Guide · Mid

Xerath Guide

the Magus Ascendant

Mage

Support

Tier B Mid

Xerath, the Magus Ascendant, is a mage and support champion that is demanding to master. Across our 837 analysed ranked games, Xerath is mostly played in Mid (50% of its games), and more rarely as ADC (27%) and as Support (23%), with a 49.2% win rate in that role: tier B among Mid champions (#18 of 42, ranked by win rate). Xerath's damage is mostly magic (96%): magic resistance items are therefore effective against this champion. Win rate varies with game length: 52.5% in short games (under 25 min, 118 games) versus 46.4% in long games (over 35 min).

Updated Oct 10 2026 · Patch 26.22

Averages measured over 421 Mid games played with Xerath, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

How to play and combo preview

Xerath is a long-range mage: Arcanopulse, Eye of Destruction and Shocking Orb harass from very far away. His attacks restore mana and his ultimate roots him in place to fire several long-range barrages.

Harassment

Q › W › E

When: An enemy is within range.

Arcanopulse deals damage in a line, Eye of Destruction slows (more in the center), Shocking Orb stuns and damages.

The control stun

E › W › Q

When: An enemy dives you.

Shocking Orb stuns first, then Eye of Destruction and Arcanopulse do the damage.

See all 3 Xerath combos: key order, when to cast them, cooldowns →

Laning phase

Arcanopulse deals damage to every target hit: cast it to hit enemies and minions. Eye of Destruction slows in the area, with more effect in the center.

Common mistakes

• Casting the ultimate with no protection: you are rooted while firing.
• Wasting Shocking Orb: it is your only stun.
• Neglecting mana: your attacks restore it regularly.

Riot's official tips for playing Xerath

• It's easier to land Arcanopulse on an enemy when they're moving toward or away from you, rather than side to side.
• Eye of Destruction will make landing Arcanopulse easier as the target will be slowed.
• If you stun an enemy with Shocking Orb, follow up with a guaranteed center hit on Eye of Destruction.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Rabadon's Deathcap, Shadowflame, and Luden's Echo (84 games, 57.1% win rate), usually with Spellslinger's Shoes (51.0% over 386 games).

Rabadon's Deathcap+Shadowflame+Luden's Echo

84 games · 57.1%

Horizon Focus+Shadowflame+Luden's Echo

55 games · 50.9%

Shadowflame+Stormsurge+Luden's Echo

40 games · 50.0%

Skill order

Max order : Q > W > E42.9% · 56 games

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Q	●			●	●		●		●
W		●						●		●		●	●
E			●											●	●
R						●					●

The order shows which abilities reach rank 5 first; the grid shows the most-played level-up sequence with that order (measured over 61 games).

Starting items

Doran's RingHealth PotionHealth Potion43.3% · 60 games

First completed items, in order

Luden's Echo›Shadowflame

22 games · 40.9%

Laning phase (averages)

At 10 min: 3658 gold, 74 CS, 4857 XP. At 15 min: 5652 gold, 114 CS, 7460 XP.

Boots

Spellslinger's Shoes51.0% · 386 games

Summoner spells

Flash + Teleport47.9% · 309 games

Flash + Barrier56.4% · 55 games

Exhaust + Flash50.0% · 30 games

Most-played runes

Arcane Comet + Precision

45.6% · 215 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band85%

Transcendence78%

Scorch93%

Secondary tree · Precision

Presence of Mind93%

Coup de Grace68%

Shards

Adaptive force82%

Adaptive force99%

Health scaling74%

Arcane Comet + Inspiration

59.8% · 92 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band98%

Transcendence90%

Scorch94%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Cash Back61%

Triple Tonic51%

Shards

Adaptive force71%

Adaptive force99%

Health scaling58%

First Strike + Sorcery

49.1% · 53 games

Primary tree · Inspiration

Magical Footwear68%

Biscuit Delivery72%

Cosmic Insight98%

Secondary tree · Sorcery

Manaflow Band94%

Scorch81%

Shards

Adaptive force76%

Adaptive force98%

Health scaling76%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Xerath's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team55.1% · 118 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Luden's Echo 58.8% ▲

Shadowflame 54.9% ▲

Horizon Focus 53.7% ▲

Rabadon's Deathcap 58.8% ▲

Stormsurge 63.6%

Void Staff 76.9%

The item that stands out most is Luden's Echo: 58.8% win rate, +7 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team44.8% · 105 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Luden's Echo 47.1% ▼

Shadowflame 44.4% ▼

Horizon Focus 44.1% ▼

Rabadon's Deathcap 44.4% ▼

Stormsurge 45.5%

Zhonya's Hourglass 46.2%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Balanced enemy team48.0% · 198 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Luden's Echo 49.7%

Shadowflame 50.4%

Horizon Focus 51.6%

Rabadon's Deathcap 54.7%

Stormsurge 42.9% ▼

Void Staff 42.3% ▼

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Xerath in Mid

Syndra Xerath: 60.0%20 games

Syndra has the edge in 40% of the 20 Mid duels against Xerath. See the Syndra guide.

Who Xerath is strong against

Syndra60.0% · 20 games

How to play against Xerath

• Xerath's range can be intimidating, but most champions who close distance with him can trade favorably.
• Xerath takes a long time to engage Rite of the Arcane. Watch for his spellcast animation and start dodging.
• Banshee's Veil will make it much harder for Xerath to land Shocking Orb on you.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Xerath's matchups.

Xerath Mid: what our games say

Laning phase against the Mid average

Measured over 61 Xerath games with a timeline; the average covers 72 champions played Mid in our ranked games.

Win rate by game length

Best result: short (under 25 min). Only groups of at least 30 games are shown. A gap of several points shows the phase where the champion is the most reliable.

Xerath in another role

Role	Games	Win rate	CS/min	Gold/min	Most-built items
ADC	223	44.4 %	7.4	459
Support	193	46.6 %	1.8	341

Roles where we have at least 40 Xerath games.

Abilities

PassiveMana Surge

Xerath's basic attacks periodically restore Mana. Whenever Xerath kills a unit, this cooldown is reduced.

QArcanopulse

Fires a long-range beam of energy, dealing magic damage to all targets hit.

WEye of Destruction

Calls down a barrage of arcane energy, slowing and dealing magic damage to all enemies in an area. Targets in the middle receive additional damage and a stronger slow.

EShocking Orb

Deals magic damage to an enemy and stuns them.

RRite of the Arcane

Xerath immobilizes himself and gains numerous long-range barrages.

Other Mid champions to know

Most played

Syndra53.0 %Viktor48.9 %Ahri50.4 %Yone49.8 %Locke50.8 %Yasuo48.9 %Zed51.8 %Sylas48.5 %

Strongest (at least 100 games)

Vel'Koz54.3 %Kassadin54.0 %Twisted Fate54.0 %Lux53.0 %Diana52.9 %Katarina52.6 %Anivia52.3 %Aurelion Sol52.1 %

Frequently asked questions

Full Xerath page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides