Azir is a powerful desert emperor, a mid-laner mage with a high level of difficulty and interesting skills. The hero occupies the leading positions in the seasons and is included in the top of the best characters in League of Legends. In the guide, we will analyze in detail how to properly collect, develop and play for this complex character.
Also check out current tier list of characters in League of Legends!
Hero Skills
Azir has five skills in his arsenal, one of which works passively. Next, we will take a closer look at his abilities and their relationship with each other, as well as make the best combinations for ganks and analyze how to properly upgrade the champion’s skills.
Passive Skill - Shurima Legacy
Azir sets up his own tower in place of the destroyed building of his or the enemy team. It will deal damage to enemy champions and minions just like standard towers, and gold and kills will count towards the mage.
The tower is set for 1 minute, gradually destroyed over time. Passive skill can be used once every three minutes.
If you move far from the building, it will collapse, so stay nearby to use it.
First Skill - Relentless Sands
The magician controls his warriors - indicates the direction in which they should attack. Warriors deal magic damage and reduce the movement speed of all enemies hit by 25% for a second.
The enemy takes damage from all soldiers who attack him. Only the first deals the main damage, for all the others it is reduced to 25%.
The second skill is Arise!
The champion summons one of his soldiers to the field to fight alongside him for the next 9 seconds. He stands at the place where he was summoned, and repeats the basic attacks of the magician - attacks the marked target at a short distance near him.
The warrior deals damage to all mobs and opponents that stand in his way in front of the marked champion. It can also attack nearby targets on its own if it reaches them.
You can summon a new soldier to the field every 12/11/10/9/8 seconds. At the same time, Azir can keep up to two warriors stacked and, when the skill is activated, summons all at once. If you move far away from the army, then it disappears. Soldiers summoned near the tower receive 50% less health.
Passively, the champion's attack speed increases with each subsequent call of a soldier, if there are already two on the field. Increases from 20% to 60%, depending on the number of summoned. Has a 5 second boost.
Third Skill - Moving Sand
The magician quickly moves to the side where one of his warriors is standing. Along the way, he will deal increased magic damage to all affected enemy targets. At this time, a shield is formed for the next 1,5 seconds.
If at the end of the path the champion collides with an enemy, he will receive an additional charge of the second skill.
Ultimate - Divide and Conquer
The champion summons onto the battlefield a phalanx of uncontrollable warriors (6/7/8 - increases with the hero's level), who will rush forward and attack all enemies in their path, pushing them back.
After walking a certain distance, they will freeze in place and create a wall through which the enemies cannot pass. If Azir passes through it, he gains 20% movement speed.
Carefully! If used incorrectly, you can fence yourself off from rivals and save their lives. Ulta is best used as a retreat or to split the opposing team. This will make it easier to hit the main targets.
Sequence of leveling skills
At the beginning of the game, better pump 2 skillto multiply your warriors and thereby increase the range and attack speed. Then pump 1 and 3 ability. In the course of the game, it is more important to pump 1 skill to max, then take on second and at the end go to third.
Ultimate pump every time you get the opportunity. For convenience, a table is provided below.
Basic Ability Combinations
While playing as Azir, you can use many combo attacks, but we will analyze the most useful and effective ones:
- Third skill -> First skill -> Ultimate. Quickly move to the opponent, do not give him time to come to his senses and order your warriors to attack him. Finish the job with an ult so that the opponent is ambushed and separated from his team. If necessary, use auto-attack.
- Ultimate -> Second skill -> Auto attack -> First skill -> Auto attack -> Second skill -> Auto attack. An easy combination that will allow you to create a gap between you and your opponents, or separate weak team members from strong ones and leave them no chance of survival. Or you can cut off the path of the whole team in general, if your allies have enough strength to deal with them.
- Second skill -> Third skill -> First skill -> Auto attack. The best combo for one on one combat. You will slow down the opponent, increase your own attack, while circling him around your finger with quick maneuvers, and spray his attention on the summoned soldiers.
Pros and cons of the hero
The main advantages of Azir:
- Increases attack range and speed thanks to his skills.
- Very strong in the early game - prevents the enemy champion from farming.
- Does not sag in the later stages of the game, remains the leading damage dealer.
- He can be played through a quick push tactic or through a quick team kill.
- Works well against melee heroes.
- It has equally developed damage, control, there is a skill to overcome obstacles.
The main disadvantages of Azir:
- Difficult champion - not suitable for beginners.
- Very dependent on the assembly of artifacts - you need a constant farm.
- During the game, there may be problems with mana.
Suitable runes
We have prepared the best build for Azir, taking into account its advantages. It significantly increases the champion's speed, attack power, and solves mana problems. Refer to the screenshot below to correctly place all the runes.
Primal Rune - Accuracy:
- Deadly pace - Increases attack speed after dealing damage to an enemy champion, the duration of the effect will increase if you continue to deal damage to opponents.
- Presence of mind - restores mana and increases its amount after killing enemies.
- Legend: Zeal - increases attack speed and accumulates points for killing heroes, mobs and minions.
- A blow of mercy - Increases damage against champions with low health.
Secondary - Sorcery:
- Mana flow - Increases maximum mana after a kill.
- Superiority - Reduces ability cooldowns.
- +10% attack speed.
- +6 attack power or +9 ability power.
- +8 magic resistance.
Required Spells
Jump – the hero instantly moves in the specified direction no further than 400 units. You can use it during the game to step back in time, avoid a fight, or catch up with a retreating opponent and deliver the final blow.- Barrier - Gives the champion a shield that absorbs incoming damage. The size of the shield grows with the level of the hero, the barrier is 2 seconds. A useful spell for mages and archers who are easy and thin targets for melee heroes.
- Healing - can be used instead of a barrier if the opposing team does not have heroes that reduce the effectiveness of treatment. Grows as the champion levels up, increasing movement speed and aiding nearby allies.
- Ignition - if you are confident on mages, and Azira in particular, then instead of additional protective effects, you can use a spell that will deal additional damage to the marked target and reduce its healing effects.
Best Build
We offer you the most effective and relevant build for Azir for the current season. At every minute, we took into account the main needs of the champion and closed them so that he could farm faster and deal enough damage.
Starting Items
At first, farming is very important for Azir, with which the first item will help - it will inflict additional attacks on minions and periodically restore mana. For survival, we add potions, as well as totems that will save you from an unexpected jungler gang.
- Doran's ring.
- Health Potion.
- Hidden totem.
Early items
Adding more mana regeneration and movement speed to the set.
- Lost head.
- Boots.
Main subjects
We are pumping Azir's ability power, developing his potential - now attacks are inflicted massively and pass through enemies well thanks to penetration.
- Storm Luden.
- Boots of the sorcerer.
- Dark flame.
Complete assembly
We supplement the assembly with items that will increase Azir's survivability, as well as make his skills even stronger and increase penetration rates. If necessary, the assembly can be supplemented with the subject "Banshee Veil" (protection) or "Morellonomicon(reduced healing of enemy champions) if you feel vulnerable in combat.
- Storm Luden.
- Boots of the sorcerer.
- Dark flame.
- Zhonya's hourglass.
- Rabadon's Death Hat.
- Staff of the Abyss.
Worst and best enemies
The character feels comfortable against any standard mid laners, except for a few:
- Zed – He has strong combos and a passive skill that will become a priority against Azir with weak mana. Scary mostly in the early stages until you level up your champion. Don't spam him with attacks, and keep your distance.
- Sindra - against her, stay at the maximum available distance and do not let yourself be stunned, otherwise she will be able to finish you off in a couple of seconds. Champion Azir is strong, but has a hard time dealing with control and devastating damage because he remains thin. At such moments, the Blink or Barrier spells can help you out.
How to play Azir
To play it will take some getting used to. At first, this is a strong mage, whose tactics are not similar to other standard champions from the mid lane.
At the start, you will have the advantage of ranged attacks due to the leveling of the second skill - it will be difficult for the enemy champion to reach you from behind the soldier's back. Take advantage of this and farm, and if possible, participate in ganks near you and help your allies.
As you level up, don't forget about farming - this is the key to a successful play as Azir. Artifacts on it are quite expensive, and without them the champion will lag behind rivals. Finish off every minion in the lane. If you get used to it, then the soldiers will do it very quickly and get you a lot of gold.
Before you travel all over the map and take an active part in the battle, try to push the first tower in your lane. Manage your mana wisely - don't spam attacks just like that, but calculate the actions of the enemy mid player.
The same applies to finances, do not forget to buy and set traps around you so as not to become a target for the forester.
After successfully demolishing the tower and having enough artifacts in the late game, stay close to the team. You need the support of a tank or an initiator to play behind him. Wait until the fight starts, only then send your army of soldiers there and deal devastating damage.
Remember that you need time to build up. Azir's attack speed and damage increase gradually. Therefore, always keep an eye on the situation on the map and do not let your opponents focus on you. Otherwise, use a combo of second и the third skillto slow down champions and overcome obstacles along the way.
Be careful with your ultimate. It will take you time to master Azir's skills - the ult can work against him and, in an unfortunate combination of circumstances, save the life of the enemy. Therefore, carefully study the mechanics of the hero, check the range of his strikes, jump, ult technique, and do not forget about strengths and weaknesses.
Keep in mind that learning to play Azir at first is almost impossible. This hero is complex and strong, so don't get upset if you don't succeed the first time. Train regularly and listen to our advice. That's all, good luck and waiting for your comments!
