Welcome to the League of Legends Champion Spotlight featuring Ezreal, the Prodigal Explorer
Ezreal is a hybrid ranged carry and caster, adept at poking, mobility, and burst damage.
A properly played Ezreal can dismantle enemy teams all while out of range for counter-attacks.
While Ezreal can be played a number of different ways, this spotlight will focus on building Ezreal with physical damage in mind.
Ezreal’s passive is Rising Spell Force. Every time Ezreal hits a target with one of his abilities, he gains a stack of Rising Spell Force, up to a cap.
Each stack grants Ezreal bonus attack speed for a few seconds.
Mystic Shot fires out a skill shot nuke that damages the first enemy it hits, also applying “on hit” effects like Life Steal and Sheen.
If Mystic Shot strikes a target, all of Ezreal’s cooldowns are reduced by one second.
As his primary damage tool I take Mystic Shot at level 1 and max it first.
Essence Flux fires out a line nuke that hits all allied and enemy champions it passes through.
Enemy champions are damaged and have their attack speeds slowed for a few seconds, while allies gain bonus attack speed.
Granting great poke and utility, I take Essence Flux early and max it second, by level 13.
Arcane Shift causes Ezreal to blink to a nearby location.
Upon arriving, he fires a bolt of energy at the nearest enemy, damaging it.
Arcane Shift only grants Ezreal a stack of Rising Spell Force if it fires at and hits an enemy target.
Mostly used for movement, I take one point in Arcane Shift early but max it last.
Ezreal’s ultimate is Trueshot Barrage. Ezreal charges up and fires a massive wave of energy in a line, damaging all enemies it encounters.
Trueshot Barrage deals less damage as it passes through more targets, down to a cap.
In early laning, use Mystic Shot to keep opponents from sneaking up on you in the brush.
I watch Alistar head into our brush, and tag him with Mystic Shot to force him away.
Leona wards the other brush and again I poke Alistar to keep him from starting any fights.
Mystic Shot also helps you last hit minions when it would otherwise be difficult.
Two minions get low at the same time, so I shoot at the farther one with a basic attack and immediately fire Mystic Shot at the closer one.
As a result, I get last hits on both, maintaining my gold income.
After hitting Level 6, it’s often a good idea to clear out the minion wave with Trueshot Barrage and Recall for items.
I wait for the minions to get out from under the enemy turret, line up, and hit everything with Trueshot Barrage.
It’s important that you pay close attention after: all the minions will be very low and the gold could be stolen by your own minions.
Basic attacks and Mystic Shots pick up the kills and I head to the Brush to Recall.
Once you have Sheen, chaining Essence Flux into a basic attack gives you a nice burst of damage in lane.
The attack speed slow combined with support from Lulu keep me alive as I escape back to my turret.
Knowing Vayne will dive me, I unload all my abilities as fast as possible, bursting her down.
As Blitzcrank lands Rocket Grab, I create some distance before picking up the second kill with Mystic Shot.
Constantly land basic attacks alongside your abilities. I hit Alistar and stay as far away as possible while still hitting him.
Once Ashe closes into range, I open with Trueshot Barrage and follow up with another Essence Flux and basic attacks.
Once she gets low enough, I kill her with Arcane Shift and start chasing Alistar.
I wait until the turret focuses Leona, then Flash into range of Alistar and take him down for a double kill.
Though you can use Arcane Shift to chase down kills, be careful that you don’t give up your only escape move.
I see what I think will be a couple of easy kills on Blitzcrank and Vayne.
However, after I use Arcane Shift for damage, I get pulled in by Darius and get taken down almost immediately.
In team fights, it’s extremely important that you stay safe and out of danger.
As long as you’re able to keep attacking, you can eventually kill the entire enemy team.
We attempt to chase down onto Vayne, but notice Renekton coming in from the side.
I pull back and switch to Renekton, which keeps me safe from the rest of the enemy team underneath me.
I maintain a safe position as Renekton runs while Vayne makes the mistake of running too far forward to fight.
As a result, Vayne drops immediately while I’m still able to attack. I constantly fire off my skills and toss Ignite onto Renekton as he runs away.
Now that Blitzcrank and Varus are the only champions left, I stand my ground, killing Blitzcrank and finally diving Varus with Arcane Shift and Flash for the final kill.
On Dominion, Ezreal’s long range is great for defending Capture Points.
I run across Ashe and Sivir attempting to capture the Refinery, but I interrupt them with Mystic Shots, buying time for my teammates.
As Fiddlesticks initiates, I head in with basic attacks and all my abilities, picking up three kills and control over the point.
I recommend building Ezreal with a focus on attack damage, playing as a ranged carry.
For Runes take Attack Damage Marks, Armor Seals, Flat Mana Regeneration Glyphs, and Flat Attack Damage Quintessences
For Masteries, take 23/0/7 on Classic, taking mostly physical damage Masteries with Armor and Magic Penetration in Offense, plus Mana Regeneration in Utility.
In Dominion, swap out the Utility tree for the Defense tree, going 21/9/0 with bonus Armor, Magic Resist, and Health.
In both cases, take Ignite and Flash for Summoner Spells, helping you deal as much damage as possible with superior positioning as well.
In Classic, open with Boots of Speed and Health Potions. From there, add two Doran’s Blades and Sheen.
Take Bloodthirster, upgrade to Berserker’s Greaves, finish Trinity Force, and then react to your opponents:
If they’re stacking armor, grab Last Whisper. For more damage buy Infinity Edge. If you’re having trouble surviving fights, take Banshee’s Veil.
In Dominion, open with Boots of Speed, Prospector’s Blade, and Health Potions.
Take Berserker’s Greaves, Sheen, and Sanguine Blade. Upgrade to Trinity Force and grab Last Whisper, Infinity Edge, and Odyn’s Veil for late game items.
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