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Xin Zhao Build Guide by CrystalScars

AD Offtank S3 Xin Zhao top lane guide

AD Offtank S3 Xin Zhao top lane guide

Updated on June 19, 2013
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35,244 Views 5 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author CrystalScars Xin Zhao Build Guide By CrystalScars Updated on June 19, 2013
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Choose Champion Build:

  • LoL Champion: Xin Zhao
    Semi tank dps
  • LoL Champion: Xin Zhao
    Full tank
  • LoL Champion: Xin Zhao
    Jungle build (?)

Introduction of Xinzhao

Xin Zhao is a very versatile champion. You can choose to built him tank, semi-tank, full AD, AP (IF YOU'RE TROLLING) and he can pretty much go whatever lane you want him to.

Mostly played in top / jungle due to his insane early game potentials. This guide mainly focus on a Semi-tank DPS build for top lane Xin Zhao. Even though he sounds pretty gay for a man , he's really strong.

As a DPS Xin Zhao , you want to go straight for their priority target AND be tanky enough to survive the damage dished on you, so it's only smart if you built some defensive items. He have a great spell to separate their carry from his/her team.
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Pros / Cons

Pros
- High burst
- Can dash for the carry
- Easily comeback from a early game death
- If you're ahead, hard for enemies to comeback
- Substain in lane with W passive
- Pretty straightforward champion (all you do is autoattack)



Cons
- Squishy without HP items
- Usually targeted first in fights
- No escape spells other than flash or ult
- Very vulnerable to CC
- Need farm or fed to be effective
- Prone to ganks
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Skills

Challenge - This is a great passive for a top laner and helps when you're up against a tank / armour runed enemy. It reduces your enemy armour by 15%. Works with your allies as well. Which means if they have Challenge active on them, your allies spell deals more damage too.

Three talon Strike - Main damage spell. Gives you a significant boost in your next 3 basic attack's damage. Knock up. Reset attack timer on cast. This skill also reduces the cooldown of your other skills by 1 whenever you land a attack while three-talon strike is active. This skill applies your passive Challenge as well.

Battle cry - An awesome attack speed steroid when activated. When maxed , it gives you a whopping 80% increase in your attack speed. This is one of the reason Xin zhao can build damage items without items like Phantom dancer. Also, the passive allows you to heal up a flat amount HP, similar to Irelia's W. Might not seem much but is very effective if you stack it with double Doran's Blade.

Audacious charge - Gap closer with a slow. Great for chasing enemies. This is why Xin Zhao can face ranged top laners as well. I strongly recommend you to max this skill first because at maxed level, a Audacious Charge + Three Talon Strike ( This is if all 3 strikes land) your Audacious Charge cooldown is only 4 SECONDS. You can lock down a single target and simply kill him even if he flash as the slow will allow you to catch up to the enemy. This skill applies your passive Challenge too.

Crescent sweep - This skills is the team fight changer. It deals tons of damage, destroy enemy positioning and allows you to charge in and deal with their carry while the rest are knocked away. This is a AOE knock back skill whereas the champion with your passive Challenge on him/her will not be knocked back. With this skill you can 2v1 the jungler and your lane partner and still might come out ahead.
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Masteries

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Runes

Runes

Precision
Fleet Footwork
Phase Rush
Greater mark of armor penetration - 12 armor penetration. You pretty much cut through your enemy's armour. I skip Greater Mark of Attack Damage because Three Talon Strike gives you damage when you need it.

Greater Seal of Armor - 13 armor is a lot. It reduces quite a lot of minion damage so you can trade without worrying.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist - 24 MR @ lvl 18. I get SCALING instead of flat MR runes as top lane are usually AD and MR is for when team fights occur so scaling would be much better.

Greater Quintessence of Attack Damage - Increases my attack damage by a little so its easier to last hit in lane.
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Skill Sequence

I personally do not level up any skills till Lv. 2 unless I'm hard leashing for my jungler, then I'll up Q first. If that's not needed, try to farm till Lv.2 and then consider if you are going to play aggressive or passively. Always put a point in Audacious Charge, then Three Talon Strike if aggressive playstyle or Battle Cry for passive farm sustain.
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Harassing / trading

Xin Zhao is incredibly strong early game, try to take advantage of that point. A simple three talonn strike + Audacious Charge at lvl 2 can put your enemy to about half health. You'll have no problem facing ranged champions as you have Audacious Charge to close the gap. If you're facing a champion like Jax or Jayce who can knock you away when you charge to them or dodge your Three Talon Strike strike damage, simply activate your Three Talon Strike, proc it twice on minions and Audacious Charge to them for the knock up and walk away while they're in the air.
----

One very important thing you have to remember while playing Xin Zhao is to NOT PANIC when you're low. When you're low on health and is fighting 1 v 1 and there's no escape, STAND AND FIGHT. There were times where I stayed and fight at low health when a jungler ganked and pulled off a double with/ without dying due to your Battle Cry passive and your ultimate.

When you're ahead of your enemy try to force engage at them for free and easy damage. Don't over extend yourself as the jungler might gank you, back off immediately after your harass.
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Lane clogging

This is very important for Xin Zhao or as well as any other top champions IF you are losing your lane or you don't want your enemy to get any farm at all. After the lane is pushed towards you, stand before the turret and let the minion attack you. That will stop the minions to go to the turret and get killed. With this small amount of minion you clogged, they will damage your incoming minion wave before the enemy's minions arrive. This will cause your minion wave to die to the enemy's first. Only last hit minions who are at really really low health and do not touch minions that are above 15% hp.
If the enemy decides to come near the turret and last hit your minion, simply call for a jungle gank as he will be very over extended. Once your enemy leave the lane, push it to their turret and back off.
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Skill combos

All in 1v1 kill
Three Talon Strike + Battle Cry -> Audacious Charge -> Crescent Sweep -> Audacious Charge -> repeat

Simple harass (MELEE CHAMPS)
Three Talon Strike -> Audacious Charge -> a few auto attacks

Simple harass (RANGED CHAMPS)
Audacious Charge -> Auto attack x1 -> Three Talon Strike

Enemy team positioning destroyer combo
Audacious Charge -> Crescent Sweep -> Battle Cry -> Three Talon Strike
- In this combo, audacious charge to the enemy team's HIGHEST threat / priority. So that you can help your team path the way to the carry and kill him/her fast while their allies are knocked back.
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Build

Semi tank dps ( The one shown above)
This build focus on mostly hp and damage.
Mercury's Treads gives you tenacity which lower the durations of CCs and some magic resist.
Youmuu's Ghostblade have damage, armor penetration, cooldown reduction, critical strike AND a movement and attack speed buff for 6 seconds. This is the only thing other than Battle Cry that gives you attack speed, so remember to use it.
Sunfire Aegis for armor and health for you to stay in the fight and deal more damage. Also have a damaging passive.
Bloodthirster for the great lifesteal and damage. This is the item that lets you 2v1 easily.
Frozen Mallet gives you 700 health and slows on every auto- attack you land. This item gives you durability and allow you to chase down running enemies.
Ravenous Hydra Lifesteal + damage + HP regen. This increases your AOE damage with its passive and active and also gives bonus lifesteal combined with Bloodthirster. You can replace this item with Infinity Edge for more single target damage.

Full tank
Warmog's Armor gives loads of HP to tank all the damage.
Atma's Impaler this item is great with Warmog's Armor. It's usually called atmogs. Damage, armor and critical strike.
Wit's End gives you attack speed , magic resist and bonus magic damage.
Mercury's Treads reduce duration of CC and magic resist.
Youmuu's Ghostblade you'll still want a bit of damage even though you're a tank to be effective.
Randuin's Omen Armor,health and movement and attack speed debuff on enemies.

Infinity Edge build
Pretty much replacing Ravenous Hydra's AOE and extra lifesteal for higher crit chance and higher damage. Still very tanky from armor and HP from Sunfire Aegis and randiun's omen.


Pain as heck build
Even thought lacking of the 700 HP and slow from Frozen Mallet, you'll make quick work of any and all of your foes. You can switch Sunfire Aegis for Frozen Mallet if you want more chasing potential.
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Common mistakes

To new players out there ; REMEMBER TO USE THE ACTIVE OF YOUR ITEMS ( , , You might be thinking " this guy serious?" But yeah, people say this often but when I see them in a fight they don't use their active items. The active slow from Randuin's might just secure you your pentakill or something like that.
Semi tanks.
NEVER EVER EVER EVER BE THE ONE TO ENGAGE A TEAM FIGHT You rushing in only makes the enemy team aim and focus you, which makes you die before your team arrives. Your job is to dive for their carry after your tank initiates. You have to stay in the battle as long as possible and deal as much damage you can to be effective. Rushing in and die only gives your team a disadvantage.
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Laning and Champion countering

Alright this is a pretty important section if you want to win the lane. Some champions counters Xin zhao, while xin zhao counters some champions too. But lets say for example you main Darius you will know the weakness of Darius it might not be as much of a threat to you as to me.

The difficulty will be on the scale of 1-10. This are solo top champions. I will be adding the AP mids in the future.
Ctrl + F and type the champion name to skip the rest of the champions.


4/10
- Akali has free poke and infinite poke on you. But you can Audacious Charge to her and trade the damage back.
- She has no escape skills other than Flash
- Her Twilight Shroud is not really reliable to escape. You'll be able to catch up to her after the shroud ends.
- If she uses Twilight Shroud and burst you. Stand in the middle of the shroud and use Crescent Sweep to knock her out of the shroud. Continue your combo after that.
- Her burst damage is significantly increases at Lv. 6 so try to force trades before Lv. 6
- WARDS so you can overextend and trade.
- No CC. No escape. Moderate sustain with passive and Hextech Revolver. Very high burst if fed.

2/10

- Alistar have very very low damage output but has 2 CC.
- Save your audacious charge AFTER he knock you up and headbutts you away.
- You can either play aggressively or farm passively as he can stop you from damaging him.
- Their jungler will love to gank top as Alistar can easily start the ganks so ward and don't overextend too much.
- 2 CC. Tanky with ultimate. High sustain. Very low damage.

5/10

- Activate Three Talon Strike and hit Amumu and get all the free damage on him as he have not much damage compared to you. If he tries to Bandage Toss at you, just Audacious Charge at him and land normal attacks at him.
- Try to kill him before he gets tanky items.
- Amumu has no escape moves escape for Flash and his Curse of the Sad Mummy.
- If he uses his Curse of the Sad Mummy to escape, he will not be able to get away the next time you force engage when he get back to lane or he will not be able to start a gank.
- Stand in the middle of your minions so Amumu cannot land his Bandage Toss at you.
- He will definitely call for a gank after you snowball the lane , so ward the river. Dodging Bandage Toss will be able to get away safely.
- Save flash to escape Curse of the Sad Mummy
- 2 CC. Ultimate as escape skill. No sustain. Moderate burst.

4/10
- Pretty much the same case as Amumu. Free Three Talon Strike damage and save Audacious Charge after the knock up from Power Fist.
- *IMPORTANT* NEVER EVER GO SO CLOSE TO HIS TURRET AND LET HIM PULL YOU TO THE TURRET.
- *IMPORTANT* Always remember his passive Mana Barrier remember that he will that extra shield you have to breakthrough if you're gonna dive him. Never get baited.
- Hide behind minions/ Walk zig-zag so that he can't land his Rocket Grab if he's trying to start a gank.
- 3 CC. A speed boost. No sustain. Moderate burst.

2/10

- 2 CCs.
- Free three talon strike damage damage early game.
- If he use Rupture from far away, instead of running away, turn around and Audacious Charge. You dodge the knockup and you damage him.
- Before Lv.6 you can pretty much OWN him in lane. He needs his Rupture and Feral Scream to actually deal damage. ( Which 1 is easily dodged )
- If you fail to kill him from a burst, he can camp and farm under the turret to heal back the damage with his passive Carnivore. Do not let that happen so much.
- Lv.6 his burst increases but if he saves it for dealing damage, he won't be tanky unless he builds tanky. In that case he won't have damage, vice versa.
- Flash will get you away safely from ganks if you dodge Rupture.
- 2 CC. 1 escape move ( Rupture). High sustain. High burst if all skill lands..

7/10
- 1 CC and no escape spells.
- Darius is also another champion who obliterates champions early game with his high damage Decimate
- Engage whenever he uses Decimate to farm or when he misses his Apprehend to grab you.
- Be careful of fights after Lv.6. Darius is strong only when he stacks 5 Hemorrhage on you. Once you see you have 5 stacks Hemorrhage. BACK OFF. Wait out the stacks and then dive back in. The amount of time will be just enough for you to kill him before he have enough time to stack up 5 stack Hemorrhage again and use his Noxian Guillotine on you.
- Darius have no sustain.
- 1 CC. No escape spells. No sustain. High burst in long duration fights.


4/10

- 1 CC.
- Diana don't have much burst without Lunar Rush.
- Dodging Crescent Strike will keep you safe from her burst. This will also waste loads of her mana.
- Pale Cascade is not a strong shield. Force fights with her. You win her in damage output. Outscale her in items. Pretty much owns her in lane.
- Trading kills is PERFECTLY fine as Xin Zhao outscales Diana in items.
- Diana also has no sustain.
- 1 CC. No escape spells. No sustain. Moderate burst. High burst if fed.

6/10

- 1 CC.
- Three Talon Strike + Audacious Charge him all day long.
- You win him early game as most Dr. Mundo players just stack HP and not ARMOR.
- Bring along Ignite if you're up against Dr. Mundo as you'll the heal reduction to stop the strong heal from Maximum Dosage
- Walk zig-zag to doge his cleavers.
- Dodging his cleaver will waste his HP. XD
- Play aggressively before Lv. 6 as his sustain skill is his ultimate.
- 1 CC. 2 escape spells. Infected Bonesaw and Maximum Dosage. High sustain. Not much damage.

8/10

- 1 CC.
- Her Neurotoxin / Venomous Bite deals pretty high damage. She can poke you a lot in lane with her stupid range but that will take away her mana too. You can trade back with Audacious Charge + Three Talon Strike
- She pretty counters you with her range but once you get close to her, she is dead.
- She will pretty much push the lanes towards your turret. Call your jungler for a gank if that happens.
- She have a very very very small sustain spell with Volatile Spiderling / Skittering Frenzy
- Dodging her stun will let you close the gap between the 2 of you easier.
- 1 CC. No escape spells. Low sustain. High burst.

3/10

- No CC at all!
- You're on par with fiora as for damage. But you have advantaged over her. You have higher damage. She have no escape spells. No CC.
- You can just Audacious Charge + Three Talon Strike her and deal all the damage and she will not be able to do anything.
- She have a very low sustain passive Duelist.
- If you're match up against her, you can change from armor penetration to attack damage.
- No CC. No escape skill. Low sustain. EXTREMELY high damage if fed.

5/10

- 1 CC.
- You have higher damage than him in any point of the game. Audacious Charge + Three Talon Strike him whenever you have the chance.
- Mana hungry.
- He have a sustain skill but if he uses that skill to heal himself, immediate charge in and deal damage.
- Without Remove Scurvy, he's prone to CC.
- 1 CC. 1 escape spell. Moderate sustain. Moderate damage.

7/10

- 2 CC.
- Irelia is a challenging top laner to play against. She have sustain, CC, and nice damage.
- Try to engage when she high slightly higher hp so that her Equilibrium Strike will not be able to stun you.
- When she activates her Hiten Style , back off . You will not want to face her with her additional damage. Charge right back in after it ends.
- You can play aggressive or just farm while playing against Irelia. Your choice.
- 2 CC. 1 escape spell. No sustain. High damage, no burst.

7/10
- 3 CC.
- He have a very high burst with his passive Martial Cadence.
- You can play both aggressively and passively , depending on your likings and where their jungler is.
- Do not take to much poke from Jarvan . Once you're low, he is able to burst you down and you have no escape from his Cataclysm.
- He have no sustain but a Demacian Standard + Dragon Strike and Golden Aegis for escaping death.
- 3 CC. 2 escape skills. No sustain. Moderate burst.

8/10

- 1 CC that dodges your AA damage ( including Three Talon Strike )
- Jax is no doubt one of the best duelist in the game. Master-At-Arms increases his burst a lot so try to kill him before he reaches 6.
- Counter Strike completely nullifies your Three Talon Strike damage.
- If Jax jumps you with his Leap Strike + Counter Strike , wait for Counter Strike to end, then Audacious Charge + Three Talon Strike to trade back the damage.
- If you jump him and tries to Three Talon Strike, I'm pretty sure Jax will just Counter Strike and take no damage. There IS a way you can deal damage to him. Cast Three Talon Strike, hit it twice on minions, then Audacious Charge to him and hit him for the knock up. He will not react fast enough to activate Counter Strike.
- Jax has no sustain unless he rush Hextech Gunblade.
- If you know his skills are on cooldown, combo him. REMEMBER THAT Counter Strike HAVE A VERY LONG COOLDOWN.
- 1 CC. 1 Escape skill. No sustain. High burst.

3/10

- 2 CC.
- I've been match up against Jayce twice and won the lane. Pretty much from clogging the lane.
Even thought Jayce have his Cannon form for Range poke, your Audacious Charge range should be able to reach to him. Dodge his To The Skies! / Shock Blast so you do not take unnecassary poke. To The Skies! / Shock Blast + Thundering Blow / Acceleration Gate sucks A LOT of mana out of Jayce.
- Jayce can Thundering Blow / Acceleration Gate to knock you back when you charge at him with Audacious Charge. If he is in his hammer form, move to melee range then activate Three Talon Strike and hit him. He will knock you back with Thundering Blow / Acceleration Gate you away, then charge back in with Audacious Charge.
- Jayce have no sustain and is very mana hungry. He will use hammer form to get back his mana so jump him when he's in hammer form. Remember his ultimate cooldown too.
- 2 CC. 2 escape spells. No sustain. High poke.

7/10

- 1 CC.
- Intervention is the most annoying spell ever. 2 second immune at Lv 1. She have ranged poke with Reckoning and Righteous Fury and a small sustain with Divine Blessing. If she spams all this skills she will be out of mana very fast.
- You're gonna have to try to kill her as much as possible BEFORE Lv.6. That 2 second immune and actually take away of quite a lot of your damage.
- Once you're both 6, try to not play so aggressive and just farm up your creep score.
- Rush Ninja Tabi if she's AD and Mercury's Treads if AP
- 1 CC. 2 Escape spell. Low sustain. Moderate ~ high burst/ damage.

5/10

- 1 CC.
- *IMPORTANT* Xin Zhao totally destroys Kha' Zix so if he's going mid against your AP mid you can offer to switch roles just to beat the **** outta him.
- Kha'Zix mana cost early in the game is pretty high (before he gets a tear) if he decides to constantly poke you with void spikes
- You beat out Kha'Zix both early and late game in terms of damage and tankiness if built the way I do.
- Using Audacious Charge on him can burn his Leap which sets up for an easy gank for your jungler or waste his mana.
- 1 CC. 1 escape spell. Low sustain. Moderate ~ high burst.

7/10

- 2 CC.
- 1 of the biggest damaging spell in Lee Sin's kit is his Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike, dodging spell itself can totally screw up a Lee Sin. I advice you to never stand stationary while fighting him face to face. Move in between attacks, up or down. This will make it a lot harder for Lee Sin to land Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike. You can also stand amongst your minions so he cannot land his Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike.
- Dragon's Rage is the most painful spell Lee Sin have in his kit. Try to take advantage of this by forcing trades before Lv.6. A simple Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike + Dragon's Rage takes out 6/10 of your HP. Like I said, dodging Sonic Wave / Resonating Strike is very important.
- Lee Sin have a huge substain spell that gives him lifesteal.
- 2 CC. 2 escape spell. High sustain. High damage.

10/10

- 2 CC
- This guy flippin' sh*ts on you. Tanky as heck. Build-in 10% bonus HP as armour. Ranged poke. So much armor and a attack speed debuff.
- Malphite only have 3 spells that actually deals damage. And all 3 of them, Seismic Shard, Ground Slam and Unstoppable Force, cost a lot of mana. Remember that Unstoppable Force has a fairly long cooldown and it's a important spells needed if your opponent wants to win team fight. Some Malphites even use Unstoppable Force to escape death. Force team fights if you know Malphite's Unstoppable Force is on cooldown.
- I strongly recommend you to just try to clog the lane when its pushed against you. Do not waste your mana on damaging him UNLESS he used up all his mana at poking you with Seismic Shard.
- 2 CC. 2 escape spell. No sustain. High burst IF BUILT AP.

1/10

- No CC.
- You completely obliterates this guy. He have no CC, no escape spell except for Highlander which is his damage resource. Your damage is higher than him too.
- Prepare to buy wards as you will want to play aggressively against a Master Yi.
- Audacious Charge + Three Talon Strike him whenever you feel like it. You'll burn his HP pots away at 'round say 3:30 minutes?
- No CC. 1 Escape spell. Low sustain. EXTREMELY High damage ONLY IF FED. (which you can stop him)

6/10

- 1 CC
- *Important* Everyone knows this, never let Nasus free farm top lane. If that happens, his Siphoning Strike can deal up to 400~ 600 damage. You can clog your lane to make him lose all the farm and he won't be effective at all as Siphoning Strike is his only damage resource.
- Wither is a very long and annoying slow spell. Save Audacious Charge till Wither is casted on you.
- When Fury of the Sands is activated, back off and wait it out. He drains your hp for bonus damage.
- He have a very huge substain in lane with Soul Eater, he can camp under the turret and farm when he's low. The next thing you know, his HP is back to almost full.
- 1 CC. 1 escape spell. High sustain. Moderate ~ high damage.

5/10

- No CC.
- Javelin Toss / Takedown deals loads of damage if it's thrown at full range. Always try to dodge Javelin Toss / Takedown.
- If Nidalee decides to auto attack you to poke you, make her regret her decision by immediately charging at her with Audacious Charge.
- *IMPORTANT* Nidalee only gains her escape spell when she reaches Lv.6. If you know you have higher damage output than her Pre-6, take advantage of it.
- Nidalee's mana runs out quickly from Lv. 1~5.
- Has high sustain if built AP with Primal Surge / Swipe
- No CC. 1 escape spell. Low/High sustain. High burst.

3/10

- 1 CC.
- You got higher damage than Nocturne at any point of the game. He have damage but your damage is far higher than his. Audacious Charge + Three Talon Strike and back off after the knock up if you do not want to receive any damage.
- If Nocturne decides to poke you with Duskbringer, he'll run out of mana soon. It does not do so much damage either.
- If you fight him face to face, 1v1, do not fight him on his Duskbringer's dusk trail as it gives Nocturne bonus damage.
- He have no escape spell if he use Unspeakable Horror to fight you and tries to run afterwards.
- He have a moderate sustain skill with his passive Umbra Blades
- 1 CC. 2 escape spells. (Which both are also his damage spells) Moderate sustain. High damage only if fed.

7/10

- 1 CC.
- Olafs' Reckless Swing is basicly what makes him a strong solo top-er (And also Berserker Rage. It deals a lot of TRUE damage. He have a sustain & damage buff with Tough It Out and doesn't cause much mana. The only thing the causes Olaf his mana is the availability of spamming his Undertow after you pick it up.
- Dodge Undertow as much as you can. It might not deal much damage but if it hits you for 3~6 times, it hurts all right.
- You can trade him early game before he starts building super tanky/ armor.
- Ragnarok does not increase his damage output actually. Only armor penetration.
- You can trade him early game to test your damage on him. Immediately back off after knocking him up. If you deals a lot damage, you can go on and play aggressively . If you don't deal much damage, just play passively.
- 1 CC. 2 escape spell. High sustain. High damage.

5/10

- Pantheon's early game poke is very irritating with his Spear Shot but the good thing is that it only takes 3 ~5 Spear Shot and his mana will completely vanish. Try to rush a Ninja Tabi or wait for a forth Health Potion at your fountain before going to lane.
- Hide in the brush when you're not last hitting/ waiting for last hit so he won't be able to harass you with Spear Shot.
- The knock up from Three Talon Strike cancels Heartseeker Strike AND Grand Skyfall.
- Pantheon do not really have any escape spell other than Grand Skyfall (which you can cancel) and Aegis of Zeonia for juking. Now here's the thing, if Pantheon decides to use Aegis of Zeonia on you, he will put himself right next to you for a easy Audacious Charge to catch up to him. So , if a Pantheon is facing Xin Zhao , he basicly have NO escape spells.
- Cancelling Heartseeker Strike drops his damage output by a lot. If Three Talon Strike is on cooldown, do not stand right infront of him to take a full on Heartseeker Strike.
- *IMPORTANT* If you're both at low health, YOU MUST BACK OFF. Heartseeker Strike allows him to 100% crit on auto attacks or spells if the target is below 15% hp. Do not risk it, recall , heal up then get back to lane.
- 1 CC. No/2 escape spells. No sustain. Moderate ~ high damage.

7/10

- 1 CC.
- Poppy is very annoying to lane against as well. Paragon of Demacia gives her so much bonus armor that it kind of reduce Three Talon Strikes' damage by 50% AND she have a ridiculous passive Valiant Fighter reduces physical/ magic damage dealt to her by 50% if it exceeds 10% of her current health.
- You can trade with her at Lv.3 to see your damage output compared to hers, then decide if you want to play aggressive or to farm passively. Early game you don't really deal much damage to her, it's really just poke. Literally.
- Xin Zhao outscales Poppy in item so if possible, trade kills or kill her by calling for a jungle gank.
- Do not stand near structures/ walls as Heroic Charge stuns you if you're knocked towards a structure/ walls.
- Wait out Diplomatic Immunity if it's casted on you. Any damage dealt by Poppy on that target will receive extra % damage.
- 1 CC. No escape spells. No sustain. High burst (AP) Moderate ~ high damage (AD)

8/10

- 1 CC.
- Renekton does the same amount of damage as you do. But he have an advantage over you. He can simply Ruthless Predator you when you Audacious Charge to him and you're stunned. And when you're stunned he can Cull the Meek you to deal extra damage, and then Slice and Dice away to receive no damage from you.
- Call for jungler ganks if he is playing very aggressively.
- Try to clog the lane or farm as much as possible.
- Renekton also have high sustain with Cull the Meek.
- *IMPORTANT* Try to not fight him when the bar below his HP bar is red. A fury enhanced Ruthless Predator pretty much deal up to 200~350 damage.
- 1 CC. 1 escape spell. High sustain. High burst.

7/10

- 2 CC.
- *IMPORTANT* Do not fight Rengar when he have 5 ferocity stacks. A ferocity enhanced Savagery + Savagery takes away half of your hp bar immediately.
- Stay away from the brushes . Unseen Predator allows him to leap out of the brush and put him to melee range.
- If he gets Savagery on you, do not let him get away unharmed. Audacious Charge + Three Talon Strike to return the damage dealt.
- Rengar can only choose 1 out of this 3 when he have 5 ferocity stacks. Damage, sustain or escape/chase from/down a enemy.
- Battle Roar have a fairly long cooldown.
- Counter Rengars' ultimate Thrill of the Hunt by getting a Oracle's Elixir as most Rengar use it to turn a low HP fight around or use it to escape.
- 2 CC. 2 escape spell. Moderate ~ high sustain. High burst.

8/10

- 1 CC.
- Riven is very much similar to Xin Zhao but better. Riven have Ki Burst for a STUN. Valor for a shield. Broken Wings + Runic Blade actually deals more damage than Three Talon Strike so I'd advice you to play very safely against Riven in lane. Rush Ninja Tabi and wait for a fourth Health Potion at your fountain before going to lane.
- Most Riven players use Ki Burst after they land 3 Broken Wings. If that's the case, good for you because you can return the damage by using Audacious Charge and Three Talon Strike.
- Wait out Blade of the Exile if you decide to fight her head on.
- Play passively and call for jungle ganks if she is overextended.
- 1 CC. 2 escape spells (Also her damage spells). No sustain. High damage.

5/10

- 1 CC.
- Rumble is a champion that is able to harass you early game with ease. A simple Flamespitter + Scrap Shield + Electro-Harpoon takes away 3~4/10 of your hp bar.
- Simply wait out Scrap Shield then jump him with Audacious Charge + Three Talon Strike .
- Stand amongst your minions so Electro-Harpoon doesn't hit you.
- *Lv6 fights* Once you reach 6, you pretty much wins all the trades. When Rumble uses The Equalizer, just walk out of the fiery trail and you will not receive the damage over time.
- Walk zig-zag to dodge Electro-Harpoon while getting chase down.
- Scrap Shield only gives a movement speed buff for 1 second, so it's not a reliable escape spell.
- 1 CC. No reliable escape spell. No sustain. High poke.

4/10

- 1 CC.
- Your damage is higher than Shyvana at any point of the game. Shyvanas will most likely be building tanky/ stacking armor so try to kill her before she reaches that point.
- She have no CC other than her ultimate [[dragon's descent]
- Farm and harass her to zone her out.
- Try not to fight her when Burnout is active.
- If Shyvana tries to fight you, make her regret the decision and show her who have more damage.
- Dodge Flame Breath to not take unnecessary poke and if you gets hit by it, wait for the debuff to finish before trying to fight Shyvana
- 1 CC. 1 escape spell. No substain. Moderate burst.

7/10

- 1 CC.
- Shen is naturally very tanky and has sustain Vorpal Blade to heal back the damages dealt to him and your damage to him are like ant bites. Trade with him from time to time to wear him down and if you decide to go for the kill be sure Ignite is up.
- You can safe your team mates from a Shen gank if he decides to use Stand United in lane. Just walk to him and Crescent Sweep, the knock back will cancel his ultimate. If you're too far away, use the knock up from Three Talon Strike + Audacious Charge to stop his ultimate.
- Rush a The Brutalizer if you want to kill Shen or deal reasonable damage.
- *IMPORTANT* ALWAYS dodge his Shadow Dash as that 1 taunt can allow the jungler to jump on you which leads you to a death.
- 1 CC. 1 escape spell. Moderate sustain. Low ~ Moderate damage.

5/10

- 2 CC.
- Xin Zhao is one of the champions that can actually deal damage to Singed in lane and get away quite safely. Establish your role as a bully in lane against Singed.
- Rush Mercury's Treads and The Brutalizer and he will be scared of you in lane.
- NEVER CHASE SINGED. Common sense !!! If you want to kill him, wear him down, then go for the kill. Similar to Shen
- Do not go near Singed when he's in turret range, a well timed Fling can toss you into the turret range and it will hurt.
- Do not fight Singed when Insanity Potion is on, it increase all his combat stats. Speed, HP regen, MP regen, bonus AP , etc.
- 2 CC. 2 escape spell. No sustain. High damage.

3/10
- 1 CC.
- Sion doesn't have to build tanky to be tanky. Enrage gives him BONUS ad at the cost of his own health per attack and every unit he kills with Enrage active, he permanently gains bonus HP
- Do not fight him when death caress's shield is up. Don't even get close. I know, he will stun you and get close to you, so hide in the brush so he cannot cast Cryptic Gaze at you.
- What makes Sion scary is his ultimate, Cannibalism. This skills make him gain a insane amount of lifesteal and attack speed which makes him "immortal" for 20 seconds in 1v1 fights. There will be little skulls floating out of Sion's head when activated, so back off and wait out the effect. However, if you have ignite, you can choose to stay and fight him.
- Try to kill him as much as possible before Lv.6.
- 1 CC. 1 escape spell. High sustain (Only at Lv.6). High damage if AD, High burst if AP.

3/10

- 2 CC.
- You'll have a easy time facing Swain as you can dodge Nevermove easily. Here's how. Never stay close to Swain and farm minions away from him. Once he casts Nevermove from far away, instead of running, Audacious Charge to him, that will dodge the snare. Some of you might ask, "What if he comes right next to me?" Then he's a stupid Swain cause you will destroy him.
- Make sure to have ignite on Swain when he use Ravenous Flock if you're going for a kill.
- Swain have nice damage but your damage is nothing to be messed with either.
- 2 CC. 2 escape spell. High substain. (Only at Lv.6). High burst.
1/10

- No CC.
- Similar to Master Yi but even easier as Talon have no sustain at all. You'll stomp through talon. Talon is a champion that is bursty and is required to be fed to be effective. You damage is higher than Talon which completely screws him up.
- If Talon decides to jump you with Cutthroat , make him regret that decision by charging at him with Audacious Charge and Three Talon Strike.
- Snowball the lane right after you gain an advantage.
- Here's how you can make him completely useless / force him out of lane. You play VERY aggressively and kill him again and again or you can clog the lane.
- Get ready to ward as he will be constantly calling for jungle ganks.
- Get Oracle's Elixir to close the exit door for Talon at Lv.6.
- No CC. 1 escape spell. No sustain. High burst ONLY IF FED.

3/10

- 1 CC.
- Blinding Dart is the ONLY skill Teemo have to stop you from running over that Yordle. Wait out the Blind and he is so dead. Do not get baited into his mushrooms inside bushes.
- Teemo's Blinding Dart range is 'round the same as Audacious Charge so if he decides to harass you with Blinding Dart, make him die. hohoho.
- Get Oracle's Elixir or Vision Ward and Teemo will be crying.
- Avoid going into bushes if you don't have Oracle's Elixir or Vision Ward after Teemo reaches Lv. 6.
- Rush Mercury's Treads to take minimum damage from against both AP or AD Teemo. Reason? Blinding Dart , Toxic Shot and Noxious Trap are all AP. If you're facing a AD, your damage is obviously higher by x10. It's like making things even, just take it as removing those 3 skills from Teemo. So Mercury's tread over Ninja Tabi.
- 1 CC. 2 escape spell. No sustain. High burst if AP, moderate damage if AD.

4/10

- 1 CC.
- Tryndamere is required to be fed to be effective, your damage early game is lot higher than Tryndamere with Three Talon Strike and Tryndamere without Undying Rage is pretty much useless so try to kill him as much as possible before Lv. 6.
- Rush Ninja Tabi is SOMEHOW you are having trouble.
- Do not fight him when Mocking Shout's AD debuff is on you. If you are getting chased down, face towards Tryndamere when he uses Mocking Shout so there will be no slows on you.
- Zone him out as much as possible to gain level advantages and he will not be able to last hit minions to sustain in lane with Bloodlust.
- The only escape spell Tryndamere have is Spinning splash which is also his gap closer spell. If he use that skill to get close to you just to trade, he will not any spell to use for escaping.
- 1 CC. 1 escape spell. (Damaging spell also) Moderate ~ high sustain. High damage ONLY IF FED.

5/10
- 1 CC.
- Udyrs usually build tanky so try to kill him before he reach that point. If you somehow face a dps Udyr then be happy because your damage output will be higher than his which means you will trash him in lane.
- Rush The Brutalizer if you're up against tanky Udyr and playing tanky. Rush Avarice Blade if you're playing passively.
- Be cautious of jungle ganks as Udyr can easily set up a gank with Blazing Stampede's stun and speed boost.
- Try not to get hit when Udyr activate Wilding Claw as it grants him bonus damage and attack speed for the next 2 seconds.
- 1 CC. 1 escape spell. No sustain. Moderate ~ high damage.

4/10
- Both Transfusion and Tides of Blood place Vladimir in Audacious Charges' range so you can trade back the damage he dealt to you.
- Never let Vladimir have time to heal back his hp in lane with Transfusion.
- To me, Sanguine Pool is not a really reliable escape spell, champions with gap closer spells just like Xin Zhao can easily catch up to Vladimir.
- Rush Mercury's Treads to take minimum damage from Vladimir.
- Vladimir is a big threat in team fights so always try to keep him occupied. If you're pushing the lane and he still decide to stay on other lanes, you can either choose to help out your team, or push it till their base.
- 1 CC. 1 escape spell. High sustain. High burst.

6/10
- 2 CC
- Bring Ignite if you are going up against a Volibear to negate his The Relentless Storm
- Try to call for jungle ganks to set him back because if not, you can't really trade with him due to his tankiness and sustain. Volibear can easily set up ganks too so buy some wards.
- If somehow, you can actually hurt volibear, then go ahead and exchange with him. The only damage spell he have is Frenzy .
- You can also waste his The Relentless Storm by getting him low and then backing off.
- 2 CC. 1 escape spell. Moderate sustain. Average damage.

3/10
- 1 CC
- You can switch to Exhaust if you think his lifesteal will not affect you as much as his auto attacks will.
- Try not to push your lane if you are going to play aggressively. If the minions are pushed up towards his turret, he can just heal up really quickly with his passive and Q.
- Warwick's mana pool is really tiny so you can play aggressively to burn his mana on using Qs.
- Warwick can easily set up a gank for his jungler with Infinite Duress and prevent tower dives with the same spell so plan wisely before deciding to tower dive him or not.
- If you are really low on health, immediately back off. Don't stay to take some CS if you know Warwick is on his way back to lane because Blood Scent gives him a speed boost and reveals your location so he can hunt you down.
- 1 CC. No escape spells. High sustain. Moderate damage.

3/10
- 1 CC


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Closing

I hope you guys enjoyed this guide and I really wish this guide helped you guys improve in your xin plays. Xin zhao is one of my main and I'd hope that you guys do well in him. :) Do +1 this guide if you find it useful and do comment and tell me why you're unhappy with any part of the guide. DEMACIA!
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