Views: 12717 25.10 Magic Items on Azir
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Hello there, everyone! With the recent changes to AP items, some of you may be left wondering what to build. Which items still work, and do any of the buffed ones work on Azir? After careful research and testing, I have finished compiling my new list of Azir items and have updated the guide and the copy-and-paste item sets. There were a LOT of changes, so I decided I'd summarize them here in case you have any questions.
The Azir items affected by patch 25.10 are:
Bloodletter's Curse, Cryptbloom, Horizon Focus Liandry's Torment, Lich Bane, Luden's Companion, Morellonomicon, Nashor's Tooth, Rabadon's Deathcap, and Seraph's Embrace. These adjustments have also indirectly changed the effectiveness of Banshee's Veil, and Rylai's Crystal Scepter on Azir.
Most of these adjustments are minor, with the common theme being that items have become less niche overall. The biggest changes for Azir is that Lich Bane and Bloodletter's Curse are now CORE items, whereas Cryptbloom and Horizon Focus have been REMOVED.
By far, the most impactful change has been to Bloodletter's Curse. The item now stacks 50% faster and has an additional 5 AP and 50 HP. Azir can now fully stack this incredibly quickly with only 4 auto attacks (or one combo). To fully understand why these changes are so impactful, compare the stats to Liandry's Torment (which has been a core item on Azir for a long time).
Liandry's Torment Gives 60 AP and 300 HP for 3000g. Bloodletter's Curse gives 65 AP, 400 HP, 15 ability haste, and 30% magic penetration for 2900g. Bloodletter's Curse was already a good general item on Azir in niche cases, and core when building Tank Azir, but now it can be stacked reliably every fight and gives more stats overall, allowing it to finally push Void Staff out of its dominant penetration item role (53% winrate for its slot compared to void staff's 47%). It can be taken as soon as the second item now (whenever you would have taken Liandry's), or the third (when you would have taken Void). Bloodletter's is the best general-purpose item on Azir now behind Nashor's Tooth. It combines the bulkiness and raw damage of Liandry's Torment with the penetration and ability haste of Cryptbloom, while also allowing your team to benefit from the magic resist shred as well (like Abyssal Mask). In short, unless you are playing front-to-back with a teamfight win condition and a strong frontline to tank for you, I recommend going Bloodletter's Curse instead of Void Staff every game. For games where you have a strong frontline and won't be split pushing or sieging often, Void Staff will still deal the most damage.
Lich Bane has been a stable pick on Azir lately, but has struggled to fit more consistently due to its high cost. For 3200g, Shadowflame was simply the better option most of the time, and if it wasn't, Liandry's was cheaper. The new adjustment has kept the same gold value for Lich Bane, but has allowed it to be taken earlier. This allows Azir to still reach a two-item spike with the item, but much faster. This means you will be punished less often for taking the item when not needed, while still giving stats that are always beneficial for Azir, solidifying its place in the core items. Likewise, with the nerfs to Liandry's Anguish, you will be punished more for taking it when not necessary. Shadowflame is still the best item for squishy, low-mobility comps, and Liandry's is best for super tanky ones (or sometimes when taken first to counter certain matchups), but (just like Bloodletter's) Lich Bane has been able to fill in the gap as a more generalized item that works for most games. If it is not clear whether you should take Shadowflame or Liandry's in a game, you can simply take Lich Bane instead.
Cryptbloom was previously taken as a cheap penetration option. With the item being increased to 3000g, it no longer fits that slot. Although the ability haste and heal were effective at surviving burst to run down squishy champion comps, it is simply much better to take Bloodletter's Curse for the extra HP (especially with the heal nerf), and it costs 100g less. If you need more burst than Bloodletter's offers, Void Staff is still far superior and costs the same 3000g.
Horizon Focus was another niche item that gave you damage amplification after a shuffle, allowing you to burst opponents more quickly. With the removal of Horizon's damage passive and increase to 2900g, it is no longer great on Azir as he does not benefit from the extra vision. The ability power and ability haste are nice, and it is a good item still for the stats alone (you can still have moderate success with it), but Lichbane does the same thing for the same price, and the passive and movement speed make it much better all around.
There is only one more change that I think is impactful enough to mention, and that is the more niche item, Luden's Companion. This item was only usable when you needed extra poke, or if you were playing from behind and needed cheap damage right away. However, because it doesn't scale with Azir, the benefits dwindled more quickly and made the overall buy a risky one. With the decrease in cost and increase in value, Luden's has become a less risky option, specifically when playing from behind. If your team is behind in the early game, Luden's is now a safe option to get back into the game. According to statistics, when purchased as your second item in a losing game, Luden's Companion can consistently increase win rate by 5% on average. I would like to reemphasize, though, that this should only be taken when behind (or as part of a niche poke build explained in the guide), as the item itself does not scale well with Azir: it simply adds immediate single-item value that can help neutralize losing games much more consistently now.
And there you have it! Overall, the other adjustments have not changed much, simply solidifying Nashor's tooth as the premier first item and Rabadon's as the go-to fourth. Overall there is much less variance, which (although I am not the biggest fan of it), should make itemization on Azir much simpler overall for most situations. I still prefer getting in-depth with my personal itemization, but I will admit that the item changes I stated above have impacted my games and brought more consistency overall. If you would like to update your in-game item pages, you can view the new version in the guide. Happy Aziring!
The Azir items affected by patch 25.10 are:
Bloodletter's Curse, Cryptbloom, Horizon Focus Liandry's Torment, Lich Bane, Luden's Companion, Morellonomicon, Nashor's Tooth, Rabadon's Deathcap, and Seraph's Embrace. These adjustments have also indirectly changed the effectiveness of Banshee's Veil, and Rylai's Crystal Scepter on Azir.Most of these adjustments are minor, with the common theme being that items have become less niche overall. The biggest changes for Azir is that
Lich Bane and Bloodletter's Curse are now CORE items, whereas Cryptbloom and Horizon Focus have been REMOVED.Bloodletter's Curse
By far, the most impactful change has been to Bloodletter's Curse. The item now stacks 50% faster and has an additional 5 AP and 50 HP. Azir can now fully stack this incredibly quickly with only 4 auto attacks (or one combo). To fully understand why these changes are so impactful, compare the stats to
Liandry's Torment (which has been a core item on Azir for a long time). Liandry's Torment Gives 60 AP and 300 HP for 3000g. Bloodletter's Curse gives 65 AP, 400 HP, 15 ability haste, and 30% magic penetration for 2900g. Bloodletter's Curse was already a good general item on Azir in niche cases, and core when building Tank Azir, but now it can be stacked reliably every fight and gives more stats overall, allowing it to finally push Void Staff out of its dominant penetration item role (53% winrate for its slot compared to void staff's 47%). It can be taken as soon as the second item now (whenever you would have taken Liandry's), or the third (when you would have taken Void). Bloodletter's is the best general-purpose item on Azir now behind Nashor's Tooth. It combines the bulkiness and raw damage of Liandry's Torment with the penetration and ability haste of Cryptbloom, while also allowing your team to benefit from the magic resist shred as well (like Abyssal Mask). In short, unless you are playing front-to-back with a teamfight win condition and a strong frontline to tank for you, I recommend going Bloodletter's Curse instead of Void Staff every game. For games where you have a strong frontline and won't be split pushing or sieging often, Void Staff will still deal the most damage.Lich Bane
Lich Bane has been a stable pick on Azir lately, but has struggled to fit more consistently due to its high cost. For 3200g,
Shadowflame was simply the better option most of the time, and if it wasn't, Liandry's was cheaper. The new adjustment has kept the same gold value for Lich Bane, but has allowed it to be taken earlier. This allows Azir to still reach a two-item spike with the item, but much faster. This means you will be punished less often for taking the item when not needed, while still giving stats that are always beneficial for Azir, solidifying its place in the core items. Likewise, with the nerfs to Liandry's Anguish, you will be punished more for taking it when not necessary. Shadowflame is still the best item for squishy, low-mobility comps, and Liandry's is best for super tanky ones (or sometimes when taken first to counter certain matchups), but (just like Bloodletter's) Lich Bane has been able to fill in the gap as a more generalized item that works for most games. If it is not clear whether you should take Shadowflame or Liandry's in a game, you can simply take Lich Bane instead.Cryptbloom
Cryptbloom was previously taken as a cheap penetration option. With the item being increased to 3000g, it no longer fits that slot. Although the ability haste and heal were effective at surviving burst to run down squishy champion comps, it is simply much better to take Bloodletter's Curse for the extra HP (especially with the heal nerf), and it costs 100g less. If you need more burst than Bloodletter's offers, Void Staff is still far superior and costs the same 3000g.
Horizon Focus
Horizon Focus was another niche item that gave you damage amplification after a shuffle, allowing you to burst opponents more quickly. With the removal of Horizon's damage passive and increase to 2900g, it is no longer great on Azir as he does not benefit from the extra vision. The ability power and ability haste are nice, and it is a good item still for the stats alone (you can still have moderate success with it), but Lichbane does the same thing for the same price, and the passive and movement speed make it much better all around.
Luden's Companion
There is only one more change that I think is impactful enough to mention, and that is the more niche item, Luden's Companion. This item was only usable when you needed extra poke, or if you were playing from behind and needed cheap damage right away. However, because it doesn't scale with Azir, the benefits dwindled more quickly and made the overall buy a risky one. With the decrease in cost and increase in value, Luden's has become a less risky option, specifically when playing from behind. If your team is behind in the early game, Luden's is now a safe option to get back into the game. According to statistics, when purchased as your second item in a losing game, Luden's Companion can consistently increase win rate by 5% on average. I would like to reemphasize, though, that this should only be taken when behind (or as part of a niche poke build explained in the guide), as the item itself does not scale well with Azir: it simply adds immediate single-item value that can help neutralize losing games much more consistently now.
And there you have it! Overall, the other adjustments have not changed much, simply solidifying Nashor's tooth as the premier first item and Rabadon's as the go-to fourth. Overall there is much less variance, which (although I am not the biggest fan of it), should make itemization on Azir much simpler overall for most situations. I still prefer getting in-depth with my personal itemization, but I will admit that the item changes I stated above have impacted my games and brought more consistency overall. If you would like to update your in-game item pages, you can view the new version in the guide. Happy Aziring!
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