As soon as Riot Games unveiled the new skin, Shadow Xerath became the next champion to appear in Teamfight Tactics Season 3. Although previously, Riot Games had left many players in doubt by teasing this champion on April 1st, fortunately, Shadow Xerath has become a 5-cost champion from the Sorcerer and Shadow clans.
Xerath’s ability is to transform, summoning meteors to fall on random enemies within his attack range. The meteors will deal 350/450/2500 magic damage, and if they take down a target, all nearby enemies will suffer 175/225/1250 magic damage and be stunned for 1.5 seconds. The transformation time for Xerath at 3 star levels is 6/8/45 seconds.
Here are some tips for playing the Xerath 8 Sorcerers composition:
Start with a Sorcerer + Vanguard composition to balance between damage and the tankiness of the team. Initially, you can use Mordekaiser with items like Morellonomicon, Ionic Spark, or Guardian Angel. Once you have Wukong, you should use this champion as it activates both Chrono and Vanguard, greatly enhancing the team’s strength. Notably, Wukong also has an area damage and knock-up skill, which can easily throw temporary items from Mordekaiser into battle.
After reaching level 7 or 8, if you haven’t yet obtained a 2-star Wukong or don’t have enough Sorcerers, you can temporarily switch to a Pilot Sorcerer composition. This setup will help you maintain some health to level up as quickly as possible. During this time, you should accumulate enough Sorcerers, waiting to upgrade to level 9 to bring in the late-game composition.
Once you reach level 8 or 9, you should roll a bit to find the final piece, Xerath, completing the 8 Sorcerers composition. The key is to try to keep 50 gold, so that as soon as you get Xerath, you can instantly upgrade to level 9.
Only by reaching level 9 can you maintain all 8 Sorcerers + Poppy tanking at the front.
The strength of this composition lies in the massive damage output from activating the 8 Sorcerers, giving +150% ability power. This enormous stat is equivalent to several Rabadon’s Deathcaps for each champion in the team, turning Sorcerers into effective carries.
At this point, it’s crucial to have some essential items like Dragon Claw, Guardian Angel, and Bloodthirster for Poppy to sustain while the Sorcerers unleash their damage. Key carries should have items like Xerath with Rabadon’s Deathcap + Morellonomicon + energy-boosting items, and Vel’Koz with Morellonomicon + Ionic Spark + Trap Claw (or Mercurial Cloak).
If you’re lucky, you might find some clan activation items like the Starlit Guardian’s Charm (activates 6 Guardians), or Shadow Heart (activates 3 Shadows) to boost Xerath’s power.
Many believe that most compositions in Teamfight Tactics have counters, however, with the unbalanced strength of Xerath right at launch, as long as you build a composition like the one above, it will be hard to find any opponent to stop you from taking the top spot.