Xerath needs buff.

For how low his popularity is, his having near but under 50% winrate means something. He is not a complex character.

He just struggles to too many champions don't you think? Top tier mages already outshines him a lot and then you have assassins, divers, tanks. For how much I try and work, I sometimes feel like I am not rewarded enough. It is like, if I wasn't Xerath but let's say, Vladimir, and played both champions at the same level, I would be rewarded far better. I shouldn't torture myself while playing my favourite champion. Missing skillshots with him are already guaarented and they are so obvious misses it is frustrating. Then you figure out hitting them is sometimes not enough, because they don't deal damage at even full combo.

Tanks laugh to your poke and regenerates the damage in seconds. Divers dive you from 1300+ range, assassins murder your ass in 0.1 second.

I think if he had true damage, or magic penetration again, his poke would mean something once more. His poke is already strong against squishies, so he doesn't need more raw damage.

What if his passive gave 15-20% magic penetration at 16 level? Or converted 10% of his damage to true damage? Something entirely insignificant in early game but useful in late game, which what he needs?

His late sucks so much in late game IMO. Especially againsts tanks. You almost don't deal damage while they regenerate so much they neutralize what you deal. If he was a teamfight mage I would agree, but damage is all the thing he has... And it is about poke. He doesn't perform like Orianna, Syndra, Vladimir. His poke should be significant and rewarding even against tanks or he will remain useless in every tank meta.