This guide is a heavy Work In Progress

As you can also see, I have no fancy borders or logos or pictures and **** all formatting. As such, it looks like garbage (maybe it is).

If I can find the motivation to touch it up, I might.

However, my main focus at the moment is to pour all my knowledge on how to play Ezreal. Please forgive me.

Ezreal is one of the most solid champs in the game, he can be picked into almost any situation and still perform alright. He has few losing matchups at the cost of few winning matchups (though as always 70% of the lane is determined by the skill of your support).

Pros:
- Has 2 blinks (flash and Arcane Shift)
- Insane damage mid game
- Very satisfying to play
- Solid poke and farm ability in the form of Q
- Skill based champion (for those who like mechanical prowess)
- Respected champion
- Straightforward champion

Cons:
- Close to useless early game unless you know what you're doing
- Falls off decently late game
- EXTREME mana issues early
- Can do jack without good support
- Awful last hitting early
- Have to stack tear
- Hard to pick up and hard to master (in my opinion)

So for our keystone we're going obviously with Kleptomancy. Let's take a step back and look at all the keystones indeed so you understand why Kleptomancy.

Precision
Summary
These runes aren't bad for Ezreal and are actually quite good, however they are just outclassed by Inspiration.

Press the Attack
This rune does alright burst and I'm pretty sure it procs on Q... but Ezreal is not supposed to auto that much especially early, normally you want to deal damage while not taking any yourself. And your attack speed without passive stacks is Karthus/Anivia tier.

Lethal Tempo
Self explanatory...

Fleet Footwork
Ok so in theory this rune would provide movement speed and sustain. Not bad, but we can still do better (like getting health pots from klepto).

Conqueror
This rune is god awful on ranged champs unless it can be stacked extremely quickly, which for Ezreal is quite inconsistent.

Domination
Summary
Most unhelpful runes for Ezreal are located here. Secondary not an option either.

Electrocute
So this rune isn't actually bad, can be stacked off of Ezreal's other abilities and does good burst, however not really what we're looking for due to Ezreal's normally garbage all in ability especially early.

Predator
Self explantory...

Dark Harvest
Not bad due to all the poke you do, but proccing it is more inconsistent than electrocute and takes time to scale which Ezreal does not particularly need.

Hail of Blades
See Predator

Sorcery
Summary
Mostly horrible runes here only outdone by Domination. You really don't want to get locked into here (but you do want to dip into it for secondary).

Summon Aery
Not a bad poke keystone but you don't have a shield to use it on or to apply. Also is pretty useless past early game.

Arcane Comet
Kind of useless for Ezreal as you don't have much that goes through minions but more crucially you lack a slow to land the comet damage.

Phase Rush
Honestly in theory not a horrible keystone due to the kiting potential it gives, but Ezreal has plenty of kiting potential from his range, abilities and items already.

Resolve
Summary
Ezreal is not a tank. Secondary runes, while nice aren't useful for an ADC.

Grasp of the Undying
Only viable keystone in this tree and even then it's underwhelming unless you are proccing the auto on cooldown.

Aftershock
Come on...

Guardian
Unless you are playing full tank support Ezreal (i.e. trolling) this is not the keystone for you.

Inspiration
Summary
Here we go, the undisputable best rune tree on Ezreal. All the lesser runes mostly give Ezreal what he wants while not being horrible compared to the other trees.

Glacial Augment
Unless you are setting up hype plays with Hextech Gunblade/ Blade of the Ruined King/ Turbo Chemtank or you are so trash at aiming Q or kiting that you need the slow you don't need this keystone.

Unsealed Spellbook
I can see a heal and then swapping to TP strat as well as the other utlity extra summoners and CDR provides. However, the next keystone beats this by far and that is

Kleptomancy
Well you already knew this is the only keystone viable on Ezreal so this is kind of pointless but pretty much any champion that can get away with klepto takes klepto. Free gold is just way too good to pass up over anything else.

Lesser Runes

So now you have to choose your lesser runes, well obviously 3 from Inspiration and 2 elsewhere.

For the first row you really want Magical Footwear as Hextech Flashtraption is only taken on engage supports and Perfect Timing is garbage and just occupies valuable inventory space until you buy Guardian Angel late game.

Secondly, you'll want to take Biscuit Delivery, these are honestly so helpful for Ezreal's sustain in lane. Eating them provides vital health and CRUCIALLY MANA sustain in lane which means you can extend trades, farm and push more before backing, plus they increase your max mana, what the hell is there not to like about this rune, plus you can get more from klepto. Minion Dematerializer is garbage as Ezreal does not possess AOE waveclear abilities outside of Trueshot Barrage and you are giving up the biscuits for maginally quicker waveclear. Future's Market could also be a viable choice if you find your back timings mean you can't get your tear/sheen but I believe that Biscuit Delivery is just way too good to pass up.

Lastly you'll want to take Cosmic Insight, the universal CDR is too good to pass up as Ezreal will be utilising every point of CDR possible. It also helps that Approach Velocity is trash and would only even begin to work when you get IBG and that Time Warp Tonic is such a MEH compared to the CDR.

For your secondary tree runes you really want to go Sorcery, the reason for this is the epic rune Manaflow Band and Transcendence.

Manaflow Band is honestly the best rune for Ezreal ever, more max mana = more damage from Muramana and the mana sustain in lane is invaluable (and sometimes even out of lane). Transcendence also helps a lot as it provides a crucial +10% CDR which for an AD caster like Ezreal is one of the most important stats. Plus if you somehow overload on CDR it isn't wasted and instead will give you a damage boost.

The reason I don't go Precision as some do is that I feel like the secondary runes are simply subpar compared to Manaflow Band and Transcendence, try it once and you will really feel the absence of more mana and CDR.

Do I really have to explain this?





Oh yeah and you can take Teleport as well sometimes. Only if you have either a Yuumi support or in a duo or in an elo which understands the limitations it brings. Otherwise Heal outclasses this spell in almost all areas. My personal belief is that you are bad if you can't time your backs right and choose to sacrifice a combat summ for a better back every 6 minutes. Unless you are a pro player and desperately need to keep up in farm and XP then you probably don't need this spell.

Passive: Rising Spell Force
Nothing too special about this passive. Simply when you hit something with any ability you get 1 stack of this passive, up to 5. You can also instantly stack it by ulting a wave, for example. Each stack gives a scaling amount of attack speed, which is useful at all points in the game and also means Legend: Alacrity and the attack speed rune is not as crucial to take. You want to stack this when you arrive in lane for lane priority and will also be your source of push against waves, without it stacked you will lose hundreds of minions to the tower. Remember in an extended trade to weave autos in between Mystic Shots!

Q: Mystic Shot
Ezreal's most iconic ability. one of if not the most straightforward ability in the game, just shoot a line of damage toward the cursor, which deals ATTACK DAMAGE and scales with both AD and AP as well as applying onhit effects ( Kleptomancy). Not to mention hitting this ability adds a stack of Rising Spell Force and most crucially reduces all of Ezreal's other abilities' cooldowns by 1.5 seconds (INCLUDING ITSELF)!You will cast many more Mystic Shots than any other ability by factors of 10. Not that much to say about this ability, just aim for poke, last hitting, damage. However you have to watch out when you are fighting someone close range (and by close range I mean right on top of you, like getting dived by a melee champ), it is actually harder to hit Mystic Shot at close range than mid range and if you do miss not only does Mystic Shot go on a higher cooldown but all your other abilities' cooldowns don't get reduced which is LIFE AND DEATH in some fights!

One tip with this ability is in lane, when you are trying to hit the enemy botlane, preferably do it near their minions so that if it misses you don't lose your CD reduction and passive stacks.

Always max this ability first, the CD and damage scale way too well compared to your other spells, as well as being the one you use most by far, NEVER max anything else.

W: Essence Flux
Ezreal fires an orb which will attack to the first objective or champion struck by this. It goes through minions as well which is really helpful and will help augment your trades. When you pop Essence Flux with an ability, that ability's mana cost + 55 mana will be refunded. So this in effect means you have just cast two abilities for free with the only cost being the cooldown ( Essence Flux's mana cost is 50). This is VITAL for your early game Arcane Shift as the magic projectile from it will LOCK ON to targets affected by Essence Flux. So you can guarantee both the damage and the mana refund. Often in lane you will find Ezreals using the QW combo instead, I personally almost never do this in lane, why? Because it's super easy to MISS this combo, costing you over 70 mana (almost as much as an Arcane Shift!) and honestly the bonus damage is not that impactful.

So then when should you use Essence Flux in lane?

Apart from obviously using it on the tower for faster plating, Essence Flux should be used 90% of the time to ensure that your Arcane Shift projectile hits. This is because it locks on to the champion with Essence Flux on them. So it's vitally important for trading and all ins so that your extra Arcane Shift damage does not go to waste on minions. Later on, it's fine to combo Mystic Shot and [Essence Flux]] willy nilly but most of the time you definitely want to save it for both the mana refund on both spells and the guaranteed hit.

You will max this spell last as though the damage scales, so does Arcane Shift's while maxing that gives so many more benefits I'll go into in a second.

E: Arcane Shift
Ezreal blinks a distance in the direction of the cursor and fires a homing projectile that attacks the nearest enemy. Pretty much Flash but on the E key.
Probably your most important spell to be honest, it's the extra flash that makes Ezreal so much more mobile and safe compared to other ADCs, as well as giving a nice chunk of burst with some AP.

In lane, you use this spell to dodge crucial abilities and to trade (bonus points for doing both at the same time!). If your support has been poking enough at level 1, or if you are CONFIDENT on Ezreal and know your limits, you can easily hit level 2 and ALL IN the enemy bot lane with a quick Arcane Shift in if you know that you will land the Arcane Shift damage (when the enemy is away from the minion wave). You can surprise many people with this as Ezreal is not known for his early game power, and get some easy kills.

Prudent use of this spell is absolutely essential when playing Ezreal (almost as much as landing Mystic Shots) as it is your only escape outside of flash. So you have to weigh up the consequences when using it at any time. Can my mana pool take this? Do I have my Essence Flux on the enemy champion, and if not will the projectile hit them? Is this trade worth it? Will I kill the enemy using this, or will I immediately get collapsed on for blowing my mobility spell like a ******? These are all important questions to consider before pressing E.

Something else to take into account when trading with Essence Flux is the maximum distance you can Arcane Shift without getting killed straight away. The projectile will only pop Essence Flux if you shift within a certain distance of it and this is extremely important for mana and safety issues. You REALLY don't wanna blow an 80 mana 18 CD spell early on for nothing.

Max Arcane Shift second so you have both the vital cooldown reduction plus the additional damage which makes up for not maxing Essence Flux.

R: Trueshot Barrage
One also very recognisable ability in Ezreal's kit is this baby, the awesomely and appropriately named Trueshot Barrage.

In the previous iteration of this ability, it was mostly used for waveclear purposes and only rarely used to snipe things due to its less consistent damage, but after the mini rework things have changed. You will be doing a lot of sniping with this thing, both at objectives and low health champions who get too greedy with their back position. In addition, you will rarely if not ever use Trueshot Barrage for waveclear, both because it doesn't even one shot the casters anymore unless you are playing full AP Ezreal.

The most wise decision would be to hold your ultimate for a combat situation where it does very good burst (though you have to be cautious as channeling it makes you vulnerable and it can be easily flashed).

In addition, its cooldown is normally decently long but due to the inbuilt CDR that you get from hitting Mystic Shot it can be very short indeed.

Something small is that you can flash while you are channeling to dodge a skillshot or gap close as Trueshot Barrage will still travel in the direction of your cursor.

Obviously, put a point in this spell every chance you get for the damage and CDR.

Ezreal has a relatively flexible arsenal of items he can build that do things for him and is not particularly shackled to one type of damage which is also why he is so fun. For now though, the HYBRID build as seen above does far more burst damage (and personally is way more fun to play) than the AD build. By the way, full AP Ezreal is trolling so don't try it (your early is horrible and other mages do your job way better).

Minute 0

I personally take this about 40% of the time. Stats are pretty self explanatory - the hp, ad and lifesteal are all juicy stats for Ezreal. I only take this item if the enemy bot lane seems to not have much poke at all and/or is primarily based on all ins. For example, a lane with Lucianand Pyke or Twitch and Blitzcrank. This is because you will not need the extra health regeneration since most fights will be composed of heavy trades or all ins. Therefore, the +8 AD and +3% Lifesteal will do a far better job than Doran's Shield which only shares in common the +80 HP.

I take this the other 60% of the time. This is due to the cancer poke lanes being still quite prevalent in today's meta. The +80 HP as well as the regen passive is invaluable for staying in lane as it helps with managing your health resource. You already have to worry enough about your mana anyway. Disgusting poke lanes I would take this into include Caitlyn and Janna (a particularly annoying duo), Ashe and Zyra, or even something like Sivir and Nautilus or Tristana and Brand, generally the presence of at least 1 poke champion is reason enough for me to go Doran's Shield.

Absolute garbage, never buy this item, not for start or anything else. The stats you get are abysmal and the time to the gold return is just too damn long, simply awful for even other champions but especially for Ezreal. You just simply cannot afford to sink 450 gold into trash when you can buy a Sapphire Crystal and Faerie Charm for just 25 gold more.

I have never taken this item before, but from a purely theoretical standpoint the item seems perfect for Ezreal, who can make use of all 3 benefits. The HP regen, Mana Regen and increased POKE damage from his Mystic Shot seem to good to pass up, and all for just 500 gold? Although, since I am not a korean Challenger player there must surely be a reason this is not taken all the time on Ezreal. Edit: Indeed, it appears there is. Take a step back and look at the stats: Though it is true that Corrupting Potion gives insane sustain and value for Ezreal, he will sorely miss the extra last hit assistance provided by both Doran's Blade and Doran's Shield. And we know that Ezreal's last hitting early game is garbage. Also, some would argue that a constant +80 HP is far better than a potential [green]375 HP[/green]. Therefore, a theoretical case in which Corrupting Potion could possibly be better than other starts is where you are against a poke, high waveclear botlane where you know that you will have few opportunities to fight or win and instead need to sustain through laning phase.

Laning Phase

Pretty basic item, but essential and ubiquitous in your build, just gives you a cool +250 Mana. Of course, the more the merrier, but what's better is that it builds into great items for Ezreal. Often you will buy this if you don't have enough gold for the items it immediately builds into. This would include Sheen, Tear of the Goddess and Glacial Shroud. If you go into the hybrid build maybe even Luden's Tempest.

Wtf is this item and why should I build it? Good question. Provides +25% Mana Regeneration when bought and stacks with other Faerie Charms, all for the low price of 125 gold. What's more, it builds into Tear of the Goddess (though you lose the mana regen). Why is this so good? Well, when you back early game and are too poor/have extra money, buy a Faerie Charm or two. They provide extra mana sustain in lane, which Ezreal LOVES, and sell for 88 gold. So in effect, you are spending only 37 gold for the equivalent of a few mana potions in lane, talk about value.

Not bought nearly as often as Sapphire Crystal, but is quite useful. You buy this because it provides better trades in lane and more overall tankiness. If you have 350 gold, you should decide whether you have to get your Sheen/ Tear of the Goddess ASAP or you need the extra safety Cloth Armor provides. Plus, it builds into both Glacial Shroud and Ninja Tabi which helps SO much against AD champions. Further detail in the respective items.

This is the most important chapter and separates the bad Ezreal players from the good. The concept of mana management early game is of vital importance if Ezreal is to trade or even farm in lane so that he can survive to his powerspikes and to a point where mana is of relatively little importance.

Oh yeah, if you want a GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD to ignore this chapter and stay in silver levels of macro and lane decision-making then feel free to take Teleport.

Let's run this through from the start of the game:

00:00-02:00

At this point you will probably only have a point in Mystic Shot unless you are an ape. Therefore, the only time you will be using mana at this point is trying to get free Kleptomancy procs before the game begins. Take care not to spam Mystic Shot too much as you cannot afford to be short mana before lane even begins.
If you leash your jungler, my suggestion is to use only 2 Mystic Shots on the buff before you leave at around 1:38.

02:00-10:00

Laning phase. This is definitely the most crucial point at which you must use your mana carefully so listen up.
Unless you are a pro player, or playing in an ALL IN AT LEVEL 2 duo partner who knows what they are doing, you should not be spamming Mystic Shot to push the wave with Rising Spell Force. reason being you will run out of mana at 4 minutes. Just farm normally, respecting level advantages etc. Don't use your Essence Flux needlessly if you don't plan to proc it with Arcane Shift. Use your Arcane Shift ONLY to disengage or for an extended trade or ALL IN scenario you know you won't be punished for, or you will die.

If you notice a slow push favouring you (i.e. you have few more minions than them), and you have EQUAL or GREATER waveclear than the enemy botlane, then congratulations! You just got given a free back. Just push the minions slowly until a massive wave is going to crash into their tower, and then take your leave.

If the enemy botlane has GREATER wavelear than you, you still have to stay. For example, a Sivir or Jinx will just press a few buttons and the wave will reset, and you will lose XP and gold.

Now, if the minion wave is pushing against you, you may be in a tough spot. Hopefully, you can spot this before it becomes too much of an issue, spamming auto attacks and Mystic Shot as needed. Do everything you can in your power to avoid the minions crashing into your tower, as Ezreal's last hitting early game is truly awful (especially when considering mana restraints) already, your slow attack speed and relatively high Mystic Shot cooldown will spell your doom, not to mention getting harassed for every CS you take.

However, sometimes it is truly unavoidable that you will miss a lot of CS. Maybe the enemy Sivir can press two buttons. Maybe your Gold Support is playing so far back from the minion wave that to walk up would be inting. Maybe you ran out of mana. Maybe you are just having a bad day.

So therefore, it's important to learn when playing Ezreal that sometimes it's fine to just cut your losses and take that back. Buy a Sheen and a Refillable Potion and come back to lane with a full mana pool and more Mystic Shot power. It's OK.

10:00-20:00

This is the second most important period to be mana conscious. At this point, you will have a decent mana pool with your levels and a Tear of the Goddess, passable last hitting with Sheen, perhaps even a Pickaxe as well if you are incredibly lucky. The point is, hard times are over! Yay!

Still, we're in the clear yet.

When to Buy Tear, and How to Stack it?