Hey guys, I am H0MICIDAL_CAMEL, and this is my guide for season 7 Xerath. I got to gold IV last season, out of the 750ish total games that i have played on summoners rift, over 350 of them are with Xerath. He is my favorite champion, even though he has some hard counters. Of those games with Xerath around 150 of them are ranked. I think that Xerath has such a low play rate because all of his abilities are skill shots and they take time and experience to hit. His play rate is less than 3% right now,probably because of the assassin update and the new Lux skin. But i hope that more people play him because he is a really fun champion once you learn how to use him.

If I have more time i plan on magic a specific build for each type of matchup, like heavy Armor or Magic resist build, but for now, the commom build, i hope you all enhoy.
Below are the last few ranked games that i have played

Pros:
-Super high poke
-Great damage late game
-Strong early game
-Best wave clear
-Almost global ult
-Stun and a slow
Cons:
-Very squishy
-No escape except stun
-Very skill shot reliant
-Single target stun
-Ultimate can be very hard to hit

Farming:

(Q) -> (W) ->(AA) -> (Q)
Early game, Xerath is very mana hungry even with his passive. Only use q to farm when it will kill minions. Focus on auto attacking until your first back.

Poke:

(W) ->(Q)
For most champion, you need to slow them with your w before you can hit your q. It is much easier when they are slowed and your w is a lot easier to hit than your q.

Escape:

(E) -> (W) -> (Q)
If you are being chased, stun them, slow then, then your your q, your w and q should hit at the same time since there is a small delay with your w.

Full combo:

(E) -> (Q) -> (W) -> (Q) -> make sure you are safe -> (R)

Mana surge:

Mana surge is the super helpful but frustrating passive that can keep Xerath in lane. Every 12 seconds, your auto attack restores mana. The amount of mana is increased if you auto attack a champion. But don't always auto a champion, it can be dangerous, only if they are retreating or their abilities are on cool down.

Arcanopulse:

Cost: 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 / 120 Mana
Range: 750 - 1400
Width: 145
Cooldown: 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5
This is your poking tool, you charge it for up to 3 seconds, during this time, the range is increased, but the damage stays the same, so if they are close, end it early. The charging also slows you more and more, so if they are getting close, or close to out of range, quickly end it to get the damage off and your speed back. If they do get out of range and no other enemies are nearby, don't activate it a second time, half of your mana will be refunded. With blue buff and full build, you can use this every 3 seconds.

Eye of Destruction:

Cost: 70 / 80 / 90 / 100 / 110 Mana
Range: 1100
Width: 200
Cooldown: 14 / 13 / 12 / 11 / 10
This is what makes your other skill shots easier to hit, it has a slightly smaller range than your Arcanopulse, pretty much the same range as your stun. Don't use this for farm as much as it has a higher cooldown than your q. This ability can also be used to help your team and stop someone from escaping.

Shocking orb:

Cost: 60 / 65 / 70 / 75 / 80 Mana
Range: 1050
Width: 60
Speed: 2300
Cooldown: 13 / 12.5 / 12 / 11.5 / 11
This is your only true escape tool. Don't waste it on farm or jumped into using it, it can help stop ganks, stop enemies in team fights from going to your back line, and great for a combo. It doeskin do very much damage, so act like it is a pure stun when using it.

Rite of the Arcane:

Cost: 100 Mana
Range: 3520 / 4840 / 6160
Width: 200
Cooldown: 130 / 115 / 100
This is the best part of Xerath, you can do a lot with this ability. You can use it after a team fight to pick of any stragglers. You can safely gank from your jungle to either top or bot. You can stop an enemy from escaping to let your team catch them.(This is very useful if they are fast, putting it a little far ahead of them will make them choose to keep running and hit it, or turn around to die from your team.) The best thing about his low play rate is that people still do not know that his level 3 ult no gets 5 shots instead of three, use this to your advantage. Also at level 3, you can almost hit anywhere on the map. You can steal baron or dragon, or even save turrets by focusing minions during early levels.

Doran's ring

Best start for Xerath, i dont really like to get The dark seal, since it is a very risky move, it can pay off, but 1 death can really screw over your ap.

Tear of the Goddess

O prefer this over lost chapter in most cases. It doesn't offer the initial AP boost, but the 15% refund keeps you in lane for a lot longer. Also, the completed item offers more AP than

Sorcerer's Shoes

Basic mage shoes, nothing really to say here, more movement, more magic penn.

Archangel's Staff

I really like this item, especially when it turns into , since by itself it gives 110 AP a ton of mana, and a shield to help with any bursts.

morellonomicon

This item works really well with since it gives mana. With these two items you should not have any mana issues.

Void Staff

A very underrated item since it only gives 80 AP. The big thing with this is the percent magic penn. This item really helps with tanks and bruisers, getting it early helps more than other items because of the base magic resist that every champion has.

Banshee's Veil

Usually isn't necessary with Xerath as he sit back, but can help if there is an eve or fizz jg

Abyssal Mask

Changed from Abyssal scepter, not useful on mages anymore, they just switched passive with Banshee's veil.

Rabadon's Deathcap

Deathcap is standard with any mage, great 3rd or 4th item.

Liandry's Torment/Rylai's Crystal Scepter

and
I really like this combo, even with rylai's nerf, i still like to build it. They together offer AP, health, magic penn, slow, and a burn.

Luden's Echo

This can also be a great item with teamfights, gets just a little extra damage out there, but i prefer other items over this one.

Zhonya's Hourglass

This can be a lifesaver if facing someone like zed or talon, but in most cases i don't build this item.

Lich Bane

not a good item on Xerath, you shouldn't really be close enough to be auto attacking people.

Athene's Unholy Grail

Since you dont have a shield or heal, this item is useless on Xerath, I only got it before they did the mage update, and at that point it offered more ap, magic resist, cdr, and a lot of mana regen. But since then, it does not work with Xerath.

So these are just inital thoughts on what to take with Xerath, I should be updating this more

Sorcery

Arcane comet vs Summon Aery
I still have more testing to do, but with the games that i played, it seems like does more damage overall, even though there is a longer cooldown.

I think this item goes great with Xerath, his abilities use a lot of mana, early game this is great, not the most useful late game once you get morellonomicon and/or Archangel's Staff

I mean, what can go wrong with more cdr, don't really focus on the second part of this about transforming extra cdr to ap, it is so little it doesn't really mater

I am guess this will be standard for any mage or damage dealer, more ap with time, Xerath does really have an issue with falling off, and with this, you can be even stronger late game.
Inspiration


Again, i really like cdr on Xerath, it really lets him get a lot of damage out, and this is cdr all around


You gotta love biscuits, they made them stronger than last season, restoring 15% of health and mana, but this time they are free, you can now buy a control ward instead of health pots and then get them in lane.

When I get better clips I will add them to here, I have been trying other champs lately and had little to work with, hope it helps. Note, this damage only happens when you are feed, normally enemies will buy mr for you and it takes a lot more to poke them down


Know your ranges:
Play Video
This is one of my favorite clips that i have, but learning from it, when you have cool-downs, don't be afraid to auto attack, it can save you.

Hitting ult:
Below are videos showing some ways to hit your enemies who are trying to dodge your ult. It takes a lot of practice hitting consistently, hopfully ths helps Play Video This is where bursting your ult can really help. If they are juking you, quickly firing your ult right after where they have to juke will almost always hit or get a flash/dash. Play Video This shows how some people will try to dodge, I didn't lead ahri enough but she attempted to dodge and ran into it.

Other ways to use ult:
You don't have to just use your ult to get the kill from far away, it can be useful by zoning to let someone else get the kill, damaging a group of enemies, or during especially if your allies have some sort of cc.

Zoning ult:
Play Video I may have gotten the kill, but it was because one of my ults was a zone ult that morg was killed. I lead enough that she had to turn around or run into it, which helped lee get closer.

Team ults:
Play Video Play Video
Above are 2 examples of using your aoe to your advantage, use choke pokes to group enemies and deal a ton of damage to everyone, even if you don't get a kill, your team should come in and finish them off because they are so low.

December 21st, 2016-Guide created
March 7th, 2017-Changed some errors in champion guide
June 21, 2017-Added video help, changed Abyssal Scepter/Mask, Added Banshee's veil to item
August 23, 2017 Fixed video clips, they should now be working.
November 8, 2017, updated runes to season 8