Talk:Xerath/@comment-5663971-20140208115746/@comment-6778736-20140210180813

@ Namedey Put very bluntly, he feels unfinished and his stats are borderline OP. Clunky gameplay, abilities acting weird (Arcanopulse finishes casting while in Zhonya, Ultimate can't damage baron if Xerath's outside Baron attack range, etc.) and a passive that screams "OP LANING!" with his range.

@ SunLion There's no two ways around it, I can easily see Xerath being viable for three positions now (Midlane, Support and Top lane). On the toplane thing: yeah, he's a mage and wouldn't be perfect for the position, but he can easily crush melee champions and can even fare agaisnt heavy sustain through the virtue of his passive. Even before the rework, Xerath could lane against anything and at least survive + get farm. Even if you're playing Warwick with Doran's Shield, there's no way you can sustain that much poke without backing out against new Xerath. I can't see Xerath going unscathed, when he's an S tier midlaner, an A-tier mage support and a borderline A tier toplane destroyer.

On the note of the toplane thing, I'd like to hear opinions of people who play top lane extensively to know if that kind of range and poke can be dealt with and how, outside of being forced to rush a Banshee. Not much of a toplaner, so my theory on Xerath disabling melee champions in the laning phase could be false/misguided.