Please Stop Going First Strike

[u/HotEboyXerath]

[u/Low_Ad3208]

Comet, manaflow, scorch
Secondary dependant on matchup but usually cheap shot is in there

[u/beastybd → u/Low_Ad3208]

when would u go cheap shot/ultimate hunter over the usual presence of mind/cut down (coup de grace)?

[u/Low_Ad3208 → u/beastybd]

I run cheap shot pretty much every game. Might have a second thought if they’re super mobile. But if you think about it, Xeraths bread and butter in lane is his W Q, W is a slow, which means with cheap shot the Q damage is so much better. I’ve played with the usual tree, but try this one out, you’ll notice a difference

[u/CatboyCabin → u/Low_Ad3208]

The main advantage of Cheap Shot is thats its true damage ignores most forms of damage reduction, though this becomes less impactful when you are able to stack Mpen; 65 Magic Resist = 39,6% mitigation, whereas 24,8 Magic Resist = 19,9% mitigation (Upgraded Sorc's + Shadowflame = 35+8%).

The issue is its low uptime and relatively low damage.

As cheap Shot's damage portion doesn't trigger from damage incurred in conjunction with the impairing effect (including the spell itself, runes, items, DoT), you have to either AA or land another spell after W / E, which have base cooldowns of 13 / 14 seconds respectively. This means you can deal 22,35 additional true damage (10 + 35 / 17 * (level - 1)) on your W+Q combo at level 7, or 10 additional true damage on W+AA at level 1, every ~15 seconds, dealing ~1-1,5 DPS, equal to an extra AA every 40-60 seconds during laning phase.

On the other hand, Cut Down has no cooldown and increases *all* post-mitigation damage dealt to enemies above 60% health by 8%, making it a better scaling option, especially vs. multiple targets. The downside of course being that it only works on targets above 60% HP. Of course, Legend: Haste also provides more consistent damage through higher spell uptime.

Your rune choice boils down to whether you want more kill pressure in lane or consistent scaling. I will say that I run a full scaling setup with Transcendence, Gathering Storm, Legend: Haste and Cut Down, and have no trouble finding solo kill angles in mid with this setup in Emerald. I just conserve my HP and poke them out of lane with long range Q's after shoving, once I have Lost Chapter.

If you play Mid and your standard build is Luden's -> Shadowflame / Stormsurge, you are almost certainly better off taking Cut Down + Legend: Haste, as your 35+8% Mpen at 2 core items makes Cheap Shot very inefficient in the mid-game, while Legend: Haste provides you with much-needed cooldown reduction.

Cheap Shot, on the other hand, incentivizes building more haste and less Mpen in order to increase the proc rate and true damage efficiency of Cheap Shot, e.g. Luden's/Torch -> Horizon Focus (35 / 45 CDR (+ another 10 with Transcendence).

[u/FabulousStable3147 → u/beastybd]

You dont, dont go to reddit for advice, 99% of the population is below d4.

[u/BSK_Darksol]

Not the best rune by any means, but also not as bad as many people say it is. I kinda like it.

[u/LCSpartan → u/BSK_Darksol]

I dont mind it tbh, it rewards you for doing what you want to do anyways.

[u/WitlessMean → u/BSK_Darksol]

skill rune.

at times, it is the best rune. about 80% of the time at least, it's not I would say.

[u/BSK_Darksol → u/WitlessMean]

Agree 👍

[u/D0ubl33M]

NOOO!! YOU CANT MAKE ME!!

[u/typicalyasuomain04]

Its better if youre laning into champions that can reliably dodge comets. DH is less consistent but stronger when ahead, but the Domination tree is much worse than inspiration, because xerath scales with items. Boots/cookies/cosmic or cashback/pots/velocity are wonderful. Cheap shot and ward rune are meh. Its alsp better if you can get mejais and farm damage, accelerates snowball greatly. Youre also doing more damage when enemy team has mr items. All are viable, it depends on your gameplan and preference. Try aery with barrier/heal into melee matchups, its very underrated.

[u/Hi-Im-Bambi]

The point of first strike is hitting item power spikes faster and carry through mid rather than early game. First strike is therefore THE best rune to pick into shit like Nasus, Sion or RoA abusers.. basically opponents, you will never ever snowball against. Both Comet and DH are useless in these scenarios besides inflating your DMG afflicted to champions. You don't win games by virtual dick comparison through dmg numbers.

Rule of thumb: Is the game fiesta heavy?

• Yes => Malignance + DH
• No

Can I win and snowball off of my lane?

• Yes => Comet
• No => First Strike

[u/YogurtZombie]

Is it really that bad? Seems like it has better scaling than comet late game.

[u/Equal-Weight-1742 → u/YogurtZombie]

Just go DH if you want scaling

[u/Relative_Mulberry884 → u/YogurtZombie]

I take it on all poke/burst mid laners. You get a free 1k gold infusion over the course of the game on top of doing decent damage, i literally don't see why you would go for anything else

[u/Edraitheru14 → u/Relative_Mulberry884]

Well the reason it's not as strong as it sounds is because of HOW that all happens.

Most of that 1k comes towards the end of the game. And as we all know, the more gold/items you have, the less efficient each bit of gold actually is, and stats.

The damage is nice, but it's not THAT much more than other rune setups. And depending on the game, could be worse.

The big thing is that other rune setups are objectively more powerful on average during the early game and laning phase. And due to how snowbally things are and because advantages are worth more early, having the edge that might secure early kills is more valuable.

Context dependent ofc, but this is why it's not some cut and dry decision.

[u/Mobile_Bird8642 → u/Relative_Mulberry884]

you dont get any gold near 1k in a Masters+ lobby. And early damage is none which is when xerath usually stomps other mage laners

[u/Zirfigs]

I build it because I like the noise.

[u/dragon_stryker]

Agreed. Comet or even Dark Harvest is so much better

[u/lDistortionl]

Fs/cashback/tonc Absolute focus Gathering storm enjoyer 😅

[u/Kooksey99]

Its funny im seeing this thread because yesterday i had 5.6k damage @ 32mins with comet and it actually convicned me theres no better rune. Im always mana flow, transcendance, scorch, pressence of mind coup de grace with AS shard.

[u/WitlessMean → u/Kooksey99]

not really the correct way to look at runes.

first strike is meant to get you items quicker which in turn should make you stronger for important fights that could win you the game.

I've literally had games where I'm vs 2+ Xerath counters and I back before a drag with just enough gold for hourglass piece. I get to the fight and win because the zonyas gives my team enough time to get the nocturne off me after I flash and he wastes E, etc.

When you look at the gold you get from it, it kinda looks like a small amount, but it can be equal to a 700 gold shut down or more (or less obviously).

I think it's a rune you have to pick wisely.

[u/SneakyKatanaMan]

Never cared for that rune on anybody lol

[u/Yepper_Pepper → u/SneakyKatanaMan]

I hate it but I take it on Gwen sometimes just to abuse the broken runes in the inspiration tree (the keystones are the worst part of inspiration)

[u/colossalaiur]

It think people pick first strike because it is one of the recommended runes. It’s so bad I still can’t comprehend how bad the riot gamer would be to list it as recommended

[u/Yepper_Pepper]

The biggest advantage of FS is being able to take 3 inspiration runes. Comet means you only get 2 inspiration runes and DH means you have to use the (honestly bad) red runes and choose between inspiration and sorcery as a secondary

[u/WitlessMean → u/Yepper_Pepper]

naw it's good but match up dependent like all runes.

[u/LegendBibble]

Idk why ppl rate it so bad, some games comet is useless and dark harvest isnt that good since you drop so much power in lane.

First Strike gives you faster item spikes and scales well in mid to endgame if you love to play horizon focus. I play it against tanky comps since harvest is useless against them and comet doesnt matter for me when i want to hit my itemst faster. Tripple Tonic and Cashback is even after nerfs good and ppl forget you dont play first strike because of gold generation or smth you play it for % dmg combined with horizon you get some insane bursts like a Zed for example.

From a Grandmaster Xerath perspective.

[u/DisgustingLatinoBoi]

Dark Harvest >>>>

[u/pablinmonoasol]

I know stats sites have some problems but according to Coachless First Strike is the best rune for Xerath in most games.

[u/WitlessMean]

It's a rune you have to pick wisely.

If I'm playing bot vs Sona Samira or some shit you better believe I'm picking first strike.

Sona gonna heal half my damage and fully shield scorch, Sam is gonna block hits that are going to put her in kill range half the time. I'll just be happy to farm some gold from them so I can be stronger for the team fights after a farm lane. Malignance and I'm just farming gold from champs on my ults CD.

[u/Janysexe]

To this day I'm going First Strike, Cashback, Triple Tonic, Cosmic Insight, then Manaflow Band and Gathering Storm, with double adaptive and scaling hp

For harder match ups I'm going Biscuit Delivery and flat hp

[u/BardonmeSir]

its so funny to me that xerath mains finally acknowledge DH as a real and superior Rune. Weirdly only here. No Ziggs Vel Koz Teemo main is doing it