Azir, the newest champion in League of Legends would be officially unveiled by Riot’s Daniel Klein in August of 2014. The newest member of the Shuriman army, Azir would be introduced as a DPS mage similar to champions such as Kayle, Ryze and Cassiopeia. The community’s initial reaction to the release was surprisingly negative. Azir’s playstyle, revolving around controlled sand soldiers, would bring an element to LoL that was rarely seen in other champions. The mix of a damage-per-second style with mobility and burst potential would force players to think outside of the box while learning a new champion.

Competitive History

Azir’s kit is centered around his W ability, “Arise!”. By spawning soldiers with his W, Azir uses the rest of his kit to maintain distance from the enemy while dealing consistent damage with his autoattacks and spells. The champion’s potential to deal damage while avoiding death would seem appealing to professional League of Legends players, particularly drawing the eyes of Team SoloMid’s Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg.

Bjerg would debut the champion in TSM’s IEM San Jose semifinal matchup against Europe’s Unicorns of Love. Despite the loss, the midlaner would gain the attention of the community by using an Azir build using two Morellonomicons. The item, buffed by the 4.10 patch, would synergize with Azir’s passive: “Shurima’s Legacy”. This patch would feature buffs to Azir and still would feature the buffed Morellos, creating potential for massive stat gain at an efficient price.

When built in combination with Azir’s passive, the double Morellonomicon build would offer 40% cooldown reduction, 160 ability power, 50% bonus attack speed, and bonus mana regeneration for 4400 gold. Although the build path was often debated and periodically refuted by Soren’s peers, the showing at IEM San Jose would help build interest for the champion in competitive play.

Following Azir’s IEM San Jose appearance, the 2015 spring split would begin with the emperor in the limelight. All four major regions would begin to pick Azir as the first few weeks of the “Spring Split” began. While Azir would drop off soon after due to the rise of Zed and LeBlanc in competitive play, the Sand King would return in time for the Mid-Season Invitational (MSI).

With a 59% pick or ban rate during the tournament, Azir would ascend parallel to the return of mages to the competitive scene. Korean midlaners such as Faker, Easyhoon, and PawN would utilize Azir’s kit potential to make colossal plays in teamfights.

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Champion Intricacies

As seen in the clip above, the flexibility of Azir’s “Shifting Sands ability” - his E - allows for the user to control his dash while in flight, creating opportunities for assassinations or knock-backs with his Emperor's Divide. The “Lee Sin of midlane”, Azir can move freely while also dealing consistent damage akin to a marksman.

Current Azir builds (patch 5.10) focus mostly on magic damage than the CDR and attack speed buff of two cooldown items (double Morellos). Players such as Team Liquid's Kim "FeniX" Jae-hoon opt to buy a single mana regeneration item (Morellos or Chalice) and then will buy Luden's Echo, Zhonya's Hourglass, Rabadon's Deathcap, or other AP items that improve the emporer's burst potential. While this build might not offer the same DPS in long fights as Bjergsen's IEM San Jose build, it creates more catch potential, burst damage, and adds some assasination ability to Azir's options on the rift.

When playing Azir in SoloQ, laning phase can usually be won through safe play and situational summoner spell choices. According to ProBuilds, 26% of pro players opt to use Barrier, 22% opt to use Heal, 22% opt to use Cleanse, and 22% opt to use Ignite in SoloQ games. This choice is vital to Azir's playstyle in-game. As teamfight phase approahces, the emporer's second summoner spell is usually used to either stay alive from enemy burst, however Ignite can be chosen if the player is confident in their kill potential.

As midgame arrives, Azir becomes a utility damage threat who can either sit back and peel or dive in to push back multiple enemies with his Emporer's Divide ultimate. In fights, the champion will usually spend a good duration of the fight dealing damage to the frontline before diving in to clean up dwindling opponents by using Conquering Sands and Shifting Sands.

"Shurima was meant to fall" - Azir's Future Viability

The recent rise of champions such as Azir and Cassiopeia can be attributed to the rise of tanks; in turn creating more ideal situations for DPS mages and reducing the viability of assassins. Azir's weaknesses can usually be exposed by mobile burst assassins who can deal massive damage while sticking to Azir through his escape options. Champions such as Zed, Fizz, and LeBlanc have the ability to avoid Emporer's Divide and can often go for the kill through Azir's summoner spell sustain and his Shifting Sands dash. Fans of the competetive scene can easily recognize a shift in the League of Legends meta towards and away from tanks, and this shift will also decide the fate of Azir. Additionally, high-mobility characters with a threat of damage or crowd control can easily remove the sand king from the fight, and therefore the future shift in the outside meta will indirectly make or break Azir's success.

Despite the current strength of "The Emporer of the Sands" in the current patch, Azir specialists will encounter greater difficulty as the meta progresses in the coming seasons. While the current "Cinderhulk meta" allows Azir to usually be comfortable in teamfight situations, he will likely come and go as more direct threats appear on enemy teams.