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Ignite Matchup
Pfft, what is Jared gonna do to you? You out range, out bully, out shuffle her into free 300g for you or your jungler past 6. Bully her HARD levels 1 and 2, and kinda bully her but don't use too much mana when she has shield off cooldown. Just be weary for flash stun ganks.
Heimerdinger
Ignite Matchup
Run down mid level 1, he'll try to setup turrets. Destroy them with soldiers. LUL free gold. Spam W Q AA with Ludens rush, farm off his towers, shove this mofo in.
He will shove you in for the first few levels, but that's ok, this ***** *** will miss half his cs anyways.
Very easy to shuffle gank.
Neeko
Ignite Matchup. Cleanse if they got cc jungler/cc team.
Pretty annoying matchup, its the stonewall of midlane. You beat her with smaller consistant poke, but she beats you in extended trades (aka land one ****ing root and she Q's and half your HP is gone).
Easy shuffle ganks.
Morgana
TP/Cleanse.
She's so boring. Morg players will prob beat their **** off while playing LoL, spamming W off cooldown shoving doing nothing. Rush Stinger try to out shove, or match her shove. Kind of can't shuffle if her black shield is on cooldown, so unless Morg is literally braindead spamming E, don't try to shuffle her. Also, make sure you're never in her R range. If she R Q cc chain, you're 100% dead if anyone else is nearby. Save E when she presses R.
Syndra
Ignite matchup.
Levels 1 and 2, bully her like how you got bullied in 2nd grade playground. Don't let her farm. W AA for one Q trade is ALWAYS worth, as you have higher kill potential pre 6. After 3, make sure you're not infront of both her balls and her, or else she can throw balls harder than Team Liquid could in CSGO, and stun you for big burst trades you can't match.
You win by small W Q AA poke trades, dodge her stun. Past 6, you can't 1v1 her easily, but she's free 300g when you shuffle to jungler.
Zoe
Ignite Matchup.
Bully her hard. BUT, don't stand next to, or infront of minions. If she disappears for a few seconds, walk back as she's using Q. Stand behind minions, place soldiers down to harass her with AA's. W Q AA spam her until you get arrested by officers.
When setting up shuffles past 6, don't use R right away. Trick is, W E Q into her, she'll most likely R away, and when she comes back, THEN you ult.
Viktor
Ignite or TP matchup.
If he starts Q, don't trade W AA for his Q. His shield will make him win those trades. You outshove him, and its hard for mages to farm under tower. Bully him with some AA's, and when he's under tower, W Q AA him to the dirt. Note his burst and mobility is kind of gay. He's easy picking past 6 for free shuffles though. If he hits a Q, chances are he won the trade. Bully him and play VERY aggressive until he manages to back with first hexcore. After that, just try to outshove each other.
Orianna
Ignite matchup.
Literally so useless. Walk to her minions, place soldiers so she can't even try to AA your minions level 1. Her Q for one AA always worth. Play AGRO. Don't let this dumb chick farm, ever. W Q AA spam her to the dirt. Free ganks free kills past 6, shuffle into your jungler. Only thing to watch out for her is her balls. Don't greed platings past 6, if she ults you while you're under tower, you're probably dead. Otherwise, you also outshove her if you can't kill her, so this is one of Azirs easiest matchups.
Anivia
Ignite/TP matchup,
You bully her hard pre 6, make sure you either hard shove her under turret, or harass constantly. After level 6, she'll try to spam waveclear. If she uses R on wave, use W Q AA on her to punish her for destroying your wave. A little trick most Anivias won't expect is if they R and W to try trap you in her ult, is to just W E Q right into her. Most of her damage relys on her ult, you diving right ontop of her will catch them off guard. Don't use E if they haven't used W, as they can cancel it. If its already placed down, go use E. Free kills for junglers past 6, easy shuffle.
Brand
Ignite/Barrier
Treat him same as any other mage. Easy shuffle, W Q AA spam poke, etc. No one plays him mid anymore anyways.
Cassiopeia
Ignite/Cleanse/TP.
Level 1, play insanely aggro and get her half hp, and shove the wave. Level 2, freeze the wave and W Q AA her from a distance. Make sure you don't get hit by her Q, or she'll run your *** down. Play around your ranged minions when you use Q to harass her.
When you W E Q shuffle her, as SOON as you ult, turn around. Boom, you dodged her predictable ult, now kill her *** as she's easy pickings past 6 for shuffles.
Karthus
Who plays this kid mid anymore?
Jungle is meta.
Katarina
Ignite/Exhaust matchup.
Level 1, make sure you're not in her Q range, AA her everytime she walks up for CS. So free to harass her.
Level 2 she wouldn't dive you, unless you're directly ontop of her daggers. A trick that pisses off kat players is to place soldiers ontop of your minions when they're low to harass her trying to CS, and ontop of daggers when she throws them. So if she ever E's in on them, you get a free AA.
General tip for melee matchups, if you ever get to AA them use Q immediately and AA another to proc electrocute.
IF KATARINA USES E DIRECTLY ONTOP OF YOU, without landing on a dagger so she doesn't get resets, ult IMMEDIATELY so she is a sitting duck.
Ekko
Ignite matchup.
Harass him at all costs. Don't let him farm. If he spams Q on your wave, also shove since he's trying to shove and roam, so make the lane even so he can't. Place soldiers ontop of minions when they're low, force him to farm with Q. If he suddenly disappears for a bit, he's walking back to place W, so also walk back. If he's gone for a while, just go back and shove the wave in, as he backed or is roaming. If he manages to E ontop you, E away, pause, AA Q AA him to proc electrocute. Constantly harass, constantly harass, cannot emphasize that enough.
Fizz
Ignite/Barrier matchup
Exact same information for Katarina and Ekko. Harass him as he's melee.
Always have E up though. Fizz players will just randomly ult, and if it sticks onto you, E Q away. Your E will shield a good amount of hp, and you're safe. Don't EVER let him get within his Q range to you. Just constantly harass. Don't use ult if he didn't use E yet.
Vel'Koz
Ignite/TP matchup.
Treat him like other mages. Rule number one, do not stand next to minions. Force him to pick, shove you win or poke you. If he shoves you in, poke him. If he pokes you, shove him in. Never let him accomplish 2 things using abilities.
Level 1 if he starts Q, shove that ***** in. If he starts W, harass him hard. W Q AA poke and back off. Continue this process. At around first-second backs, he will be able to shove you in, however he is easy 300g for your jungler with ez af shuffles.
Twisted Fate
Cleanse matchup.
Unironically, TF is the easiest to solo kill out of any other mage. He presents the lowest solo kill potential, yet we go cleanse. Similar to Azir, he has insanely good gank pressure with gold card.
Level 1 he will red card your backline, so do not stand near them for him to do free damage. Poke him down, shove him in early until around levels 4. Level 5 he would be able to match your shove (kinda), but you always wanna shove him in anyways. After level 6, do lane wards and start perma shoving. Easy af gank setups for you past 6, very immobile and does no damage. Before then, you can also abuse him hard W Q AA spamming him into the dirt, he cannot match your poke unless he gold card Q, and he will not ever be in range to be in gold card range without tanking AA's walking up to you.
Vladimir
Ignite/Barrier matchup. Ignite for low kill pressure junglers, barrier for burst (assassins or karthus junglers).
Only anomaly of ranged matchups. Take electrocute instead of comet. Actually very easy matchup, and one of Vlads most difficult. Do NOT use Q, like at all in this matchup. Spam W near your minions and constantly shove/harass him. He will NEVER be able to get within Q range, much less E. Once hes about to get empowered Q, start walking back since he will tank minions trying to cast it on you, then once he uses it on minions, AA Q AA him and you done more damage than he has healed. If he is level 6, about to have empowered Q, and is randomly charging up E, flash. He is about to flash E Q R W away. Easiest prediction. Oh by the way, Vlads waveclear sucks ***. Shove him in and roam a lot if you can't kill him. He will cry bloody tears under tower while you get double kill bot lane. Also rush Morello 2nd.
Swain
Ignite/Exhaust/TP/cleanse/ literally everything is good into him
You outshove, but he wins extended trades. He can potentially win 1v2's if he has ult, so not that free to gank, but if your jungler is strong early, def easy to shuffle. If he lands E, he wins trade no matter what, otherwise he literally cannot touch you so you out poke him.
Talon
Ignite/Barrier matchup.
Literally easiest AD matchup for Azir. IF you know what you're doing. Levels 1 to 3 setup soldiers on minions, force him to farm with W or else he tanks autos. If he throws rake, walk away to the side or backwards. If he hits you twice, he wins, even if you do more damage as landing passive stacks on you is beneficial for him. Never be within his Q range, its very small. If he Q's a minion and kills it, the CD is cut down by half. Constantly shove him in, rush stinger to match his shove. He literally cannot do anything against you, except throw W's which do no damage. If he does manage to land 2 W's, just walk back and wait out the passive duration. Ward inlane, or side bushes/river to stop his roams. If he suddenly disappears, he is doing either 2 things. 1, he is roaming, or 2, he is flanking behind your walls to try kill you. Use your judgement, and also save W E Q if its the latter. This matchup becomes very very easy if you're experienced, as his playstyle is so linear and predictable. If he roams a lane without shoving first, he loses a lot of exp and cs, and you can get platings, so its usually worth. Otherwise, ping MIA once he dips lane.
Sylas
TP matchup.
Ever since he got a magic shield, he became too difficult to kill in a 1v1. He has burst damage, healing, shield and gap closers. Doesn't mean its still a win in terms of a matchup though. He can't really kill you, unless he lands his E which is a short range. If he E's, walk back and sideways to try dodge it. If he lands/when in doubt, E away as well. You two both shove fairly equally, and Sylas can setup ganks/skirmish better than you can, and its very difficult to try solo kill him like I mentioned. However, he's still melee. Setup soldiers around minions and give him a difficult time farming. Rush stinger early to match his shove. Be very weary if he steals your ult. If he lands his E gap closer, he can also insec you.
Akali
Barrier matchup.
When I say barrier, I'm not really saying Akali beats Azir, but rather Akali is just too ****ing slippery for you to kill her. Harass her early, walk back if she uses shroud. Shroud has a very long cd (20+s) so when she uses it, make a mental note for the next 20 seconds, you can play agro and setup soldiers aggressively. If she lands her E on you, E Q back into your turret and meme her own play by making her tank turret shots. Try to use ult when she's E'ing in, or after her first ult charge. Remember, you can also ult her out of her shroud. Otherwise, not a difficult matchup, but an annoying one. You can outshove her and you'll usually have priority for fights and roams.
Ahri
Ignite matchup.
Personally, its a very easy matchup to solo kill, however she has gank setup potential. Constantly harass her level 1. Stand next to, but not ontop of minions so she can't charm you but also cannot Q both you and minions. W Q AA spam her to dirt levels 1 2 and 3. At level 3, if shes 30% hp, W E Q AA ign in, she's dead. Force 1 for 1 trades all the time early. Post 6, kinda boring afk shove simulator matchup. Be careful past 6 though, she'll probably insta ult and try solo kill. If she has ult up, ALWAYS have 1 charge of soldier up incase you get ganked, so you can W E Q right away.
Aurelion Sol
Ignite matchup.
Actually very easy, if you use your head. Asol shoves you in early levels using W on wave, its common sense. But what people don't ever do, is punish him for it, and let him shove you in under to your tower. Setup soldiers to the left and to the right of your minions. If he shoves, or tries to, just constantly AA him, like nonstop harass him. Play insanely aggressive, don't touch a single minion levels 1 or 2. They won't expect it, and you'll do a **** ton of dmg. After level 3, trade patterns are linear. If he lands Q, he wins the trade. If he doesn't all in him or harass him to win the trade. A trick I found is to E to the side when he Q's, and then Q straight into him. Asols weak point is right next to him, he'll lose that trade.
Lissandra
Cleanseeee
cancer af matchup she cc lock you into gank spam absolute Degen
Zed
Barrier.
Rush seekers. He'll cry under tower. If he ults you, immediately ult him away, and use W E Q. Congrats, he's useless. Eren101 on YT has made a guide on him, go check him out.
Yasuo
Exhaust matchup.
Tell him in all chat you'll send Riven titty pics on discord if he ints. Congrats, you won lane.
Malzahar
TP
cancer af matchup he cc lock you into gank spam
jk this ain't liss
Ignite matchup. Malz solo kill pressure VERY low. Setup soldiers levels 1-3 next to him. Walk up, and setup soldiers. if he E's or Q's you, your AA will out dmg it, much less if you do 2 AA's. At around level 3 to 4, if you aa'd him enough, at around 30% hp, he'll die from W E Q AA ign. Buy QSS later if you really need to, or if you're the teams win condition. Only reason its listed major, is because theres literally no counterplay to his ult, other than QSS. You hard stomp him in lane, out shove out poke out everything, but he denies you being able to 1v9. Absolute cancer. Also you can't dive him for **** past 6.
Xerath
HEAL HEAL HEAL HEAL HEAL (or cleanse if they get tig bitty Elise)
Same stuff as other mages. Force him to use abilities on you, or on wave. If he uses Q early on wave, literally walk up and spawn a soldier ontop of him. If you guys both have everything up, always be at his max range. Your W Q AA will out dmg his Q + E dmg, but not Q + W dmg. Dodge either Q or W, you win the trade. Super immobile mage, easy af gank setups after 6. A trick is to E Q side ways in kind of a 90 degree angle, so its harder for him to land his E when you shuffle in. Either that or flash to dodge his E when you shuffle. BUY BOOTS EARLY.
Veigar
Waddle waddle. You know why Veigar waddles when he walks? Its because his **** is too big inside his pants, so he needs to waddle.
Cleanse. W Q AA spam him. Easy to shuffle, literally the most basic mage ever. Except very annoying and if you get camped you're ****ed. This matchup is literally better jungler wins.
Ryze
TP matchup.
My **** is Ryzing.
Kassadin
DODGE OR BAN. DODGE OR BAN.
Irelia
Exhaust matchup.
She literally cannot do anything to you. If she Q's a bunch of minions and Q's you in, walk back and W Q AA AA AA her as she walks back. If she lands stun however, she'll win the trade, so either E away or dodge her stun. If she uses Q on you without ult or E stacks, insec her as she no longer has Q up. Otherwise, perma shove and perma harass, she can't realistically do anything other than farm and beg for jungler ganks.
Aatrox
idk ask hashinshin I don't see him mid anymore
no clue difficulty of matchup
LeBlanc
If LB is ever a good or top tier mid laner, dodge or ban. If not (like as of 9.15), she's very hard matchup for Azir. If she W's in, W AA her, but do NOT let her attack you 3 times, otherwise she procs electro and gets to W back with free dmg level 1.
Level 2 and onwards, its W Q AA her, and run. If she has mark on you, walk back until it expires. Then you win trades as no mark LB doesn't do that much dmg.
Taliyah
Ignite matchup.
Same principles I'm getting tired of typing. Harass the **** out of her early, W Q AA spam her to the dirt. If she uses W or Q on wave, harass her, then use the soldiers to wave clear. Super easy shuffles. After 6, start lane and river warding though, and it'll become an afk shove fest. If she roams, just take platings and waves.
Jayce
Barrier/TP
Jayce beats everyone early, I mean its ****ing Jayce.
If he's smart, he'll always be in ranged form and AFK farm it out, since he can't really do much to Azir. Stand next to/a bit away from minions so his empowered Q big balls don't smear your face. Hard to setup shuffles, he can knock you guys away, and burst you good. But its possible. If he's ever in melee form though, harass the **** out of him.
Nocturne
Barrier/Cleanse/TP.
Kind of a hard matchup. If he's good, he'll save spell shield for your ult and dive you with R. He shoves you in hella fast, and roams fast as well. If he ever ults you, ALWAYS hit him first with W Q AA, THEN ult otherwise you ulted his spell shield. Rush stinger/seekers. Perma shove him in.
Lux
Ignite/Cleanse (cleanse if you play Ezreal, Ignite if you play Draven when you're filled bot)
Exact same thing as Velkoz, Ori, etc.
Ziggs
Ignite/TP matchup.
Exact same thing as other mages. Except instead of focusing on harass, focus on waveclear/shoving. Ziggs takes towers hella fast, so don't let him near it. Otherwise, kinda easy shuffle ganks, but he can E out if he's good enough. W Q AA spam him, stand behind minions so his Q doesn't hit.
Diana
Ignite/TP matchup
Treat her like Ekko or Kat, except insanely aggro pre 6 and passive post 6. AA when she goes for cs/whenever you can, harass her, etc.
Zilean
TP matchup.
Boring. So ****ing boring. Shove and roam. W Q AA spam poke harass. AFK farm, better team wins. Stonewall of mid lane.
Rumble
Ignite/TP.
AA harass him. He counters melee matchup, cannot lane verse ranged. He literally cannot touch you. AA him. AA him. W again, AA him. Did I mention you should auto him? Freelo matchup.
Corki
Ignite/TP matchup.
Super easy to kill, treat him as if he's a mage and use same principles here. Only problem, is he's so ****ing impossible to shuffle with his damn W. So it becomes afk farm poke simulator past 6. But pre 6 you can probably manage a sneaky solo kill using the same advice I listed for picks like Ori and Vel.
Hey guys, I'm Xerhu (also known ingame as "I LOVE MANDINGO" or "DRAVENS BBC XD" or "DravensBukkake." Don't ask my thought process on IGN's). I am an Azir otp who is active on r/Azirmains, have hit masters with an 80% winrate in ranked, and have over 600k+ points accumulated across all my accounts.
I have the highest solo kill rate, and highest KDA of top 20 Azir mains in d2+ in NA (as of July/Aug 2019). I am a super aggressive and lane dominant player, and have a playstyle most Azir's do not have.
Here are some op.gg's of my accounts before.Just a heads up, this guide will NOT look good and flashy like other guides. Rather than adding insanely 4head information like "so his W is a soldier, it does damage," I'll rather make indepth walls of text that is mostly this guide specific, and not some generic 4head information. So be prepared for walls of text. Flash Obviously, how else do you do mad 5 man insecs to feed but its good for montages?
Ignite For if you want early kill pressure. Great into easy matchups such as Talon. BUT OVERALL, IGNITES THE BEST RUNE. You need gold to 1v9 off of. Why be a ***** and respect your mid laner by taking spells like Barrier? You know everyone else is dog****, take Ignite, be brave, and solo kill them 5 times until they sit in tier 2 turret for rest of laning.
Barrier or Heal. Barrier if you're against high burst pressure, such as Zed, or Karthus, and take Heal if you're against a control mage or someone who wouldn't take offensive spells such as Orianna, or Xerath so you have better 2v2 fights. Exhaust against Yasuo, Irelia. Also can take it for picks such as Zed, but I personally would take barrier for Zed Cleanse TAKE IT FOR Lissandra OR Twisted Fate, or anyone else with hard cc tbh
Remember, it doesn't work against suppression Nether Grasp Malzahar Teleport When in doubt, take TP. If you're in a matchup you cannot solo kill ( Zilean, Mordekaiser, either too tanky or too passive, take TP to just outfarm and outscale).
W > Q > AA (or W > AA > Q)
Azir's Poke Combo
Bread and butter fast poke combo on Azir.
Difficulty 1/10
W > AA (proc scorch) > Q > AA (proc electrocute + cheap shot)
Electrocute Bread and Butter combo
The easiest way to proc electrocute against assassins (or melee champs in general). Alternatively, you can Q first but a second auto isn't guaranteed.
Difficulty 1.5/10
W > E > pause > Q > AA
Gap Close Poke Combo
Combo to E into a soldier at range, stop, then Q AA. Makes for surprising poke onto the enemy, especially if you have blue buff to be able to do this.
Difficulty 3/10
W > Q > E
Shuriman Q E Drift
Q a soldier away, and while its moving you E towards it.
Difficulty 2/10
W > E > Q
Shuriman E Q Drift
Azirs way to either gap close to kill an enemy, traverse through walls and be mobile, or act as a disengage. The base combo to learn that reflects off most other combos.
Difficulty 3/10
W > E > Q can drift through walls.
W > E > Q Fast Combo
Key emphasis here is to ensure E Q and AA all hit the target at nearly the same time. Makes for very fast bush or lane dmg onto an unsuspecting enemy. Hard to pull off in practise however due to enemies having FEET. However, if you manage to pull it off, very fast burst damage.
Difficulty 7/10
W > E > Q > R
The Shuriman Shuffle
Used to shuffle enemies to setup for ganks, or initiate team fights. Very powerful tool to engage with, and is Azirs most iconic move.
One of the riskiest setups in the game, as missing key targets or failed drifts mean very high probability of death.
Difficulty 4/10
W > E > Q > flash > R
Long Distance Shuriman Shuffle
With flash, you can drift over an entire monitor screen away of distance to shuffle enemies.
Difficulty 6/10
W > E > R > Q > AA
Position Swap Ult Combo
Used to swap position with the enemy, and safely auto attack them from range. Best used in a 1v1 scenario against a ranged target.
Difficulty 5/10
W > E > R > Q
Revenant Shuffle
Only for montage plays. Inconsistent to pull off regularly as Azir, and low League server tick rates makes it difficult. However,
in the theory the best shuffle to pull off as it brings you and the target of choice into your backline.
Difficulty 9/10
W > AA > E > R > Q > AA > AA
Quick Full Damage Combo
Azirs quick full damage combo, utilizing all 4 abilities.
High risk, high reward combo.
Difficulty 8/10
W > W > W > AA > R > E > Q > AA > AA
Bush / Fog Full Damage Combo
Surprise enemies with 3 soldier out of bush combo. One of the fastest combos you can do with Azir's dead frames in between abilities, with highest damage output, allowing easy full combo kill upon a squishy target.
Difficulty 8/10
It is generally never a good idea to go both Nashors and Ludens, you just lose too much because of it. The criteria to decide whether to go Nashors or Ludens, is here:
So, if you seen this guide before, you know there was a huge chunk of text here. Where did it go? I’m recreating this. It's easier to update via google docs, than mobafire.
2019-10-08
- Changed title to 9.20
- Adjusted rune pages (swapped out Rav hunter and replaced with Ghost poro)for optimization
- Fixed not working links
2019-10-22
- Updated Title to 9.21
- Changed title name from "Indepth Diamond Azir Guide (ACTUALLY updated)" to "Emperor Azir - Combos, Builds, Runes, Matchups, Always Updated!"
2019-11-02
- Added new images, Azir Rune choices on matchups and Nashors vs Ludens!
- Added more notes.
- Revamped Asthetics! Made everything pretty, with picture titles and everything.
- Improved Quality of guide
- Added "VERY ***** Against AD/AP" build paths.
2019-11-07
- Updated title
2019-11-20
- Season 10!!!
- Conqueror!!!
2019-12-13
- Updated title to 9.24
- Changed info regarding triumph vs PoM
- Removed primary focus on Conq, its back to the trinity of runes
- Changed around matchups. Raised Diana difficulty by one after her rework, reduced certain mages difficulty ratings.
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