to escape enemy ganks, gap-close, and dodge enemy cc (Blitzcrank hook, Lux binding, etc.). Also, it can be used as a tool to get more DPS.

Trueshot Barrage (R): Ezreal's ult is extremely versatile. Due to Mystic Shot's CDR, Trueshot Barrage will be off cooldown quite often, and it can be used for clearing waves, sniping low health enemies from across the map or softening up the enemy team before teamfights. It also has damage reduction if it strikes more targets, so the key to getting the most damage out or Ezreal's ult is making sure it doesn't hit minions on route to its intended target.

Early Game:
Ezreal's main purpose in the early game is to CS (last hit) as much as possible. The goal to aim for is about 8 cs per minute, which will translate into 80 cs at 10 minutes. Once you have your Tear, use Mystic Shot to poke and trade, as well as CS. Wait for jungle ganks to all-in them. If you are very confident in your abilities (and you have good communication with your support), however, you can engage and all-in at level 4, but beware: Ezreal's all-in isn't as good as other ADCs at this point in the game, and its best to poke them down with Mystic Shot a lot before you decide to engage. If you are more then happy to sit back and CS through the laning phase, however, go ahead. Your goal is to get first tower blood, cs well, and get items.

Mid Game:
This is when Ezreal really hits his stride. Your goal should be to complete Manamune and Triforce at around 20-25 minutes, which is Ezreal's major powerspike. At this point in the game, you begin to deal damage, and lots of it. You should still be Cs'ing, which is still very important. I often see many ADC players (and sometimes myself as well) CS well up to the 10-15 minute mark, then just stop CS'ing. Remember to farm side waves as the game goes on, as this is imperative to your success. At this point in the game, teamfights start to break out around major objectives such as inner turrets, Baron, and Drag. As Ezreal, you have to be there with your team when the teamfight starts, as you (and maybe your mid laner) are your team's main source of damage. This also means that you have to predict where and when teamfights will happen, and move to that location so you can be there when the fight begins. This does take a lot of experience and game knowledge (and even I'm not the best at this), but when mastered, is extremely useful. There are 2 ways to play Ezreal in teamfights. The first, and easier, way to play Ezreal in teamfights is to attack what is in front of you, no matter what. This is the way I used to play Ezreal, and it does have many benefits. Firstly, you will almost always will have a tanky frontline to soak up damage for you so you can constantly pump out damage. Secondly, you will be in a much safer position on oppose to the second playstyle (which i'll get to in a moment), which means the odds of you staying alive will be much higher. There are no real downsides to playing this style, and if you are new to Ezreal and/or are more comfortable playing this way, go ahead. The second playstyle is a "hybrid" playstyle, and is very much high-risk-high-reward. This is the way I currently play Ezreal, and I love it. At the beginning of the fight, you play similarly to the first playstyle, which means you stay behind your tanks and Q (Mystic Shot) as well as auto-attack to poke down the enemy team. When you see their backline (opposing ADC, mage, etc.) is damaged enough for you to dive in and kill them, you go for it. Be very careful, though: in order to successfully pull this off, you HAVE to know Ezreal's damage and limits like the back of your hand, which is why this technique is only recommended for more experienced players. Remember, if you do try this, that it is all about calculated risk. If you know that you probably won't kill the enemy backline, but you want to make the game-changing play, don't do it. It is so, so important that before you decide to all-in, you calculate the odds of you a)successfully killing their backline, and b) surviving it. This is imperative to your (and your teams) success.

Late Game:
Here, Ezreal begins to fall off, but not that much when compared to other champs. The key to remember here is that you are no longer as strong as you were in the midgame, and the risky plays mentioned above get punished more if you fail them because of longer death timers and major objectives up for grabs. At this stage, you cannot afford to make mistakes. You are the main source of damage for your team, and you need to stay alive.

- If you are taking towers, or simply need more dps, you can Arcane Shift (E) into your own Essence Flux (W) for an attack speed buff.
- While taking objectives, hit all 5 members (or as many as possible) of your team to grant then all attack speed buffs and also get 5 stacks on your passive. Its surprising how fast those objectives go down.
- When teamfighting, make sure to auto-attack as well as Mystic Shot (Q) to get as much damage as possible. I see many new Ezreals forget to AA while teamfighting, and they lose out on much of their potential damage.
-A more advanced technique in teamfighting is Arcane Shifting (E) around the perimeter of the teamfight to make yourself a harder target to hit and also gat a bit extra damage. This does require some practice (remember, don't go INTO the fray; E AROUND it).

Well, that's it for my guide to Ezreal. I really hope you enjoyed it, and most of all I hope you learned something from it. If you did enjoy this guide, please upvote and share the love! :)