Aatrox has seemed to be forgotten recently in pro leagues…
The “golden age” of Aatrox was in 2018 when he received a thorough rework and became a true monster on toplane. Thanks to the new kit, he had everything a bruiser needs: a large amount of damage, fine mobility, CC, and INSANE healing. The moment when IG TheShy 1v5 with that new Darkin against G2 at Worlds 2018 was definitely unforgettable.
Despite his heyday, Aatrox now completely “vanishes into thin air”. In LPL Spring 2022, so far, this champion has been picked 8 times and banned once. He even has not appeared in LCK Spring 2022 for any single time in both banning and picking phase.
So, why is Aatrox staying in such a terrible state, even though he has received some buffs from Riot? According to TL Bwipo, the appearance of Galeforce and other items supplying dashes is obviously the reason for his “death”.
His fate also suffers from the latest change of Teleport. Being disabled to use this spell on minions and wards also lessened him a lot as he no longer can gain early takedowns from other lanes, when they do not have many items.
Not only the marksmen’s items but also mages’ ones, particularly Crown of the Shattered Queen, are contributing to kick Aatrox out of the Rift. He relies mostly on his kit and the more damage he deals, the more HP he heals. As a result, the easiest way to counter this champion is to prevent him from dealing so much damage, and Crown of the Shattered Queen is obviously perfect for this.
Conclusionally, Aatrox is currently weak among toplane bruisers and is too “fragile” in fights. He definitely needs salvation from Riot and hopefully, they will have an eye on this champion, so that they can give him some updates to bring him back to the Rift.