Xayah can be said to be the champion that has been buffed the most recently, with both her base attack speed and the bonuses from her abilities significantly increased. However, it was only when the Candyland composition, a.k.a. 3-Star Poppy, emerged in the current patch that Xayah began to be used more frequently as a direct counter rather than just a piece to gain synergy for the Kayle – Time Traveler composition.
The most important factor when facing Candyland is to equip effective “anti-tank” items like the Green Bow and Infinity Edge to penetrate the thick armor of the Vanguard. However, if you choose a composition that relies too much on the late game, even with these items, if your carry is not at a sufficient level, it won’t matter. That’s why the Hyper-roll Xayah composition was born, as she is the most effective carry available with those items and only costs 1 gold.
Building the Composition
In the early game, the most important thing is to have a strong enough Xayah unit. Caitlyn is also a necessary champion for this comp, so you should buy her as soon as you can. The dream composition at level 4 consists of 3 Duelists: Xayah, Fiora, and Shen. Combined with Caitlyn, you also gain the Time Traveler trait, giving your team a significant boost to attack speed. When you reach level 5, Jarvan IV is a unit you can add to further enhance attack speed while also providing a stable frontline early on.
The mid-game phase is extremely important for this composition and can determine the outcome of the entire match. First, you should not level up too early and should stay at level 5 for as long as possible to quickly upgrade your 1-cost units to 3 stars. Therefore, you need to roll quite a lot during this phase, but don’t let your gold drop too low (below 10 gold); ideally, keep your gold between 20-30.
The priority for upgrading units to 3 stars in this composition will be Xayah > Fiora > Jarvan IV > Caitlyn > Shen. If you have 2 Duelist units that can reach 3 stars, or if the game has progressed past stage 4, you can stop rolling and focus on leveling up to complete your composition. At level 6, adding an Ashe unit for the Cosmic and Marksman buff for the composition is the ideal scenario.
In the late game, depending on the situation of the match, you should adjust your composition accordingly. If you have multiple 3-star units from the rolling process, just add Rakan and Kassadin to gain the 4 Cosmic buff, helping your composition to sustain as long as possible. If your Vanguard and Marksman units are too weak and ineffective, our advice is to consider transitioning to a basic Kayle – Time Traveler composition; you will be stronger than usual because of having a powerful 3-star Xayah carrying alongside.
Essential Items
The main goal is to dismantle the Candyland – Vanguard Hyper-roll composition, so the Green Bow is the most important item for armor penetration. Combined with the Infinity Edge, your Xayah carry can easily take down Poppy and Leona. Besides this crucial unit, the other champions should still build items according to standard practices, such as Thief’s Glove for Fiora or Shojin’s Spear for Rakan.
Another unit that also needs items is Shen, as he will be your team’s main tank for most of the match, so he needs certain items, with the most important being the Thornmail to minimize critical damage.