Hello,

My name is GeDBo. I am an Azir Main who plays in the NA server. I first started playing this game in September 2014. This is when Azir came out and I thought "Dang! This character looks epic. I kind of want to download LoL and see what he is all about". Little did I know that I will be still playing him after 7 years. Suggestion for new players - don't do the same mistake I did. If you want to learn how to play the game, probably Azir isn't the best champion to start with. It took me nearly 6 months to a year to learn him. I have him Mastery Level 7 with 160,000 points and I still manage to learn new thing about Azir.

Strengths

The champion is incredibly effective as a counter pick because of his safety in lane, and ability to shove and poke. To add on to those, he can also stall lanes, and roam semi-effectively making him a very solid COUNTER pick. His other strengths include IMO one of the best ultimates in the game, capable of changing a team fight by separating annoying champions from the main battle, or saving his team from a bad situation by removing the enemy from the fight. He is also has one of the best sieges and siege defensive capabilities, with amazing wave control, and the ability to place weak turrets, as backups, or extra line of defense.

Weaknesses:

His damage tends to be very weak in the early-mid game simply because of his ability limitations. Players have to stand still for his damage to reach its potential, and his itemization tends to lead towards less AP more attack speed, meaning against very mobile enemies, his one hit pokes won't be very effective. He is also a very poor first pick, because he is very easy to shut-down in lane early on, especially against champs with good level 2 level 3 aggression. He also lacks CC, meaning assassins won't be having a hard time with him at all, unless the player is immaculate. Azir is also one of the hardest champions to learn, because of how much control you need over each aspect of your champion positioning, ability timing, and cool down attention.

Lethal Tempo is a rune that will give you incredible amount of attack speed after damaging an enemy champion. It is worse than Hail of Blades when it comes to early game and short trades, but Lethal Tempo is better rune to pick because of 2 reason: 1) Lethal Tempo will give you the opportunity to select Presence of Mind as one of your rune choices. Meaning you will not have any mana issues throughout the game. 2) Lethal Tempo's effect lasts as long as the combat does, when Hail of Blades will last for no more than 3 attacks.


Conqueror is another sustain option. It provides healing and adaptive damage. Riot made Conqueror more of a rune for malee champions. Malee heal 9% of the damage dealt while ranged champions heal only 6%. Azir stacks Conqueror fast because his Arise! is considered close ranged attack. The healing however stays at 6% since Azir himself is considered ranged.


This rune page is for poke purposes. It is ideal for avoiding trades with enemy champions like Annie and Cassiopeia or champions with higher range than you - Xerath, Orianna, Syndra, Zoe etc. Gathering Storm is a really important part of this rune page. It will double your AP every 10 minutes starting from 8 AP = 10 minutes, 24 AP = 20 minutes, 48 AP = 30 minutes, 80 AP = 40 minutes, 120 AP = 120 Minutes, 168 AP = 1 hour and so on. Now in comparison to Scorch, Gathering Storm is better mid/late game, while Scorch is better early game. It is really your call but I personally prefer Gathering Storm.


unlike Lethal Tempo, Hail of Blades gives you instant attack speed (110%). It is better for short trades in early game. However, the part that I personally dislike about Hail of Blades is that it becomes useless in team fights. Now, if you are thinking "Will really team fights matter if you did well early on, and now you are fed?" you are absolutely 100% correct. It all comes down to your personal preference. I personally prefer Lethal Tempo because you have the advantage to pick Presence of Mind and have the opportunity to have Sorcery as your secondary choice. As mentioned above, Lethal Tempo last as long as you are in combat. But it is really up to you.


Electrocute is arguably the best option if you are aiming to burst your enemies. If you go Electrocute I would personally build Luden's Tempest. It gives bigger burst. Electrocute is really effective against champions like LeBlanc, Zed, Ekko, Sylas, Kassadin etc. If you plan on building Rylai's Crystal Scepter you might want to pick Cheap Shot instead of Taste of Blood, as it will give you true damage on champions with affected movement or actions.

Flash is a must have. It will help you engage or to escape from a lot of different scenarios. A successful combo of Arise! + Conquering Sands + Shifting Sands + Flash + Emperor's Divide might mean a turnover point in a game, especially in team fights. Very efficient spells used on 95% of the champions in the game.

Ignite is a commonly taken summoner spell in mid lane. If you want to go for burst and you want to snowball early game then Ignite is a good choice. Unless the enemy team has champions with healing abilities and/or life steal, Ignite falls behind in late game in comparison to Barrier or Teleport

By taking Barrier, you prevent getting burst. It is the most commonly picked summoner spell on Azir since it is practical in both early and late game.

Teleport is for advanced Azir players. Azir is all about farming and scaling. Teleport will help you have the CS advantage from your enemy, as well as it will give you the opportunity to roam, securing kills and objectives.

Exhaust scales very well, but it's not great in lane phase for anything other than staying safe and farming. I wouldn't say it is bad, it is just situational and trickier to use. It is better than Ignite IF you know how/when to use it. Keep in mind this Summoner Spell doesn't make your champion stronger. It makes the enemy weaker. Don't use it in aggression unless you are certain that you will be successful in what you are aiming to do.

Barrier and Heal are basically the same, barrier has 30 second lower CD, heal works on 2 people and gives movement speed. Heal would be better than barrier in some scenarios one of which might be you saving an ally's life. Keep in mind: Heal can be countered by items that provide Grievous wounds. Here are some examples of Grievous Wounds:
items - Bramble Vest, Thornmail, Executioner's Calling, Chempunk Chainsword, Mortal Reminder, Oblivion Orb, Chemtech Putrifier, Morellonomicon
spells - Ignite
abilities - Katarina's Death Lotus, Kled's Bear Trap on a Rope, Varus's Hail of Arrows

Starting Items


These are the basic options on what to buy in the start of the match. Doran's Ring provides you with 5 bonus physical damage against minions, meaning if you run into mana issues you shouldn't be troubled to farm with Azir since your AA attacks are instant. Also, Doran's Ring will provide you with +6 mana points for every minion killed. If your mana bar is full, then it will provide you with +3 health points. Stealth Ward is a necessity as well as Health Potion

This scenario serves poke purposes. You are certain to run in mana issues so use the Corrupting Potion wisely. You have only 3 each time you leave the base. I must say that I personally am not a fan of this option. Azir is squishy enough already. Starting without Doran's Ring that provides you with 70 Health will make your matchup more difficult than it should be.


First Back Options


Lost Chapter will provide you with Mana and Ability power. Boots will give you movement speed that is essential to dodge enemy abilities. Control Ward is a MUST HAVE after every recall. Vision is the key to win is the key to map control, consequently resulting in a juicy win!
Hextech Alternator will provide bonus magic damage upon damaging an enemy. Good for poke, however mana issues are likely to occur. Boots will give you movement speed that is essential to dodge enemy abilities. Control Ward is a MUST HAVE after every recall. Vision is the key to win is the key to map control, consequently resulting in a juicy win!



Mythic Items Options



Liandry's Anguish is meant to be used for mages that will deal sustain damage. This items will be the perfect choice if you decide to go for the Lethal Tempo/ Conqueror rune pages. Not only that but has a very annoying passive of burning your enemies which will help you a lot when poking. It's Mythic passive grants you with 5 ability has for each legendary item. The less cooldown your abilities have with Azir, the more opportunities of for different combos you will have.
Luden's Tempest is good for poke and burst purposes. Luden's Tempest also has a very useful mythic passive of granting your legendary items with 5 magic penetration each. It goes well with the following rune pages: Arcane Comet, Hail of Blades and Electrocute
Use this option only for poke purposes and mainly when against champions who can burst you ( Annie for example). It will help you deal bonus magic damage and it will provide you will 300 health points. This will make Azir harder to reach and even if you manage to do so, harder to burst. It's Mythic passive grants you with 5 ability has for each legendary item. The less cooldown your abilities have with Azir, yhe more opportunities of for different combos you will have.


Boots


Basic mage boots. Provides movement speed and magic penetration. They are especially useful in early game, by providing you what feels like bonus damage. This is really important since Azir's damage early game is low.
Good option only and only if you have Conqueror as your rune page. It will help you stack it faster. It is fun to play with Berserker's Greaves, but they are not as practical as Sorcerer's Shoes.
Buy if the enemy team has burst mages and/or a lot of CC
Buy if the enemy team has high physical damage dealing champions.


Core Items


This item provides you with 50% attack speed which is essential on Azir. Nashor's Tooth's passive goes well with your W - Arise! since your soldiers attacks count as AA, and not only that, Nashor's Tooth is perfect with Liandry's Anguish since it will stack its passive quickly.
This is where Azir Starts to deal big damage.
Doubles your ability power which will help you with the team fights in late game.


Situational Items


Good option for when the enemy has burst champions. It will save you in a lot of scenarios. Not only that, it is not very expensive - 2600g
Good option for when the enemy has high magic damage dealing team.
Good if you want bonus HP and Ability Power. It's passive slows enemies once being attacked by your abilities. If you have Cheap Shot in your rune page, this will mean that every attack you deal will be true damage.
Good option for when playing against champion with healing or life steal Vladimir, Dr. Mundo, Akali, Sylas, Yasuo Yone, etc)
This item gives enormous amount of AP once fully stacked. Keep in mind that the stacks are easily gained and easily lost with Azir.
Good option against tanks and assassins. Provides Ability power, health and it stacks armor and magic resistance.

The one thing that I want to point out is that Azir is IMO the most useful late game mid laner. You will have the ability to deal huge amount of damage, doing so from distance. You do not need your team mates in order to carry the game. Think of your every single game as if you did not have your jungler and you were 1v2 on mid. That being said here is a little fact that low elo players don't understand - Mid lane is NOT a 1v1 lane. It is a 2v2. You are on the very center of the map where it is easy access for most junglers. Of course, if you ward, and ping and actually stop for a second and think to yourself "Who is the enemy jungler? From which camp would he start from? That being said, where is he likely to be now?" you can actually make a very important decision whether to engage or not. This type of mentality will guarantee you an increase in your win rate. Here is a little hack if you decide to play Azir. Mute all team mates, and focus on yourself only. Try to farm as much as possible in the laning phase. Do not roam unless you are sure that the CS you are loosing on mid lane is worth what you think you will accomplish. If you are low elo and your team mates start pinging you '?' after they died and saying "oh man you had your ultimate Emperor's Divide.. you could've saved me". Believe it or not sometimes it's not worth wasting your ultimate Emperor's Divide for a team mate. Why? Because the chance of the enemy to either Flash through it or really using any type of dash or teleport skill and kill your team mate is high. But in the end you just lost an ultimate Emperor's Divide for nothing. You need to be able to make this decision on your own. Decision making with Azir comes with a lot of practice.

There is one thing I can't stress enough that people can't seem to understand.

Azir is weak in early game. Focus on your farm so you can buy items. Do not engage even if it looks like you can take your enemy out. Because most likely the jungler is planning to attack you right after. Buy wards and play safe until at least you have bought your fourth item. However if you know where the enemy jungler is and that he can't gank you, you are free to jump in on an enemy if you are confident you can take him/her out.

Azir is a late game champion, so if you manage to farm and survive in the early game, your almost guaranteed to win the game, but on the off chance you don't then you will give the enemy team one heck of a hard time winning.

I will keep this guide updated every day since there are always changes in League. With that being said I am announcing the completion of this guide.

Have something you strongly agree or disagree with? Please comment below and let us know what your personal experience is with the Emperor.

Thank you,

Very respectfully,

GeDBo