How do you deal with Xerath?

[kerfanna]

I just had a horrendous game. I was mid Annie against Xerath, it was just a normal game, not even draft and I couldn't do anything. He could kill me when I was under my turret and his range is so long the turret wasn't even hitting him. I know that if you're behind the best thing to do is to farm under turret, so I tried that, but I couldn't because it seemed like his lighting was going outside the little yellow lines and hitting me anyway when I was dodging them. It was crazy, I couldn't be in lane, my jungler was no help and everyone was yelling at me, it was horrible. How do you deal with him?

[Malizio]

Jungler ganks are the best way to deal with one that is ahead.

If you're even with or ahead of him, you need to just all in on him. His burst is more spread out and combo oriented.

Also, if you think his range is long now, wait till his rework in the next patch.

[TEHPALLYTANK]

I dodge his nukes by moving in erratic patterns.

[Deleted]

I honestly have never played Annie mid, only support, so I don't know how to deal with Xerath on her but when I go on any other champ is just a matter of always being on the move, dodging his pokes and going in hard whenever I can. When I play Zed I just poke him down with Q and W+E/Q and I can also use W to quickly dodge his pokes too. With Gragas is just a matter of playing very safe, trying to poke hard with barrels (specially when he chains himself down) and roaming to get kills whenever possible. When all-in'ing him I just keep moving around him between auto-attacks so he has a hard time hitting me.

[Deleted]

Ahri. Post 6 you will destroy him and everything he holds dear. There may not be a lot of "true" counters in the game but Ahri simply has an answer to everything Xerath does.

[shammypie]

xerath is a siege champ. He is very good at hitting enemy champs from extreme range and then motor boating away. Furthermore he has armor that scales with AP so he can sometimes survive an assassination attempt. However he is extremely weak against very mobile champs and mage killers. Kassadin will kill him outright but then again who doesn't he kill? Furthermore his skill shot pierces and is fairly wide. You will need to move right away to dodge it and many do not have the reaction speed to do so. Therefore it is suggested that you keep moving in a somewhat erratic pattern and be ready to alter course. Doing so will help you dodge many champ's skillshots and render their tactics useless.

If you are playing annie you need to approach xerath in a round about way. Don't go directly at him and instead spiral in on him and make sure to dodge his skillshot. Once you do that go in and hit him with a spell+stun combo. If your ult is up use that to finish him and keep the pressure up. He has an ability you cannot dodge that will stun you if you get hit by another of his spells. His ult is that he summons 3 electric circles that zap you after a couple of seconds. If you are fast enough you can get out of these but be careful as he will try to trap you and will usually hit you with at least 1 of them.

[Amontoya86]

I would wait till his rework hits live because its honestly going to change his play-style quite a bit. Xerath's biggest flaw is his lack of mobility but that's going to change with his new rework. Much like a Nid or a Lux, beating a Xerath is all dependent on dodging his skill shots (which obviously can be difficult at times). All in gap closers like Fizz, Kass, Ahri, or Zed can easily deal with Xerath due to their burst and ability to dodge Xerath's abilities with their mobility.

[SargorVirm]

As a Xerath player, a good annie is actually kinda difficult to deal with. Early game Xerath CANT root in ground that often. So if you just run at him... the time it takes to ACTUALLY get the stun off, you have yours on him as well, so the stuns are washed out. I find in general I'm WAY stronger on Xerath when people are afraid to go on me, so i get to poke them out all day. If you hard engage him pre-6... all he can do is stun you and auto... scary. If he is constantly poking you he is pushing lane. So your jungler can EASILY wipe him out. His gank escape is the same as Ryze, he can only CC one of you. So you guys should be able to get to him.
Xerath is a HUGE snowball champ. He gets like 2 kills on you, you are not safe ANYWHERE near him. Once W is ranked up, he can blast you from sooooooo far away its crazy. I dont know what the re-work is doing, but as of now, i consider Xerath a counterpick to annie, so you farm under tower till the jungler comes. As soon as you have DFG, just make a flash play. Flash , DFG, Roll face on keyboard. Enjoy free kill

[Thelxi]

Good Xeraths are annoying as hell to play against (at least as a medium ranged ap/assasin), especially at higher elos. Unless I am feeling particularly heroic and thirsty for plays I will just play defensively and hope for a good lategame.

[Aydinx2]

I would wait till his rework hits live because its honestly going to change his play-style quite a bit. Xerath's biggest flaw is his lack of mobility but that's going to change with his new rework. Much like a Nid or a Lux, beating a Xerath is all dependent on dodging his skill shots (which obviously can be difficult at times). All in gap closers like Fizz, Kass, Ahri, or Zed can easily deal with Xerath due to their burst and ability to dodge Xerath's abilities with their mobility.

I don't agree with the mobility.
Xerath's entire point is that he stands still and turns into some kind of turret that blasts you from afar.
He has too much mobility IMO.

Edit: He needs something like a shield that allows him to stand still and not get instagibbed.
Maybe they should give him a shield of ??? that gets activated when he goes into turret mode and gets a small amount added to it for every spell he casts. This way he will have some form of survivability while still being a turret powerhouse.

[Amontoya86]

I don't agree with the mobility.
Xerath's entire point is that he stands still and turns into some kind of turret that blasts you from afar.
He has too much mobility IMO.

Edit: He needs something like a shield that allows him to stand still and not get instagibbed.
Maybe they should give him a shield of ??? that gets activated when he goes into turret mode and gets a small amount added to it for every spell he casts. This way he will have some form of survivability while still being a turret powerhouse.

Im confused, your saying a turret (which is immobile) IS mobile? I feel your getting range and mobility confused or I am just not understand what you are saying. His rework is removing the whole "get rooted in place and turn into a turret" aspect of his game-play. He will be MORE mobile with the rework. With the rework his skill-shot can be aimed while moving (much like Varus).

[Duilliath]

Currently, he has too much mobility by hopping in and out of turret mode and abusing the speedboost he gets.

[Amontoya86]

Currently, he has too much mobility by hopping in and out of turret mode and abusing the speedboost he gets.

Agree to disagree I guess. Riot has mentioned multiple times the reason for his rework is they didn't like his LACK of mobility. I just don't understand how you guys consider being snared in the ground for at-least 2 seconds (then getting a minor speed boost) is considered "very mobile". Nidalee is mobile........Xerath is not.

[Duilliath]

Xerath still has a line nuke. The ability to trade mobility for range. A ranged single target stun. Combos which flow naturally from that kit. Xerath is still extremely positioning sensitive. He just doesn't get to cheat with a 4 second cooldown 2 second dash that provides 40% spell penetration.

This is what is being meant.

[Zoreyai]

High mobility and you win.

[Valerean]

Deal with Xerath?

Roll Kassadin and proceed to sh*t all over him.

[SargorVirm]

Kassadin's early game is soooooo horrendous though, that a good xerath will have him trying to cs under tower after the 2nd or 3rd wave. Once hit gets 6 I think Xerath would have enough of a lead to stay afloat in the lane. Kass would have to roam before taking the lane on, since Xerath is a snowball champ.

[Valerean]

If you're getting pushed back to your tower then call for early jungle support (admittedly may be dependent on the competence of your top/bot lanes) - Xerath snowballs hard but Kassadin snowballs harder. Once you reach 'critical mass', he won't be able to touch you.

[SargorVirm]

Very true indeed, suppose its a sklll matchup at that point, or a team skill play. If a team works on keeping kass down, but then thats not the xerath vs kassadin matchup. I think as long as you dont let kassadin get near you (lvl 13+) it could still go in xeraths favor. Kassadins jump only goes so far. If he uses it to try and close the Locus of Power range, he wont be in range to Q u JUST yet, allowing you to get ur stun combo up before he can fight back. At least I THINK thats right. Dont quote me on it, as to I dont have the numbers and calculations on hand atm.

[Drikkink]

Very true indeed, suppose its a sklll matchup at that point, or a team skill play. If a team works on keeping kass down, but then thats not the xerath vs kassadin matchup. I think as long as you dont let kassadin get near you (lvl 13+) it could still go in xeraths favor. Kassadins jump only goes so far. If he uses it to try and close the Locus of Power range, he wont be in range to Q u JUST yet, allowing you to get ur stun combo up before he can fight back. At least I THINK thats right. Dont quote me on it, as to I dont have the numbers and calculations on hand atm.

Yeah, but a Kassadin will use riftwalk to avoid a skillshot (whether it's Q or ult), not just to gapclose, unless he can actually get onto Xerath with the Riftwalk. R>Q>E and some W autoattacks should take Xerath down before he can react once it's to the point that he can kill you in a combo. Before that point, neither of you will win in a combo, but Kassadin's combo comes up more frequently.