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Does Xerath feel hard to deal with / Oppressive? Or is it just me?

SOLOQSUPERHERO·2/14/2017, 4:26:11 PM·4 votes·2,250 views

I will preface this with I am not the best at dodging skillshots, but Xerath has always felt oppressive to me and i don't think it just is my meh ability to dodge his skills.

Huge long range poke, better mana sustain than most mages of a similar class, large amounts of damage (everyone of his skills has huge amounts of damage), very high base move speed for his range & class (he has 340 compared to lux's 330), he can hold his q for so long and it just kind of holds your movement and actions hostage.

I know he's not overly strong right now, but his kit feels honestly just oppressive to play against compared to similar champions.

Velkoz is rewarded more for hitting multiple spells in a row via his passive. Also is shorter range

Lux's damage is much lower than Xeraths but she trades it for more utility.

Ziggs has similar range, but his Q is a bit harder to hit though up longer and he has 15 less base move speed.

Even if you compare passives, his is designed to make him interact more with his lane opponents, but he can sustain mana off of creeps very well and let's compare it to a passive that does something similar, like Lissandra's. His is clearly a lot more valuable to his kit than Lissandra's (this may say more about Lissandra's passive than Xeraths but you get my point...)

He does have a hard time vs. some champions like all long range mages like that, if he can get through the lane phase safely he will be just as fine.

21 Comments

DrCyanide2/14/2017, 4:59:18 PM5 votes

If you can't dodge then yeah, you're going to have a bad time against Xerath.

Full disclosure: I'm on the biased side, playing a lot of Xerath.

He's got great poke, good mana sustain if you know what you're doing, and a pretty good burst combo. He's significantly weaker at dealing with people who close the gap on him than the other champions you mentioned due to how his stun works. None of the other champions you mentioned have their CC duration reduced based on how close the enemy is.

But none of that really answers the question of if he's oppressive, does it?

I generally think that fighting against Xerath is a matter of anticipating him. You have to anticipate that he's going to fire a Q at you and side step it. You have to anticipate the ultimate shots. You have to anticipate him looking to finish you behind your tower when you're low health (charge Q, Flash, release Q is a great combo for those situations).

He doesn't have a whole lot of ways to outplay you. A match against Xerath comes down to landing/dodging skillshots and positioning, and whichever of you is worse at that will lose the matchup. I feel like his range can enable him to snowball a lead (by saying "hello" to bot lane with an Ult), but he's certainly less snowbally than assassins.

Stars Shaper2/14/2017, 5:13:36 PM2 votes

Velkoz has true damage passive, not so lower range and his hard CC is AoE, not affected by Tenacity nor by having minions between you and the target. His ultimate is a team fight destroyer while Xerath has to land 3-4 shots to kill a single squishy target.

Lux Q damage 250 +70% AP and double root (that lasts full duration even point blank (Xerath Q damage line AoE 240 +75%), E damage 240 +60% AP (Xerath W 180 +60% AP +50% damage on bullseye), W is a shield for all targets hit, E is a single target skillshot stun that stops at first target, R damage 500 +75% AP (Xerath R 260 +43%AP). Lux hitting 5 ppl ina teamfight does a hell lot more damage plus it can also be used to clear a lane. I don't see all this damage trade for utility.

Ziggs Has far better zoning and farm, has a disengage/engage skill that doesn't get reduced by range or tenacity, can demolish towers and his ultimate can destroy a teamfight too with a single cast.

Xerath is still the bottom of the bucket.

Mordepool2/14/2017, 4:44:18 PM1 votes

He gets punished by assassins who flank.

IA9hRfpP5q2/14/2017, 4:48:42 PM1 votes

He's immobile.

GG ToLGa2/14/2017, 4:57:23 PM1 votes

kassadin 6lvl and? R + E + W + Q ? and you need little dodge skill?

GarthBrooksXD2/14/2017, 5:15:39 PM1 votes

I don't really know why people down voted your post. Pretty much what you're saying is that xerath is a lane bully that scales really well. Xerath is an oppressive laner by design.

He pays for being a lane bully by being easy to gank and really squishy. Whenever there is a xerath or yasuo it's almost always the same. They push their lane hard and try to harass the shit out of their lane opponent/kill lane opponent. You can outplay him yourself by dodging skillshots, particularly his stun so you can all in him at a closer range depending on your champ... or you can sit a mile behind your tower with something like lux or ziggs and burn mana farming until your jungler comes to save you if you feel like you can't outplay him.

What you don't want to do with lane bullies is give them everything they want with no cost. When he uses a cd, you use a cd back. If he pushes minions into your tower and sits nearby harassing you, call your jungler. If your jungler won't come, then you could roam and surrender your tier 1 tower so that you can safely farm or you can try your best to farm under tower without getting dove or harassed to death or killed by his ult once he gets you low.