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Ahri is a good matchup for Xerath as you outrange her, she will win early fights so try to play safe and just poke her with your abilities (while also hitting minions) when both comet and manaflow are up. Make sure you stay behind minions so that she can't easily land her charm. You will be able to pressure her once you hit your Last Chapter and especially Ludens. Once she hits 6 make sure that you are not in range of her first dash, this will generally make sure you are safe as she cannot insta cast her second dash. At this point you can stun and full combo her to chunk her. Also if you are ulting and she has ult up, most Ahris in lower elos will panic and use their ult before you cast yours in which you can land your R easily.
Akali
Akali is an even matchup with Xerath as you have the range advantage but she is still an assassin. You want to try to play safe while still poking her with your abilities. Make sure that you are not allowing her to lane free Qs on you in lane as she will gain MS and be able to chunk you out with her Passive Auto. You will be able to put more pressure on her once you hit your Last Chapter and especially Ludens but you always need to be playing safe and not walk too far away from tower as she has multiple dashes and a Shroud.
Anivia
Anivia is a pretty easy matchup for Xerath as she has no dashes, is immobile and you have a massive range advantage. You don't want to be over confident because Anivia is still a strong champion and has a lot of burst early, if you are keeping your distance she should never be able to stun you with her Q. Once you hit Ludens the lane should be over as you just poke her out whenever she gets into lane.
Annie
Annie can be quite a tough matchup but it is playable. She has many ways to get onto you and she can delete you as soon as she hits 6 so make sure you play safe and do not allow her to get an early lead. Play safe and poke her when your comet and manaflow are up, if she has stun ready or one off being ready make sure you are keeping your distance as she can use her to close the distance to you and then stun.
Aurelion Sol
Aurelion Sol can be quite an annoying early lane phase as she has a lot of push potential and ability to stick on you especially if she is using phase rush. You want to play safe and poke when you can, if you get any sort of a lead on her you can abuse her as you have a massive range advantage.
Azir
Azir is one of Xeraths easiest matchups as he doesn't do too much damage early and if he tries to poke you out he will run out of mana fairly quickly. You have a large range advantage over him and he is a squishy champion. Make sure to punish him if he ever uses his e in lane as it has a long cd early.
Brand
Brand is an easy matchup because of the range advantage. He does a lot of damage early so just make sure you don't take damage for no reason early. Poke him out when comet and manaflow are up and scale towards your Ludens and then punish him.
Cassiopeia
Cassiopeia is an easy matchup because of the range advantage. She can do lots of damage early but she will burn through her mana in doing so, just make sure you don't take damage for no reason early. Poke her out when comet and manaflow are up and scale towards your Ludens and then punish him.
Diana
Diana is a very tough matchup for Xerath as she always has a way to get onto you. If you can manage to poke her early you may be able to take advantage but it is best to play safe and try to scale without giving early kills.
Ekko
Ekko is a very hard matchup, he has pressure on you from very early on. If he goes into fog of war from level 3 on make sure you dont push up as he could be setting up a W from out of vision. You need to stay out of range of Ekko's E otherwise you will not be able to cc him if he gets on top of you. Try to poke him out and scale.
Fizz
Fizz is a very hard matchup, he has pressure on you from very early on. Try to poke him out and scale and do not get close to him as from level 3 on he can do about 60% of your HP with one combo. You need to have great positioning to win this lane as once you hit 6 you need to be a long way from him to be safe. In later fights you cannot show until you know where Fizz is because of the threat he provides.
Galio
Galio is an even matchup early but can swing very heavily to whoever gets the first kill. You cannot walk up to him if he has E or W up because if they hit you with either you are basically dead. Play safe, poke and farm up.
Heimerdinger
Heimerdinger is a pretty easy matchup as you can contest his pushing power fairly early. Do not let him push you under tower as you wont be able to leave. Poke him and if you can kill his turrets when possible, free gold and stops his pushing power periodically. Once you hit 6 you should win every fights as long as you dont get in range of his E.
Irelia
Irelia is a very tough matchup with the amount of damage she has early and the amount of mobility she has. Play safe and poke, if you are able to survive until Ludens you can poke her out but make sure you are not in range of her Qs when she resets on minions as she will do massive damage at all points.
Karthus
Karthus is a very easy matchup as you outrange him by a lot and he doesn't really have much pressure on you. Just make sure you don't allow him to get isolated Qs on you and you will have an easy time laning against him.
Kassadin
Kassadin is quite a tough matchup but can be won. You need to make sure that you are poking them out early as well as pushing the wave so that Kassadin struggles with farming, call for early ganks if you can because you cannot let Kassadin scale. Once he hits 6 you need to make sure that you are not within range of his first Riftwalk as he will be able to combo you for a lot of your health. If he jumps on you when not in range you can combo with E-W-Q and walk away.
Katarina
Katarina is a very tough matchup as she has so much mobility. You need to poke as much as you can early without depleting your mana and also avoiding the daggers are she will delete you if you go anywhere near them.
LeBlanc
LeBlanc is an even matchup, you need to be careful of her early trading with AA-W-AA. Play safe and farm to get to your Ludens and then punish her. Don't let her get free chains on you and once she hits 6 play safe and wave clear when she is full hp. Once you have poked her down a bit you can walk up further and pressure.
Lissandra
Lissandra is an easy matchup because of the range advantage but you have to be careful of her all-in as she does quite a lot of burst and especially once she hits 6. Stay out of range of her E and it will be an easy game.
Lucian
Lucian is a very tough early lane as he is very strong and can stop you from contesting farm. Play as safe as possible and don't trade with him, Don't use your E in lane unless Lucian has already used his dash. Once you get your Ludens the game is playable as long as he doesn't have a massive lead.
Lux
Lux is a pretty easy matchup because of the range difference. She can be strong early with her E-AA so try to stay away from her Auto range. Once you get lost chapter you can poke her out of lane and take over.
Malphite
Malphite is fairly easy pre-6, just keep your range and don't let him get too many Qs on you for harass. Once he hits 6 you need to stay away from him and watch out for his R. You want to try to keep your distance and perma wave clear while poking him and look to assist your team where you can with ultimate.
Malzahar
Malzahar is a very easy matchup, you have a large range advantage on him at all stages. Stay away from the minions when he has his E on them as you don't want to take any unnecessary damage. You can kill his minions while pushing the wave with your Q. Make sure you poke him out when manflow and comet are available and don't walk in range of him when you hit 6. Once you have Ludens he should never be able to touch you.
Morgana
Morgana can be annoying to deal with early on with her pushing power with W. Play safe and scale up so that you can match her push and outrange and outdamage her once you reach Ludens. As long as you keep your distance and don't get combo'd from Q-W it shouldn't be a hard matchup.
Neeko
Neeko is a fairly easy matchup to deal with. She does not have too much pushing power early and you are able to outrange her with ease. Poke her when you have comet and manaflow up otherwise just make sure you're farming and once you hit Ludens punish her.
Orianna
Orianna can punish you early so make sure that you're not taking free harass, if she is moving towards you back off as she can do a lot of damage with Q-W-AA especially if she has phase rush or electrocute. Once you get Ludens she should not be able to touch you. She is a good champion to poke out before team fights as she can have a very large impact so keep this in mind.
Pantheon
Pantheon can be a struggle to play against especially if they go defensive items early. You do not want to be fighting him early as they usually run PTA which he can proc very easily with W. Just play safe and scale as much as you can. Be careful of his ult when he is not in vision.
Qiyana
Qiyana is a hard champion to play against as she has a lot of mobility and stealth. You can punish her early if she ever uses Q to clear minions so lookout for this. Both her Q and W have 7s cooldowns so keep this in mind. Once she hits 3 keep distance from her as she can chunk you with her combo. Again, if she uses E this is your chance to punish her but make sure you're not getting into melee range of her.
Ryze
Ryze is a very easy matchup as you have a massive range advantage on him and he is fairly weak early. You can punish him from a very early stage with your pushing power. Do not let him to get control of the wave and dictate the lane. Keep the lane on his side if possible to make him use mana on the wave and watch out to make sure his you have his E mark on you, if you do move out of the wave so the Q does not bounce to you.
Seraphine
Seraphine should not be a hard matchup, you have the range advantage but she does have more pressure early. Poke when manaflow and comet are up otherwise concentrate on farming and don't allow her to get free damage on you. Once you have Ludens you can poke her out with ease. Watch out for her ult with the extended range on her teammates or yours as this should be her early way to get onto you.
Sylas
Sylas can be a tough matchup as he has a lot of mobility and is a very strong late game champion. You will need to play the matchup dependant on what runes and items he starts with. If he has fleet with corrupting potion you will struggle to poke him out so just farm up and poke when comet and manaflow are up. If he is running conq with Dorans Ring you can poke him out as he won't have as much sustain so keep this in mind. You want to keep your distance as much as possible and not be in range of his chains as this will cost you a large % of your hp.
Syndra
Syndra is an easy matchup as you have the range advantage. Make sure you don't allow her to get the early lead because she is strong early and don't position in a line between her spheres and her as she will stun you. Scale up and wait for Ludens and then poke her out with Q every time it is up.
Taliyah
Taliyah is a very uncommon matchup but shouldn't be too hard if you know how she works. She is a strong champion at level 1 when there are no minions in the way as her Q can do lots of damage so make sure you stick behind minions. Also make sure you keep your distance from her as her level 3 is very strong once she has all abilities. Keep your distance and scale and you will win the matchup once you have Ludens.
Talon
Talon can be a very tough matchup because of his mobility and the amount of chance he has to roam. You cannot allow him to land both parts of W on you as he will then Q-AA for electrocute (if he has that) and his passive bleed which does a lot of damage especially early. You need to always keep your distance and not allow him to get onto you as this will cost you and do not follow him into the river or jungle unless you know for certain it is safe because he can jump over walls.
Tristana
Tristana is a very tough matchup early and you cannot allow her to get a kill on you as this will snowball out of control. Check to see what she has levelled up first (if she kills a minion and it does AoE damage she has E and if not she most likely has W). If she has W you cannot contest the first wave, just get what you can. If she has E then you can walk up and try to get as much of the first wave as possible but don't get within her AA range. Once she hits level 2 she will level up either ability she did not start with and try to all-in you. You need to play under tower as much as possible in this matchup and take what you can get. If she uses her E on the tower make sure you are not standing next to it as you will take AoE damage from the explosion. Once you hit Ludens if she is not a long way ahead this is your first chance to play the game so try to poke her but watch out for her jump.
Twisted Fate
Twisted Fate is generally a pretty easy matchup as he does not have much pressure on you. A specific tip against TF when he hits 6 is to ward in the botside alley as that is when he is in range to ult to bot lane. If he is 6 and is moving down make sure you follow him and try to stop his ult if you can. If he gets down there you have to decide whether it is best to push your lane and go for plates or ult for bot to try to help.
Veigar
Veigar is an easy matchup as he is a champion that is also looking to scale towards late game but you have the range advantage. He cannot do anything to stop you from scaling other than calling for ganks. Be careful of his cage as this is his only chance to get anything on you. Once he is 6 just stay at range and poke him out, if he walks up to you just full combo him.
Vel'Koz
Vel'koz can be annoying early as they have the early damage and pushing power but as the game goes longer your range advantage will be key so keep this in mind and play safe and scale. Don't stand in the minion wave as will be looking to shove and also hit you if possible. His passive with the true damage does a lot of damage so if you have 2 stacks on you just walk away and let it reset.
Viktor
Viktor is an easy matchup with the range advantage but you have to respect his early damage. If Viktor uses his W you need to make sure you walk out of it and not use any abilities as that will stop your characters movement. Play this matchup to scale and you should not have too many troubles.
Vladimir
Vladimir can be a tough matchup is some situations if he gets the chance to scale. You cannot use your E when he has his W up as he will always use it to dodge and it becomes a waste of mana for you. You will need to poke him down to make him use it in defense, if he ever does use it that is your chance to full combo him. In this particular matchup you will have to figure out what you like best with runes whether that be the standard runes or if you want to go domination for some extra early damage which can help to get him out of lane. Vladimir has a lot of healing which can cause problems if you try to poke him out as it can burn through your mana quickly. Do not allow him to get his Q onto you as it heals him for more. If you decide to go with Domination secondary for runes try to use your W-Q combo to get the extra true damage in lane. If Vladimir is allowed to scale you may not be able to kill him at all but the lane is generally dictated by whoever is able to stay in lane longer or for the better early purchases.
Yasuo
Yasuo can be quite a hard matchup to play against because of the amount of mobility he has. Play safe and farm as much as possible while poking him when you can. You can buy seekers early but that is personal preference whether you do or not. The only ability he can stop with his windwall is your E so take advantage of this. You need to always respect Yasuos damage as even if you have a massive lead on him he will most likely still be able to delete you.
Yone
Yone is probably one of the hardest matchups there is for Xerath as it feels like you cannot do anything to stop him in most cases. You have to keep your distance from him at all times and wait for him to use his E because you can only fight him if it is on cd. Try to ask for ganks because if you can get a lead on him you can try to poke him out otherwise play safe and don't allow him to get free kills early.
Zed
Zed is another very hard matchup because of the use of his shadows. You have the chance in the first couple of levels to poke him out a bit when possible but you always have to respect him as he can basically delete you whenever he wants, play under tower to discourage him from diving you. If he ults you, try to time your E to hit him as soon as he lands (he will always land on the opposite side of where he used ult) and use W-Q to follow as well as Zhonyas if you have it (to cancel the deathmark damage), this is your only hope of surviving.
Ziggs
Ziggs is an easy matchup for Xerath because of the range advantage. In lane phase you don't want to be standing next to the minions as it makes it easier for Ziggs to land his Q. Poke him when you can and once you get Ludens it should be fairly simple.
Zilean
Zilean is another easy matchup because of the range advantage. He struggles with early wave clear and damage so should not provide any troubles for you. Try to avoid getting hit by too many bombs (and double bombs) as this is his only way of doing damage. Do not walk up to him when he has his abilities up as it is very his for him to then slow you and double bomb for damage.
Zoe
Zoe can be a tough matchup for Xerath as she has many ways of getting onto you and doing damage. You need to watch out for her going out of vision early and trying to setup for a long range Q onto you as it can do quite a lot from very early on. Consider using cleanse in this matchup if you are struggling to dodge her Es as barrier will become useless late game against her. If she uses her ult and misses her abilities this is your chance to get some free damage as you know where she is going to land and you can delete her.
Xerath is very immobile so make sure you are playing safe at early stages in the game as you are very gankable and lose a lot of matchups. When playing against assassins you should NOT be following them on roams unless you have vision of them and you know it is safe to do so. If you do not have vision push the lane and wait to see if they show, you cannot go for tower plates as they may be waiting in a bush. If however they do show in another lane you have the choice of pushing and getting tower plates or looking for a chance to ult and help the team. Later on in the game you are looking to delete the squishy/main members on the enemy team which is what Xerath excels at.
Tips vs Mages
In most mage matchups for Xerath, you will outscale them all so you want to try to get to this stage. Make sure to farm up as much as possible while stacking up your manaflow (and tear if you decide to get that) as well as getting poke damage when comet is available. Once you get to Ludens (sometimes even just Lost Chapter) you will be able to poke them out of lane fairly often.
Tips vs Assassins
When playing against assassins as Xerath you will always struggle as that is just how the champion plays. You need to try to take advantage of their cooldowns and poke them when they can't get anything in reply. You're better off sitting under tower then trying to get damage on them in most cases as they have a lot of threat from very early on and it is not worth going 1 for 1 against assassins as they snowball a lot harder.
Rune tips
Regarding Runes for Xerath there are many different choices that you can go with and they are generally all personal preference, sometimes in certain matchups you may want to go something in particular like going stopwatch and biscuits if you are going Zhonyas early. More often than not you will be going comet as it helps out a lot with getting you through lane and allowing you to scale but the minor runes can be changed out for what you like to use.
Full Xerath Mid Guide
Build Guide By vCraze
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