Encroaching Sands - An Azir Ganking Guide

Azir's release into League of Legends has been wrought with errors and problems, and he currently sits in the lowest quartile of win-rate in ranked solo queue play. Part of this is due to his difficult and skill intensive kit, but another part of this is due to a fundamental misunderstanding players have about Azir. Yes, he is a late game hypercarry, rivaling Cassiopeia and Ryze, putting out one of the highest magic damage outputs in the game. But his mobility and creativity that mobility provides in his kit also makes him an incredibly adept ganker out of mid lane, and people squander this asset by sitting in lane farming.

Using Azir to gank early and often makes him a threat across the map and prevents you from experiencing his normally painful early-mid game laning phase, mitigating one of Azir's greatest disadvantages. This guide will explain how to perform common Azir ganks, how to react to counterganks, as well as explaining how to mitigate the risks of being ganked in lane yourself.

Using Your Passive and Setting up Ganking

One of the more difficult and misused parts of Azir's kit is his passive, Disc of the Sun. There is an instinct to use it whenever it is off cooldown in an attempt to simply feel like you're utilizing it, but by not picking carefully how you use the Disc, you waste it. More selfish Azirs choose to use the tower in an absent lane to farm, but the substitute turret is a much more impactful tool when used to secure ganks or to defend against enemy pushes. One of the more powerful ways to use it both these ways is to set it up on a destroyed Tier 1 or 2 turret flanking the enemy team. In these instances, Azir's team is defending their Tier 3 turret while Azir slips out of the base using his W - E combo (or one of the recently introduced gates in the PBE).

Then, Azir slides around the team, reaching the pedestal where he uses Disc of the Sun. His team engages out of the defensive position, driving the enemy team towards the Disc, where Azir waits. Teams may hesitate to dive Azir, but even if they do, Azir can use Emperor's Divide [R] to force them back into his team. From behind the wall or turret, Azir uses Q and W to cut off jungle paths (and potentially uses divide there to split up enemy teams that try to run), while his team sandwiches the besiegers. 

The second use of Disc of the Sun is a bit less active. In this case, you use it to provide vision and secure your lane while you go off on a gank. By placing it on either Tier 1 turret, the Disc re-establishes control over that lane for the moment and prevents your lane opponent from pushing to punish your roaming. If placed on the enemy's Tier 1, it secures the river and near enemy Jungle, allowing you more flexibility for the angle at which you gank. Finally, your Disc continues farming for you while you're away, so you at least get some of the wave even if the gank is unsuccessful.

Finally, the cast animation of Disc of the Sun is remarkably short, allowing it to be a viable move in mid-to-late game ganks where turrets have started to fall. By using Disc of the Sun on a pedestal, you can either cut off an escape route (if they are at low health) or add a considerable amount of damage to your gank. 

While you have quite a bit of mobility with Azir through Shifting Sands [E], you're limited to using that once every 13 seconds at best and you're limited in your ability to quickly dash through the Jungle using your sand soldiers. You also want two soldiers charged when you start the gank. When going through the Jungle, you want to use a single soldier summoned by Arise! [W] at the entrance. From there, you use Conquering Sands [Q] to thrust them into the buff bush, giving you vision of the bush and the corner. From there, continue on to tri-bush, using another Q to clear it. 

Ganking a Sidelane

When it comes to ganking strategies, Azir's mobility and versatility make him especially effective in the sidelanes. From over a wall, Azir can use his soldiers to establish a large zone of control that traps enemies as they attempt to flee from your allies. First, set yourself behind the enemy laner(s) with your two sand soldiers 1200 units away from each other (place one down max behind you  and then step about three steps for the next one at max range in front). Then allow your teammates to initiate against them, spooking them into retreat. If they choose to retreat down the lane, send both soldiers into the lane, targeting a far point on the wall in a pursuit angle. You target the far point, rather than a point within range, so the soldiers retain some distance between each other.

If you pick a point in range, the soldiers will both go to that point, not allowing to you jump to two different locations with your E. (If they try to jump over or flash over the wall to escape, Emperor's Divide will slam them back into the lane or snag them into a dead zone, forcing them back towards the tri-brush on either lane.) 

 

The diamonds indicate the location of Sand soldiers, while the star the location of where one would target with Q. When using Q, you want it to be in a pursuit angle, not perpendicular to the wall. This is so that a Flash will not take them out of reach of both you and your teammates coming from their Tier 1.

When they continue down the lane to escape, use E to the soldier that they're running to, using the knock-up if possible to allow your teammates to follow it up with some CC. If you didn't use R before now, you can either use it to knock them back into the enemy or to force them into a smaller channel against the outer wall, where your soldiers slice them to shreds. Use Q to slow down the targets and get soldiers back into position, while you use W to replace the fallen soldiers. Keep in mind if you max Q first, you'll be able to lock them down with repetitive slows but will be limited to one soldier for most of the gank. Use the outside wall as an ally, as they cannot use it to escape.

River ganks are much more difficult, as there is more room for the enemy to evade your soldiers as well as a much more awkward pursuit angle. You want to use a sand soldier around the tri-brush or river brush and bring it sweeping in a wide arc to force them towards the outside wall. Rely on your teammate's CC to initiate, then send the soldier in with Q and follow it in with E. Use R to funnel them towards the wall and use W to summon a soldier in the brush to give vision and attacks. Finish them off with Qs as needed.

Azir summons his sand soldier in the river bush and then runs to position [1]. At [1], he uses Q to move the soldier to position [2] and uses E to dash to the location, where he uses R (the blue line) to prevent the movement of the enemy through the bush.

Mid-Lane Ganks - Establishing a Deceptive Range

Azir's incredible range is the primary tool that allows him to both farm and limits ganks against him. As he is able to stand back from the wave while allowing his soldiers to reap the benefits of the minion wave, he only needs to clear a short distance to get away from ganks. However, this same range limits ganks for Azir, as any aggressive move means that the enemy will retreat in fear of any Q-E initiation. That's why it's incredibly important to establish a range rapport with your lane opponent earlier in the game that depends on the lane opponent.

Against Fizz, Syndra, Zed, staying out of range to respect their level 6 burst will limit ganks possible, but is necessary. Against Xerath or Orianna, you can get closer, and you can get even closer against slower midlaners like Ahri, Morgana, or Karthus. Buying an early Chalice of Harmony or Seeker's Armguard can shrink this range even farther, but the important thing is to remain consistent early. The closer you are, the more you are able to use Q-E to initiate a gank. 

Mid-lane ganks are quite reliant on your Jungler's ability to close in on your target quickly, as you either will be unable to initiate with Q-E or are relying on the very small knock-up of the E. Consider using E to go past your target, instead of into them, and then use R to knock them back into your Jungler. From there, use repeated Qs to finish off the target or force a flash.  

The Jungler is going to be very dependent on you being set up when he comes around. When your Jungler is coming closer, make sure you have your soldiers out and in position for a potential initiation. You don't want to miss out on crucial seconds during the gank raising soldiers from the ground.

Counterganking in Mid-Lane

While Azir has some incredible mobility, it requires him to set up. This set-up time and Azir's low base health and defenses make him a prime target for Jungle aggression from the other team. However, your previously mentioned range means that the only effective gank path for the opposing Jungler (without using his Flash) is one that comes from behind you, usually from the Jungle enterances closest to you Tier 1 middle turret. This predictability allows you to ward off those ingresses which should keep you relatively safe. However, if the Jungler is able to get around you, Azir's kit allows for devestating counter-ganks. 

First, you're going to run towards where the Jungler made his appearance and the Tier 1 turret. Most Junglers will take a wide hook from there to stop laners from fleeing out the other side of the Jungle, but even if he doesn't, you want to decrease the distance between you and the Tier 1 turret. If you have a soldier out, use Q to send him as close as you can to the turret or, failing that, the enemy Jungler. (If you don't, summon one and throw him that direction) By this point, the Jungler should have corrected his pathing and will try to get between you and your soldier. 

Use E to throw yourself to the previously sent soldier.Worst case scenario, you miss the enemy Jungler and are home free. Best case, you collide with the enemy Jungler knocking them up and towards your turret. If you do connect, throw out R and pin him near you turret. If he flashes over your wall, run through it! You're safe with the movespeed bonus the Divide gives you and you've blown one of his summoners. Of course, this will seldom go as well as this, don't be afraid to blow Divide earlier to keep the enemy mid-laner away from you. As a late game hypercarry, don't feel obligated to go for the kill, getting away safely and farming up will get you to that point as easily as killing their Jungler.