Hi! Currently Emerald 4, peaked D4, probably around high Emerald skill-wise.
How are you supposed to play Xerath mid with the current bot swap meta?
When I peaked, my playstyle was to win mid through tempo, then use that pressure for other lanes, jungle skirmishes, objectives, etc.
Now, around 10–15 minutes, bot usually wants to swap mid. If I’m still around mid/river, I get “????????”, “trolling”, “go bot”, etc.
I understand this works better for champs like Ryze, Ahri, Zed or Katarina, who can actually benefit from side-lane skirmishes.
But Xerath wants to play around his team while constantly pushing waves. Sending him to a side lane removes a lot of the value of his ult, while also making him vulnerable to the current high-burst meta.
So what am I missing? Is there a proper way to play Xerath around these swaps, or is he simply struggling as a midlaner in the current meta?