User blog comment:Megames1/Against the Meta- Xerath, and More!!/@comment-46.229.8.62-20121020165502/@comment-80.28.165.140-20121020183008

And also counters hard half the meta-mids. Ryze-Anivia-Karthus-Cassio cant as much as scratch a decent Xerath player, is not even a matter of simply "outranging": Xerath can (and will) stop EVERY combo and win EVERY trade but the flash or jungle initiated ones. I've seen godly Anivias tie the lane, but it's rare.

Teamfights are another thing entirely, you can either blow your combo on the enemy team before engagement, when they can dodge and afterwards can choose... well... NOT to engage xD or you throw the combo in the clusterfuck that is the Teamfight in itself, losing damage for not taking advantage of the massive AOE you have (you probably won't get more than 2-3 people in the combo if you focus the carry, and if you're focusing anything else you're wasting your shots) or you use the range to pick off fleeing enemies, E-Q'ing during the whole fight and giggling like a little girl, with the risks of being completely useless and/or losing the fight.

I'd say put slightly more (even more) bonus damage/mpen on the chained shots.