Genuinely Unplayable Matchup for Aatrox
No matter what you do Aatrox will come out on top, what Aatrox should do is buy GW but the other will likely do so aswell.
Aatrox has an answer to majority of Aatrox's kit and will punish you accordingly. Aatrox can E to the side to avoid Q1 but then can counter attack with Q1 landing sweetspot and full comboing. Unplayable mess.
Akali
2nd wind Shield
Akali is super annoying She's going to want to poke you down with Q's until she's comfortable enough to burst you down and execute you with her ult. You MUST rush hexdrinker against her since with ignite she's going to have way too much kill pressure against you. Matching q for q with her shouldn't be hard as she's generally melee and cant outplay you with her shroud since you're an ability caster and q2-q3 has decently good range.
Akshan
Just go D shield and 2nd wind lmfao. Like all ranged champs dont sack too much health early levels and you should be alright post lvl 4 and onwards. Aatrox is one of the better ranged top answers and rightfully so against akshan. Tabis into normal build completely nullify his dmg. You can also cancel his e with your q's.
Azir
Shield and 2nd wind
Azir is just really annoying, but honestly he should never kill you. Mostly a poking threat but once you bait out his dash you just one shot him with your combo. Do be wary that if you take a bad trade its a long lane and he will chase you down.
Camille
Both blade and shield are fine, aswell as bone plating 2nd wind
Camille is kinda known to be a massive threat. However this lane is completely aatrox favored. . You may poke her continuously as she comes and tries to cs the wave. Try not to get hit by her W edge as it heals her and like darius get directly into her face. I usually save my ult for whenever she does ults me. Whenever she wants to e onto you, you may always just e backwards or to the side to avoid getting hit. Hard abuse her long e cooldowns early, and try your best to space well before she can auto attack you for her shield.
This matchup however gets harder and harder the longer the game goes on so be careful.
Cho'Gath
I take 2nd wind d shield personally but you may be able to get away with blade if you're very confident.
Like almost every tank aatrox is a great answer against them. Just don't get hit by too many q's from him and you'll be alright, Just be aware of his execute but he's a giant heal sack for you anyways.
Darius
Blade or shield, bone plating or 2nd wind whatever you're comfortable with
A lot of people will tell you how piss easy this matchup is but I disagree to an extent. Especially for new aatrox players this matchup is a nightmare. You have to play almost perfectly against Darius as he's an extremely punishing champion and will run you down heavy with ghost. Taking ignite into this mu is a great way to neutralize his q healing when all inning. E'ing into his Q is always fine as well. For more experienced aatrox players this mu isnt hard as aatrox will generally outrange him and poke him down all lane. I take shield and bone plating into him. You can generally get away with short trades against him by just doing Q1 W Q2 E backwards. (Tbh if you take ignite this matchup becomes a strong minor to a low even)
Dr. Mundo
2nd wind D shield as he just spams cleavers on you whole lane
You should almost never lose this unless you're a lobotomite. Mundo is an immobile tank which aatrox loves. He just tanks all your q's and cant do much about it. You can just keep spamming q off cd onto him and he'll just sit there and take it. Always of course match ult for ult with him.
Fiora
Aatrox's most Infamous matchup. 2nd wind or bone plating, either or is fine. I always take shield into her cuz most Fiora's are gonna go grasp and just poke. But if she goes conq blade isn't terrible. The matchup is all about unpredictability. The most common way to trade is Q1, then get into range for q2 and e to the side to avoid parry. You will never w if she has her parry up as your w cd is almost the same as her parry. If she doesnt parry your q2. If you feel confident enough you can actually get away with q3ing directly onto her and simply walking off to the side. But I always found this to be a ping diff sill tbh. You MUST take plated and executioners into her as the matchup becomes a lot more bearable from then on. Then she just gets items and one shots you anyways. Lastly always hug the wall to hide your vital whenever she ults you.
Gangplank
Nothing really much to say about this. 2nd wind and d shield negate all his poke. His barrels will give him bursts of movement speed so you can try to predict where he's gonna run to and land your full combo from there. Ignite is alright in this matchup since you can cuck his healing with orange but its unneeded really. The only real annoying part about this lane is that you can be ahead but because of his passive and ult he can still be even items with you and one shot your whole backline. But other than that GP is pretty squishy and your full combo with ult 1 shots him. (If you have sea hunter aatrox its like +20000% dmg so use that skin)
Garen
Try not to bore yourself playing against this snoozefest. Bone plating Shield or Blade
He's free to poke all lane but his passive will always heal him back up. However he just runs directly towards you so you can just Q1 Q2 E backwards and he can't really trade back. Before trying to do your entire full combo try to bait out his w and then its a guaranteed kill. Be wary that if he was ignite and you're about 60-70% health he just kills you with ult.
(Matchup in side becomes way harder the more items he has)
Gnar
Dogshit ass top laner rn
Just take 2nd wind and shield.
Save your w for baiting out his e unless you don't waste e on the first q1 and use it on Q2 to cancel it.
In mega Gnar he lowkey fucks you up a bit but you kite him hard if he isn't directly on top of you
Gragas
Gragussy. 2nd wind and shield cuz he just spams q on you
To be honest I don't think Gragas kills you unless he's Sloppy Walrus. Or if you just get hit with every Q.. His gank setup with ult is great so be wary of that too. But other than that you can just play normally like you always do. Do note that his e cancels your e so try to play around that by e'ing backwards. Know however that once Gragas gets his ROA you will never kill him in lane again. Gragas is a great lane neutralizer. People like WunWunWunWun a great aatrox player rushes eclipse into him to match his ROA rush.
Gwen
My darling Gwen Futa....
blade bone plating
Lane is aatrox favored as you generally outrange her. But she will usually carry ignite so beware. Ignite or executioners is fine into her. Just note you MUST be wary when she has W as you can miss your W or Q2 if you're not ontop of her and she gets a fuck ton of armor with it. Post laning phase gwen runs you over unless you're ahead. If you dont want to buy executioners I say Hexdrinker rush heavily fucks her over and you'll win every all in. (and obviously try not to get hit in the middle of her Q's as they deal true dmg).
Illaoi
This champ is dumb asl man.
Dodge E yadda yadda. I take 2nd wind and shield into her of course since if you get hit with E you have to heal it back somehow. Always try to get rid of her tentacles on the wall. Try to dodge her e with yours if you can or be very side steppy. Never match ult for ult with her if your soul is dragged as you will lose 9/10 times even if she's a little behind. Other than that she's just a side split pusher random.
Irelia
Ban
i cant give you advice because i never play against her. My only tip is that play super safe and carry ignite. Try to guess where she q's with your q. She will save her W for your q3. E away from her E stun and good luck.,
Jax
Pedo v Pedo (i take shield and bone plating)
You will q1 and hold your e until he jumps onto you. W and Q2 E backwards and then you can go for your Q3. Thats kinda how the entire lane will play out. If he gets 1 kill the lane is over for you and you'll never walk up again. He will either use his E when jumping at you or when he sees your passive AA so just keep that in mind. Post 6 the mu becomes alot harder since he gains more armor and that nullifies your healing a bit. All i can do is keep the wave under your tower as much as you can and never be overextended in lane against him because like Darius he runs you down and sticks on you hard.
Jayce
Jayce is very annoying (take shield 2nd wind)
What hes going to do is just Q you over and over and auto attack you from range. Then he gets melee form and tries to burst you down. You must save your w until he uses his knockback then you can full combo him. Into this matchup I like taking comet to match poke for poke with him as he's very squishy in range form and gets poked down easily. Jayce lane is verry annoying to play against, he is susceptible to easy jungle ganks however.
K'Sante
KSANTE 4700 HEALTH 500 ARMOR AND MR DASH KNOCKUP CC RESIST (Blade and bone plating)
Your only chance to beat this freak is before he gets level 6. Once he's 6 he ults you and you just die instantly. He can avoid your poke with his E shield and when he doesn't have it up he will just W your q2 or q3. This champ is a pain and the only way you win is if he misplays heavily. Never overcommit post 6 and do your best to stay away from walls. Obviously the matchup will scale with your elo, meaning the lower you are the less likely the Ksante's are good.
Kalista
2nd wind Shield
unironically this matchup sucks really bad. Her kiting potential is fucking nuts. Especially with lethal tempo she almost never gets hit with any Q's. I would take comet and try to match poke for poke with her. Throw out a couple q's and see what direction she goes into and play from there instead of the traditional Q1 E forward. Plated rush into maybe wardens and see if you can run her down lvl 6. Very uncommon but very hard matchup.
Kayle
2nd wind Shield
Super free even after she becomes ranged lvl 6. She only really wins maybe lvl 16 but you dominate her laning phase. Never waste your W until she heals with hers then you can go for the all in. Freezing the wave and zoning her off xp also destroys her and the player. To be honest I love stridebreaker rush into her and just 1 shot her completely. (completely optional tho) When she has ult try and hold your Q3 until after she ults and then use it.
Kayn
Shield and Bone plating
Uncommon but he has alot of burst surprisingly early levels. Dont fight him lvl 1 as his Q does alot of damage and he just stays on top of you with ignite killing you. Play this lane normally like how you would for other champs and should'nt be much of a problem. Only real problem is rhaast as he will outheal you. Last time i played against him he just proxies and barely fights you so you should be okay.
Kennen
2nd Wind D shield Comet setup
Little mole guy. Rush mercs and hes worthless. Your arcane comet q1 q2 dmg does way more than this guy does. But when he E's into you start kiting and spacing backwards since he's going to look for an ult. All in all if you don't get poked out too much you shouldn't lose this lane. if you lose hard after Mercs you can go hexdrinker.
Kled
Blade and Bone plating
Kled is kinda scary actually. If he hits you with Q you will lose the trade as it procs grevious wounds. He will generally E into you and E backout to dodge your Q's so be aware of that as well. I rush plated into this matchup. Be very mindful of his W cd and he can't control it and that's almost all of his damage. When he's dismounted you must be VERY sure you can kill him or he remounts and kills you instantly. I wouldn't be against taking ignite in this matchup just for extra kill assurance for his dismounted form. Be mindful of his R as it gives him 6 billion movement speed to run towards you. Kled is also a very excellent diver as well so stay cautious if you're low under your tower.
Lillia
2nd wind Shield
She's slippery. you'll almost never face her but when you do its pretty easy. Mercs rush is great. Just play this lane normally like you do into other bruisers. The only real issue with lillia is her movement speed and gank setup with ult.
Lucian
2nd wind and Shield
Plated rush and this guy is doomed. Like every other ranged top just don't get poked out too much and you come out on top. Save your w for his E and then full combo him from there. He gets one shot by your full combo.
Malphite
2nd wind shield or blade
Snoozefest, He will go arcane comet. An interesting thing is that when he Q's you can walk towards him for a bit then instantly walk backwards after the q hits so arcane comet just misses and doesn't hit you at all. Malphite will just tank your full combo all laning phase but do know that he will get alot stronger than you and become more useful than you in team fights. Eclipse rush is fine into malphite. Once he backs twice for his items it will be pretty hard to kill him without it. However if malphite gets any semblance of a lead you will never beat him. Post lane phase it gets extremely hard to kill him.
AP malphite isnt really an issue, just go mercs rush and beware when he ults as thats usually when his jungler is there.
Maokai
Bone plating Blade
This guy does 0 damage and eats your entire combo to the face. Just be careful of his gank setups
Mordekaiser
Bone plating Shield or Blade
Morde is actually a super fun and expressive matchup. Avoid his Q's or stand behind the minion wave and use your Q at the same time since Morde Q needs to be isolated to do more damage. Take note of his W and that's when you can go for the all in. When he has ult you want to save your W and Ult until he does so you can use those to kite away from him and then after you will run him down. If you struggle heavy you can always rush hexdrinker.
Naafiri
Blade or Shield 2nd wind
Naafiri's only real annoying irk is that her dogs block your W spell. Other than that you can rush plated and she does negative damage. Nothing much to say here to be honest. Just do your best to not get poked by too many of her Q's.
Nasus
Blade Shield 2nd wind
You HARD bully this guy. What i like to do is crash a giant wave early as nasus sucks dick at clearing under his tower at low levels. Then you perma poke him until you're comfortable all inning. But of course in like 50 minutes he does outscale you. Do be cautious that when he has sheen and level 6 he can turn the tides if he has enough stacks. He can slow your auto attack speed which may fuck up your autos inbetween Q's. But if you know how to manage waves correctly the matchup is fine.
Nautilus
Blade Bone plating
Nautilus is very uncommon but its a welcome matchup. You out trade nautilus in short trades, long trades everything. Just be wary about his gank setup with his CC chains.
Neeko
Shield 2nd wind
I hated when this lizard was meta. Both her AD and AP. Bait out her clone and just full combo insta. I believe that neeko clone is usually the one closer to you if that helps when you're chasing. Just dont sack much health early and like nautilus be wary for gank setups with her cc
Nidalee
2nd wind Shield
Like a little fly she's a nuisance. She will just poke you from afar with her auto attacks and poke you with her spear, that ability is very easy to miss btw. She never really has any damage to kill you and will just try to whittle you down very slowly. Just play this lane like how you would other ranged tops.
Olaf
2nd wind Blade (and use the phase rush rune page I mentioned if you wanna be cheeky)
The only real worry you have about this champ is that when he ults its hard to kite backwards against him. You want to just poke him down all laning phase with short trades and proc your phase rush to run away. Then when you're comfortable enough you can just go for the all in with ult. Try not to get baited when he's low and you don't have ult however. He always has a shield to tank your Q's.
Ornn
Shield 2nd wind
Fat fucking goat. Ornn is infamous for being a really easy aatrox matchup. However you can still very much lose this matchup by trolling early. His W brittle damage is insane. Level 6 and beyond he has the chance to proc his triple brittle combo and if you're unlucky enough to fight an ornn with ignite that's easily 85% of your health bar. But if you poke him out of lane he's never high enough health to engage onto you like that. Just do the classic Q1 W q2 E backwards as he will likely W your w and q2 and by doing that easy combo it ensures he almost never brittle autos you. Also mr is very op against him like mercs.
Pantheon
2nd wind Shield
You must play safe early. Pantheon utterly outdamages you and bullies you hard almost the entire laning phase. However there will be some chances that you can beat him. Level 6 being the obvious spike. Try to see when he will E your q's, Most will try to E your q3, however there is a work around this. When he tries to E your q3, you want to behind you and e towards him so you get right behind him and the q3 damage procs. Or you can always just wait it out if you think your Q will hold long enough (it wont). Just try to stalemate this lane and you will outscale at 20 minutes.
Poppy
Shield 2nd wind
Stay clear of walls, Poppy wants you to be near walls so she can just insta stun you and pop her full combo onto you. Never stand in her Q as it deals max health damage and this lane should be easy. Whenever she pokes you with her shield always try to pick it up before she can or use that opportunity to poke her down. Her W passive gives her resistances when she is low health and the active stops your dashes. But honestly that isnt much of a problem since you can just bait it out easily. Respect her Q max health damage and don't stay inside of it for the next burst of damage.
Quinn
2nd wind Shield (also comet setup if you want)
It's kind of funny how a lot of quinn players will outplay themselves by pressing e while you do your Q e and they still get hit by the q anyways. Just play this lane as normal and rush plated as that completely clowns her. Always ping your laners when she is missing as she is excellent at roaming. Never sack too much health early since she can gut you with ignite if you do.
Rammus
Blade bone plating
You will NEVER face this guy but incase you do. He never fights you and just proxies the lane the entire time. You basically spam q on him for free. Just never auto attack him when he has his W up and you're chill.
Renekton
Blade Bone plating
Space yourself from him so he has to waste both E's to enage on you.
You want to poke him down a lot while he goes for cs so that you have a fighting chance whenever he wants to all in. I recommend plated rush as it guts his W damage heavily. If you have good ping you can also cancel his Dash with your Q's while e'ing backwards. Know his ult lasts longer than yours and to never be right up close to him to tank his sandstorm magic damage. You have to respect him early and not take extended fights. He will out damage you and it will hurt a lot. 1 kill and the lane is basically almost over for you. Very volatile.
Rengar
Blade 2nd wind or Bone plating
Mreow purr :3 (my bad) Also ward the bushes
You can rush plated steelcaps into him. But you kinda just free throw Q's onto him whenever he goes for cs, You may also just predict his pounce for cs and q onto the minions. Just care for his full stacks and never let him trade against you for free and fight back all the time. When you're confident you can just bully him away from the bushes and he cant play the lane.
Riven
Blade Bone plating
Super skill dependent. You both will play similarly as you both will punish each other for csing with your q's. I heavily recommend plated rush for armor since her burst potential lvl 6 with ignite is massive. Level 6 if you're at around 60-70% health she just insta kill you with her ignite ult combo so beware. I would try to kite backwards whenever she engages on you if you dont want to go for the all in. Play reactive against Riven. One mistep when you play reactive you're dead.
Rumble
Shield 2nd wind
(this champ is uber disgusting)
Heavy respect his early damage as he will out dps you. Rumble will go ignite alot of the time so beware of that as well. You will respect him until you're level 6 where then you have a fighting chance. Dodge his E's as its vital since they shred mr. You can also rush hexdrinker to mitigate some of his damage. Whenever he's in overheat its arguably your best chance to fight him since all he can do is auto attack you. I honestly bring ingite in this matchup personally as i want to kill rumble and put him behind as much as possible.
Sejuani
Blade Bone plating
Champ is super dogshit. Try to dodge her W so you dont get stunned for free and she beats you down. All you have to worry about is her gank setup and cc chains.
Sett
Blade and Bone plating
Sett will bully you until level 4, at that point you will clown sett as you're a zoner and he should never touch you. Just q him and q2 e backwards while he Q's fowards and you should be safe. (Never get hit by his inner w, use your e if he throws it out randomly or just try your best to side step it) Lastly never be in position that he can just flash and ult you into his turret.
Shen
Blade and bone plating
Care for shen's early damage with q and grasp as they hurt like hell. But you will poke and harass him all laning phase like every other tank because at a certain point his damage does 0 to you and you outsustain him. Look at your map though and try to look to cancel his ult if theres a teamfight brewing elsewhere. (sometimes ill even flash under his tower to cancel the ult) But if you cannot cancel his ult just shove the wave into his tower so he loses some xp.
Shyvana
Shield or blade and 2nd wind
Obscure champion top. But human form shyvana will try to farm fury all game against minions so harass her while she does that. Your w will almost be worthless unless you hit Q2 since she can dash out of it for free. Her dragon form is the only real trouble as her E nukes your health bar. But do your best to space and kite against her. All in all this lane is kinda easy.
Singed
Blade and 2nd wind
Singed is literally never going to fight you in lane. You will farm and farm and farm. Buy a cull infact also if he's gonna proxy all game. If your jungle does see a kill you may follow and collect the kill. Unless he has something like ghost phase rush i wouldnt bother. If he does stay in lane then you basically auto win. When you see him going in for the e use your Q2 or Q3 backwards as you hit him midair with your sweetspot.
Sion
Blade or shield Bone plating or 2nd wind
Your kit just counter sion q. If you don't think you're in range to stop his q you can always just e to the side. Sion is just a giant target that you can spam q on off cd. Obviously do your best to run away from his passive as he hits you for max health dmg.
Skarner
Blade, 2nd wind
Skarner is super easy. He tanks your full combo every time he goes up to cs. The only real trouble is that he will try to e ult stun you under tower. But as long as you're not in a position for it you have no real trouble.
Swain
Shield 2nd wind
Care for his early as he want to poke you heavy. But this champ is super easy to beat as long as you don't tank too much health early. He's immobile except ghost and ult for ult you win mostly. Hexdrinker is an okay rush against him if you arent confident. But much rather go mercs. Anti heal in the form of ignite or executioners is also very acceptable as ult for ult in extended fights he heals way more.
Sylas
Blade or Shield, 2nd wind or bone plating
Exec rush is massive since he should never w onto you for free without a grevious stacked on him. Avoid his q poke and land your poke since you should outrade him most of the time. Even if he matches ult for ult against you. You should win as long as you bought gw. Try to do short quick trades with him so he can't proc his enhanced autos onto you winning the trade. If you do get his by his E2 you must fight back and dont let him get away for free.
Tahm Kench
shield 2nd wind
Tahm is actually a pretty scary tank. His auto attacks deal magic damage and his tongue hits you for a ton healing him. But he is in the end a tank that will constantly eat your q's. You can cancel his dive with your q but kenches will usually wait for your q to go on cd to engage. Like skarner dont be in position where he can ult you and spit you under his own tower.
Teemo
Shield 2nd wind (arcane setup too)
Very tame to be honest. Respect his damage early because teemos will usually carry ignite and look to cheese kill you early. Poke hard with arcane as it slams him for so much damage. When you see he uses his burst of movement speed W thats when you can look for the all in and one shot him. Oracle is great early for his shooms and if you find yourself struggling hexdrinker also clowns him.
Trundle
Blade or shield Bone plating
Give prio early levels while poking him. You will almost never outpush trundle at any stage of the game and never match his split later into the game. Aatrox does however have some answers to kite and space him during laning phase. You can very easily kite him out as he quite literally runs towards you. However trundle will try to pillar you after you e. If he doesnt he's a lobotomite and you just e through it. If he does use your q3 if you havent already to stun him for a bit and run away. (never be too overextended)
Tryndamere
Bone plating Blade or Shield (take ignite)
Tryndamere is weird. You want to respect him a bit early because of his chance for crit but you dont want to at the same time. At level 4 thats when you want to start beating him down but not for extended fights obviously. Level 6 is scary however especially if you're low because he can just dive you under tower and get away. Rush plated and with ult you can sustain through his auto attacks and ignite him so he cant heal and he dies. But do it near the end of his ult of course.
Twisted Fate
Shield 2nd wind (arcane comet setup)
Twisted Fate has become meta and is super annoying top with ghost. Your best bet is to have him waste gold card and try your best to flip the fight around. Keep poking him with your arcane comets and it should be all good. Although if he has ghost you will never catch him.
Udyr
Bone plating Shield or Blade is fine
Udyr just wave clears with his ult. He will basically face tank every q you throw onto him. But he never dies because of his shield from his w and the life steal he gets off it to use on minions. Take note of his W and always try to fight him whenever its on cooldown so he wont be able to life steal and shield your combo. However udyr will likely empower E run away from you and become CC unstoppable. But this lane is generally easy post 4 as he can never kill you.
Just try not to be overextended as he will perma slow you and jungler will come touch you inappropriately.
Urgot
Shield, 2nd wind
Urgot players are going to start e and try to kill you or hard chunk you setting up for a level 2 kill with ignite. So just be aware of that and if you aren't leashing pre ward the bush or walk with the wave to ward your bush. The lane actually flip flops as urgot will have the advantage lvls 1-3 and then flips back to you 4-8 until urgot will get 9 and his W toggle autos will hurt alot. Try to keep short trades and kite backwards when you q2 as that's usually when urgots will e and his E can cc buffer your knockup. Rush plated and go sundered sky as it will heavily overpower his execute for clutch fights. Post laning phase however urgot scales MUCH harder than you do and side lane becomes alot harder.
Varus
2nd wind Shield (arcane comet)
Varus is an uncommon ranged top pick but still an annoying one. He will poke you with his auto attacks stacking blight and press e to drop a nuke onto you. Aswell as poke you from afar with W Q. Try to dodge his q's and land yours with arcane comet until you feel ready to all in him. Whenever you're level 6 dont go in a straight line obviously and do your best to side step his ult so you can initiate your full combo onto him. Ask for jungle help as he's very susceptible to ganks.
Vayne
2nd wind Shield (you can run arcane comet setup but i wouldn't bother as you will be playing for teamfights)
Vayne is horrible to play against. She has an answer to your kit completely and will kite you to oblivion. People will say to rush edge of night and thats fine but you will be extremely squishy and she will still kite you and one shot you. Laning phase I just try to survive and cs as best as I can. You can Q1 w her and when she E condemns you backwards you can pray that W will still pull and ult and combo her from there. Only do this if you're extremely confident in your skills and are sure you can kill her. Otherwise she will beat you down all lane. Rush plated.
Viego
Bone plating or 2nd wind Shield or blade is fine
Viego's plan in laning phase is to poke you down with his Q's and auto attacks so that he can W and burst you with ult. However your q's will either outrange him for be the same range as his. You will always out trade viego short or long trades. Be wary as viego will likely carry ignite as well. Just try not to be too low health when he's level 6 so you dont get W stunned into ult. But plated rush Viego gets destroyed in lane completely.
Volibear
2nd wind Shield or blade is fine (you may take ignite)
Volibear is an extremely oppressive champ and great at running down Aatrox. You want to really avoid getting hit by his E Q as you get chunked heavily. You need to use your Q's superior range to hit him and kite backwards. Level 6 if you take a bad trade it's very difficult as Volibear can just ult you and your tower. You'll likely have to ult and use your MS to speed away from him. My best advice is to just poke him whenever he tries to AA a minion until you feel comfortable enough to all in him. You do NOT want to be on his side of the lane for too long, Voli run down potential is extremely disturbing.
Warwick
Bone plating blade (use ignite and rush executioners)
Warwick while it seems scary really isn't. He will just try to run at you whenever he wants to trade so that makes it extremely easy to full combo him. Until you have executioners poking him down with q1 will do relatively nothing as he will heal it back up anyways with his sustain. Post executioners however and with your ult + ignite it becomes way more easier. If he does have barrier just keep that in mind and think to yourself if you still win the fight with his barrier up. Try not to take too much poke from him while you cs
Wukong
Bone Plating Blade
Wukong actually has quite a bit to answer to aatrox's kit. His e which dashes to you will give him attack speed and his Q will shatter armor. When you try to fight back he will W away and turn invisible. His auto attacks also give him free armor. Rush plated and do your best to poke him. Level 6 and ignite he has major kill potential against you. I would say to do your best with csing and poke him down until you feel fine fighting him.
Yasuo
Bone plating Shield or blade is fine.
Poke him level 1 if he starts Q, he will beat you in prio likely and Yasuo level 2 is actually pretty deadly to deal with as he will use your minions to perma dash around. You can try to predict with q but that can be a bit difficult. Fighting a yasuo when your minion wave is pretty hard so just try to slowly poke him down while hes slow pushing to you. Level 6 also gets quite difficult as his ult gives his critical strikes armor pen. Get plated first and never be too overextended in the lane.
Yone
Bone plating Blade
With Lethal Tempo removed
Yone has become way easier to handle. You can finally start bullying him on earlier levels since he wont have the dps to trade back with you well. Still dont underestimate him as always. You can poke him when he walks up to cs with Q. I dont really like to w whenever he still has e up or while he's in the midst of using it. Lvl 6 is when the lane can get a bit trickier since he can use that to try to run you down if you fail your combo so watch out. Just rush plated and Yone becomes extremely easy kill as your boots will basically negate almost all his damage.
Yorick
2nd wind or Bone plating is fine Shield
Yorick until level 6 is extremely easy. You can poke him for free as he has a horrible early game. Do your best to dodge his e, you may use your e to dodge it as the cd is pretty long early levels. Just know that once you use your E yorick has free reign to wall you and stop your engage. The annoying part about yorick is once he has maiden and ghouls. Ghouls take reduced damage to aoe so his ghouls dont die in one shot to your Q's aswell as maiden. Your ult however fears his ghouls and maiden so that will be your best shot to burst him down quickly, The lane of yorick is dodge E and save your e for his W.
Unless, you do land your Q E for poke, land your W, hit your Q2 and riot blesses the W pull.
This is achievable by running at him once he misses his e so he will become scared and W.
Zac
Bone plating Shield or Blade
You will almost never kill competent Zac ever. Thankfully most Zac top players are extremely elo boosted. He sustains a lot and has his passive where he just comes back to life. His gank setup with jungler is absolutely ballistic. But in the end he is a tank that will face tank your Q's to the face. Try your best to not get his by his q and if you see him q a minion walk away from him so he doesnt auto you for free and cc you. You may also cancel his E with your q's but alot of zacs will just try to walk around your Q's and disengage with E anyways. I always rush an executioners so that I can heavy mitigate his healing. Never underestimate his dmg at level 6, he will do a shit ton of damage and tank a shit ton from you aswell.
Kayn
Rhaast is amazing. Darkin duos you both CC and heal a lot in the midst of team fights and skirmishes.
Zac
Zac is wonderful as well as any other cc tank since they can distrupt the entire team figtht and you can follow up with them hitting your q's for free.
Taric
His ult will make you invincible and you roam free in team fights. He has a free stun shield and heals which is only amped by spirit visage.
Yuumi
Meow :3
Sejuani
Same reason as zac, Her cc will disrupt team fights hard making it super easy for you to play.
Diana
Her ult is great if she hits alot of people so you can q tons of people and heal for free.
Zilean
Zilean gives you movement speed to free kite and run down people. Also his ult is just always good as its free old aatrox passive (revive)
Galio
Very good for Aatrox if you're playing bruiser. You can easily face tank and Galio can ult you and CC alot of people in a team fight allowing you to destroy backline.
Yasuo
Pretty situational but If you can land your Q2 or Q3 on a group of people
Hopefully your yasuo has a brain and will press r as you easily set up for his ult.
Rell
Same as Zac, easily crowd controls a large group of people allowing you to do whatever you want.
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Kayn
Rhaast is amazing. Darkin duos you both CC and heal a lot in the midst of team fights and skirmishes.
Zac
Zac is wonderful as well as any other cc tank since they can distrupt the entire team figtht and you can follow up with them hitting your q's for free.
Taric
His ult will make you invincible and you roam free in team fights. He has a free stun shield and heals which is only amped by spirit visage.
Yuumi
Meow :3
Sejuani
Same reason as zac, Her cc will disrupt team fights hard making it super easy for you to play.
Diana
Her ult is great if she hits alot of people so you can q tons of people and heal for free.
Zilean
Zilean gives you movement speed to free kite and run down people. Also his ult is just always good as its free old aatrox passive (revive)
Galio
Very good for Aatrox if you're playing bruiser. You can easily face tank and Galio can ult you and CC alot of people in a team fight allowing you to destroy backline.
Yasuo
Pretty situational but If you can land your Q2 or Q3 on a group of people
Hopefully your yasuo has a brain and will press r as you easily set up for his ult.
Rell
Same as Zac, easily crowd controls a large group of people allowing you to do whatever you want.
Hello :)
My name is Stain and i have been playing aatrox for about 2 seasons and have about 750k mastery points on him. While im defintely not the greatest on him i believe that i have enough knowledge to atleast help new player snd guide them in a direction so they can succeed on aatrox. So this guide is mostly for newbies.
I will try to update the guide over time so it stays fresh and updated. I am very open to criticism and will take them in mind whenever i make revisions.
I'm currently D3 and started ranked in S12 where i placed gold and then gradually went up a rank since then. I am trying to push for masters this split. I am also handless with no mechanics so if you try to watch my vods dont expect much.
I used to stream on twitch but stopped for a little while. But if i ever do decide to play on twitch again. https://www.twitch.tv/thestaintoblame
Discord: Stain2025
Pros
No mana
Aatrox uses 0 mana so dont worry about wasting mana or any resources.
Amazing Blind Pick
Aatrox actually has little to 0 bad matchups and if they are picked you usally have a way around them. Melees will get bullied by your poke and all ins, and aatrox is one of the best melee top laners to deal with ranged due to his Q e range poking them out and csing.
Disgusting snowball potential + Teamfighting
Aatrox is one of the One Man Army top laners and with a lead he can very quickly snowball and wreak havocs onto every team fight. His aoe makes him an amazing teamfighter and can shred backline while distrupting them. His ult gives him bursts of movement speed allowing him to chase down targets. Overall an amazing frontline to have.
Sustain
Aatrox has great sustain in fights and will drain tank alot of damage only amplified by sundered sky. Although he doesnt heal much off minions but otherwise champion fighting his healing will usually come on top.
CC on multiple abilities
Aatrox of course has 3 knockups which can cut someone's dps down very hard and cancel windups channeling etc. His w counts too i guess (its a dog**** ability) Cons
Falls off later in the game
Aatrox will fall off late game as he wont do as much damage since he has no max health damage apart from his auto attack passive. However he will still be a major threat in teamfights and a nuisance. Just dont really exepect to 1v3 alot when everyone is lvl 18 and has full items.
Higher than most skill ceiling
There has been alot of controversy with aatrox being show boated around as skillless when it simply isnt true. While his skill certainly has gone down with profane and sundered he's still very reliant on hitting abilities and very much in laning phase if you miss out on 1 q sweetspot it can be very likely that the enemy will walk away with little health and theres a free kill. Especially due to this slower very telegraphed q animations you will have to play teamfights a bit smart. Contrary to popular beliefe aatrox cant literally walk into 5 people and come out unscathed unless he's giga fed and the team you're playing against are literal bots.
But other than that aatrox is a very strong pick right now and will be for quite a while so i do recommend you pick him up in your champ pool.
Aatrox generally hates champs that get directly in your face. This is because being directly inside him (drool) will deny his Q1 and Q2 sweet spot. Generally being in his face you will outtrade him albeit you dont get hit by his Q3.
Laning Phase
Level 1-3
This is aatrox's worst part of the laning phase. His cooldowns are extremely long and you will almost never get prio into any champion. You want to just try to cs and let them shove to you. You want to angle yourself so that when you q you hit the laner and not the minions as you dont want to have the wave crash into their tower. Aatrox can easily be run down at this level if he's not careful. Some easy info that people should already know when trading is to fight back whenever your bone plating is proced in a favorable position etc. Never trade too much health for cs early game, and try to punish them when they cs unfavorably.
4-6
Level is when your q's deal damage and you start to hurt them. Hopefully the wave is near your tower where you can start properly punishing the enemy and zone them from cs by poking with q's or all inning. Your best time to trade will be when your wave is crashing or crashse so you can poke and harass before a new one arrives. You can still be run down however and the cd's are still a bit long.
6+
You have no unlocked your ultimate. Aatrox ult is a very good fighting ult as it heavily boosts his stats. If you are confident dont be scared to just pop ult and run your laners down since your q's will hit like a truck at this point. Dont waste e while you have your movement speed boost however as you can likely get in q1 range with it and then you may use your E on q2 or q3. Of course make sure your enemy doesnt have their escape route like a dash. Using your ult to burn their flash/ghost is completely fine aswell. Once you hit level 9 your Q is maxed out and has a relatively low cooldown. This is where you are free to poke the laners out and this is where aatrox shines in the laning phase.
Mid Game
(Im not really a macro expert so take this with a grain of salt)
You are going to want to keep your lead up by taking resources off the map with either waves or jungle camps. Never wander about wasting your time since you always want to be proactive in the game. You as a top laner will obviously want to be on the opposite side of the objective that is spawning so that you can force pressure so that people will have to answer to you. If you're running teleport you can split until you are needed to teleport into the teamfight. However if you're running ignite you want to shove the wave into tower as fast as you can before roaming to the objective. Ignite is a 1v1 spell and thats the tradeoff against teleport. If you take this spell you must win lane or coming for objectives later on will be hard to play with.
Within teamfights you are also the frontline and sometimes the initiator. You will do your best to not get bursted down instantly and peel for your team if there is a threat to your carry. Dont overstay for fights if your team isnt covering with you. Your job is to distrupt enemy backline as best as you can while drain tanking everything.
When you're behind, do not ego, you will just be a cc bot that will peel and tank damage for your actual carries.
Late
This is when aatrox becomes less of a threat and a nuisance. All you will do is peel for your team and drain tank team figthts. This is by far his worst time of the game. You will do nothing but hope you can peel enough so your team cluthces out the fight.
You must be logged in to comment. Please login or register.