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Xerath Counters: Who Beats Xerath

Updated for patch 26.21. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch.

Xerath counters are champions who close the gap or shrug off magic damage before his stun lands. He’s a mage with 525 attack range, a long-range beam, an area slow, a single-target stun and an ultimate that immobilizes him while he fires barrages, so anything that reaches him or ignores one spell works.

These picks are mine, chosen on how each kit lines up against his. There’s no win-rate table behind them, so read this as the why of each matchup rather than a tier list.

Xerath counters: Xerath, the Magus Ascendant, splash art

Why is Xerath hard to counter?

  • Mana Surge (passive): his basic attacks periodically restore Mana, and every kill shortens that cooldown.
  • Arcanopulse (Q): a long-range beam of energy that deals magic damage to everything it hits. Cooldown 9/8/7/6/5 seconds.
  • Eye of Destruction (W): a barrage on an area that slows and deals magic damage. The middle takes extra damage and a stronger slow. Cooldown 14/13/12/11/10.
  • Shocking Orb (E): magic damage plus a stun on one enemy. Cooldown 13/12.5/12/11.5/11.
  • Rite of the Arcane (R): he immobilizes himself and gains numerous long-range barrages. Cooldown 130/115/100.

Xerath wins when you can’t reach him. That’s the whole matchup. Arcanopulse is a long-range beam and Rite of the Arcane gives him long-range barrages, and the Q comes back every 5 seconds once it’s maxed, so standing at his range and trading is a losing game. You beat that with a dash, something that makes you untargetable, or a Magic Resist item, and don’t forget his own ultimate plants him in place while he channels it.

Which champions are the best Xerath counters?

Kassadin

Void Stone (passive) makes Kassadin take reduced magic damage, and Arcanopulse, Eye of Destruction and Shocking Orb all deal magic damage. Null Sphere (Q) adds a shield that absorbs magic damage on top (and only magic damage). Riftwalk (R) teleports him to a nearby location, which is the gap closer Xerath’s 525 range is built to avoid, and Kassadin only needs 150 range to start hitting.

Fizz

Playful / Trickster (E) makes Fizz untargetable while he sits on his spear. That’s the Shocking Orb stun gone, if the timing is right. Nimble Fighter (passive) takes a flat amount off every source of damage, Urchin Strike (Q) dashes through the target, and Chum the Waters (R) attaches to any champion it touches, slows them, then knocks them up. A Xerath mid-Rite of the Arcane has immobilized himself. Where is he going to go? Hard fish to miss, honestly.

Akali

Twilight Shroud (W) turns Akali invisible and unselectable by enemy spells and attacks while she stays inside it, so Xerath is throwing Q and E at smoke. Shuriken Flip (E) marks a target and recasts into a dash, and Perfect Execution (R) leaps then dashes again. Thing is, she has to commit to crossing 525 range with 125 of her own, and the shroud buys her that walk.

Yasuo

Wind Wall (W) creates a moving wall that blocks all enemy projectiles for 4 seconds. The catch is, Riot’s ability text doesn’t say which of Xerath’s spells count as projectiles, so I won’t promise you the wall eats his Q. Check it yourself before you bank the lane on it (a practice game will do). He uses Sweeping Blade (E) to dash through a target enemy, and Steel Tempest (Q) at 2 stacks knocks Airborne, which lets Last Breath (R) blink onto him.

Morgana

For the support lane. Black Shield (E) puts a barrier on an ally that absorbs magic damage and disabling effects until it breaks, which removes both halves of Shocking Orb in one cast. Dark Binding (Q) then roots Xerath. He has no dash in his kit to answer it, and Soul Siphon (passive) heals her as she damages champions, so poke trades hurt her less than they should.

How do you play the lane against Xerath?

  • Sidestep the beam. Arcanopulse hits every target in its path, so moving sideways rather than backwards is the dodge.
  • Stay off the centre of Eye of Destruction. The middle deals additional damage and applies a stronger slow. The edge is survivable.
  • Count Shocking Orb. It’s his only stun, on a 13 second cooldown at rank 1 (11 at rank 5). Once it misses, you have a window to go in.
  • Don’t expect him to run dry. Mana Surge restores Mana off basic attacks and the cooldown shrinks whenever he kills a unit, so his passive works against draining him.
  • Punish the ultimate. Rite of the Arcane immobilizes him. If you can reach him during it, do.

Which items counter Xerath?

Arcanopulse, Eye of Destruction and Shocking Orb all deal magic damage, so Magic Resist is the first answer. Kaenic Rookern gives 400 Health and 80 Magic Resist, and its Magebane passive grants a magic shield after 15 seconds without taking magic damage. Force of Nature’s Steadfast adds 70 Magic Resist after you take magic damage from champions 8 times. And Shocking Orb? You can shop against that as well. Banshee’s Veil carries a Spell Shield that blocks the next enemy Ability, Edge of Night does the same for AD builds, and Mercury’s Treads give 30% Tenacity against Shocking Orb. Quicksilver Sash removes crowd control on demand for 1300 gold. Cheap for what it does. If you’re the one with AP, Zhonya’s Hourglass puts you in Stasis for 2.5 seconds. Compare all of them in our items database, or look at Rabadon’s Deathcap if you’d rather build damage.

When is Xerath at his weakest?

When is he actually killable? Right after Shocking Orb misses. That orb (his E) is the only thing in his kit that stops you moving, and until it comes back he can slow you with Eye of Destruction but not lock you down. In practice it’s mostly that simple, provided you didn’t walk up already at half health from Q poke.

The ultimate is the other window. Rite of the Arcane immobilizes him for the duration, and at rank 1 it’s a 130 second cooldown (over two minutes), so a Xerath who wastes it is without his ultimate for a long time. That’s the moment melee mid laners with a dash can reach him.

If you’re still working out where these champions actually get played, our guide to LoL roles covers what each position is for. His cosmetics are on the Xerath skins page, and if you’d rather face him on the Howling Abyss, read the Xerath ARAM guide. Put simply, Xerath counters need something that can get to him and a bit of Magic Resist, and then he’s just a 525 range mage with one stun and no way out.

FAQ

Who counters Xerath the most?

Champions with a dash or untargetability, such as Kassadin, Fizz, Akali and Yasuo, who can close his 525 attack range, and Morgana in the support lane, whose Black Shield absorbs the Shocking Orb stun.

What does Xerath’s ultimate do?

Rite of the Arcane immobilizes Xerath and gives him numerous long-range barrages. Its cooldown is 130/115/100 seconds.

Does Banshee’s Veil counter Xerath?

Yes. Its Annul passive grants a Spell Shield that blocks the next enemy Ability, so it can absorb Shocking Orb or an Arcanopulse. It also gives 40 Magic Resist and 105 Ability Power.

Can you make Xerath run out of mana?

His passive works against it. Mana Surge restores Mana periodically through his basic attacks, and killing a unit reduces that cooldown, so he sustains Mana through normal farming.

Is this list based on win rates?

No. Every pick here was chosen by hand from how the abilities interact as of patch 26.21. We don’t use win-rate data.