Talk:Xerath/@comment-24055932-20131221031835

Hmm, in my opinion, the upcoming rework weakens him.

His only escape skill (+ % movementspeed) moves on to his ult, which then again is to worthy to waste it for pure escaping. Instead you now have to hit your soft and hard CC if you don't want to be shred to pieces. His passive gets pracitcly removed, his new passive is a weakened side-effect of his old w (plus some useless mana, as Xerath's special power ins't to nuke his lane anyway). His hard CC gets transformed into a skillshot, making it an all in while the old stun itself was an autohit -on-hit-effect that had to be activated by another spell (so you effictively had to hit your q or to shoot your ult on the enemy). This makes the CC more a defensive skill, which then again is contrary to the increasing duration on travel time, which intends risky use of this skill. The ult is heavily boosted, but for the price of a doubled cooldown, and the forced root till the end of your ult. That means it is usefull for killing fleeing champs, turning smaller fights, but won't really help you at a tough 5vs5.

One plus point I have to admit, is that his new set has a great capability of sniping out a squishy you want to see dead, without leaving him any chance to escape, once you have hit your stun (besides this he gets easier to play because all your skills got a consistent, high range without using an active [the old w]).

All in all: He looses some of his old qualities, like his poking power (right played, the combination of instant 1300 q range, high magic penetration and following extra speed made him unique in the way of effective poking, while now his main poke needs a charge time (highering the effective cd) while that he is slowed) and passive armor, but for that gains more burst power making him actually able to aggressively 1vs1 other champs and (with sight regarded) a unique way of saving kills (or turning smaller fights).

I, for sure, will miss the old Xerath once the change comes true, as we loose one unique teamfighter with quite unbelievable potential when played perfectly and for that gain a noob-fitted champ.