Since Xerath just had a rework done, i decided to make a build about him after playing him sometimes
The visual effects of Xerath's skills may seem similar, but they don't really have much in common
In my personal opinion, this rework is a boost, a radical change from that static champion who needed to stand still in order to shoot better (disadvantage in teamfights)
That said, let's begin with the guide, i will update it regularly if you like it
English is not my native language so i apologize for any grammar or spelling errors, and would appreciate if you help me to correct them :)
Leave your comments and opinions, so i can make this guide better and better


NOTE: This champion is new, so expect the build to change as i play more games with xerath (Rylai's and Lyandri's may change, depending on how well i think they work with xerath)
This build will be updated regularly
Meanwhile i will publish it, and will add more things until it's completed
If you have any doubt feel free to PM me or leave a comment

Pros:
- Has everything a good champion needs (stun, slow, damage, AoE)
- Arcanopulse works like varus' arrow, allowing you to control the lenght and time of your attack
- Mana Surge alongside the unholy grail will help you to keep in lane and recover mana, allowing you to spam your abilities
- A well landed Shocking Orb allows you to land Arcanopulse, and then follow with Eye of Destruction, to finish him with your ultimate
- Rite of the Arcane has an extremely large area of casting, and even if you miss one 2 of them deal enough damage to finish the enemy Midlane
Cons:
- Eye of Destruction is quite useless if you don't land it exactly in the middle of the spell
- Rite of the Arcane forces you to stay still, or it will be canceled
- Against some enemies, landing your pasive on them may cost you a lot of life
- No escape mechanism

Since your first item is one that gives you MR, the armor runes will help you against AD enemies. Anyway if your mid enemy is AD, you should get Seeker's Armguard
The scaling AP will increase your damage in the late game, and the greater quintessences will give you some AP to start with

In this part i will explain why i build each item and how they work

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: These boots will give you movement speed (obviously) and some early magic penetration, which in any case is useful against every champion
: This item gives you many useful atributes. It will reduce the damage you take from mages, and add some damage. The main reason i choose this is because of the Magic resistance and the magic regeneration, as well as the cooldown (adding blue buff, will grant you the maximum amount of cooldown you could get)
: This is a must-have for every Ap carry. It gives you a high amount of ability power, and passively increases your total AP (does not stack with other rabadon's). This item will give you a huge increase in damage as soon as you get it, that's why i like to get it second, so i can get some kills.
At this point, you will have many sources of mana, and with the damage you will be able to harass your opponent without running low on mana

The order you will get the next two items depends of your oponent: Agains zed, the hourglass should be bought even before the rabadon's, so you will get hourglass when you are against a burst damage hero, whose damage can be denied by using this. Also you may want to get it in case you are wining the lane and are confident you will be able to get more easy kills
Rylai's is reccomended when your enemy keeps trying to escape, or if you want more health to avoid dying
: This item will give you some extra health and damage, and also all your skills will slow your enemies, perfect to chase them until dead, and also works together with Liandry's Torment. During teamfights, Arcanopulse will hit and slow an enemy if you use this item, allowing your team to engage or to land some skillshots
: This item will give you some armor, which is useful if you are against an ad mid, or just to last longer in teamfights. I like this item because of the high amounts of AP it gives, as well as it's ability; it makes you invulnerable for some seconds (you can't attack either, but this blocks many ultimates and skillshots)
: This is an anti-tank item. It gives you some ability power, but the real strenght is on the magic penetration it gives, as well as the %of enemy hp it deals whenever you hit an enemy with a spell (this because you have Rylai's already). Keep poking with this item to remove a lot of hp from the tanks
: Since Lyandri's works based on a percentage of HP, if the enemy team has only one tank champion, i reccomend to use this item instead. The bonus of magic penetration will help you to deal more damage on all enemies, it's not so anti-tank but a more general item

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This is your passive skill. Whenever you attack a minion, you will get a determined amount of mana (increases with level); if you attack a champion, the amount of restored mana is doubled.
You should use this skill to recover mana after landing a skill on an enemy, use it as soon as it's available so you can use it again sooner (this skill has a cooldown). For example, you can use your Eye of Destruction on blue golem and then land a basic hit, helping the jungle to begin faster, and you wouldn't lose mana This is your main source of damage. I play with smart cast so i don't know how it's used without smartcast, i think you have to press once to increase the range, and then again to release the attack (with smartcast just hold to increase range and release to attack). This spell increases it's range, but not it's damage, so if you are fighting against a melee enemy dont waste time increasing the range, just attack him fast. Use this skill to harass your oponent and to farm This skill is an AoE (area of effect). However, it is only efficent when you land it just in the center. In the spell hits an enemy in the limits, the slow is insignificant and the damage is less. Instead, if you hit just the center of the skill you can slow an enemy up to 80% and deal much more damage. I use this skill to slow the enemy and then land another skill ( Arcanopulse or Shocking Orb). It can also be used to farm, if you use it after Arcanopulse This skill is maxed at last because the best of it is the stun, and it doesn't change when you level it up. This skill increases the stun duration as it travels further, so try to learn the range and aim it at the limit, and then follow with Eye of Destruction and Arcanopulse. When he runs, you may land a fully charged Arcanopulse or your Rite of the Arcane This is your ultimate skill. To use it properly you must be far from your objective, for example when he runs or if you are well positioned during a teamfight. It's important to remember that this skill reveals the area it hits, so if an enemy runs try and aim (even if you can't see it) because if you land it near him you will be able to know his position, and therefor land the next attack. This skill has 3 missiles, all of them work as a small AoE
Another possible use of this skill is the tri-R combi, landing three missiles on an enemy in a rapid succession (try to do this after stunning the enemy)

If you want to flash and chase your enemy, it's better to land your W first, it will make it easier to hit him with your E, and finish him with your Q

: I use this spell because of two reasons; it will help you to secure some kills, and it will be used as counter to a lifesteal dependant champion (such as warwick or aatrox, or an enemy carry)
: This spell can be used both as offensive or defensive. Use it to chase and kill an escaping enemy, or flash away through walls
: I don't recomend this spell, but if you feel confident of your E-landing skills, you can use this to gank bot and give them a kill (or get one, or two)
: I recomend this spell as third option, if you are playing against a champion with a dive (zed, akali, etc) or a burst champion (leblanc, fizz)

Since this champion is completely reworked, i will need to play more games in order to make an accurate guide of how to beat the enemies, but i will keep updating this guide

: I consider ziggs to be an easy enemy while using xerath. He is very squishy, so you shouldn't have problem defeating him. All you need to do is dodge his Bouncing Bomb by moving to a side or taking cover using your minions. Since your range is much larger and he is a pusher, you can hide behind your minions and hit him with Arcanopulse, and landing a full combo of your three skills will usually leave him weak enough to be finished with your ultimate
: I consider Fizz to be my personal counterpick, it's hard for me to play against a good fizz. This enemy is particularly difficult because all of Xerath's skills are skillshots, which makes them harder to land, and fizz can dodge them by jumping with Playful / Trickster or by moving to a minion (or attacking you) with Urchin Strike. If he uses Urchin Strike and you miss your Shocking Orb, there's not much you can do; you ran out of heavy cc and he may dodge your next attack
The key against fizz is to keep harassing him, so he uses his Playful / Trickster and loses one dodge mechanism. Remember to always keep an eye on him and ward the surroundings, Bot lane is an easy kill for fizz.
: This is another hard matchup because of her movility. Her ultimate skill allows her to dodge 3 of your attacks (and since your AoE is not very big, she surely will), plus if you get caught by her Charm she will be able to land a full combo on you and damage you severly, at this point you can either flash away or try to hit her with your Eye of Destruction, but if you miss your Eye of Destruction you may find yourself dead. Trying to stun her is also possible, and if she's too close to you this is the best option.
To defeat her you may have to continously attack her, and use your ultimate before engaging, even if you risk to lose a kill
: A good zed will be able to dodge most of your skills if he wants to, and becomes extremely dangerous on lvl 6. AS always, try to damage him so he becomes afraid of using his ultimate on you, and if he does, retreat as close to your turret as you can (or flash under it). Once he appears, try to hit him with Shocking Orb, which will stun him briefly and will allow you to run or try to kill him. Remember that his ultimate deals damage a few seconds after it's activated, so you must try to avoid as much damage as possible, or if you feel more comfortable pick Barrier as spell
: Kayle is a pain in the *** in early game, his slow allows him to deal massive amounts of damage against you. At the beggining ask for an early gank from the jungle, and later he won't be a threat to you: if he gets closer, stun him and damage him. Just remember NEVER DIVE KAYLE since he can become invulnerable, try to save your stun for last and kill him while he's stunned

If you are an old player, think of xerath as lux. During teamfights you must (and you are able to) stay behind your team and damage the enemy from safety. You should be able to do this by charging your Arcanopulse to the maximum range. If the teamfight begins, you can get closer (always keeping an eye on enemi assasins or divers) and use the rest of your skills, but try to save your Shocking Orb for important targets such as the enemy carry, enemy mid, or any champion who is trying to kill you (Xin zhao for example). I recomend to either use Rite of the Arcane at the beggining or at the end of a teamfight. Since you can't move and cast it, using it during the teamfight may force you to cancel it. If you use it at the beggining you can aim for the enemy carry and drop him low on health, so your team can initiate with advantage. The other option is to save it in case you win the teamfight and someone tries to escape. I reccomend the first situation if you are losing, and the second if you are wining.
In some cases, you may find yourself with all the skills on cooldown during a teamfight, so if you are well positioned you can risk and use your ultimate there

A good guide can become an awesome epic incredible guide if we do it together, so any advices, questions, ideas you have, leave a comment so i can keep updating this guide and know if you like it, or so i can get some ideas to make it better. Most of all i would appreciate some extra tips in the Matchup section, in case i forget to add something
I would appreciate if you leave your vote
Hope you enjoyed this guide :)

This is my first ranked with Xerath. He can carry, all you gotta do is Poke them hard (from safety you can even reach their adc) and ultimate them when they escape, or if you want a fast kill against an static enemy (melee champion attacking)
The other team wasn't really good and i'm not in the high leagues, but it's something to show you this build works
Is on spanish (still don't change the language in my pc) but you can check the numers, and spanish speakers can read it