Guide · ADC

Ezreal Guide

the Prodigal Explorer

Marksman

Mage

Tier C ADC

Ezreal, the Prodigal Explorer, is a marksman and mage champion that is demanding to master. Across our 1760 analysed ranked games, Ezreal is mostly played as ADC (100% of its games), with a 45.2% win rate in that role: tier C among ADC champions (#35 of 36, ranked by win rate). Ezreal's damage is mostly physical (69%): armor is the best defensive answer against this champion. Win rate varies with game length: 47.1% in medium-length games (25 to 35 min, 948 games) versus 42.4% in short games (under 25 min).

Averages measured over 1760 ADC games played with Ezreal, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

Combos and how to play

Ezreal is a marksman who plays with his abilities more than his attacks. Every ability that hits gives him attack speed (up to 5 stacks), and Mystic Shot reduces his cooldowns when it lands. He harasses from range and repositions with Arcane Shift, never overexposing himself.

Harassment

W › Q › AA AA

When: An enemy is within range of Essence Flux.

Place the orb on the target, hit them with Mystic Shot or an attack to detonate it; each hit reduces your cooldowns and adds attack speed.

Dodge and retaliate

E › Q › W

When: An enemy jumps on you.

Arcane Shift teleports you and fires at the nearest enemy, prioritizing one marked by Essence Flux. Use the distance to retaliate with your other abilities.

The ultimate in a fight

R

When: A team fight starts and several enemies line up.

Trueshot Barrage crosses every unit on its line for heavy damage (reduced against minions and non-epic monsters). Cast it along a line of enemies.

Laning phase

Mystic Shot is your main tool: each hit reduces your cooldowns, so aim at real targets, champions or minions. Mark with Essence Flux to set up a trade: the orb detonates if you hit the marked target.

Common mistakes

• Casting Arcane Shift without knowing where to stand: it is your escape, not your engage.
• Wasting Mystic Shot on nothing: each hit reduces your cooldowns.
• Forgetting that the ultimate crosses the whole map: check the lines before firing.

Riot's official tips for playing Ezreal

• Use Arcane Shift to help line up your other skill shots.
• You can play Ezreal either as a Attack Damage carry or Ability Power carry depending on how you build him.
• You can line up Trueshot Barrage to hit multiple minion waves or even Monsters.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Endless Hunger, Trinity Force, and Spear of Shojin (320 games, 56.6% win rate).

Endless Hunger+Trinity Force+Spear of Shojin

320 games · 56.6%

Trinity Force+Spear of Shojin+Serylda's Grudge

279 games · 48.4%

Endless Hunger+Trinity Force+Serylda's Grudge

169 games · 56.8%

Summoner spells

Flash + Barrier44.9% · 1208 games

Exhaust + Flash45.0% · 393 games

Cleanse + Flash49.5% · 99 games

Flash + Teleport50.0% · 44 games

Most-played runes

Lethal Tempo + Inspiration

45.2% · 1528 games

Primary tree · Precision

Presence of Mind99%

Legend: Bloodline50%

Cut Down65%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Cash Back56%

Jack Of All Trades43%

Shards

Attack speed90%

Adaptive force100%

Health61%

Press the Attack + Inspiration

43.2% · 111 games

Primary tree · Precision

Presence of Mind93%

Legend: Bloodline77%

Coup de Grace66%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Magical Footwear65%

Biscuit Delivery62%

Shards

Attack speed93%

Adaptive force100%

Health scaling69%

Conqueror + Inspiration

40.0% · 50 games

Primary tree · Precision

Presence of Mind98%

Legend: Bloodline82%

Coup de Grace70%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Magical Footwear68%

Biscuit Delivery66%

Shards

Attack speed96%

Adaptive force100%

Health scaling78%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Ezreal's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team50.8% · 433 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Trinity Force 51.0% ▲

Spear of Shojin 59.2% ▲

Endless Hunger 62.0% ▲

Serylda's Grudge 54.5% ▲

Maw of Malmortius 59.5% ▲

Essence Reaver 61.1%

The item that stands out most is Endless Hunger: 62.0% win rate, +7 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team42.7% · 529 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Trinity Force 43.2%

Spear of Shojin 45.3% ▼

Endless Hunger 50.9% ▼

Serylda's Grudge 38.2% ▼

Frozen Heart 53.5% ▲

Essence Reaver 39.1%

The item that stands out most is Frozen Heart: 53.5% win rate, +4 points versus its usual win rate.

Balanced enemy team43.7% · 798 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Trinity Force 45.3%

Spear of Shojin 54.0%

Endless Hunger 53.5%

Serylda's Grudge 50.0%

Frozen Heart 48.0%

Essence Reaver 20.0% ▼

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Ezreal as ADC

Kalista Ezreal: 21.7%23 games

Kalista has the edge in 78% of the 23 ADC duels against Ezreal. See the Kalista guide.

Yunara Ezreal: 35.4%65 games

Yunara has the edge in 65% of the 65 ADC duels against Ezreal. See the Yunara guide.

Aphelios Ezreal: 36.0%25 games

Aphelios has the edge in 64% of the 25 ADC duels against Ezreal. See the Aphelios guide.

Xayah Ezreal: 41.7%24 games

Xayah has the edge in 58% of the 24 ADC duels against Ezreal. See the Xayah guide.

Tristana Ezreal: 42.1%38 games

Tristana has the edge in 58% of the 38 ADC duels against Ezreal. See the Tristana guide.

Who Ezreal is strong against

Draven70.8% · 24 games

Miss Fortune61.3% · 31 games

Ashe55.6% · 36 games

Caitlyn45.3% · 95 games

Zeri45.0% · 20 games

How to play against Ezreal

• Ezreal is a very fragile champion so take the fight to him.
• Ezreal is completely skill shot based, so make sure to keep minions in between you.
• Mystic Shot applies on-hit effects including the Crest of Cinders.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Ezreal's matchups.

Abilities

PassiveRising Spell Force

Ezreal gains increasing Attack Speed each time he successfully hits a spell, stacking up to 5 times.

QMystic Shot

Ezreal fires a damaging bolt of energy which reduces all of his cooldowns slightly if it strikes an enemy unit.

WEssence Flux

Ezreal fires an orb that sticks to the first champion or objective hit. If Ezreal hits an enemy with the orb, it detonates and deals damage.

EArcane Shift

Ezreal teleports to a target nearby location and fires a homing bolt which strikes the nearest enemy unit. Prioritizes enemies stuck with Essence Flux.

RTrueshot Barrage

Ezreal winds up before firing a powerful barrage of energy that deals massive damage to each unit it passes through (damage is reduced for minions and non-epic monsters).

Frequently asked questions

Full Ezreal page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides