How to Play Azir Support
The pro play and solo queue meta has shifted quite a lot lately with the Season 13 item changes and the ADC changes in 13.1b. Because of these changes, we are seeing some unique champions being played in the Support role, including the likes of Jhin, Caitlyn and Azir.
While he’s not the best Support around (and far from it), we’ve started seeing pro players picking
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Why is Azir Support a Thing Now?
Azir is usually a counter pick to low ranged champions in the bottom lane as he can bully them out with his superior range and his W and Q. Getting the enemy low with basic attacks allows your Jungler to gank your lane and pick up kills.
In professional League of Legends, one of the main factors of picking Azir Support is that it is a direct counter to Heimerdinger. Heimerdinger just pushes the wave with his superior pushing power. Azir can slow down his pushing power and destory his towers reasonably well to reduce his pushing power.
Furthermore, with roaming Supports seeing less play in League in general, he is much more viable as he will not get locked down or engaged on 24/7.
What is Azir Support Good At?
There are a few things that make Azir Support good. However, he is far from a great Support. He is not really picked outside of the Heimerdinger matchup, and there are far better Supports out there to play instead. With that in mind, here are some things that make Azir a good Support in League of Legends
He has long ranged abilities and poke with his Q and W. This damage from afar helps him bully down the enemy ADC and Support. Similarly, this long range and insane damage makes it very dangerous for champions to try to attack him with poke (like Lulu E or Janna W).
He can prevent the push and push back enemy champions that love to push the minion wave. This will prevent the enemy from getting an early lead of gold via tower plates.
Is an AP Champion. This benefit is good for Solo Queue because players love to pick double AD in the Mid and Jungle. Having Azir on your team allows for a multi-damage team.
Azir Support Runes and Build
Here’s the recommended build for Azir in the Support role. You can get this build imported into your client directly with the Mobalytics App.
How to Play Azir Support
Playing Azir in general is pretty difficult because he is a mechanically difficult champion and does require some skill to play. This puts a lot of players at a disadvantage from the get go, so I wouldn’t recommend playing him if you’re a low ELO player or not very good mechanically.
His gameplay is not really comparable to him in the middle lane as you do not last-hit minions. Instead, he just looks to poke the enemy down with his W and Q and his long ranged auto-attacks. You aim to poke as much as possible to get the enemy low.
During the mid and late game, you will have a lot of damage and poke. Continue to kite the enemy and harass them with your abilities. You should use your Ultimate to counter all-ins from the enemy team and keep the rest of your team safe. As Azir isn’t going to be tanky, it’s not necessarily advised to go for the Shurima Shuffle, which you might do on Mid-lane Azir.
When to Pick Azir Support
You can pick Azir Support into champions with short range and who are utility Supports. This is so you can bully them without them getting in range to all-in you. Avoid picking Azir into champions who have hard engage because it will be near impossible for you to survive the laning phase post 3 or 6 (depending on the matchup).
Generally speaking, Azir Support is good into matchups such as Janna and Heimerdinger. He is great against Heimerdinger because he can quickly kill and destroy his turrets to prevent him from pushing you under your tower.
Azir Support Synergies
Azir is good with long-ranged champions who can bully the enemy and have good pushing power to get early tower plates.
Azir synergises well with Varus, Caitlyn and Jhin.
He is good in team comps with champions such as Viego, Jax and Amumu.
Conclusion
Azir is one of the newest Supports to be picked in professional League of Legends. Will he be a dominant Support in Solo Queue? Maybe: maybe not. Time will tell, but we either way, we hope this article has given you some information on Azir if you wish to pick him in the Support role any time soon.
If you want to learn more about Azir in the Mid or Support roles, check out Azir’s champion page and sign up for a free Mobalytics account to help improve your climb in Season 13.
