Top Team Comps #130: Never Get Close (Caitlyn & Xerath)

This team composition never lets a fight start at melee range. Every champion on it can punish a target from a screen away, long before anyone gets close enough to swing back.

Top Team Comps

Never Get Close

Jayce · Nidalee · Xerath · Caitlyn · Lux

This team composition never lets a fight start at melee range. Every champion on it can punish a target from a screen away, long before anyone gets close enough to swing back.

This team comp focuses on champions with abnormally long range. Xerath and Caitlyn can end a fight from a screen away, Lux and Jayce poke down anyone who tries to close in, and Nidalee punishes the flank before it ever reaches her.

Team Composition Score Card

AOE DamageA

Crowd ControlA

Diving PowerF

Dueling PowerC

InitiationC

Poke PowerS

Pushing PowerB

SustainF

SynergyA

WaveclearB

Difficulty

Power Curve

Early GameB

Mid GameS

Late GameB

Super Late GameC

SAmazing AGood BAverage CBelow Average FBad

Check out how to play it below!

Champions

TOP

Top Lane – Jayce

Jayce spends his laning phase in Mercury Cannon form, poking from a range no other top laner can answer. Shock Blast and Acceleration Gate combine into damage plus a speed boost that lets him kite a diver forever, and when a fight actually closes in, Mercury Hammer is still there to punish the commitment.

JNG

Jungle – Nidalee

Nidalee is the one member of this team who actually lives in the jungle, and she still finds a way to snipe. Javelin Toss deals more damage the farther it travels, rewarding exactly the kind of long range engagement this comp already wants, and Bushwhack punishes anyone who tries to flank through the brush to reach her.

MID

Mid Lane – Xerath

Xerath barely needs to leave his own base to matter. Arcane Barrage lobs damage from a range longer than most ultimates, and Eye of Destruction [W] chunks half a health bar before an enemy laner even sees the cast animation. Rite of the Arcane [R] doesn't just zone a fight. It can end one from across the map.

ADC

Bot Lane – Caitlyn

No marksman in the game threatens from farther away than Caitlyn. Piltover Peacemaker [Q] snipes anyone careless enough to sit below half health, and Yordle Snap Trap [W] turns the bushes around her into a minefield that punishes the exact dash meant to close the distance. Ace in the Hole [R] finishes off whoever survives everything else.

SUP

Support – Lux

Lux plays the same game as everyone else on this team, just with a snare attached. Light Binding [Q] locks down anything that tries to walk up, and Final Spark [R] turns a poke war into an execution the moment a target dips low enough. She never needs to be near a fight to decide it.

Key Concepts

• This comp wants to win the poke war and force fights around objectives instead of committing to all in dives. Whittle a target down from range before anyone actually walks in for the kill.
• Nidalee is the only champion here with real dueling power, and only in cougar form. Everyone else needs to keep distance to matter, so stay behind minions and let the ranged poke do the work.
• Xerath's ultimate range and Caitlyn's trap zoning make sieging towers and contesting objectives from safety this team's strongest tool. Force fights at Baron or Dragon instead of open field skirmishes where a dive can actually land.

Countering

Countering this team means closing the distance before it can poke you down. Bring dive potential, gap closers, and enough crowd control to lock a target down the instant you're finally in range.

Here's an example team that may succeed:

TOP

Top – Camille

Hookshot [E] closes the distance from a wall away, and The Hextech Ultimatum [R] locks a single squishy target in place until she finishes it.

JNG

Jungle – Kha'Zix

Void Spike [W] marks isolated targets, and every one of Caitlyn, Xerath, and Lux is exactly that once a fight actually starts.

MID

Mid – Zed

Living Shadow [W] lets him cross the poke zone in a blink and swap straight onto the backline before this team can ever react.

ADC

Marksman – Kai'Sa

Void Assassin's dash lets her ignore Caitlyn's traps entirely and land right on top of the backline she's supposed to be out-ranged by.

SUP

Support – Leona

Zenith Blade [E] closes the gap by herself, and Solar Flare [R] locks down whichever squishy poke champion she reaches first.

What do you think about this team composition? Got ways to improve on it? Better ways to beat it? Comment below!

Browse the full League of Legends team comps archive.