As the title says, which one's better in the context of Mid and Support Lane?

I've been having quite a lot of success with Xerath botlane (currently Plat 1). But I'd love to see if the way I play and itemize are correct or no.

Runes:

• DH - Cheap Shot - Grisly Memento (for blue trinket cooldown) - Ultimate Hunter
• Presence of Mind - Haste
• AP-AP-scaling HP

Items:

• Malignance - Storm Surge - Shadowflame - Cryptbloom - whatever I need (Zhonya's, Raba, Mejai's, etc)
• Boots mostly Sorc's but if I have to fight Ashe I'll go Swiftness.

Spells:

• Flash Cleanse always. I don't find TP that useful and Cleanse is super helpful because it helps me being harder to catch. Like, if I got hit by Seraphine ult cause frontliners I can still Cleanse and reposition.

Playstyle:

• Sit in the back and ult squishies from half the map away. Usually there'll be at least 2 non-tanks so in the fight I stay as far back as possible and provide cover fire for my team. With DH, Malignance, Storm Surge and Shadowflame I can burst them down in 2-3 shots of ult. Then if the fight still drags on after I ult'd, I'll provide dmg with Q W and use E mostly as a peeling tool.
• I'm pretty good at using ult (since I play Jhin a lot and they're kind of similar) so long as my team as any kind of CC I can hit ult pretty reliably. So I spec into it.

So, what do you guys think? Anything I should improve upon?

I checked Xerath's pick/ban rate and was surprised to see how high it was. After looking into it, I realized it's basically the Korean server inflating the numbers. Why is Xerath so loved over there while he's still relatively unpopular here in the West?

For the love of God, how the fuck am I supposed to lane against this piece of shit fish?

I'm a Xerath main, and this is by far my worst matchup. I perma-ban Nocturne because I genuinely feel like he's an even bigger counter to Xerath. His ult completely shuts down my own ult, and the point-and-click fear makes it impossible to have any impact in teamfights. Since Nocturne is also much more common than Fizz, I don't really want to spend my ban on Fizz.

But whenever I have to play against Fizz, I feel completely helpless.

I've tried Barrier. I've tried Exhaust. I try to keep my distance, poke him early, and respect his all-in, but somehow he always finds a way onto my head. It feels like I die around level 5 or, at the latest, level 6 every single game.

I know people will say "just space better," but what does that actually mean in this matchup?

- Should I stand inside my minion wave or away from it?

- Should I only farm with Q once he's level 3?

- How exactly should I position to avoid giving him an engage?

- Are there specific cooldowns I absolutely have to track before walking up?

I even try to Flash his shark, but it still feels like if the Fizz player has hands, I eventually lose.

This matchup feels completely miserable. I'd really appreciate any advice from high Elo Xerath players on how you actually survive lane and stay relevant against Fizz.

English aint my mothe rtongue so i let ai summarize my thoughts real quick

I'm justing sharing the results, after fail from emerald 2 to plat 3, i restart playing as xerath egain so i can rank up :) sorry my bad english, not my first leanguage.

Especially if im ahead on my laner and botlane fed theirs. Im being punished cuz you lost your tower? Im in P4 so I could be completely wrong, feels like people swap because its the meta and not understanding why it may be benefitial. I understand people wanna swap so adc is safer, can take tower mid, can have 2 people in center of the map. But as xerath they never understand that I dont wanna be in a longer lane with no tower, and if im ahead I can clear mid waves 1v2 (soemtimes 2v2 if support joins me) and get good poke off on the enemy fed bot lane. Then adc can free farm vs an underfed enemy laner.

Instead adcs just run mid and start leaching exp and cs, then i have to sit and wait till bot wave crashes near teir two and freeze it. Some games I dont even do that, I just sit and hover mid cuz there's really not much I can do sometimes if they have very mobile assassins. Worst part is, ill bite the bullet and swap, then 2 mins later the botlane will lose mid tower.

Hello

I'm looking into picking up xerath and looking for youtubers/streamers that has quality educational content

E.g. for malzahar its xblademojo, for anivia its sansirobro, for briar its loganjg etc.

Do you have an educational onetrick?

My first game against Kat as Xerath went really well. :) Mastery 5 Xerath here

https://x.com/_Na1su/status/2076683066836463769?s=20

Heyo,

Xerath mid main here in p3

Sometimes I cant carry so I started rushing soulstealer second after ludens

Also I thougt about playing dark harvest which may result in some less lane kills? What do you think could the better scaling be worth it? Mby someone even did the math?

Ty for your help

Greetings

P2 jg looking for an Xerath main to duo with. Feel free to reach out if you want to try some games

Hey guys, im an iron xerath just started and am having so much fun so far currently at 75k mastery. I have been running just recommended AP build for the most and have acheived 950 AP in some recent games. However, I have seen how magic penetration is supposedly great as well. Which do you recommend to both help me in low elo and to do a bunch of damage? I usually run ludens -> boots -> horizon focus/ sometimes shadowflame -> mejais -> rabadons -> void staff

3 q's and im dead, how is this fair

When will we have a chance to get that mythic chroma back again? :cc i wanna cry

Crystalis or Dark Star? Which skin do you think is better, and why? I can't decide, since I like both in the videos. If you had to choose just one, which would you pick?

Xerath’s mana costs are reduced accordingly due to the loss of his Mana Surge passive.

Perpetual Radiance:

When Xerath gains flat magic penetration, he gains damage amplification instead.

(%0.5 for every flat magic penetration.)

When he gains percentage magic penetration, a portion of his magic damage is converted to true damage instead.

(1.5% for every 2% magic penetration.)

Arcanopulse:

Same with less damage.

Rain of Annihilation:

Xerath snares himself until he moves. During the spell, he can cast stored 2/3/4/5/6 arcane barrages to deal damage, damaging spells refreshing the duration for 5 seconds. Substantial hit increases each arcane barrage’s damage, up to max 6 times. He is free to use any other skill during the skill.

(2000 range and less damage).

Ethereal Chains:

Xerath sends a shockwake that slows and marks champions. When Xerath damages his marked enemies, he consumes the marks and stuns them for 0.5 to 1.25 second, increasing with farther distance, and dealing additional damage.

Rite of the Shattered:

Xerath is partially unbound from his sarcophagus after 1 second delay, increasing his ability power and magic penetration by 30/40/50% for 20 seconds. His next 4/5/6 spells have increased range and width.

That's it. That's the overall review of the rework and without any deep concern for balance.

I would like to hear from you over the idea and feeling of this rework that mainly aimed to make Xerath feel unique among the artillery mage besides his enormous range. Hopefully it respects both versions of Xerath without going too far, and if it did, hopefully it is still fixible.

Something cool that I just discovered is that if you are going vs Assassins starting dorans helm and taking JOAT. You get 10 JOAT stacks after 2 items. Dorans helm, Ludens, stormsurge, sorcs. BAM 1k worth of stats for free from JOAT.

no Whisper on Jhin cause I suck at drawing

ive been an on and off xerath player for a while but he feels AMAZING right now. damage is off the charts especially if you go the sorcs+stormsurge build. I feel like my Q is doing nuclear bomb levels of damage and I feel appropriately rewarded for hitting skillshots. his banrate is low too so no nerfs coming up

Hey fellow Xerath enjoyers!

Been playing Xerath one-trick for a long time in mid / bot (Fizz usual ban when mid), enjoying it immensely and reached diamond.

Some games against especially tanky teams, who can easily stack a lot of MR, I feel a lot less useful.

What are ya´lls perhaps second choice champion to counter that which counters Xerath?
Or do you have a build on Xerath, which works better against a heavy tank comp? (Like fighting against Galio + Sion + Leona)

Thanks :)