Ezreal

- by dignitas/CoreJJ (April 2015, Patch 5.7)

We're back with new guides from our pro players, better

than before! This time we’ve got an in-depth Ezreal walkthrough by

the AD Carry from our NA team, CoreJJ.

Special thanks to Robert 'Roscoe' Wery for

his help writing this guide together with CoreJJ. Related links:

Twitch.tv/CoreJJ - @dCorejj - Profile Page

INTRODUCTION





Ezreal, the prodigal explorer, is a classic in League of Legends. Released five years ago, he's likely one of the top to be used champions in competitive play ever since. Dishing out primarily physical damage as an AD Carry, Ezreal still doles out a sizable chunk of magic damage, especially if the summoner chooses to take him AP mid. Yong-in 'CoreJJ' Jo, the AD Carry for Team Dignitas' NA squad regularly picks him in competitive play, and for good reason, let's delve into why!

Why you should play Ezreal - Ezreal's greatest strengths are his burst, mobility and kite. Under the right conditions and with enough mechanical skill, Ezreal can cut through a team like a hot knife through butter. In teamfights, he's a safe champion, he can hop over walls with his E if need be, or close the gap on an unsuspecting opponent. If you're confident in your ability to land a skillshot, Ezreal is like a dream come true, and his ultimate is one of the global damage abilities that can shred through a team or pick off a limping foe.

Why you shouldn't play Ezreal - One of Ezreal's greatest weaknesses is his ramp up until level 6. Until you get your ultimate, it's difficult to push out your lane effectively without burning too much mana on your Q and E. If the enemy team is winning lane against an Ezreal, they tend to snowball unless you get some major intervention. If you're no good at skillshots, reconsider playing Ezreal, unless you're willing to put in some practice! In order to succeed on this champion, you'll fail a few times before you start making plays.

RUNES





Here's the recipe to my Ezreal Rune page: Nine Greater Marks of Attack Damage, Five Greater Glyphs of Magic Resist, Four Greater Glyphs of Mana Regeneration, nine Greater Seals of Armor, and three Greater Quintessences of Attack Speed. Ezreal's passive 'Rising Spell Force' gives him extra Attack Speed when he lands an ability, but to compensate his base Attack Speed is pretty low, so I grab some extra in my Quints. You need the Armor from the Seals and the Magic Resist from the Glyphs, either against the other bot lane or against the other members of the opposing team.

Instead of taking a full nine MR Glyphs, I add in four Mana Regen Glyphs to cushion my mana pool. Throwing out Qs and dodging skillshots with E can deplete my mana pretty quickly, so having a bit of additional regen lets me stay relevant if I go through a full rotation and run out. With them in a fight I can contribute a couple more abilities before a fight ends.

MASTERIES





Many AD Carries put four points in Fury for the Attack Speed, which is often fine for the position. Ezreal, however, is a very ability based champion, so having the extra Cooldown Reduction from Sorcery trumps the Attack Speed which I already took care of. Regardless of Attack Speed or Cooldown Reduction, make sure you put a point in Spell Weaving for the extra spell damage stacks. Then I put points in Butcher, filling that tree all the way down and Executioner all the way to Dangerous Game, because I like to get that extra damage on weaker opponents and the return on investment when I finish off a minion or a champion.

Over in the Defensive tree, I put points into health, like Recovery, Veteran's Scars and Juggernaut. Then I put the last points in Block and Unyielding, to stave off just a few more points of incoming damage from enemy autos. It's not much protection, but you need them to grab points in the vital health masteries.

SUMMONER SPELLS - Heal and Flash



I always go Flash and Heal as my Summoner Spells. Of course, you want to grab Flash to dodge any incoming enemy engage, and to potentially outplay or catch up to an opponent you're dueling with. Ezreal is a great duelist, he's very slippery, so adding another way to jump around your opponent is handy.

AD Carries used to take Ignite, then the meta switched over to Barrier. We take Heal now because not only does it mitigate damage like Barrier, but it gives myself and the champion next to me that speed boost we need to avoid a gank or outlast the people we're skirmishing. If I'm dueling with the other AD Carry and I know I have the Heal advantage over them, it's a guaranteed won fight, barring any other intervention.

SKILL ORDER





You want to put priority on your Q. It's your primary source of poke, and you can use it to farm if you're being zoned out or your support is roaming. I choose to max E second because each rank lowers the cooldown, while the mana cost remains the same. If I'm going to pay 90 mana, I'd like it to be available more if I need it. As we level up W, the cooldown remains the same but the cost increases with the damage, so we prioritize that third. If you think you can get a kill level three, you can take W then, otherwise stick to Q on three and W on 4. Always rank up Trueshot Barrage (R)!

ITEM BUILD



You should always start Doran's Blade, a health pot and Warding Totem. The early AD, health and lifesteal isn't something you can get with Longsword and extra pots, so you still want to go that normal Doran's Blade start.

For the first back, I often pick up Pickaxe first, to begin the build for a Manamune. Then I grab a couple pots and switch out my Warding Totem for a Scrying Orb, but you can really get do that whenever you like. I choose not to go Tear first because I'd go back into lane with very little increase in damage, while my opponent probably has a Pickaxe or a BF Sword. Charging up the Tear is vital, but not worth losing trades outright.

At this point try and pick up Cooldown boots if you've got the gold, but do so whenever you get the spare money. Build your Tear and finish up the Manamune as soon as you can to charge it up and to have the full damage from the item (besides the active).

After Manamune, it's time to build Trinity Force. I always build it from right to left in item order, so Phage, Sheen then Zeal. If you're back at base and you can't get a Phage, like if you only have 1,200 gold, picking up Sheen is fine. The important part is making sure you get something for being back at base. Around this time I'd also have upgraded my Scrying Orb to a Farsight Orb, for the mini ward it provides.

Then once I've finished my Trinity Force, I build up Blade of the Ruined King. However, if they're already building a bunch of armor, then I'd go Last Whisper beforehand. I pick up Blade of the Ruined King for more mobility and easy peel in teamfights. The active gives me a big advantage in smaller fight scenarios, while other tanks and bruisers have a much harder time trying to catch me. At that point I pick up the Last Whisper when I've got the gold.

When it comes to boot upgrades, Homeguard is often a good choice, unless they have a poke team comp. If they do, stick to something like Furor for the extra speed in combat. However, don't pick either up until later game, it's better to work on building up your items. The last item I grab depends on my opponents. Banshee's Veil is a good pickup for the spell shield, especially against an AP burst team, but if they've got someone that supresses or leaves a mark on you, pick up a Mercurial Scimitar to wipe it off. I never pick up Frozen Heart or a Sunfire, Urgot would always grab a Frozen Heart, but not Ezreal!

In the botlane, I've thought about going blue build Ezreal, but still consider the previous set my primary. A blue build would do well in a poking comp with someone like Nidalee, where I don't need to do too much immediate damage in fights. If you want to go that way, use the same build as above, but substitute Iceborn Gauntlet for Trinity Force.

SYNGERY/MATCHUPS



The first champion I think of when supporting Ezreal is Nami. With her, Ezreal reaps the benefits quite a bit in lane, like his Q applying on-hit damage from her E. Nami's poke in lane is very good, but she becomes pretty weak when a gank comes to the botlane. Even with her downsides, I consider her the best support for Ezreal.

If you're looking for something safer, Janna is the best option for you. Just about all of her abilities help in disengaging or mitigating damage from a gank or trade. For some safety, but some engage, Thresh is a viable support for Ezreal as well.

I like Ezreal's matchup against Corki because they're very similar champions with their mobility and poke. When they both step into lane, it's primarily a skill matchup, as opposed to something like a Vayne and Caitlyn. Positioning is key and landing your skillshots is the most important thing here.

Other AD Carry matchups like Jinx and Kog'Maw you often do well in lane, but in the late game the matchup changes. Their powerspikes come in the lategame, so you want to make sure you abuse your power in the early and mid game to delay their power surge as long as possible, again by landing Qs!

In scenarios against supports like Janna or Blitzcrank, you've got a couple slight advantages you should know about. The mana cost for Janna's shield is more than the cost for Ezreal's Q, so landing Q poke on to her or her AD Carry will consistently be worth it, even if she blocks the damage. Once she's out of mana, you can poke to your heart's content! For Blitzcrank, your kite and ability to avoid his hook makes him useless. Just make sure you're not playing against a support like Madlife.

There aren't too many supports that are considered hard counters to Ezreal, but Thresh can give you a hard time with his CC. Like Blitzcrank, his hook is avoidable, so it comes down to the skill of your opponent.

CONCLUSION





Ezreal is a great champion in both Solo Queue and competitive play, and I play him often in both. He has great mobility both in lane and in teamfights, and has very few glaring weaknesses. If I were to leave you with a couple final tips, I'd say that when it comes to your E, it's often a bad idea to engage a fight with it, as all of your mobility flies out the window. But still there are some times where, if it's safe, it's totally fine to use E to get into a fight, it's just important to see when.

As for Ezreal's ultimate, make sure that when you activate it, your mouse isn't on any of the portraits of your allies on the left of the screen, otherwise it'll shoot at them, not where you really want it!

For sneaky poking in lane, time your Q right after your auto attack. When the auto lands and kills the minion, your Q is already flying out past what your opponent thought was safe behind the minion.

When skirmishing in lane, especially against someone like a Graves, your E is the key to winning the fight. A Graves will often E>Q>W>R, but if you can throw a Q at him, then E to the side, you completely avoid all of his damage.