Talk:Ezreal/@comment-92.250.91.235-20120621134141/@comment-50.103.5.55-20120623033620

AP Ezreal is very very poor for most teams because he blooms later than most, if not all, mages due to his total dependency on very expensive items, starting with Lich Bane.

He isn't technically "useless", there exist good teams for him, but they are defintily the exception, not the rule. As a Mage wannabe, he is an awful choice in the current metagame.

Mages may buy expensive items, but most mages have alternate paths they can take through less expensive items that lets them adapt to what they need. They scale up better. AP Ezreal is very predictable and very easy to counter once you know that he's basically slaved to rushing Lich Bane pronto, or he risks losing out on his strong midgame.

Complicating matters, is that he shuts down around the same time as other Mages unless overfed so his window of peak effectiveness is more narrow than most mages. Sure, massive late-game Lich Bane procs look impressive on paper, but you could say the same thing of Mordekaiser, who is in a similar position as AP Ezreal, only he has his shield of doom which greatly amplifies the number of teams he fits into, simply because he will be able to zone without needing some incredible skill with skillshots. @Interceptor: You mentioned you would go for TriForce if you are already winning your lane and you want to start snowballing, etc. But wouldn't it be better to go for an early IE instead for maximus dps in the first place?

Everyone else is of course welcome to share their opinions on my question. I would assume Triforce would come after IE. Nothing on the item is wasted on Ezreal, but real carries demand focus.