Thoughts on "Blue Ezreal" - Spirit of the Elder Lizard Build

An entire item build named after a color, cooked up overseas and copied into LCS within weeks. Here's what actually made Blue Ezreal work.

Blue Ezreal swaps out the usual crit-and-lifesteal marksman itemization for an all-mana, all-utility spread built around Spirit of the Elder Lizard, Iceborn Gauntlet, and Muramana. The result plays less like a standard ADC and more like a spammable, kiting-focused skirmisher who wins fights through constant ability procs instead of auto-attacking.

The build first made waves through Taiwan's EDIT. It didn't stay a regional curiosity for long, since imaqtpie picked it up in LCS play only a few weeks later, which is what pushed it in front of a much wider audience.

So what actually makes this build tick?

Build Spotlight

Thoughts on "Blue Ezreal"

Spirit of the Elder Lizard Build

An entire item build named after a color, cooked up overseas and copied into LCS within weeks. Here's what actually made Blue Ezreal work.

Blue Ezreal swaps out the usual crit-and-lifesteal marksman itemization for an all-mana, all-utility spread built around Spirit of the Elder Lizard, Iceborn Gauntlet, and Muramana. The result plays less like a standard ADC and more like a spammable, kiting-focused skirmisher who wins fights through constant ability procs instead of auto-attacking.

The build first made waves through Taiwan's EDIT. It didn't stay a regional curiosity for long, since imaqtpie picked it up in LCS play only a few weeks later, which is what pushed it in front of a much wider audience.

League of Legends Classic note: this build leans on Season 4 items like Spirit of the Elder Lizard that aren't in live League right now. It's not playable until League of Legends Classic ships its Season 4 item update, so treat this as a look back at the build rather than something you can go build tonight.

Armed with all "blue" items, EDIT: Taiwan's Blue Ezreal has been making a commotion all over the world as imaqtpie also copied it in LCS matches a few weeks back.

By building a Spirit of the Elder Lizard and Iceborn Gauntlet as the base along with Muramana, Blue Ezreal is an extremely technical, spammable champion with strong kiting abilities.

Example of TPA Bebe's Blue Ezreal

When to Pick This

Blue Ezreal is at its best against comps that clump up or stand still long enough to eat repeated AOE procs, since so much of the build's damage comes from area effects layered on top of each other rather than a single burst combo. It also rewards a player who is already comfortable landing the majority of Ezreal's skillshots on demand, since the whole build is built around proc'ing off of abilities rather than auto-attacking.

How It Works

AOE Damage On Every Proc

This build definitely allows Ezreal to deal large amounts of AOE damage and utilizes Ezreal's kit to the fullest. Since Spirit of the Elder Lizard is also procced by Iceborn Gauntlet's AOE, it does a considerable amount of damage.

Trades Despite Lower Burst

Although the burst damage isn't as high as a normal build, this build still allows Ezreal to trade effectively with other champions simply because Iceborn Gauntlet's armor component and built in Sheen makes up for the difference.

Mana That Never Runs Dry

Muramana's mana pool keeps the rest of the build fed. Between Iceborn Gauntlet's Spellblade and Spirit of the Elder Lizard's Incinerate, Blue Ezreal is constantly spending mana on procs, and Muramana's flat mana plus Awe passive is what keeps him from running dry mid-fight.

Potential Pitfalls

Not an Auto-Pilot Win

While it's definitely effective, I don't think I would call it "OP" just yet, since it does involve Ezreal hitting the majority of his skillshots rather than simply auto-attacking enemies to death. Naturally, on a high level player it may likely be extremely powerful, but in solo queue I'm not quite sold.

Expensive to Finish

Spirit of the Elder Lizard, Iceborn Gauntlet, and Muramana add up to roughly 7,350 gold for the three core items alone, before boots or a mana starter. That's a slow, all-in build to finish, and it does very little for you while it's still incomplete.

Conclusions

Blue Ezreal never turned into a full-on meta build, but it's a good look at how differently Ezreal could be played when the item pool allowed for it: a proc-heavy, mana-fueled skirmisher instead of the crit-and-lifesteal marksman most people default to. Suggested for: Ezreal players with consistent skillshot accuracy who want an AOE, mana-spending playstyle instead of a straightforward auto-attack carry.

Item Breakdown

A quick look at what these three items actually did, since two of them haven't existed in live League for years:

Spirit of the Elder Lizard

Burned enemies for true damage over time on hit and hit monsters harder while healing off jungle damage. Retired in a later jungle item overhaul, so it's currently unavailable in live League.

Iceborn Gauntlet

Turned the next attack after a spell into bonus physical damage plus a slow field, on top of ability power, mana, armor, and cooldown reduction. This exact version has also since been reworked out of the current item pool.

Muramana

Converted a big mana pool into bonus attack damage and extra on-hit damage by spending mana. Muramana is the one item here that's still around in live League today.

Video Example

What do you guys think about Blue Ezreal? Comment below!

More from this era

Blue Ezreal belongs to a stretch of League that doesn't exist any more, and we've written up a fair bit of it. Start with Old Twisted Fate, whose kit was still intact when this build was being first-picked.

The other half of that era is the math. The Season 3 mastery guide is still up, trees and all, and it's a decent reminder of how differently you built a champion before runes swallowed the system.

If you want the whole run, the Formerly OP series covers every champion who lost an identity to a rework.