Ezreal hints and tips

As of late Ezreal has become uncommon to see in a match. Even more so after the small movement speed nerf he received. Ez is not a bad champion. But he is a situational one. To be the most effective on our prodigal explorer, it's vital to pick up a few early game kills and secure momentum to steamroll the mid game. There's a common misconception to Ezreal, that his late game is bad. That is wildly incorrect. He is only useless at the end of a game when either the enemy team has too much health or if the enemy carry out scales him. For example: you can't expect an Ezreal to compete with AD carries like Vayne, Kog, or Tristana unless he gets a good lead.

Ezreal isn't so great on the 3v3 map.

Fact of the matter is, Ezreal is a very difficult champion to master. To keep up with other champions you need to consistently land all of your skillshots, and gain a good lead early on. He can even win many 1v1 situations if you play him correctly. Regardless of the haters, Ez is a fantastic champion and I though I would provide a guide with hints and tips on how to play him. I am not the best Ezreal, but I have enough experience and research to play him right.

So for you lovely people who want to get better at Ezreal and master him- try to incorporate some of these hints and tactics into your strategy.

Sometimes you can't get ahead in the lane, so you just have to outfarm them.

Ezreal: Hints and Tips

- Some players are best on Ezreal using smartcast. Try it out and see which works best for you.
- Using your Arcane Shift is the key to winning most fights. Using it offensively can get you killed, whereas teleporting too late will leave you missing out on kills and assists. Remember you can shorten the cooldown by landing skillshots.
- The best way to win trades in the lane is to land your skillshots. You don't have to trade to hit your opponent with abilities.
- When any kind of confrontation is incoming, begin stacking your passive up immediately. The attack speed bonus can win you the day. 
- Early game you have an unparalleled ability to burst your opponents without trading. Practice landing an auto-attack, follow it up with a Mystic Shot, and finish it off with another attack. This combo should strip away a formidable amount of HP before your opponent reacts. You can decide to continue hitting them or port away on top.
- Don't take minion damage. At the beginning of the game it's your time to shine. Ez takes a lot of damage and doesn't have much health. Don't lose it to the creep wave.
- In a teamfight, use your ultimate at the beginning on as many targets as possible. Trueshot Barrage serves two purposes: To unload damage for your team, and to instantly bring up your passive stacks. Aside from teamfights, use your ult to snipe kills, start a fight, or even clear minions.
- Essence Flux doesn't do much damage when you're the AD carry. However, it does increase the attack speed of your allies. Use it on them when you push down towers, or in a team battle.
- It should only take a few games to get to grips with the terrain that you can Arcane Shift over. Always stay near a wall you can use to escape or reposition yourself.
- Don't be a hero. Too many Ezreal players play him like Rambo. If you get hit by one stun or the wrong champions sticks to you, you're dead. Learn when it's a good time to go out and poke for your team, and when to stay at the back. Staying at the back is boring, but you will have to do it a lot.
- Icebourne Gauntlet will not make you a good Ez player. It's a good situational purchase, if the opposite team has a lot of attack damage or if you are desperate for a slow. Trinity Force is still acceptable if your team is coordinated and can peel for you. Sometimes it's a better idea to just build Ezreal like a normal carry.
- Building a little health early can help a lot. A couple of Doran's blades or a Phage can help you survive against high burst like LeBlanc.
-  CS is important. Ezreal is a powerhouse in the lane. You should try to zone your opponent and get ahead. Use your Q to farm if necessary. Just make sure you're last hitting to the best of your ability.
- Always try to take part in the earliest teamfights. Ezreal can do a lot of damage and any kills will put you ahead. Staying ahead is probably the biggest key to winning a game on Ez.
-  Once again. Stay at the back! In a teamfight, you want to wait until all of the hard CC has been used and even then you can still get destroyed.
- When in the lane, try to poke them down a little with your skillshots before forcing trades. That way if they fight back you can kill them outright. If you get an enemy to 70% as you hit level six, using your full combo followed by an ultimate is a guaranteed kill.
- Remember to build to counter the enemy team. The same build won't always work, so mix it up a little. That doesn't mean buy armor or magic resist, that means buy armor pen and crit if the opposing team is excessively tanky, or lifesteal if it can win you a few fights.
- Warmog's and Guardian Angel are fantastic items if you're getting tunnel visioned by an annoying player. Once you buy it you can probably kill them 1v1.
- Try not to pick Ezreal against a bruiser heavy or tank based team. He can kite them, but he sucks at killing them. Always focus the weaker targets first.
- Red buff is amazing early game on Ezreal, as soon as your lane is over either ask your jungler nicely for one or just take it from somebody.

I hope my advice will help some of you play Ezreal better. I know a lot of it is common sense and knowledge, but sometimes even the best of players forget the basics. But remember most of all to have fun! Because that will make you play better too.