By Helmight
Though
Xerath has been an obscure pick in League of Legends for a long time, the Magus
Ascendant has been getting way more time in the limelight as of last week. With
a battery of incredibly long-ranged spells at his disposal, Xerath serves his
team as a magical artillery cannon and pokes down enemies with impunity. As he
slowly rises in popularity, one can’t ignore Xerath’s immense poke and siege
prowess.
Though
Xerath has always been a relatively unknown champion, he has been picked before
during the Season 3 LCS in a couple of games. However, only rarely did the
Magus Ascendant stand out as a midlane pick and for the most part was
forgettable. Since then, Xerath has received a major ability rework, giving him
a longer-ranged stun, a global ultimate, and a fourth damaging ability inspired
from his old ult. On top of this, the traditional siege mages of Ziggs and
Nidalee have received substantial nerfs throughout Season 4, setting the stage
for Xerath’s rise this last week.
It didn’t take
long for Xerath to catch on – he was played in 50% of the games this week by
seven different midlaners and managed a respectable 62.5% win rate. Pros have
favored him due to his reliable long-ranged waveclear and good damage. “If you
get ahead it’s almost impossible to lose a game as Xerath,” said Alliance
midlaner Froggen in an interview shortly after his second game with the
champion. “You can just run them down with your ultimate and it’s impossible to
dodge at that point.” NA midlaners have recognized his potential as well, and according
to Curse’s midlaner Voyboy, this is just
the start. “Xerath is a really good pick now, I would expect to see him
constantly through this week,” he said in a post-game interview.
Xerath’s strengths are many. His Q, Arcanopulse,
can completely annihilate a minion wave after a few items, and its low cooldown
and huge range allow Xerath to poke enemy champions from well behind their
towers. In addition, Xerath packs a 2-second stun on his Shocking Orb, placing
him in a tier alongside Morgana and Elise when it comes to long-ranged crowd
control. With all three champions on a team, a single enemy can be locked down
for a total of 7 seconds – a truly staggering number. What makes Xerath one of
the strongest mages though is his range. None of his abilities have a range
below 1000 units, with his Arcanopulse stretching all the way to 1400 units. Meanwhile,
his ultimate is a global ability that can either deal good AoE damage to entire
teams, or snipe off low-health targets as they attempt to leave a fight. Either
way, it’s a powerful tool to have in poke compositions.
However, Xerath is not without
flaws. Like his fellow siege mage Ziggs, Xerath is immensely squishy and weak
at close range. His Shocking Orb only stuns for .5 seconds if used at
point-blank range and all of his abilities feature decent cast times. Xerath is
also fond of crowd-controlling himself – Arcanopulse slows him down while he
charges it and Rite of the Arcane completely immobilizes Xerath while he’s
bringing down the artillery. Gapclosing champions like Vi and Lee Sin can take
advantage of his lack of mobility to initiate on him, while assassins like Zed
and Fizz can easily blow him up in teamfights. It takes a good composition
around him to keep Xerath alive and firing from the backline – but if you can
do it, God help your foes.
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