To put that in perspective
all have been released since 
last got a skin.
Riot either needs to put Xerath on their "due for a rework" list so we know they're ignoring him (like Uydr, Skarner, Zillian, Shaco, and Morde) or someone needs to make the skin team think about designs for longer than 2 seconds so they can come up with a "suitable theme".
They are too busy finding a different suit/dress for Ezreal/Lux.
more lux skins pl0x
Uh... Zilean and Shaco are due for skins this year, as it was confirmed in the 2019 Skin video. So just cause one hasn't gotten a skin yet doesn't mean they are ignoring them due to a possible vgu
to be fair anytime a champ that hasn't gotten a skin in awhile gets a skin the entire player base for that champ goes berserk and complains about how it doesn't meet the standard. i don't want to say "get what you get and don't throw a fit" but like, popular champs are gonna get the super fancy skins cause thats just marketing. the fact riot is even willing to make a skin for "insert champion name" cause they havent got a skin in ____ days is the best we will ever get. sad reality.
I've left similar comments in the past but I'll happily restate them.
Its all about finding a theme. Honestly before this last patch or two, I forgot that Xerath existed. He's honestly just such a forgettable champion with his base theme and lore, and almost all of his skins are either recolors or unimaginative reiterations of the same idea: a being made of pure energy held together by a catalyst.
There's not a lot you can take that one. To be able to easilly recognize it as Xerath it needs to have a body with no real use for feet, and have glowing energy either coursing over it constantly, or have large gaps in the clothing/armor to reveal glowing energy. Personally, I can't think of any unique ideas that would fit his theme.
I still have hope for him getting a Battle Boss or a Dark Star skin someday, and if we're talking this year, even more hope for Battle Boss since we know for a fact that Arcade is coming back. And that skinline is one of the few that can truly fit every champion somewhere.
Seriously, I don't know why it hasn't occurred to Riot that Arcade can even fit the champions that they never give skins.
Bells and whistles are for champions who draw a playerbase.
The game is a free to play game. They're making skins for champs that people will purchase skins for and keep it free to play.
Those Lux and Ezreal skins and the folks who will undoubtedly pay out the nose for them keep the lights on, where as no matter what the theme for a Xerath skin it'd just be a drop in the bucket. It's not worth the cash output for what they'd get back. It's not about theme only, they probably just can't afford to waste time making a skin that people will just complain about not being good enough when it finally does hit.
Four. Years. There's no reason any champion should be put off for that long. It's barely been 5 months since the last Ezreal, Lux, and Graves skins were released.
Incorrect. There are several reasons. Notably, Xerath is not a popular champion. Before his rework, the one time I saw Xerath was when someone accidentally clicked him and then quickly switched to something else, but I begged them to play Xerath just so I could see him for once. After his rework, he's seeing some play, and I think he's reasonably popular in pro play, but he still doesn't hold a candle to the real moneymakers. Another reason is that it's hard to think of good skin ideas for him. Have you considered his other skins besides Guardian of the Sands? They're basically chromas, like Taric and every skin but Pool Party. We have the base blue Xerath, then there's red Xerath, green Xerath, yellow Xerath... and GotS is kind of another yellow Xerath. It's a losing battle. Finally, Xerath skins take more work to actually implement, due to all the particle effects.
Xerath is not a person, and Riot is not a charity.
First off, your title is very misleading. Riot has thought of plenty very good skin ideas: Papercraft, Solar Eclipse, Coven, Praetorian... there's just not any for Xerath. In my opinion most skin ideas would boil down to a simple recolor because his model is effect heavy; Dark Star Xerath = Purple Xerath, Program = Teal Xerath. Looking on google for any concepts; all look like recolored Xerath with slightly altered armor. I think if anything he needs a rework before a skin because his model and kit aren't that interesting.
On the flip side, Papercraft or Praetorian seem like viable skins for him maybe.
