Weird Picks #83: Lethality Ezreal Support

 Now I know what you're thinking, AP Ezreal support was bad enough, SSJ why you trying to shove another stupid Ezreal support build down our throats? But hear me out! So in its current state, Duskblade of Draktharr is incredibly strong, and works very well on poke/burst champions, but loses normally loses a lot of its effectiveness on sustained damage champions as a result of its passive.

This new way to play gives Ezreal support new life, giving you a powerful poke support with excellent map control as well.

Introduction

Now I know what you're thinking, AP Ezreal support was bad enough, SSJ why you trying to shove another stupid Ezreal support build down our throats? But hear me out! So in its current state, Duskblade of Draktharr is incredibly strong, and works very well on poke/burst champions, but loses normally loses a lot of its effectiveness on sustained damage champions as a result of its passive.

This new way to play gives Ezreal support new life, giving you a powerful poke support with excellent map control as well.

How to Play

Runes: Attack Damage Quints, Lethality Reds, Flat Mana Regeneration Yellows, Scaling Cooldown Blues
Masteries: 12-18-0, Thunderlord Masteries
Abilities: Q, E, Q, W then prioritize R > Q > E > W
Summoner Spells: Flash + Ignite
Starting Items: Ancient Coin + 3 Biscuits
Core Items: Sheen, Duskblade of Draktharr, Eye of the Oasis, Ninja Tabi, Executioner's Calling, Edge of Night

You can finish your Sheen into a Trinity Force sometime later when you feel like it (generally after level 2 boots), but it's a bit expensive and not particularly necessary. Executioner's can also be finished into Mortal Reminder, but again, not necessary until later in the game unless you're up against Soraka.

Why It Works

Duskblade of Draktharr Synergy
Duskblade's passive procs on Ezreal's Mystic Shot [Q]. As a support, he can repeatedly weave into the (unwarded bush as a result of the passive), and continuously fire off empowered Mystic Shots. This gives him excellent bush control and continuous poke damage. With Sheen and Duskblade combined, he puts out an incredible amount of poke damage and makes it impossible for most laners to sustain through.

Mana Regeneration Items
You may notice that I've chosen to give him flat mana regeneration yellows, and the Ancient Coin line rather than Spellthief's Edge and armor. The reason for this is because, with the Meditation mastery, Sheen, and the Ancient Coin line combined, it's very difficult to run Ezreal out of mana, allowing him to continuously fire off poke damage without end.

Excellent Cooldown Stacking
The major flaw I see in most Ezreal builds is that he doesn't get going until late game as a marksman. The reason for this is his poor synergy between his poke damage and his need for attack speed in order to deal sustained damage. Using this build, Ezreal quickly brings his cooldown up to par without sacrificing a defensive boot slot. This allows him to fire off empowered Mystic Shots from a safe distance at will.

Potential Pitfalls

Defensively Weak
This build tends to be fairly weak defensively at first until you get your late game items. This means that if you can't get snowballing and pick up your Sheen/Duskblade, most of the power is lost. Against heavy all-in supports, an early death or two will set him back greatly.

No heal/shields
When it comes to supports, any support without a heal or shield becomes very punishing to his marksman if they take too much poke damage early on in the laning phase. This means he needs to win lane early with his AD advantage, and keep the pressure up.

All Skill-Shot Based
Similar to Ezreal's main problem at his core, all his spells are skillshot based. This means that he has the potential to do almost no damage if he fails to land his spells.

No Crowd-Control/Peel
Even most poke-based supports like Zyra and Vel'Koz have some sort of crowd-control, but in Ezreal's case he has none. This spells trouble if your marksman is getting continuously dove.

Conclusions

Ezreal support is currently viable as a result of the current status of Duskblade. As a fan of poke-based supports due to their low counter-play and high range, I think Ezreal support works quite well. I also really like the map control Duskblade provides and do think that this may someday catch on if shield/heal items are ever nerfed.

Suggested Rating: Low Tier 2

What do you think about Lethality Ezreal Support? Comment below!

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