Xin Zhao's real power comes from his ability to stay relevant and powerful at any point in the game. If you your enemy's aren't careful, Xin Zhao can easily beat a whole team down!

It was only a few weeks back that I talked about Riot Games' latest champion in League of Legends (LoL), Kog'maw, and it's clear that the team is addicted to making as much content as they possibly can. Not only did we see the advent of Xin Zhao, the speedy spear-wielding "Seneschal of Demacia" just last week, but Riot has already managed to get another champion out the door in this short time frame: Vladimir! So many champions, so little time to play them all!

But either way, the show must go on! This week in ZAM's "Buyer's Guide to League of Legends," I decided to spend some extra time checking out Xin Zhao.

I'll have to admit that, when I first heard about Xin Zhao, I had mixed feelings. At the time, while I had descriptions of Xin Zhao's abilities, I wasn't entirely sure how much damage he could do with his abilities. In this way, I assumed that, since his main focus appeared to be attack speed, Xin Zhao would be a bit like the melee version of Kog'maw: lacking in large burst damage and defensive capabilities, but making up for it with a steady stream of attacks, designed to whittle away at an opponent's health bar.

How wrong I was.

While it is true that attack speed is Xin Zhao's main forte, what makes him a scary champion actually has little to do with his auto attacking prowess. In reality, Xin Zhao focuses on that seven second time frame of his "W" skill, Battle Cry. This passive skill normally gives Xin Zhao +35% attack speed, but when Xin Zhao toggles it, he gets a whopping +70% attack speed for seven seconds. In addition to this, all of Xin Zhao's attacks done in those seven seconds shave off a full second from all of his other abilities, if they are on cooldown. What this means, in general terms, is that, if Xin Zhao can get enough attack speed, he can use almost all of his abilities twice in that seven second buff, and this translates to huge burst damage.

What makes Xin Zhao really problematic, in addition to his huge burst damage, is that he can also deal some very respectable area of effect damage with his Audacious Charge and Crescent Sweep. Crescent Sweep is an extremely powerful move for Xin Zhao because it deals a percentage of the enemy's HP in addition to a flat damage bonus. In other words, against a team with no mitigation, Xin Zhao can inflict a hefty 500-600 damage + 20% of their maximum HP to everyone, in the time it takes to press E and R. Not only that, but if you add in Xin Zhao's powerful Talon Strikes and War Cry, that means that he can often get off two Audacious Charges in a row, not to mention the high single target damage he deals via Talon Strikes.

Of course, in exchange for this high offensive potential, many players have recognized that Xin Zhao is quite weak defensively, and so, if you decide to buy this champion for your lineup, be ready to swoop in to protect him after he attacks, or you may end up losing him in every large-scale battle. What makes Xin Zhao different from other squishy champions, like Kog'Maw, however, is that since Xin Zhao deals almost all of his damage in one huge burst, if he dies after he gets off his ultimate (Crescent Sweep) and two Audacious Charges, then he's pretty much done his job. His team should be able to mop up the remaining enemies.

Not only this, but since Xin Zhao deals both flat damage and scaling damage (since Crescent Sweep deals 375 damage + 20% of the enemy HP, and Talon Strike deals regular attack damage + 75 bonus damage), he can consistently contribute to every fight, even if he falls behind. This is definitely something that you can't say for other champions, like Annie or Kog'Maw, who really struggle once they fall behind. If Xin Zhao is doing well, he can easily lead your team into battle; if he falls behind, however, just have him enter the battle behind your team so that he can add a pile of raw damage onto your foes.

In the end, Xin Zhao has raised a fairly significant uproar in the League of Legends community, with many claiming that he might be just a little bit too powerful. You should be warned that future balancing may take place to take away some of Xin Zhao's luster, but if you're looking for that powerful physical attacker (he can go AP if you really, really love Audacious Charge and maybe if you pick up a Guinsoo's Rageblade…) that can contribute tons of raw damage, then Xin Zhao is definitely for you. Just make sure you protect him properly or, at least ensure that you have a team designed to follow up on his incredible burst damage. Heroes like Kayle, Morgana, Amumu, Zilean and Sivir are all great choices to go with Xin Zhao. Good luck!