I have been maining Aatrox since his VGU. The thing that always draws me back to Aatrox, is his cool theme, his fun gameplay and the fact, that he fulfills his powerfantasy perfectly.

Part of it is also that anti-healing was nerfed, so Champs like Warwick, Aatrox, and Mordekaiser have been thriving

Aatrox its the Ahri of top lane, blind pickable everygame, incredibly consistent, sustain, every matchup feels like skill matchup where the better player always win, both are insanely safe and both are at its strongest in the mid game

Its weird to see Aatrox become so popular. Been playing him for two years and now I see other people pick and ban him, which kinda sucks cuz I never had to worry about that before.

As an Aatrox main myself I will say that the problem this season, and this may sound a bit biased, is that the champ didn't becpme broken until his items did. Eclipse and Jak'Sho are the only mythics you'll see on him even though they're designed for Assasins and Tanks respectively. And Eclipse provides damage but lacks CDR and Jak'Sho provides tankiness but lacks damage. Goredrinker does both perfectly with tankiness, CDR, damage and some healing but the item has been nerfed so much with healing reduced as well as the removed of the missing HP into AD passive gone as well. And his win and pickrate didn't start going up until Gore was so nerfed that people began abusing other mythics on him, don't believe me; If you go to LoL graphs, statistically Goredrinker has the 2nd lowest winrate of any mythic only ahead of Everfrost.. If Riot wants Aatrox to stop becoming a menace they need to incentivize people picking a BRUISER mythic and not one not desinged for him.

Got 4 minutes left of the video, but I still haven't heard that everyone plays him because he's just really fucking cool.

I get the same vibe I get with Mordekaiser with Aatrox especially after their reworks, they became these "Raid Bosses" that once they get fed early to mid game, just ff ain't no way you stopping those two from killing your team with just a Soraka or Sona at their side in a skirmish

to all non-toplaners, aatrox became the monster he is after the durability patch since the bonus survivabilty meant he could build more damage (lethality) instead of resists or hp. durability patch made him a tanky killing machine. prior if you tried the builds that people do now you would need to play nigh-perfectly and if you fucked up, you were waiting for the next game

I play aatrox because he is probaly top 5 champs in terms of amount of voicelines. I love hearing my champions talking more than 2 lines.

Fun fact:Currently Aatrox is dominating all 3 riot games, (LOL, Wild Rift, and LOR)

"Why everyone bans Aatrox"

Really enjoyed the choice of music this episode, great work as per usual.

Oh damn, 3 videos on 3 different channels? Sure this is the christmas season Thanks for the videos!

The statement about “honourable” picks hit close to home for me as lately I’ve been facing a very large amount of ranged top laners who hurt themselves by losing cs to poke me. It’s not hard to win against but it’s not fun at all

Great episode about great champion. Can't find anything to hate about him. Satisfying gameplay, cool(even if a bit edgy) design etc. Also very fitting for a vid about "Raid boss" of the game to have BGM of litteral Raid Boss. Binah theme is just to good and fits Aatrox so much.

After playing Mordekaiser for a couple weeks straight, I think the whole counterpick shindig is part of why he is so strong. With his W sustain, enormous Q range (that allows him to poke under tower as a melee champ) and the insane utility in his build paths, he is another juggernaut that will almost never lose lane if you play smartly.

as an aatrox main, I feel both honored and targeted by this, Vars

I think it is also relevant to mention that he is a melee champion that doesnt get bullied by range tops as easily as other melees. His q1+e has incredible engage range and w requires a dash to escape out of. If the range top laner wastes their high early game cooldown dash abilities on dodging his Qs, they are setup for aatrox to full combo with the w pull.

The consistency of Aatrox can be applied to many other popular champs tbh, for example yone can play good neutral and most matchups in mid are winnable

I've been playing the old Aatrox along with Zed and Thresh since their respective releases, and he is by far my lowest winrate among them yet the most satisfying in terms of power fantasy. His Skirmisher feast-famine being worse than Master Yi definitely cemented him as one of the least viable picks, but when Rageblade became his staple and he can be picked in Jungle and Top, I just couldn't lay down this Darkin sword. Now, he's entirely different but arguably for the better. His no-cost, hard-to-land ability combos and drain-tanking passive makes him a really fair champion, though not the most balanced because as a Juggernaut, he needs it or he's not going to function well. As of late I think I agree with Naayil now that he's better off building Divine Sunderer/Eclipse/Jak'Sho and Ravenous Hydra than Goredrinker+Sterak though.

I'm a support player, mainly playing Pyke, Rakan and Renata. However when I saw Kingen play Aatrox throughout Worlds, I was like: "Yooooo, I want to play like that", and then I went top for the first time where I was greeted by a lovely Irelia who proceeded to sink my teeth in, but hey, you live you learn :D

legends of runeterra and wildrift releases definitely helped aatrox gain popularity too, aatrox being popular is a double edged sword, its a redemption arc for most aatrox players while also making him unplayable most of the time

Aatrox is really fun to play and highly rewarding once you master it, but the issue nowadays is that you don't need to space yourself, the healing and damage on Passive and non-sweetspot Q is absurd

Hey Vars, mind if you talk about ,, Multiple cast ultimates "... you know the ideea of having more than one ultimate/single use without having a reset mechanic.

Finally a Vars video on my champ

you forgot the nerfs to healing reduction when they moved from 40/60% to 25/40% meanwhile his E healing got 2% reduced healing i guess

i used to agree with the whole "GIGA CHAD DARIUS AND MORDE MAINS " and " weak ranged top losers " but honestly the more I've played I realised I would rather face teemo or akshan than face most bruisers. bruisers just feel kinda boring to face. at least when I'm against a ranged match up and I die or get a kill I feel it was a because of their or my own misplay, with bruisers I just feel like they stat check me most times with no counter play if I make the slightest mistake. idk tho I know this opinion is unpopular

I play gangplank and aatrox, love to see my champs be in both the why no one plays and why everyone plays series

it would be funny to see the new darkin champ have old aatrox's kit a revive on R, except the R bonus AD and healing bonus. May I ask what the song under to the vid is?

Bruh, u almost made me think I was already doing my dailies in blue archive with that bgm.

Was hoping you'd hit upon the way he embodies his theme a bit more but overall a good summary 👌

Unrelated comment but DAMN WHAT IS THE MUSIC IN THE BACKGROUND, IT'S V/ CATCHY >.< Also, love ur content Vars, keep it coming :DDDD

You are the first content creator I saw talk about the weird pride we toplaners have when selecting their rosters.

Probably my favourite champion to see, I might not play him myself because the only positioning I like to have in mind is how far is my fist from their face, I love the idea of an angel of death who heals by destroying the enemy team, but also not having a "braindead win condition" like reaching late or snowballing since even when fed, he needs to position well so his Q lands on their sweet pot. That's all I got to say, is just that I really like Aatrox.

7:27 Thank you Kindred, very cool

"No one has a bad opinion about aatrox" naah what fantasy land are you living in because aatrox gotta be one of the most hated life steal champs out there 💀

Shoutout to the weird but loveable bromance between Aatrox mains and Morde mains

because hes safe, forgiving, can spam endlessly in lane because he has no mana, and currently he happens to also be broken. Not sure why they made infinite sustain champs that have no mana but no going back now

Does anyone know what the song is in the outro?

Even in Wild Rift right now he's a menace in the Baron Lane. He has received nerfs already to his healing passive but it's still not enough. But dammit his playstyle is fun as a draintank fighter.

what is the background song?

damm... The music in the background is poppin... why is it not linked in the description? i wish to listen to it... you know... without the voiceover

12:44 "unconscious prejudice" I do believe that prejudice is VERY conscious.

I pray for the day a "Why EVERYONE Plays: Sett" video! Lets go VARS!

Aatrox VGU actually brought me back to the game in 2020 after a 4 year break. He’s always been fun to play but now he’s actually strong. That’s why people play him.

Totally forgot about this channel lol Vars 2 was my go to xD

What I disslike is the distance expression, because even though the enemy laner is in his face he still befenefits(wins the trade) due to his q still doing (more than nessesary damage) damage and healing

Hi, can you make a video about Warwick or Evelynn? (why everyone plays / Why no one plays)

is that blue archive bgm you're using in the vid

He is what i called a fighting game character, skill floor is high but once u learn or master them there is so much potential. All you use is ur skills, no mana or bs resource. I love him because he feels like a fighting gam character that can be play alone plus he is a GIGACHAD demon. People who insult him are only cowards with fear in their heart. I only play league because of AATROX. the most fun hero for me.

I started playing league in S11, instantly was an Aatrox main, and it was tough to win, because ignite gutted any healing you from your e and ult, and DD was no where near as good. But then the durability update, anti heal reduction and gore nerf happened. And Aatrox became a monster, the champ I loved playing became a pick ban in draft games of all things. I really hope Riot nerfs eclipse/Jaksho on Aatrox so he can go back to building goredrinker and not being pick/ban.

If you have a music playlist i'd love for you to share it, all of your videos contain bangers.

Can confirm he’s the champ I refuse to play. I liked the original. As Swain main from Season 1, it’s the other main rework/overhaul that should have been a separate champion.

I absolutely adore Aatrox. But at this point in time, I cannot wrap my head around him and I wish I could play him. He was the first champ I bought, and now he's in the middle of my mastery. One day I'll play him, but with the recent nerfs coming it'll be a while until I feel the urge to play him. For now I'll enjoy watching Naayil and others play him, and play him in Runeterra.

I just can never get use to the Q + E. Just don't have the micro for it I guess. Same reason I don't try to do anything flashy on Lee.

I've played aatrox since before his vgu and i love his new form always have but i hate that they have done nothing to reintroduce his old identity back into him in some small way like a bloodwell passive or a revive or stance swapping. all 3 of these where part of his identity. most think his was the revive but if you actually played him you would know its the fact he could swap between high damage or high healing and it was that balance that made him fun when he was an auto attacker. obviously that kinda play style is hard to implement with his current kit but not impossible. honestly blood well (the mechanic of stacking something for a reward like fury and such) is easy to implement in 2 ways in his current kit it could even make him more fun and feel more fair by locking some of his power budget away in a passive thats not permanent. the most frustrating thing in his kit to deal with is that he doesn't REALY have any down time post level 5 as trying to bait his q can lead to you taking damage that you cant recover from.

11:56 insert Dr.Livesy walk music

WHAT’S THE BACKGROUND SONG PLEASE

Imo he's just a perfect soloq champ; there aren't many games where you feel completely useless because you picked Aatrox. He can hold his own in lane after the first few levels against almost every champion, does well in skirmishes, and can also do well in teamfights with big AoE and a resetting ult. And in terms of pro play, being a relatively safe blind who doesn't get run over even against a "counter" matchup like Fiora gives him an express ticket to a high draft presence. Aatrox is just a rock-solid champ, although I do think that he can feel extremely broken or rather mediocre depending on the state of his items because there isn't anything fancy or "different" in his kit. He has AD scaling and wants to hit you with pure physical damage, no funny max HP (outside of his passive auto) or mixed/true damage shenanigans. To do anything else, including fighting through armor, he is completely dependent on items. Honestly the fact that paying for Jak'sho, an item with HP, MR, and armor but 0 AD and 0 armor pen, is not completely troll on Aatrox, whose abilities ONLY scale with AD and ONLY deal physical damage, is absurd and shows that something about the item or the champ (or both) needs to change. It makes sense for Aatrox to build some health and resistances to let him vamp longer, but his vamp is based on damage dealt and imo needs to be tuned so that you are more heavily pushed towards building offensive items.

Wanna see kled next, that champion was a passion project.

Aatrox was a respectable top laner until he started build lethality and Jake Sao now I hate his guts until they nerf him so he can build normal bruiser items once again.

Hiero bgm. Imagine aatrox TA where you gotta dodge/block his telegraphed aoes like balls on ShiroKuro... Mimesis is also pretty similar to what happened to darkins

What makes Pantheon a good counterpick (maybe) vs Aatrox?

Lets be real. Everyone plays him because he's broken for nearly a full year now

I feels cool playing him. He's mechanic and animation is so mich fun to play.

Cant wait to have that "As a **insert champ here** main myself" moment some day Kayn btw, If you were wondering

The same reason people play aatrox is the same reason I play jinx and cait they have ways protect themselves so in solo que where ur sup differs from match 2 match I can still play the game against yi, kat, zed, vi, and etc.

yeah aatrox is so honourable, its so exciting trying to cs just to be knocked up, lose a quarter of my health because aatrox presses q1 + e+ q2. very wholesome and gigachad. love the doran shield perma full hp strat

now that you mentioned the honorable champions i would like a video about honorable and shameful champions

I think not talking about how a lot of hos power is stored in 1 ability. I think that makes him super frustrating to play as and against, when landing or not landing his Q is all of hos power. The rest of his abilities are great at helping him hit, but especially late game and with the insane amount of mobility now days it's feels awfull to play aatrox late game.

is sylas just old aatrox but with anyone else's ult and full ap?

I started playing Aatrox because of play montages, but always that a champ I main gets op or overused I drop them, idk but it's like I don't feel as good playing them when they are too strong

7:32 That kindred r xD

So odd2 seasons ago seeing him was strange now he’s been op for 2 seasons.

When you said that people have one champ they refuse to play off of principle and for my that's fiora and teemo

I started to play the game since Aatrow release, and he is my favourite champ then

Well this explains why I love aatrox as much as I do. Only champion I have any significant mastery in cuz I fuck around and switch so much. Aatrox always feels good to me though.

He’s always been played but now he’s popular, I miss when he wasn’t this popular, I actually stopped playing league after worlds because I knew he was going to be hard to pick

Can you do pyke next?

12:05 is a HUUUUGE stretch, at least at the moment. His numbers are currently pretty ridiculous

Haven't touched riven once since the atrox rework

Its weird, but people forget Aatrox too has lost liek half his kit since his VGU: passive not applying healing reduction, E omnivamp working on minions, 2 dashes on his E, the revive on his Ult.

Pantheon has been dragged down a lot by the durability update while it just made aatrox lose skill expression and made him way easier, to the point where probably only spearshot could kill aatrox consistently

My Boy

1:53 LMAOOOO, the damn GP Is trying to Bm and gets smacked for it

I just wish anti-heal didn't suck :( There comes a point where the amount he can drain tank is just too much and I wish there were good anti-heal options for that

Yo, I’ve played aatrox since his first release. Before the rework. THATS the version that would be disgustingly busted in the current game. He’s always been good. Items right now are just ridiculous. Eclipse, black cleaver or gore, grudge(bad rn), or jaksho, hydra are his first two items. ALWAYS.

did I hear Blue Archive soundtrack there? oh you naughty boy Vars

Kinda miss the impact of healing reduction changes and most importantly the durability update. Aatrox is way harder to burst (which is supposed to be his counter) after the durabulity update. Especially in toplane where you are higher level, the increased tankiness really shows

such a terrific channel.

can you do one for hecarim ? hes been hyper popular too.

I just hate chilling in my botlane and knowing that regardless of the situation the enemy aatrox can just ult charge forward into me and kill me, but that's more of a league problem where no one bats an eye when a squishy teammate is being hard targeted

Aatrox before nerf: Passive heal+ apply grievous wound Q damage on minion Double E + increase AD after E R increase AD + heal+ revived Went from 400 AD full build to 1000 AD just from press R and E Now he just heal.

Attackspeed aatrox is my jam🤠

I started playing him cause he is actually fun to play but almost every time I play him I always get ganked

Only started to main Aatrox since he got released in wild rift (proud Renekton OTP in both pc and wr), I can fully understand now how satisfying it feels to proc all 3 sweet spots in a fight Wish he'd get fixed in wr, imo he feels more clunkier in wr compared to pc

Aatrox only got OP when they buffed W by 4 sec cd and Q damage sweetspot by 10%. Revert those buffs and he will be a healthy champ.

Could you make a WNOP Cassiopeia?

I'm an Illaoi main and I hope everyone watches this video... then plays Aatrox

I think there's one thing missing for him to be balanced. Tune up a little the anti heal items all the healing champs are just healing through them like it's nothing.