Irelia has everything to counter you with her insane mobility and damage negation and thus remains the most formidable counterpick against Aatrox. Against her you need to be extremely careful not to overextend. Most Irelias prepare their engages with quite clear signs such as getting a few minions low next to you. You can try to predict her Q and land your own Q but other than that it comes down to whether or not you can dodge her E. After BORK she becomes way too powerful to reliably kill, so trust your team enough that they can deal with her.
Fiora
Fiora is a very common counterpick against Aatrox as her W parry is a very reliable ability against our Q. Early on try to focus on not letting her get free Vital hits on you especially if she has Grasp. You will take heavy damage and be forced to play so that she can set up a tower dive. The most important thing is to keep note of her W cooldown. Try to dodge it by using E sideways while using Q. Mastering it makes this lane so much easier. Build Eclipse first, Grievous Wounds are also good against her.
Vayne
Go Edge of Night first as it will make her stun useless. Arcane Comet is good here since Conqueror offers zero value. Don't get poked down early and punish her if she uses her dash to catch you. Don't play next to a wall as she can stun you and possibly kill you.
Yone
One of the more difficult matchups overall but mostly in mid and endgame since he outscales you really hard. Lethality works wonders since he is naturally quite squishy but the laning phase itself is not that bad. Try to bait his Q3 dash into your own Q sweet spot and take safe trades. With Lethal Tempo gone Yone is much less oppressive and tends to play for sustain, not for all ins.
Gwen
She is quite squishy but has a lot of damage so don't take extended trades. Her R gives her insane burst so try to dodge it at all costs. Hexdrinker early is very good but build Eclipse before finishing Maw: Eclipse allows you to trade better while Maw becomes more useful later due to the shield. She outscales you quite hard so don't try to fight her later on unless you're ahead.
Riven
Respect her early game as she can confidently burst you with Ignite. She has many different dashes in her kit, thus the key is baiting her into your Q sweet spot. Baiting her W out is really the only way you'll ever win her unless she makes an obvious mistake. Respect her at all points in the game and shut her down in teamfights using your Q stun.
Kled
You can use your E to dodge his Q but learn to sidestep it without using E as this will allow you to trade with him more efficiently. His Q has Grievous Wounds in it so you won't heal as much as you normally would. Don't fight him early and respect him when his mount runs away as he can get it back almost instantly if you let him hit you for free.
Olaf
The key in this matchup is dodging his axe, as it slows you and reduces your armor. He gets stronger the less health he has so be careful. His ult makes your stuns useless so don't fight him when he uses R if possible. Grievous Wounds are good early if he rushes Ravenous Hydra.
Kennen
Arcane Comet is a must here as Conqueror offers zero value in lane. Hexdrinker early is a good option. If you let him push you should focus on punishing him always when he goes for minions but don't get too low. Poke him with Q whenever possible and look for an all in when he is low. Remember that he can use his E to gain speed and just outrun your W.
Pantheon
Honestly speaking there's not much to do in this lane. I personally despise this matchup kinda hard since there's not much you can do against Pantheon both early and late. Early he statchecks you with Q and his first levels just outdamage you. Pantheon usually goes Ignite as well so no kill pressure. Unless you somehow survive lane even then you win mid game but thats it. Would ban Panth if it wasn't for Irelia.
K'Sante
One of the tankiest champions in the game. Early Last Whisper and Eclipse are good here. Walk sideways to dodge his Q3 and respect his short trades as they are quite oppressive wth Grasp. His R gives him huge damage but he becomes quite squishy. Don't waste your cooldowns on his W and remember that he can recast it instantly after he uses R.
Akali
Hexdrinker trivializes this matchup. Learn to sidestep her E and her damage becomes much lower. Don't fight her when she uses her W. While she is quite slippery, she will HAVE to come close to you to trade so punish her if she does so. Respect her first three levels as you'll lose an all-in.
Ornn
Ornn is one of the strongest toplaners all around, since he has damage as well as tankiness. Ornn will always want to hit his knockup on you, so if you dodge it you should win the trade. Respect his W damage, he also gets unstoppable while using it, meaning your Q won't CC him. While Mercs help with his AP damage, they don't help with CC as they're all knockups.
Yasuo
Yasuo is Yone but much more volatile. Good Yasuos will use their E as much as possible in order to negate your sweet spot damage and it becomes very hard to do consistent damage to them if they just hop around. Try to hit your Q so that you land it where his E stops. Your Q can be used to get his passive shield off, and most Yasuo's will engage on you when they see you using Q. He spikes heavily at Berserker's and his first item, but falls of in late game. You should always win him in lane unless he gets a knockup. Respect his dueling and try to dodge his Qs.
Urgot
Urgot is a terrific duelist and a strong splitpusher, but as with other champs in this caliber, he suffers from low mobility and a predictable kit. You basically always win him as long as you don't get hit by his E. Skew his HP away by taking short trades and you should win this lane.
Volibear
Volibear's kit is very predictable, but he is also a very powerful duelist. Volibear players love to spam Q and E engage on you, so anticipate it by using E backwards and using Q to mitigate damage. You win once you get Sundered Sky, but respect his dueling, in long fights he will win.
Vladimir
Vlad is a rare pick in top but he is quite annoying to lane against nonetheless. While you have an easy time poking him, his W makes all ins quite difficult since if he plays close to his tower he can always disengage in a moments notice. He scales very hard but is very weak early. Look to take trades at level 4 since you can burst him down quickly. Hexdrinker is a good option early since he does full AP.
Illaoi
In terms of laning, Illaoi is one of the more easier ones, so long as you dodge her E. If she misses it, she basically loses all the source of her damage, allowing you to take the trade in your favor. After level 6 she becomes much stronger. If she ults, just run away. You will NEVER outheal her if she has E and R on you.
Malphite
You win early and mid with good enough spacing and poke. Eclipse is very good against him since it blocks his short trade damage. He kinda outscales you as you'll not really be able to kill him after he has enough items. Focus on killing his team and he becomes obsolete.
Jax
Very skill based matchup. With proper spacing you should be able to punish him should he decide to engage on you. When comboing him you should keep note of his E as it reduces your Q damage. Learn to time your Q3 so that when he recasts E you damage him in return. He outscales Aatrox hard so avoid taking duels after he gains three items.
Darius
Darius is a feast of famine champion, and this is reflected by his strength throughout the game. Early he wins you just by statchecking your champ, but midgame you should win just as long as you don't get caught in his E. You can dodge his pull by simply using E backwards, and you can Q at the same time. When laning, try to take his HP down little by little until you can just ult combo him to death. Late game he is a monster, so try to shut him down in teamfights by stunning him with Q.
Garen
You should pretty much never lose this lane as long as you space well enough. Garen has zero gap closers excluding his Q which only gives him a speed boost, so if you play away enough he can't never kill you without burning Flash and Ignite. Punish his farming by using Q on him and slowly poke him down until you can just kill him.
Kayle
Kayle is a really weird champion to scale, because she can go 0/10 and still carry once she hits level 16. The laning phase itself, however, is completely under your control. Level 4 you can just full combo her and she won't be able to do anything. After level 6 she wins you if you take extended fights, but if she doesn't have her R its a free kill. This remains the same until she hits level 16, during when she will completely obliterate you. Watch out for her W move speed, she can outrun your W slow.
Tryndamere
Quite an easy lane as his engages are very easy to predict. If he uses E to engage you should always kite towards your own turret and punish him once he tries to disengage. His R makes it so that you won't heal from it so don't waste cooldowns on it.
Cho'Gath
Cho'Gath is pretty weak early game, and you are much stronger from level 4 to level 6. Try to deny him CS early game and build up a small lead, after level 6 the lane becomes much more volatile with his R. Don't fight him if you're too low, and you should end up even or ahead. His Qs are relatively easy to dodge, but beware of his W, since it makes you unable to use your abilities.
Gragas
Gragas has a lot of sustain and can quite easily poke you so respect his laning strength. Try to get him to use his E before you use W as he can just dash away from you. Gragas has good insec so beware if you're low under your turret. Eclipse is very good as the shield offers good protection against his burst.
Jayce
Jayce is a really strong poker and also has good all in, so try not to get hit by his empowered Q. Jayce's engage is very predictable, and he also lacks mobility, so he is susceptible to ganks. He is a strong scaler, but you should win him in a 1v1 as the game goes on. His strong suit remains his poke and burst, so buying things like Death's Dance and Sterak's hinders his damage output.
Singed
Singed isn't usually played in a lane, and is instead proxied with. This is due to him being a weak laner with no real all in. A usual trade with him should be Q -> W -> Q2, and once he uses E on you, time your Q3 by firing it behind you, so that it lands on top of Singed. He is a strong late game champion that excels in grouped up teamfights, so try to take his team out before him.
Sett
Sett is a very feast or famine champion, and is one of the strongest early game champions. Avoid openly taking trades and fighting him until level 4. Don't also stand in between him and your own minions, since his E can stun you. Try to avoid his W center, as it deals true damage.
Quinn
Quinn isn't that difficult to play against once she engages with her E. When she vaults on you, she is very susceptible to your full combo, and since she is squishy, you can almost always skew the trade in your favor. Fighting her in your side of the lane is much more important than you might realize. If she can't follow you after your combo, she can't punish you. After level 6 try to warn your team as her roaming power is where her power mainly resides in.
Renekton
Renekton has a strong all in, but once he uses his E, you can poke him down as much as you like. Try to bait out his E recast by holding onto your Q, and then engage when his mobility is down. His R wins against you in an all in, so don't fight him in it.
Gnar
You can't really ever fully combo him as he can always jump away from your W. Try to dodge his Q as often as possible and poke him with your Q. If he uses his jump you are mostly free to engage, but keep an eye on whenever he turns into Mega Gnar. Never fight his mega version next to a wall as he can chain stun you for an eternity. His skillshots in mega form are quite easy to just sidestep so learn to do that and you shouldn't have much problems at all.
Tahm Kench
Tahm Kench relies heavily on getting his Q off, so standing behind minions hinders his CC output by a lot. He also lacks mobility, and you can cancel his W with CC. Once he buys Thornmail, he gets much stronger, and you will probably never kill him in late game, so focus on killing his team.
Trundle
Laning phase is basically free as long as you space around him well enough. He has no way to catch you off-guard since you can just E through his ice pillar and without Lethal Tempo his melee range is much less oppressive. You should always win trades before he gains R. After he has it you shouldn't commit into a long fight unless you're clearly ahead as he is stronger in those situations. Kite well and save E for escape.
Yorick
Yorick gets overestimated a lot, but in reality his only damage output lies in his minions and in his R. Dodging his E will make him much less oppressive, and his gameplay is much splitpush favored. That being said, he is still a strong duelist, and will wreck you if you go in without a plan. Because he lacks mobility, Aatrox can very easily all in him, but try to save your E in the case he uses his cage on you.
Teemo
A complete joke of a laner, Teemo is one of the worst possible picks against Aatrox. Your damage comes mainly from abilities, which Teemo's blind is useless against. He also lacks movement speed apart from his W, so abuse his lack of mobility. Teemo becomes much more dangerous late game. He can also limit your freedom to engage with his traps, so post-level 6 take Oracle Lens.
Gangplank
Gangplank is the one of the best scaling champs in the entire League, and therefore should be denied as much gold and experience as possible. Luckily for us, he is very easily counterable and usually loses all trades he takes against you, unless he catches you off guard with his E. The only reason GP isn't even lower is because he scales too hard. Late game he just one-shots you and also does too much true damage.
Mordekaiser
The gigachad of toplane, and quite possibly the only respectable toplaner. For me, Mordekaiser is kinda the AP version of Aatrox, since he also has a lot of healing and is a great duelist, while commanding shitty splitpush. During laning phase, you can dodge his Q and E quite easily and try to take trades. If he uses R on you, just R away as well. The movement speed can be the difference between living and dying. If the jungle is also AP, I'd consider going Kaenic Rookern as first.
Maokai
Maokai relies on short trades and doesn't want to take long fights. He lacks mobility, so you can basically always full combo him. After level 6, you become much stronger than him.
Shen
Shen is an easy laner to play against. His kit doesn't offer much defense against you, since your damage comes off of mainly your abilities. He can still dodge your empowered passive by using his W, and his potential to shift the tides of a teamfight with his R is huge. While you can't dispose of his R shield, you can make him unable to teleport by CCing him with Q. Don't stand in between his spirit blade and him, as he can call it to himself and empower his auto attacks.
Dr. Mundo
This matchup is ridiculously easy. Your Q is CC, and therefore cancels Mundo's passive. He also has a lot of HP by nature, so you always win extended fights, since you heal so much. Mundo becomes much more dangerous in late game when he has resistances as well as Thornmail, so don't underestimate him.
Nasus
Nasus is one of the easiest toplanes to actually play against, and he is very easily killable pre level 6. You will always outtrade him, but beware of his R and his mid to late game. He will probably never directly be able to kill you, but the same can't be said to your teammates. Keep him low on stacks by zoning him off of minions and you'll win.
Sion
Sion is a very easy matchup. Your Q is easy to proc so that it cancels his Q charge, and his nature as a tank helps with you taking extended fights. You win against Sion in every point in the game.
Hello everyone! My name is forlid! I've been playing League for just about two years and during all this time I've tried out a plethora of different champions, mostly mid and toplaners so my experience is mostly single lane based. My most played champions include characters such as Aatrox, Yone, Yasuo, Sett, Sylas and Ekko, but the most proficient I'm with Yone and Aatrox. I've already done an Aatrox guide once before but decided to stop updating it due to concentrating on other things. I've revised this particular guide from stratch and tried to include more insight as to how exactly Aatrox should be played, so I hope you'll enjoy this guide!
About Aatrox
Aatrox is one of the most popular toplaners and his playstyle mainly revolves around his omnivamp and combos. While he is not the most difficult champion when taken at face value, the skill ceiling of Aatrox is comparable to the more difficult champions in League overall. Aatrox excels in duels as well as teamfights but struggles with weaker scaling and gets easily countered by armor and grievous wounds.
Periodically, Aatrox's next basic attack deals bonus physical damage and heals him, based on the target's max health.
Aatrox's passive is a very powerful tool as it increases his auto attack range and deals a lot of damage for a basic attack. The cooldown of this ability is based on how many times you're able to hit your The Darkin Blade's sweet spots as well as auto attacks, as they both lower the cooldown for Deathbringer Stance. The cooldown for this ability gets gradually lower the more levels you gain and is eventually active pretty much every other second. Keep in mind that enemies will notice when you gain your passive based on a certain sound as well as how Aatrox positons his blade in a horizontal line.
Aatrox slams his greatsword, dealing 10/25/40/55/70physical damage. If they are hit on the edge, they are briefly Knocked Up and they take 16/40/64/88/112 instead. This Ability can be Recast twice, each one changing shape and dealing 25% more damage than the previous one.
Easily Aatrox's most imporant ability, The Darkin Blade is where your damage resides and it is extremely important that you master this ability. Whereas the inside of this ability does quite bad damage, the sweet spots are where you should always aim. To ease this you're allowed to dash with Umbral Dash while casting The Darkin Blade in every direction. This is how you'll be catching all of your foes who try to escape. Keep in mind that this ability is quite bad until level 4 where your second point in Q becomes available. The Darkin Blade has an extremely long cooldown early but it's reduced as long as you don't recast it after poking with it. This ability has three forms: the first cast makes a straight line and is used mostly as an engage tool as it has the longest reach; the sweet spot resides at the very tip of the blade. The second cast makes a huge horizontal line with the longest reach in both of its corners; the sweet spot resides in the very end of the blade with the entire line being the sweet spot. The third cast has Aatrox slamming his greatsword down in a circle with the sweet spot in its center.
Aatrox fires a chain, Slowing the first enemy hit by 25/27,5/30/32,5/35% for 1.5 seconds and dealing 30/40/50/60/70magic damage. Champions and large jungle monsters have 1.5 seconds to leave the impact area or be Pulled back to the center and damaged again for the same amount.
Infernal Chains is a pivotal part of your kit although far from the most useful. The main usage of this ability comes from comboing it alongside The Darkin Blade for an easier combo. This ability is widely known to be extremely inconsistent as its CC is very unreliable on its own. You can combo Umbral Dash alongside this ability for an easier hit and you can also last hit minions with it as it deals double damage to them. Enemies will often try to run to the side of the CC area in order to escape, so try to hit your Q1 or Q2 while they're escaping. This usually ends up in a huge trade in your favour.
Passive: Aatroxheals for 18/19.5/21/22.5/24% of the damage he deals to Champions, increased to 20/24/28/32/36% during World Ender. Active: Aatrox dashes. He can use this Ability while winding up his other Abilities.
Aatrox's E is all of your mobility alongside World Ender's move speed boost, so use it effectively. You'll mostly be using this to catch opponents with The Darkin Blade or when you need to disengage. While the dash itself is pretty short ranged, it can pass through surprisingly tight walls such as raptors. Try to play around with it and learn where you can slip and where you can't. Umbral Dash pays another huge role in your kit as it's your main source of sustain. During your R it gets much higher and will allow you to outsustain basically every champion.
Aatrox reveals his true demonic form, Fearing nearby minions for 3 seconds and gaining 60/80/100% Move Speed decaying over 10 seconds. He also gains 20/32.5/45% Attack Damage and increases self-healing by 25/35/45% for the duration. Champion takedowns extend the duration of this effect by 5 seconds and refresh the Move Speed effect.
Aatrox's ultimate World Ender is where your damage gets boosted to the skies. It makes catching opponents much easier and makes your sustain one of the best in the game. Alongside giving you terrific AD it also gives you an insane disengage tool should the need arise for you to do so. Don't overlook the self-healing as it increases your regeneration as well as makes plants give you more HP. Don't always just insta ult when you see a target, rather try to observe and wait for the correct opportunity. In teamfights its also not always the call to instantly ult as you want to use it so that you're able to extend its duration. Now of course you'll use it if you're in a sticky situation, but IN GENERAL its not always best to just use all of your damage without a good reason. Enemies might just disengage as they recognize the danger you pose.
Simply the best keystone for Aatrox. Conqueror allows us to fight for extended durations and the damage increase serves as an extra source of sustain since more damage equals more healing. Conqueror should always be your choice of rune unless you're facing someone who's extremely difficult to catch and who's ranged, such as Vayne or Quinn.
This slot is moreso just too one-sided due to Triumph heavily outvaluing both Presence of Mind and Overheal. Triumph is very valuable in teamfights and especially in 1v2 situations as the heal from a takedown might let you live or even turn the tide of a fight. You should also consider Triumph as a tower dive rune as the heal can possibly leave you alive after a successful dive: Aatrox is one of the best divers in the game due to the sustain he gains from a kill.
This choice relies on whether or not you think you'll need the extra tenacity later on. I'm currently running Legend: Alacrity on most of my games as I think Sterak's Gage alone provides enough tenacity to render the rune itself mostly useless. Alacrity also helps with your passive Deathbringer Stance as more auto attacks lower the cooldown of your empowered attack. Consider going Alacrity into matchups where you can get more auto attacks off. These include low mobility champions such as Malphite, Sion, Nasus and Dr. Mundo.
Since you'll mostly be committing into a kill, more often than not you'll find yourself quite low as the fight goes on. Last Stand allows you to deal more damage the lower you are so it's perfect for extended fights.
A very solid rune best taken into melee matchups where the enemy is unable to poke you without fully engaging. Think about someone like Darius: he has nothing on you unless you walk into his Q Decimate. Be wary of some melee matchups as the rune can easily be poked down. These include champions such as Volibear who can poke it through his passive The Relentless Storm and Yone who can just use his W Spirit Cleave on you.
Serves as an excellent anti-poke rune due to its healing through taken damage. Pairing Second Wind alongside Doran's Shield makes up for some insane healing and makes ranged lanes somewhat playable. Second Wind is also an excellent rune even in some melee matchups where Bone Plating isn't as useful and where the enemy can constantly poke you.
An excellent rune choice for Aatrox as it allows for more healing. The shield part shouldn't also be ignored as it effectively increases Sterak's Gage shielding as well. If you're unsure what to go, Revitalize should always be your choice as it's really powerful with both bruiser and lethality.
The sole reason this rune page is even viable on Aatrox. The poke from Arcane Comet leaves most ranged champions in a negative trade should they try to poke with you as the damage is guaranteed should you hit your sweet spots from The Darkin Blade. Consider going this only if the enemy laner has a lot of mobility AND is ranged. Otherwise Conqueror is way superior.
A really good rune for poke as the burn damage is actually very viable. Another contender here would be Gathering Storm but seeing as Aatrox isn't the best scaling champion, the extra AD won't most likely make a huge difference.
Serves a very imporant role in your combos. Use it alongside The Darkin Blade to finish off low HP opponents. Keep in mind that your combo is very easily predicted so try to bait their movement out before committing. The obvious usage of Flash is of course also disengaging and dodging out important abilities.
Teleport is very useful in top where the walk to lane is extremely long. It also allows you to split later on and join teamfights should they break out. Currently I think Teleport heavily outvalues Ignite so you should always take it even against healing targets.
Not very strong in top and especially not for someone such as Aatrox. I'd only really take this if you're queuing for midlane and even then Teleport is equally as strong. There just isn't much use for it as there's a lot more potential with Teleport.
I don't really recommend picking any other Summoner Spells other than these three as they're not as valuable on Aatrox. Exhaust should never be taken on top and Cleanse is useless after Sterak's Gage.
Early Game
Aatrox is one of the weaker early game champions due to his high cooldowns and enemy champions just being stronger in general. Your main job early is to let the wave push towards you as this way you can farm easier. Aatrox doesn't have much with which to waveclear early so try to learn to clear solely with auto attacks. You can of course poke the enemy with The Darkin Blade but keep your distance if they're someone like Darius as you'll always lose the close-ranged fights. When you hit level 4 that's when you'll be able to dish out damage and make some good trades. At this point you should be pretty healthy and still at your side in the lane: if your jungler cleared towards topside, you can try to set up a gank. Keep in mind that the enemy jungler is usually there at the same time so ask yourself: can we win this fight? If the answer is no, just ping your jungler to go away. Otherwise you can try to engage and with good luck you'll get a kill or two, even Summoner Spells will suffice. Voidgrubs are also very important if your laners are snowballing as they help a ton with plates. If you're able to solo kill your laner you can co-operate with your jungler and mid to obtain the very first objective in the game and get a huge lead. Wards pay a huge role here so try to get vision on either enemy jungle or deep ward in case you suspect you'll get ganked. If you're unable to do so just sit under your turret and farm. Your first back should be done around 1100g. This way you'll get a key component to your first item or you can buy tier 2 boots.
Mid Game
Around mid game your objetive remains the same as before: farm in lane and try to get plates by killing the enemy laner. In case you succeed, you can try to get another set of voidgrubs. This will exponentially boost your tower damage and helps very much later on. While you're getting closer to Baron Nashor you should start to roam a bit and if your bot is in a lead you can rotate your entire team so that you can push bot. With Teleport you can now join fights should they break out. You're also at your strongest around this time so if you're even with your laner you can feel confident in engaging them. Focusing on getting dragons so that your team can scale to late game and with correct map awareness you should be safe to farm and make some calls.
Late Game
This is when ending the game becomes pivotal as your champion isn't the best scaler. Post 20-min mark you should ask yourself whether or not you can take Baron Nashor. If you win a teamfight you can look for it as with Baron you can usually push and get tier 2 towers which net a huge gold lead. If you went bruiser you should play around your team and peel for them as much as possible. If you went lethality you should be able to oneshot pretty much every single that isn't a full on tank. Good flanks with Teleport can be game changing so keep those in mind. If you're unable to end the game with Baron try to get Elden Dragon as it will most likely be an insta win at that point. Other than that you should act as your team's leader unless someone else is much more ahead as your kit is with which your team can make good plays around.
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