Azir
Matchup Summary
Azir is a very hard match up due to his high poke range, as well as Renekton's lack of tools for abusing Azir's playstyle. Renekton's E timer doesn't provide Renekton enough time to catch out and stop Azir from dashing away, so at best all we can do is look to sustain with Second Wind and Doran's Shield, trying to force Azir to use mana and playing to overextend. Try to get your jungler to gank Azir when he is pushed up, as Azir can potentially waste his dash or R, allowing you to force all in's when either of them are down. If Renekton can get in range, he can out damage and beat Azir, however Azir needs to making the mistake to happen. Overall, try to play around your team and look for situations to assert yourself in as a team player as this is the most reliable to getting a lead over him.
Detailed Tips
- 01
Play For Sustain Early - Azir is quite a disgusting matchup when it comes to laning as Renekton, this is mainly due to the reason Azir takes away a lot of space with his soldiers, providing consistent poke out against Renekton as well as 0 room to really trade back. Try to utilise D Shield + Second Wind to survive his early poke until you’re level 3, in which you can attempt to trade back if possible.
- 02
Avoid And Punish Azir’s Soldier Positioning - As previously mentioned, Azir’s main source of damage you need to worry about is based around his Soldiers. Azir can position them aggressively or defensively to utilise his ability to either escape with them, or use them to poke out his laner. Try to punish Azir if he uses E to force his soldiers into you, if he does this you can combo into him forcing a big trade to either kill or deal a big amount of damage to him. Do note that if he can summon another Soldier, he could put it behind and use it to dash away. Play around this wisely to create opportunities even if they’re rare.
- 03
Rush Mercury Treads or Hexdrinker - Azir’s damage may be considered low early game however Azir really can poke the absolute hell out of you early, in which rushing an early Mercury Tread’s for MR or movement speed is most certainly not a bad idea to avoid his early advantages. Going Hexdrinker is also a pretty decent option to sustain damage into him, as this will help you edge the fights against him if you’re given the chance to go for an all in.
- 04
Quick Trades - E > Q > AA > W > AA > E Out / E > Q > W > E / E Q E - These combos allow for Renekton to get quick damage off in being able to keep health up and whittling his opponent down, use these to get your laner low and look for a low HP kill with flash.
- 05
Play Wave On Your Side - Playing the wave on your side essentially means playing wave states on your side of the map, via abusing wave manipulation tactics or freezing on your side of the map. Simply use this to help you combo on your laner, taking away any space from them being able to trade you back (This also helps prevent the enemy running you down with their extended or sustained movement speed abilities). You can also use this wave state to run down your opponent with your abilities up, helping you obtain kills a lot easier vs stalemate or ranged match ups. Look to do this when your opponents are below 50% HP, or potentially make a mistake to provide you an all in opportunity to run them down.
- 06
Play For Ganks - Trying to kill Azir solo is very, VERY hard depending on how good the player is, so with that said playing for ganks is your best bet to create positive advantages. Trying to either burn his flash, R or chunk him out of the lane at the very least can be very helpful for gaining an advantage or setting up future kills within that window against Azir. Try to really focus on your wave state and ping your teammates to help gank Azir.
- 07
Play Around Azir R - Azir R is a great tool for play making and creating giant play opportunities, as it also is for its defensive capabilities to avoid Renekton’s all in attempts. Once you are strong enough you can deliberately burn it out by trying to focus Azir after he burns his dash, or if you can successfully time your stun on his E, which will force him to use R. Doing this can create you a kill opportunity on your next flash or dash play if you play it right, or alternatively you can try to double dash onto Azir in the time to avoid his R frame to knock you back or you can simply flash it to stay on top of him. Overall this is a very hard match up for mid lane compared to top lane, so make sure to do what you can to take away this power from him before any skirmishes or any teamfights.
- 08
Play For Teammates - Overall the main objective of Renekton vs Azir is simply to play around your team and look for any skirmish or play opportunities that can help you enable yourself or your teammates within the game. Renekton is already very limited within this match up, so the best case scenario will come from trying to play around your team and focus on getting them ahead .
- 09
Build Maw of Malmortius, Eclipse or Stridebreaker - Build Maw if the enemy has multiple AP champions and you want a MR shield. Eclipse for consistent power through mid game and damage mitigation with the shield. / Go Stridebreaker to cripple Azir's mobility and provide teammates with additional utility.
- 10
Mid Game + Teamfighting Tips - Azir’s overall role in the game is to scale into being a hyper carry, while trying to also look out for any Q > E > R plays. This combo is absolutely crazy for its play making potential, so you need to always respect the situation of the map you’re in to avoid being overthrown into turrets, blocked in chokepoints or pinpalled into his own team. Try to always monitor his position in the fights and try to outplay his R with your flash, or attempt to jump on him before he is able to jump onto your team. If Azir loses his R he loses so much utility and protection that he will become a free target within this stage of the game. Try to always keep Azir and his team preoccupied with yourself to actively help your team play front to back, preventing Azir to shred or burst any teammates.