Hi! I'm Event Horizon #Solar on EUW, and I'm a Master Tier Aurelion Sol OTP. I've been playing Aurelion for about a year now and have thousands of games played with him. I made this guide out of passion for the champ and hope it is useful for both new Aurelion players and those looking to improve and climb. If you're on EUW feel free to add me on the client.

The style of this guide is text heavy rather than lots of visual aids so take your time as there is lots to learn.

Pros

1. He's a space dragon. Do I need to say anymore?

2. He has an awesome in-game power fantasy of going from one of the weakest laners to the best scaling champ that will single-handedly take over the game.

3. Aurelion Sol has a large variety of viable items and can easily adjust to enemy and ally compositions.

4. Infinitely stacking passive means you will always be useful late game even if the early game doesn't go well. He rewards patience and a strong mental.

5. His kit allows him to be viable in any meta as he is equally good at killing squishies and tanks.

6. His empowered ult, The Skies Descend, might be the most powerful ability in the game and can completely flip a losing game into a win when used correctly.

7. Great roaming potential. His Astral Flight resets on takedowns allowing him to roam to a sidelane, get a kill or assist, and fly back to mid.

8. His huge AOEs on Singularity and Falling Star allow him to control teamfights and skirmishes from a distance.

9. Aurelion Sol has an awesome personality in-game with over 30 minutes of voice lines, and a further 15 minutes on his legendary skin Porcelain Protector Aurelion Sol

Cons

1. Harder than might be expected. He's not easy just because you stand still and press Breath of Light, he's very vulnerable and only has Falling Star for self-peel.

2. His weak early game contributes to his difficulty but also gives you very little agency in the first 15 minutes of a game. In higher elos a weak early game is better punished.

3. Breath of Light requires you to stand still. Anyone that plays League will know standing still makes you vulnerable to skillshots and CC. Learning when you can safely use Breath of Light and Astral Flight is key to being a good Aurelion Sol player.

4. Aurelion Sol will usually lose lane because of the nature of his kit. Understanding and respecting this is also key to being a good Aurelion player.

5. Assassins and gap closers cause big problems once they get into melee range. Use your long range to stay safe.

Flash

Flash is essential. Aurelion Sol has very little CC and Astral Flight is not a reliable escape due to its cast time. Flash will help you get out of tricky situations or help pick up kills.

Teleport

95% of games I take Teleport. Its great for getting back to lane and general game macro.

Barrier

Great for keeping you alive in those really difficult lanes. Fizz, Ekko, and Zed are good examples of Barrier matchups.

Cleanse

If you particularly hate the Zoe matchup cleanse can help you get out of bubbles.

Primary

The Sorcery tree is essential for Aurelion Sol just like it is for most mages.

Arcane Comet is by far the best keystone rune for Aurelion and must be taken every game. It's great for poke in lane with Q taps and it scales decently. By the end of the game it will have done serveral thousand damage.

Manaflow Band is essential for Aurelion because of his mana issues and must be taken every game. It can be stacked quickly in lane with Q taps.

Absolute Focus is significantly better than Transcendence because Aurelion doesn't really need ability haste and takedowns reset his Astral Flight anyway. Take Absolute Focus every game.

Scorch is generally better than Gathering Storm. The early game damage is more important than further increasing your late game damage. Gathering storm is best suited for the matchups where you won't be interacting with the laner so much or they heal through poke such as Yasuo, Yone, Vladimir, Galio, and Kassadin.

Secondary

The Inspiration, Resolve, and Precision trees are all viable for the secondary runes.

Inspiration is the default with Biscuit Delivery and Magical Footwear. Cookies give you great sustain in lane and 90 permanent max HP. Free boots save you 300g. Remember to swap Magical Footwear out for Cosmic Insight if you want Symbiotic Soles in lane, otherwise you won't get boots for the first 10 minutes.

Resolve is mainly for assassin or consistent poke lanes. Bone Plating is great for reducing combo damage of assassins like Akali and Fizz. Second Wind helps reduce poke damage from champs like Mel and Viktor. Pair these with Overgrowth.

Precision is a high risk high reward option. The lane is riskier because you have no sustain but you have more damage. This should be a niche pick in the right conditions. If you think you can survive the lane and the enemy composition will have a lot of HP then the Precision tree is a good choice. Take Presence of Mind and Cut Down.

For rune shards always take double Adaptive Force. 18 AP is good value. The only time to take the Health Scaling in the middle row of shards is when you are running Second Wind. For the HP shards in the bottom row most of the time take the flat +65 Health. Take the Health Scaling in safe matchups like Vladimir and Kassadin.

Starting Items

Doran's Ring and two Health Potion every game.

Core

Every game your first two items must consist of Rylai's Crystal Scepter and one of Rod of Ages, Blackfire Torch or Liandry's Torment.

Rylai's Crystal Scepter into Liandry's Torment is the standard option in most lanes. Grab a Tear of the Goddess or a Sapphire Crystal on first recall to help with the mana issues. The mana items can either be sold later in the game when you need the item slot or the gold refund OR upgraded into Archangel's Staff or Blackfire Torch respectively.

Blackfire Torch into Rylai's Crystal Scepter is the riskier but more mana and damage option. Only do this in safe lanes, never against assassins.

Rod of Ages into Rylai's Crystal Scepter is the third option. Useful in difficult lane matchups like Yasuo and Yone or scaling matchups like Ryze and Kassadin.

Item Information

Rylai's Crystal Scepter is the perfect item for Aurelion Sol. Synergises insanely well with Breath of Light and Singularity. In an ideal world you would rush this item every game but Aurelion has mana issues. A Sapphire Crystal/ Tear of the Goddess/ Presence of Mind can help. Rylai's Crystal Scepter must be bought first or second every game. Don't be scared to build the Giant's Belt component before Blasting Wand in difficult lanes.

Liandry's Torment is the second most important item for Aurelion. AP and HP are great for Aurelion and the damage amplifying passive gives you a big damage spike. I would recommend building this every game after Rylai's Crystal Scepter. The only scenario I wouldn't buy Liandry's Torment would be if the enemy team are all squishies and high burst AND I bought Blackfire Torch first. In that case Blackfire Torch > Rylai's Crystal Scepter > Zhonya's Hourglass/ Banshee's Veil would be good.

Blackfire Torch is a good first item in lanes with low kill pressure because it gives enough mana to let you farm waves without running out. The trade off is no HP so you are very vulnerable which is why you can't rush this item vs assassins. When buying Blackfire Torch in lane you can either go for Fated Ashes first for wave clear or Lost Chapter if you want more a bit more AP. Most of the time Fated Ashes + Sapphire Crystal is better.

Zhonya's Hourglass is a great third item against heavy AD comps or high burst. Aurelion has no self peel except Falling Star so Zhonya's Hourglass can be a great way to stay alive or bait enemies. Can be useful against certain AP burst champs such as Syndra and Fizz as you completely dodge their R damage with good timing.

After the recent buff Rod of Ages is viable again on Aurelion Sol. Rod of Ages must be bought first item for it to be worth it. Rod of Ages will make you weaker than usual before 20 minutes but once you get the level up on the 10th stack you spike hard. Will help keep you alive in difficult matchups while also giving mana. Follow it up with Rylai's Crystal Scepter and Liandry's Torment for a high HP battlemage build.

Archangel's Staff. I don't really recommend this item in the current meta, I think Rod of Ages is the better scaling item. If you bought a Tear of the Goddess in the early game and the enemy comp has a lot of burst or dive then the item can be worth buying for the shield.

Rabadon's Deathcap is a core mage item. Aurelion Sol doesn't have the best AP ratios and his passive Cosmic Creator makes him a stat checker later into the game so I usually won't buy Rabadon's Deathcap until 4th item or later. Expensive and the components Needlessly Large Rod aren't that great for Aurelion.

Void Staff is great for getting through magic resist especially on tanks. Best when you are solo AP due to the 95 AP. Can be bought as early as 3rd item.

Banshee's Veil is a good item vs heavy AP comps or engage. Useful for stopping charms and hooks.

Shadowflame is ideal against squishy comps or when you need to kill an enemy quickly. I usually prioritise defensive items after Rylai's Crystal Scepter > Liandry's Torment but Shadowflame is a good source of flat magic pen. The ability crit below 40% max HP is useful against sustain champs as they get less time to heal.

Bloodletter's Curse is a great magic resist counter item when you have other AP champs on your team as it reduces the targets magic resist. Aurelion Sol can reach 6 stacks with Breath of Light or Singularity in just 1.8 seconds. As a Haunting Guise item it naturally synergises nicely with Aurelion's kit. Build this 3rd or 4th depending on how urgently you need defensive items.

Horizon Focus is a popular item in Korean high elo. This item is good if you are behind and need a cheap damage amplifying item. The vision passive can be really useful in jungle skirmishes and teamfights.

Riftmaker is a personal favourite item. Really good when teamfights are long because of tanky or high sustain comps. Synergises great with the other Haunting Guise items. Build 3rd or 4th. Paired with a Void Staff or Bloodletter's Curse you will melt tanks.

Cryptbloom has fallen out of the meta and I wouldn't recommend it. Void Staff and Bloodletter's Curse are far superior for Aurelion Sol when you need to get through enemy magic resist.

Morellonomicon is an antiheal item and Aurelion Sol is great at applying antiheal because of his huge AOEs and item burns. It's best to sit on the Oblivion Orb component as it applies the same antiheal passive and then upgrade to Morellonomicon as your 6th item.

The early game for Aurelion Sol is all about being patient. You must respect your weak early game.

Grab your Doran's Ring and Health Potion and head to midlane. Before minions spawn your role is to help get vision of the enemy jungle. Carefully, see if you can get a Stealth Ward down at the enemy raptor camp around 1:20-1:25 into the game. This ward will stay alive long enough for you to get vision on the enemy jungle. Once the enemy jungle is spotted at the raptor camp, press tab to check their creep score. 8 CS mean they started at red buff, 12 means they started at blue buff and full cleared that side of their jungle. You can use this knowledge to work out which direction they are clearing. This is known as jungle tracking. Position in lane away from the side of the map the enemy jungle is in to reduce the chances of getting ganked. At 3:30 the junglers will have finished their clears, taken rift scuttler and will be looking to gank, so be aware of this when trading and hitting minions.

For your first recall there are a few gold amounts to reset with:

400g = Dark Seal + Health Potion or Amplifying Tome or Ruby Crystal

500g = Dark Seal + Refillable Potion

700g = Amplifying Tome + Sapphire Crystal or Ruby Crystal + Sapphire Crystal

850g = Blasting Wand

900g = Fated Ashes

1200g = Lost Chapter or Fated Ashes + Sapphire Crystal

1300g = Catalyst of Aeons

Your first buy is dependent on the lane matchup and the first item you are going for. Dark Seal is a very gold efficient item that can quickly become powerful after a few stacks. If you fall behind and can't get stacks it sells for 140g so only 210g is lost. The risk is low but the item should be treated like a starter item so you should keep it in your inventory until you need the gold or item slot. I don't recommend upgrading to Mejai's Soulstealer as Aurelion Sol is a vulnerable champ but it depends on the game and your playstyle.

If the lane is rough focus on getting HP and Refillable Potion. Boots can also be a useful choice against some matchups like Zoe and Yone.

For the higher ranks try and time your recalls so you are back in lane with HP and mana ready for fights at objective spawns. The first drake spawns at 5:00 and voidgrub spawn at 6:00. Remember you are weak early so giving objectives can be a good option if your team is not ahead.

In the mid game your main job is to push sidelanes and be ready for objectives. The bot lanes will move to mid lane usually after an outer turret is taken bot. Astral Flight becomes a powerful ability at this stage of the game as you can look for catches using Rylai's Crystal Scepter and Falling Star.

Try and stack up and get your empowered ult ready for big objective fights like atakhan and drake

Once you have completed two items, around 18 to 20 minutes into the game, you spike hard and become a useful asset for your team. Before this spike be cautious and play safe.

This is where the fun begins.

At 25 minutes you should be at, or approaching, 300 stacks on Cosmic Creator and your third item.

Continue to push sidelanes; if you have Teleport make sure you're pushing on the opposite side of the map of the upcoming objective unless your toplaner is doing that for you.

In teamfights you should be aiming to combo on the highest priority enemy. This is usually whoever is doing the most damage, most likely the adc or midlaner, but it could also be a carry champ in another role such as Viego jungle or Kayle top.

The alternative is using Falling Star for peel or zoning. For example if your adc is a fed Caitlyn and the enemy has a Vi looking to use her ult Cease and Desist, you can ult Vi as she finishes her ult animation to help keep Caitlyn alive or you can ult the rest of the enemy team as they try to follow up the Vi ult.

Use your Astral Flight resets after takedowns to keep flying inbetween kills but be careful to not fly into danger.

I hope this guide is a useful tool for anyone that wants to play Aurelion Sol. I've stuck mainly to topics that specifically impact Aurelion rather than things such as macro because this is an Aurelion guide rather than a mid lane guide but I may add information in the future.

Have fun on the Rift and good luck with your climbs!

[25.08] - Cryptbloom buff unlikely to make it any better on Aurelion because he doesn't really need Ability Haste. Void Staff and Bloodletter's Curse still the better options for magic pen.