Hi ! My name is TwistedMentality, and my in-game name is Beriaaal. I currently am a low-elo player, roaming between Bronze I and Silver V, so if you were expecting a guide from a Challenger fellow, you might as well look for another guide. I just made this guide based off my experience and I think that experience counts more than any other thing, and I wanted to share my knowledge with you guys. As you can see , one of the champions I main , besides Diana and Vi, is Aatrox. I fell in love for his lore, his design, and above all that, his gameplay. He can absolutely wreck an enemy team if well played and his ultimate can change a teamfight and can guarantee a win. He can be a little tricky in the beggining, but every champion is , so play him often, and you will see his true power !

Pros:
- Infinite Sustain
- Great Poke with E Skill
- W Skill can crush an enemy very-early game if in Blood Price Form
- Fantastic ultimate
- Doesn't have a weak phase in game under normal circunstances
- Even if behind it can help a lot ( Split Pushing,Massacre can set up kills to carries,... )
- Free Guardian Angel every 225 seconds

Cons:
- Auto-Attack based ( Can be heavily interrupted by Randuins, Frozen Heart, strong CC, ... )
- Has some minor details that make huge differences in-game but few people know ( can be a pro too though )
- With your Blood Well off, you're a lot weaker and an easier target
- When your Blood Well is empty or low , you lose a lot of your offensive power.
- Squishy early/mid game if using this build.

Flash[/b]: Pretty mandatory. Is useful in so many ways, and you probably are aware of that already. Aatrox doesn't have an insane movement speed like Hecarim or Udyr, so Ghost isn't very reliable.

Ignite: I choose this instead of Teleport because it has more kill potential in your laning phase. But I also recommend Teleport if you want, because if correctly used, it can be used to split-push or to gank bot or mid lane. It's a personal choice though, and I used both of Teleport and Ignite, and I find Ignite more useful in certain moments.

Any other summoner spells are discarded. They are useless.

Blade of the Ruined King: This is your first core item. It syenergizes so well with Aatrox since he is an Auto-Attack based champion, meaning that the BOTRK's passive procs like there was no tomorrow. Also the stats+the active are insanely good, so this is a must go.

Ravenous Hydra: Amazing item. It works tremendously good with almost any melee AD champion, and Aatrox is no exception. The Life Steal from this item, plus the Life Steal from BOTRK, gives you the ability to use your Blood Price without any HP price at all, meaning that every 3rd attack you have a no cost MOAB directly from your sword, giving Aatrox a decent burst and at the same time, incredibly strong sustained damage.

Ninja Tabi: These are my default tier 2 boots, and I usually get them after buying Tiamat or even Ravenous Hydra if going well. I buy tier 1 boots after Bilgewater Cutlass, and from here you can go as I usually do, or choose Mercury's Treads instead, if you are laning against a champion with a lot of CC or if enemy team composition is heavily CC dependent, or even if AP based. I also considered Berserker Greaves in this build for your reflection but personally I never go with them because your passive and your Ult, plus the items you go early game give you a lot of Attack Speed already.

Randuin's Omen: Never go full AD with Aatrox, or with any other top laner/jungler champion, with of course, few exceptions like Riven or Fiora. You have to be somewhat tank to be able to survive in team fights and late game process. Without Items like Randuin's you would be too squishy. Remember, you can be a carry, but you are not THE carry. Be a team player and get some survivability options like Omen's , so that you can have the HP and defensive stats decent enough to tolerate enemy offensives. Anyway, this is the ADC's main counter, and any AD champion that you might face off will have difficulties with you when you have this item, unless they are way ahead of you.

Spirit Visage: Another beauty that suits Aatrox so well. Besides the HP,MR, and CDR chunkes that this item gives you, that are self-explanatory, its passive is amazingly good for Aatrox. Having a 20% boost in any healing process means that your Life Steal items and Blood Thirst are 20% more effective, making your infinite sustain even bigger ( sorry if it sounded stupid ). Also , your survivability in combat is massively increased with all of Spirit Visage stats, including its passive. A must-buy.

Banshee's Veil,Guardian Angel,Maw of Malmortius,Mercurial Scimitar: This is your call really. In this period you are extremely tough to beat and you have the capability to beat down in seconds any of the enemies squishys or off-tanks.However, for the 6th item I decided to put some defensive options so you can be a even tougher to take down, that's why Guardian Angel is here. What is better than a free GA? 2 Guardian Angels. I usually go for this just for giggles, then sell it after the Passive has worn off and go for Banshee instead, because it gives you the ability to interrupt an enemy combo with its shield. Maw of Malmortius is an option if you are facing strong AP's. In that case the shield is great to help you escape or finish off AP targets, with that bonus AD chunk give you a nice boost. Mercurial Scimitar is also an option if the enemy team is full of CC abilities, like Leona and Morgana. In that case the active from this item will be your life-saver. You must process each game and buy accordingly.

Dark Flight: Your main Initiator through every phase of the game. It can also be used as an escape tool, and when used with Flash can give you rougly 700 units of advantage from your hunter. But its damage isn't significant, so it is ranked last.

Blood Thirst/Blood Price: This is what defines Aatrox. Blood Thirst gives you infinite sustain and the ability to recover fast from pokes. Use only this stance when your under 50% of your HP or when your Blood Well is full and there is no enemies in your lane. Besides that, use always Blood Price because the bonus AD is too good to pass. It can give you the ability to outduel anyone. Every 3rd attack this skills occurs, so I personally change very often between 1st or 2nd strike to mislead my foes. After that, I change to Blood Price and poke hard my opponent or I change to Blood Thirst and heal myself up back again.In teamfights go for Blood Price initially but beware of your HP, as it can go down pretty fast if you are being focused. In that case go with Blood Thirst and bring down enemy carrys with Dark Flight+Blood Thirst/Price combo.

Blades of Torment: Awesome skill. It is your only form of CC , so use this to chase an enemy or to stall a potential threat.I max this first because when maxed out it is powerful early game poke, and can gradually bring down enemy's HP and open a door to initiate your combo with Dark Flight. In team fights use this after landing Massacre and some auto attacks in the enemy back lines.Be wary of the way Blades of Torment travels though, it has long range but has little width.

Massacre: This your main trick. Use this whenever you feel you are able to bring down your enemy laner. The Attack Speed is incredible so be sure to land some auto attacks before using any other ability, In teamfights, use this in a way that can affect the biggest quantity of enemies as possible. After that, focus your Attack speed boost on squishier foes , and you will have good results.

This isn't the best guide out there for Aatrox, but I believe I needed to share my experience and thoughts with you. Even though I'm a low elo player, I think I had enough resources to make this guide. I don't explore at detail every phase of Aatrox's game due to lack of time but the best advice I can give you is to play Aatrox often and you will soon discover his strengths and weaknesses , and also his true potential.

Any feedback is appreciated, so make sure you make your voice heard in the comment section !