Xerath is a high skill and low mobility champion that is extremely squishy - good positioning and the ability to land your skillshots plays a big part to whether you win your lane.

It is a champion that should only be picked in very specific situations in Ranked depending on the enemy's team composition (or only if you want to have fun in Normal games). The following is a non-exhaustive list of champions that pose a great threat to you in teamfights and hence should deter you from picking Xerath in Ranked champ select. The list is non-exhaustive.

Assassins that are also highly mobile like Khazix, Zed, Katarina, Kayn, Talon, Akali, Naafari all pose a great threat to Xerath.

Strong engage junglers like Hecarim, Amumu, Jarvan, Nocturne, Rammus

Strong engage supports especially those with hooks and point-and-click stuns like pantheon, pyke, nautilus, leona.

High mobility champions like Ahri, Camille, Kalista, Quinn, Zeri

And of course not to mention all fighters that successfully flanks you.

Special mentions to:

1. Nocturne - not only can he ult Xerath and spell shield his stun, he can also turn off Xerath's vision with his ulti
2. Zilean - who can turn any of his allies to high mobility champions, and can also catch Xerath very easily with his slow.

As you can see, playing a long range artillery skillshot champion is hard especially when there are so many high mobility champions in League. However, landing Xerath skillshots provides a unique level of satisfaction and dopamine that makes him very fun to play.

Many players might already be aware of the important of hitting level 2 first in lane - if you and your ADC kills the first 3 melee minions of the 2nd wave first, both of you will hit level 2 before the enemy bot lane. This short window allows you to take advantage of your higher stats and additional skill to all-in the enemy bot lane.

However, most players view Xerath as a poke champion and will be complacent about an all-in from Xerath at level 2.

If you are about to hit level 2 first, walk up to the enemy ADC, and once you hit level 2, add a skill point to your E (stun) and proceed to exhaust him. This does 2 things:
1. It signals to your ADC that you are about to all-in
2. It allows you to land your skillshots easier. Start with your W.

Don't be hasty with you E stun. After you land your W, just weave in auto-attacks while walking towards the enemy ADC until it becomes impossible for him to dodge your stun. If you can land your stun, your ADC should easily be able to follow-up and get first blood.

You should be able to weave in 2-3 auto-attacks throughout this all-in. Most players underestimate the damage of auto-attacks especially when its coming from a Xerath.

Against hook champs like Nautilus, Blitz, Thresh:
- Stay behind minions - winning level 2 priority is important to ensure you have more minions on your side. If your minion wave is clearing up, play safe and signal your ADC to do the same.
- Nautilus has a shield that can block your damage, so poke the enemy ADC instead.
- Buy early boots for dodging hooks


Against Pyke:
- Ban him if possible. Pyke's skill combos like E-flash and his hook allows him to easily engage on you and it is very difficult to punish him due to his high mobility.
- He can also heal up from your poke.
- His threat typically causes Xerath players to play hyper passively, hence providing a lot of room for his ADC to push the lane. A Xerath being pushed in is not very useful.

Against Bard:
- Levels 1 to 5 should be relatively easy.
- Ward the jungles and keep good track of where the enemy jungler is. Be wary of Bard's portal that can help with ganks.
- After hitting level 6, position yourself away from your ADC so that Bard's ulti will not hit you both.
- In the event if Bard ulti's you instead of your ADC while your flash is down, take one for your ADC and dish as much damage as you can before going down.

Against all-in engage champions like Leona, Alistar, Galio:
- Stay out of range of their combo (Leona EQ, Alistar WQ, Galio EW) at all times.
- Buy early boots will help
- Ward the bottom bushes if they try to hide in them. Try to react their flash combo with your flash - taking cleanse is also an option but I prefer taking exhaust to exhaust the enemy ADC in the event I get caught so that my ADC could try to trade kills.

Against Soraka:
- I like to buy oblivion orb as the first item against Soraka.
- Soraka does not pose a big threat, and hence you could buy boots later (depending on who the enemy jungler is of course)

Against Nami, Lulu, Seraphine, Janna:
- I like to buy morellonomicon as the second item after Luden's
- Similar to Soraka, you could buy boots later

Against poke champions like Lux, Velkoz:
- Getting level 2 priority is important for you to win the poke war
- If possible, all-in at level 2 while they are still level 1
- Getting early boots to dodge skillshots is good
- Against Lux - your W lands faster than her W. Her only threat is rooting you with her Q
- Against Velkox - its a competition for who can land their skillshots and who can dodge better. His E stun is easier to land than your E stun, so keep your distance.

Any wards that helps to track your enemy jungler is good. If possible, try to get an early ward inside the enemy jungle before minions spawn so you and your team has a good idea where the jungler starts. Good wards to put in the enemy jungle are highlighted as priority wards (in green) in the following images.

If the jungle is anywhere remotely close to the bottom lane, you should aim to play safe and not get engaged on.

Blue Side wards
Red Side wards