Aatrox
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Poor (5/10)
High Investment Required
Epic Relics
Paid Relics
Players disagree about Aatrox's overall power. Some consider his late-game scaling and board-wiping potential with World Ender to be incredibly powerful, especially when equipped with his signature relic. While others criticize his slow early-game tempo and vulnerability to aggression, noting that he requires specific Epic or Paid relics to fix his speed issues.
The World Ender (Optimal)
Grants +0|+3 (enabling Titanic status), strikes an enemy on play to discount World Ender, and causes the board to strike the enemy Nexus when World Ender is played.
Combined with The Darkin Blade's health buff, Aatrox becomes Titanic, granting +1 Starting Mana.
Grants Overwhelm to the massive Darkin units, ensuring that high stats translate directly into Nexus damage.
Strategy
This is the definitive optimal setup for Aatrox. The Darkin Blade provides a crucial +0|+3 health buff, elevating Aatrox's base stats to Titanic status. This perfectly activates Starforged Gauntlets, granting +1 starting mana to resolve his inherent early-game slowness.
The Darkin Blade also provides an immediate strike upon play, accelerating the cost reduction of World Ender. The Beast Within rounds out the build by granting Overwhelm and bonus stats to all Cultist and Darkin units, ensuring that massive board states translate directly into Nexus damage.
Double Stalker Aggro [Rare Relics Only]
Strikes the weakest enemy on summon.- Strikes the weakest enemy on summon again. Two strikes mean two discounts for World Ender.
- Grants +1|+1 and Overwhelm to all Cultist units.
Strategy
For accounts without his signature relic, this build focuses on maximizing immediate impact and cost reduction. Summoning Aatrox triggers two strikes, instantly removing early threats and providing two discounts for World Ender.
The Beast Within grants Overwhelm to the Cultist units, allowing the deck to maintain aggressive pressure while building toward the ultimate win condition.
Scaling Control
Provides consistent access to Aatrox's champion spell, which lets him strike and survive damage to rapidly scale his stats.
Granting +3/+3 and a keyword when Aatrox survives damage, this rapidly scales him up when used with his champion spell.
Provides additional stats when Aatrox survives damage, stacking with sentinel's plate
Strategy
Relying on Aatrox's champion spell to clear the board, this build focuses on scaling him through Sentinel's Plate and Berserker Buckle.
Deathbringer Sweep lets him strike and take damage from an enemy up to 3 times. Each strike clears an enemy, discounts his cards, and grants him +5/+5 and a keyword. At the end of each turn, Aatrox can heal back to full HP with his equipment's built in Regeneration. This build can struggle to clear big enemy units however.
Other Relic Options
Crucial for protecting Aatrox from non-kill removal such as Recalls or Entomb, which severely disrupt his slow game plan.
A viable alternative to The Darkin Blade for pushing Aatrox's base stats to the required threshold to activate Starforged Gauntlets.
Living Weapon is too slow for a champion that already excels in the late game but struggles early.
Constellation
Aatrox's constellation focuses heavily on raw stats and cost reduction. While powerful in a vacuum, it lacks utility features like built-in mana ramp, forcing a heavy reliance on Starforged Gauntlets and his signature relic. The upgrades make him a formidable combatant but do not fundamentally resolve his slow early-game tempo.
Infernal Chains
When an equipped ally strikes, reduce the cost of a random card in hand by 1.
Corrupted Weapon
+1 Starting Mana. Game Start: Create in hand 2 random Darkin equipment.
Infernal Chains II
When an equipped ally strikes, reduce the cost of a random card in hand by 2.Review
The cost reduction provided by striking with equipped units is essential for his game plan, but is inconsistent due to the random nature of the discounts.
Armed To The Teeth
Allies with Equipment or attachments have +2|+2.Review
The flat +2|+2 stat increase is helpful for combat trades but is insufficient to fix his vulnerability to early-game aggression.
Manaflow
Game Start: Get a mana gem.Review
As an expensive champion with a slow start, the extra mana is invaluable for surviving the early game and getting him in play.
Darkin Awakened
When you summon or transform a Darkin, double its stats.Review
Provides a massive stat boost upon transforming, turning Aatrox into an overwhelming force. However, there is a notable mechanical anti-synergy: The Darkin Blade relic's 'Play' effect triggers before this 6-star 'Summon' effect, limiting the potential damage output of the relic's initial strike.
Gameplay Tips
- Initiative Management
Equipping a unit passes initiative to the opponent. Be very careful when equipping Darkin weapons against decks with fast removal or stuns. It is often better to attack with unequipped units than to pass priority and lose the attack token.
- Strike to Discount
Aatrox's level-up condition and the cost reduction of World Ender are driven by allies striking. This includes combat strikes, but also strikes from spells like Deathbringer Slash or relics like Stalker's Blade. Prioritize effects that force strikes to accelerate the win condition.
- Drafting Darkin
Aatrox's deck benefits significantly from powers that reduce the cost of Epic cards, as all Darkin equipment and units are Epic rarity. Look for the 'Epic Escapades' power or similar cost-reduction nodes to deploy heavy hitters early.
- Titanic Event Synergy
Aatrox performs exceptionally well in adventures with Titanic modifiers, such as the Volibear encounter. The inherent cost reductions in these adventures allow Darkin units to be played for free, enabling aggressive early-game dominance and potential one-turn kills.
- Zoe Adventure Survival
In the 10-star Zoe adventure, stall the early game until Aatrox can be played and trade effectively. Prioritize powers that grant allies a shield when targeted, and rely heavily on Lifesteal cards to maintain Nexus health.