Hello and welcome to my guide to playing the under appreciated AP Ezreal in the midlane, but with a twist! This is the way I play Ez in the mid lane, and I absolutely love it. Being the offtank, but also dishing out damage to the entire enemy team from the back is a great way to play Ez after playing as the single target damage counterpart for the ADC role that Ez would normally be seen as. With huge damage coming from his ult, his W, and then a Lich Bane triggering Q, you'll be mowing down instantly. There are many things in this guide that are completely up to you. When you're reading this, keep in mind that I wrote it as a way to start people off with a central idea, so that you can branch off with your own independent ideas mixed in to make your own build for AP Ezreal.


TL;DR? Ezreal is normally an ADC that relies on single target damage. This is a different way of playing him. This makes him a teamfighting monster, while being an offtank to help keep stress off of your ADC.

Ezreal has some mana issues in the early game laning phase, so picking up the scaling mana regen runes is the best option in my opinion. If you prefer flat mana regen runes, then go ahead, but by late game these will be far better.

I like to have flat AP and Magic Pen to help out early game, since I start off with Boots and 5 health pots (We will get into that later..).

In your masteries, you'll want to go 21/9/0 to make the most of being an "Off Tank" AP Midlaner. Grabbing as much AP and Magic Pen as possible from the Offense tree, then grabbing the bonus % of Armor and MR that you get with items like Zhonya's Hourglass and Athene's Unholy Grail.

I don't ever start a Doran's Ring. Mainly because I feel that Ezreal doesn't really need it, but if it works for you, thats cool. I prefer to go boots and pots, because Essence Flux hits like a damn truck, and is almost impossible to miss since it goes through minions to hit enemy champs. This is why we grabbed as much AP from Runes and Masteries. Having 5 health pots in laning phase is really helpful against lane bullies, like Vel'Koz, Yasuo, or any other a**hole midlaner. If Ez was a stronger mid, then I would take Doran's Ring without any hesitation, but lets be honest... Ez isn't exactly a midlaner you would want in a ranked game. Its just for fun in a normal match, nothing too serious.

Make sure your Rod of Ages is done before 15 minutes! If you have enough gold then BUY IT. Do not wait to go base if you can complete the item, due to the passive health/mana/ap buildup.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter is a VERY good item for Ezreal. It adds some health, a good amount of AP, and a slow that helps you keep up with your enemy to make up for the lack of heavy AP you get from normal mid laners.

Athene's Unholy Grail is a very good choice because it adds Magic Resistance, passive mana regen, and mana restore on a kill or assist. This helps out with late game, so you're not constantly going back to base.

Lich Bane is a must on Ezreal, because his Q applies on hit effects. This is where your damage comes from in the late game. Trust me, this hurts like all hell. Lich Bane also gives you some nice mana and AP.

Zhonya's Hourglass is a great item, because it gives a huge amount of AP, some armor, and the amazing passive that makes you invulnerable. But its mainly for the nice amount of armor to go alongside the Magic Resistance from Athene's.

Lastly, I recommend getting Furor on Sorcerer's Shoes. The boots themselves give some nice Magic Pen, and movespeed (duh). I get furor to make up for not having the Phage passive of AD Ezreal with a Trinity Force.


ALTERNATE ITEMS

You can skip out on Athene's and purchase a Rabadon's Deathcap. This is a good trade off, because with the Mana Regen runes and masteries, you shouldn't run out of mana THAT quick. This is all about preference, so its really up to you. Personally, I'd go for Rabadon's over Athene's. I put Athene's in to stick with the whole "offtank" title.

Liandry's Torment is a FANTASTIC item. It gives magic pen, health, and a good chunk of Ability Power. Not to mention the passive, which makes ulting in a teamfight amazingly helpful. I would replace Zhonya's with this, if I had to replace something.

If you aren't going for a more AP heavy offtank, and more of a tanky tank, then replacing Lich Bane with Iceborn Gauntlet is a pretty good idea. The slow from Iceborn is put on your Q for a long range slow, which will help dramatically in a teamfight. Also it gives some mana, armor, AP, and CDR. Who can pass up such a well rounded item?


I will add this item due to the replies I've had in the discussion.

There was a couple complaints about not having a Void Staff is because I was trying to go for a off tank AP Ez, not a bursty AP glass cannon. I found a way to give the "tanky" aspect, but also help your team and get some way around magic resistance.

Abyssal Mask would be a fantastic item to build. It would help your entire team by lowering the enemies magic resist, as well as giving you some magic resistance so you can easily 1v1 the enemy team's AP midlaner (unless you're going against an AD mid like Zed or Yasuo).

I would still say that getting a Void Staff is not smart for this build, as this is more for being as tanky as can be while still having some decent AP for late game. You don't want to be too squishy, but you don't want to not do any damage. If you want to be more of a glass cannon, then go for a Void Staff.

Rising Spell Force is a passive that increases your attack speed for each target hit with an ability. This isn't the best passive to have on an AP Caster, but it can come in handy when taking down objectives. The best way to charge it up, in my opinion, is to throw Essence Flux (W) over allied champions. You cannot hit minions with your W, so keep that in mind. Your ult will give you full charges as well, if it hits over 5 minions or champions. This helps in teamfights or pushing waves REALLY hard.

Essence Flux is a skillshot that goes THROUGH minions to hit your target. If this ability did not go through minions, AP Ez probably wouldn't be all that viable. But, it hurts like all hell, and its really easy to hit. Watch for the delay though, because even though you can use the delay to your advantage, it can be easy to miss. Max this first, as it is your main source of damage.
Arcane Shift will be your next ability to max. Mainly for the cooldown, but the damage scales with level as well. This ability is very much like flash but with one main difference: it shoots a bolt at the nearest enemy. That bolt can completely make or break a fight. It hurts pretty damn bad, but it is rather difficult to judge on where it is going. The most useful time for this is when you're in the jungle, running away (or chasing) an enemy. The ability to jump over walls and deal a significant amount of damage is just too good to pass up.
Mystic Shot is a VERY long skillshot that applies on hit effects, like Lich Bane, or Red buff. This is an amazing ability to use alongside with Lich Bane, because of its range. It scales pretty badly on AP, which makes it our last ability to max. Also, its not super useful until you get a Lich Bane. I wouldn't use this much in laning phase, unless you're trying to take out a tower and you need your passive charged up.

- Flash is arguably the best summoner spell in the game. Even though Ez has a "flash" for his E, I'd still take it. It is very helpful in running away or chasing people down. Like every other summoner spell, its very situational.

- Ignite is great for a midlaner, and especially Ezreal. I like Ignite a lot, because its very good at securing a kill. What I do is Arcane Shift towards them, ignite, shoot my W, and a Q. It works damn near every time, and if it doesn't? Shoot your ult at them.

- Cleanse is nice against people like Fizz or Zed, if you see you're against one in a ranked game. Not a bad idea. Again, situational.

Take whatever summoner spells you want, really. Its personal preference. But in my experience, I'd say Flash Ignite is the best for Ezreal. I'd think about Cleanse if I was in a ranked game, but never in a normal.

Blue Ezreal has its ups and downs. Lettuce review them, to ensure you relish every minute playing as this unique midlaner!

Pros -
Extremely fun to play!
High burst while being a tank!
Ult is 20x stronger AP than AD, so those ults matter way more!
W Hits all enemies, unlike AD Ezreal's Q.
Makes the enemy team QQ about AP Ez being "OP"


Cons -
People will think you're trolling. A lot.
No CC makes him less viable than other mids like Gragas or Lissandra.
Moderately high skill cap.
Farming isn't the easiest thing ever, but its certainly not hard.

Playing as AP Ezreal is absolutely amazing in a team comp because of how hard his ult hits when it is AP. It will come out to about 1.2k damage late game (keep in mind the damage decrease for each target hit). The best way to utilize Ezreal's ult is to catch the enemy team in the jungle. When you're in the jungle, you have a straight shot for your W and Ult DIRECTLY into the team. The massive damage completely turns fights around. The best part about this guide is the fact that you are tanky and you have a Zhonya's. This makes you stay in the fight for a while. And trust me, once you play AP Ez, you'll see just how much influence he has over a fight with his ult. Always line your ults up and make them count.

Thank you for using/reading my very first guide! I now see how time consuming they are to make lol. I hope that you can take some pieces of this guide and form your very own unique build for Ezreal mid. I like being offtank, some people enjoy being a very high burst. I've tried full AP Ezreal, and its too squishy for me. Like i've repeated throughout this entire build, everything is up to you and your playstyle! Again, thanks for reading! Maybe I'll see you on the Summoner's Rift playing as AP Ezreal!

I added the "Glass Cannon" item build for those who came looking for a high burst AP Mid instead of being an off tank. Being a high burst AP mid is really fun and all, but if you're looking for that then you should probably go play someone like Syndra or Lux. Ezreal can do it, and can do it damn well, but I just don't see him as that kind of a champ. Being AP means you have no lane sustain like lifesteal, which means you'll rely heavily on your Will of the Ancients, which isn't super reliable. Use this at your own risk. I, personally, am not a big fan of going high burst AP.