Counter Xerath: How To Counter Pick Xerath

Xerath is an Ascended Magus of ancient Shurima, a being of arcane energy with a large range and burst potential. He is mainly played mid lane. In this article, we discuss how to effectively counter Xerath.

Best Xerath Counter Picks

  • Ahri
  • Zed
  • Syndra
  • Gragas
  • Fizz
  • Kassadin

Ahri

Stagger your ultimate charges in duels to make the most out of their dodge potential against Xerath as he has a 4 skill shot kit. His stunning orb is by far the most important to dodge.

Charming Xerath when he ults will interrupt it and put it on cooldown(only half cooldown if he didn’t fire any bolts).

Syndra

Xerath’s Arcanopulse (Q) slows him [and roots him when he finally fires], almost guaranteeing you to hit. Your main harassment spell, Dark Sphere, on the other hand, has no casting time. With adequate dodging skills, it, therefore, is easy to out trade him.

Xerath’s early mana costs are murderous. He’ll need to use his passive (i.e. hitting a minion or you with an AA) to refill his mana. Try to zone him as he will quickly go oom, and punish any tries to trigger his passive.

Tips For Playing Against Xerath

  • Champions that have great gap closing abilities are strong against the long-range Xerath.
  • Buying a Banshee’s Veil does extremely well against a Xerath.
  • Shocking Orb’s stun duration increases with distance traveled. Since the ability is his only form of hard CC, trading in close proximity to him keeps him from using it to its full potential.
  • You can easily avoid is ‘Q’ because he holds a ball above his head before casting. Watch for this. His ‘R’ can be avoided easiest by building good movement speed and/or by using a barrier.
  • Xerath is heavily reliant on range. If you can successfully dodge his full combo and then go in for a gap closer/CC, the kill is basically yours. Watch out for his stun. (Knocking him up would be the best CC choice.)

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