League of Legends - Ezreal Guide by xRequiem

Hi, my name is xRequiem, and I'm an Ezreal main in NA high elo. I understand. NA LCS had an increase in Ezreal play and now you have to deal with your ADC going full meta mode and picking the new hot stuff. Depending on your rank, you’re now dealing with poor positioning, missed skillshots, low mana, and overall useless ADC play, and no matter what you say, your Ezreal thinks that he’s playing perfectly (“I’m hitting more skillshots than you!!1!”) How can you avoid being this Ezreal? First, don't be toxic.

Beyond that, here’s some of the most common issues I see Ezreals experience:

Issue 1: Tear of the Goddess

This item is essential for Ezreal to be worth his weight as an ADC. No matter what level of play you’re at, you HAVE to get your tear fully stacked (and have upgraded it) in a decent amount of time. The power spike that comes with Tear is absolutely insane to miss out on. The fact that Ezreal doesn’t build more mana throughout the game after his first 2 items means that you -need- to be getting the value out of Muramana early. The optimal time to shoot for in most games is 21 minutes. It’s possible (but difficult) to get 18 minutes, but your games probably aren’t going to be won by these extra minutes. If you don’t have tear stacked by 25 minutes, you’ve been useless for 7 straight minutes. GOD FORBID I see another Ezreal with an unfinished Manamune at 30 minutes.

Issue 2: Build Correctly

Stop building any crit chance on Ezreal. Q doesn’t crit. With that being said, let me try and shed some light on Trinity vs Iceborn Gauntlet. Here’s the simple case: the enemy team is all AD. Buy Iceborn. What about otherwise? It’s your decision. If you tend to get caught more, get Iceborn more (me). If you tend to stick further back, get Trinity. (this doesn’t apply to pros, you’re almost always getting Trinity in the pro scene) Third item BOTRK, this isn’t up for discussion. Only exception is a QSS in some extreme cases. Fourth item is always reactionary. Sometimes armor penetration, sometimes Maw, sometimes something else. If you don’t know which reactionary item is best, stick to Maw or LW. This also applies to fifth item, except get the other item. (if they’re all AD, consider getting more damage or armor)

Issue 3: Learn the Skillshots

No really. Go into a sandbox and see -just- how far you can cast Q. W is less important. You REALLY want to know how to use E for damage, though. Level 2, this is the difference between a lost fight and a won fight (if you hit E, you do 80 damage, and mid game, it procs Muramana). If you don’t know how Ezreal ult works, try playing someone with a simpler ult, like Veigar. Can’t miss Veigar ult. Issue 4: Power spikes

This goes directly off of Muramana timing. As an Ezreal player, you have to know what you’re capable of doing. While this applies to every champion, Ezreal has distinct playstyles depending on what point of the game you’re at. Depending on how well the game is going, your power chart compared to other champions can be wonky as hell, and the different between a fight you will win or lose is hard to tell. Here’s some reasons:

1. Every other ADC scales better with levels
2. Hitting a naked ult (no other enemies hit first) is a ton of damage
3. Sheen makes you wreck with Q but not with autos
4. Muramana finishing will nearly double your damage
5. Being able to W + E safely increases damage significantly
6. You probably aren’t keeping track of your passive stacks

So be mindful that every fight is different.

TL;DR Stack tear before 23 minutes, build correctly, learn the skillshots, learn the power spikes

Edit: Boots, what to buy and when

Zerkers aren't worth your money/inventory. The attack speed is lost on your Q>aa>Q timings.

I prefer Lucidiy boots in SoloQ for the CDR mid game. Others prefer Tabis and scaling CDR to get 30% late game. If you feel like you need to play safe, Tabis are the way to go (seeing as AD champs hit hard in the mid game). If you feel you can play safe with the extra CDR mid game, then go for that.

(Noted, I feel my personal preference got in the way of me responding to questions about boots correctly. Hopefully this is more accurate, and the more I think about it, the more I prefer Tabis + scaling CDR runes)

Edit2: I forgot to acknowledge Mercs as well. Same Logic as Tabis, just in an AP context.

In reference to BotRK 3rd, I meant to imply that you finish this item 3rd. Can you consider LW, Hex, or Executioners to be 3rd items? Yeah. Does that make me wrong? Yeah. Is that what I meant? Nah, but I see the logic. BotRK should still be your 3rd completed full item.

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