Welcome I am kewllkiddo! I have consistently been diamond Elo for about 3 seasons. Originally, I go to diamond maining Kha'Zix jungle but as of lately I have transitioned to playing mostly adc/support/top. I have a very flexible playstyle and a huge champion pool so when it comes to having great insights on different matchups I am extremely knowledgeable. Aatrox has been one of my favorite top laners since his rework and I’ve played him with much success in solo q! I wanted to make this guide to share with you guys some of the driving success factors so you all can do well in your games as well! Please remember to follow my Twitch for daily streams! https://www.twitch.tv/kewllkiddo

PROS + Amazing sustain for drawn out team fights + Great mid game damage + Fantastic snowball ability + Very strong laning phase + Great 2v1 outplay ability + Great outplay potential + Not very many counters Aatrox is fantastic because as a champion he doesn’t really have a solid counter in the top lane. He’s really strong into 90 percent of matchups and generally can win any lane if played correctly. Aatrox always finds a way to be useful no matter your comp, for he is extremely tanky and does great damage. When you are fed on Aatrox you essentially become this unkillable drain tank that one shots enemy squishies. He makes ADC’s look pathetic and rolls over teams 1v3 with ease.

CONS - Countered by grievous wounds - Struggles vs specific matchups Ex: Malphite - High skill ceiling, can be challenging to learn initially - Hard to play from behind Because Aatrox loves to go ham and be in the fray of battle in teamfights, if he falls behind he essentially becomes a secondary peeler for the carries. He isn’t nearly as strong from behind but he does have many opportunities still to get back in the game. It just takes one or two kills in the right fight and you can snowball back into the game with ease. When you are behind on Aatrox try your best to snag a kill here and there and farm up to get a couple core items. If you do this correctly you should have no problem returning to the game and being a menace to the enemy team.

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Deathbringer (Passive) Static Cooldown: 24 - 12 (based on level)

INNATE: Aatrox periodically empowers his next basic attack on-attack to gain 50 bonus range and deal 5% - 12% (based on level) of the target's maximum health as bonus physical damage, capped at 100 against monsters, and heal him for 100% of the bonus damage dealt, reduced to 25% against minions. Deathbringer Stance's cooldown is reduced by 2 seconds whenever Aatrox hits at least one enemy champion or large monster with a basic attack on-hit or an ability. The cooldown is further reduced by 2 seconds if he hits with the Sweetspot of the Darkin Blade.

Aatrox passive: This ability is your lifeline in team fights and in most trades, make sure you practice weaving in auto attacks wherever possible to lower your passives cool down, because it provides massive healing and can clutch up in some moments. always open up a trade in lane with an auto attack to set the cool down on your passive, then Q auto W auto Q auto Q, and by the time you finish this full combo you will have fully recouped your passive so you can use it again.

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The Darkin Blade (Q) RANGE: Varied CAST TIME: 0.6 COOLDOWN: 14 / 12 / 10 / 8 / 6

Aatrox can activate The Darkin Blade three times before the ability goes on cooldown, with a 1 second static cooldown between casts. If Aatrox does not recast the ability within 4 seconds, the ability goes on cooldown. Each of the three casts has Aatrox perform an acrobatic strike with his greatsword, dealing physical damage in a distinct area. Enemies hit within a telegraphed Sweetspot in the strike are dealt 50% bonus damage are knocked up for 0.25 seconds. The second and third cast deal 25% and 50% more damage than the first cast respectively.

As Aatrox you always want to max your Q first. This ability provides great sustain, all your damage, and all your poke in laning phase. Make sure you are using this ability whenever it is available in lane for you have no mana costs. You want to use this to your advantage and constantly harass your opponent in lane. Force them to back or play safe early and miss CS. Your goal is to punish your opponent for your early game is really strong and your Q does a ton of damage

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Infernal Chains (W) RANGE: 825 CAST TIME: 0.25 COOLDOWN: 26 / 23 / 20 / 17 / 14

ACTIVE: Aatrox smashes the ground in the target direction, creating a chain that stops on the first enemy hit, dealing physical damage, doubled against minions, and slowing them by 25% for 1.5 seconds. If Infernal Chains hits an enemy champion or large monster, they are revealed and are chained to the impact area. If the chained enemy is still in the impact area after 1.5 seconds, they are dragged to the center and take the same damage again.

Aatrox W is a great ability to use to combo with your Q. Upon hitting your W you always know where your opponent will end up being when they are pulled in. So your goal should be to land your W, Knock them up with Q1, use Q2 and dash to reposition to make sure you hit your Q2, and then slam dunk your Q3 exactly where they get pulled into when your W expires. This combo will 100-0 most targets unless they are some Giga tank like Malphite.

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Umbral Dash (E) RANGE: 75 / 300 / 500 SPEED: 800 / UP TO 1340 COOLDOWN: 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5

PASSIVE: Aatrox heals for a percentage of the non-persistent post-mitigation damage he deals against enemy champions. ACTIVE: Aatrox dashes in the target direction. Umbral Dash resets Aatrox's basic attack timer. Umbral Dash can be cast during his other abilities without cancelling them, and vice versa. Umbral Dash may cast across terrain with an increased dash range. This may upscale his dash speed so that the dash takes the same total time as the standard maximum-range dash.

Your E is a fantastic ability for you are able to use it while your Q is active. You want to use your E to reposition as you are mid Q. This will assure you can land your Q way more consistently. This especially helps for Q3 and lining up the center where you do immense damage if you hit your opponent in the center. Channel Q3 and dash to perfectly align the center to one shot opponents.

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World Ender (R) EFFECT RADIUS: 600 CAST TIME: 0.25 COOLDOWN: 120 / 100 / 80

ACTIVE: Aatrox unleashes his true demonic form, causing all nearby enemy minions and monsters to flee from him for 3 seconds, during which they are rapidly slowed by up to 99% over the duration. For the next 10 seconds, Aatrox gains ghosting and bonus movement speed, decaying by 10% of the current bonus every 0.25 seconds. While transformed, Aatrox gains bonus attack damage and 5% increased size, and receives increased self-healing from all sources.

This ability is super epic and really allows you to just stream roll team fights. Upon getting assists or kills you get a movement speed reset and you extend the duration of your ult. Making it possible to go through an entire team fight without ever losing your ultimate sustain and movement speed bonuses. You want to use this ability to close the gap between you and the enemy back line, and then try to combo your abilities onto one of their carries when you are close enough to start hitting abilities.

SUMMONER SPELLS - FLASH: As Aatrox you always want to take Flash. Flash allows you to make great Flash plays and escape from ganks in the earlier stages of the game. There are no better options in terms of a primary summoner spell. TELEPORT: Teleport is the best secondary summoner spell to take as Aatrox. You need Teleport as a top laner to make plays across the map, and for late game split pushing capabilities. Taking anything else is extremely selfish and generally screws your team over.

Goredrinker This should always be your first buy. This item provides you with amazing HP stats and great sustain with its 10s CD active ability. Make sure you ALWAYS rush this item.

Black Cleaver You should always get black cleaver second. Black Cleaver helps you shred tanks, squishy targets, and off tanks alike. Its fantastic for it gives you great ability haste and HP as well. Paired with Goredrinker these two items will give you a great amount of ability haste early.

Sterak's Gage Sterak’s Gage is a great third item if you aren’t in desperate need of resistances. This item makes you extremely hard to kill in the mid game and allows you to grow for extremely aggressive back line dives with little risk of being punished. It’s great to carry solo/duo games.

Death's Dance Death's Dance is fantastic as a third item as well. It essentially accomplishes what Sterak's Gage does as well but its better if you need armor. Generally, this is a more defensive item to build if you are slightly behind in your laning phase.

Plated Steelcaps If you need armor in lane this is great.

Mercury's Treads If you need MR / Tenacity in lane this is great.

In the early stages of the game as Aatrox you want to play relatively aggressively.

Hit your Q on the enemy every time its up, and try to get them low enough that they are forced to either back or miss CS. When you get your opponent low you can shove them into their tower and harass them as they try to pick up farm under the tower with your W and your Q. Either force them to back or pressure a dive. The reason you wait until your opponent is low before diving them is because if their jungle is going to arrive half the time you can win the fight 2v1 because the enemy laner is too low to fight you anyways.

If you end up winning your lane as you should most of the time, try to look out on the map and roam. Use your tp to help your team secure dragon fights and try to roll over the enemy team in team fights. You should always look to snowball the rest of the map after winning your lane. Don’t be afraid to take the kills and the resources for yourself, you can hard carry as Aatrox don’t cut yourself short.

Aatrox is at his strongest in the mid game, this is because generally the enemy team won’t be stacking resistances at this stage, and you will have your core items to absolutely shred the enemy team. This is when you want to make the majority of your plays.

Make sure you are securing all the dragons for your team at this stage and you are playing hyper aggressively. If you can pick a good fight always pick the fight and always be looking on the map for Teleport plays.

The mid game is where you either make or break the game for your team, so put emphasize on this stage of the game and try to gather as much resources possible for your team, whether that be towers, dragons, or baron. Go for it. Don’t be afraid to Flash Q their backline in teamfights to set up huge knockups for your team. At this stage a good flash third Q will half health the enemy carries, so go for these plays. They will almost always work out if you can hit your third Q.

In the late game Aatrox is still very strong. Your goal in the late game is to position in the middle of a team fight between your carries and the enemy teams carries. Your main goal is to giga sustain and soak up as much damage as possible all the while dealing out a good chunk of damage where you can.

Generally speaking, you will outlive most front lines if you are able to use your abilities and sustain. If their backline is low enough you can dive for them, just make sure that your chances of killing their backline are greater then you failing. Because at this stage of the game if you go hunting for the enemy back line and you die you make the game extremely difficult to win for the rest of your team.

Play team fights by ear and use your decision making to the best of your ability. Whenever you see an opportunity to dive take it, if not no worries you can peel your backline while soaking up insane amounts of damage with your incredibly high sustain.