Game Plan

Levels 1-6: play beside the wave, not in front of it

  • Position: Start on the edge of your minion wave, slightly off-center from your carries. Xin Zhao is scary when enemies step too far forward, but he is also easy to punish if he walks straight down the lane with no cover. Use your front minions and brush control to hide your first step, then threaten anyone who moves up to poke or last-hit. If your team has stronger poke, stand between that poke and the enemy divers so you can counter-engage instead of forcing first.
  • Trading and poke rhythm: Do not spam short trades just because you can reach someone. Look for one clean pattern: enemy uses a key poke or crowd control spell, you step up, hit the closest target, then back out before their whole team collapses. Your poke is more about pressure than chip damage, so make your movement count. If the enemy has traps, long-range slows, or multiple disengage tools, let your ranged champions soften them first and only trade when a target is already slowed, displaced, or separated from the backline.
  • Snowball use: Early Snowball is a commitment tool, not a fishing rod you must recast every time. Throw it when the target is close enough that your team can follow, or when the target has already spent their escape. If it lands on a tank with four carries standing behind them, do not automatically take it. Hold the threat, walk up with the wave, and make them respect the possible engage. Taking a bad Snowball gives the enemy a free focus target and removes your best entry option for the next fight.
  • Augment use: Early augments should support how the lane is actually playing. If your team lacks engage, value augments that help you reach, survive the first burst, or keep fighting after contact. If your team already has hard engage, take options that improve follow-up damage or durability, because you will be diving into enemies who are already controlled. Avoid choosing only for damage when the enemy comp can kite; damage does nothing if you die before your second rotation.
  • Push or stall choice: Push when your team has health, minion advantage, and poke control. A pushed wave gives you room to threaten Snowball angles and makes enemy skillshots easier to dodge because they are forced to clear. Stall when your backline is low, your Snowball is down, or the enemy has stronger all-in. In that case, stand near your carries and punish anyone who walks past the wave rather than trying to clear alone.
  • If ahead: Use your health lead to control the middle of the lane, but do not dive under tower without a second engager or a guaranteed low target. Your job is to make the enemy give up space, not to donate a shutdown into five players. Step forward, force them to throw spells at you, then re-engage after those spells miss or hit minions.
  • If behind: Stop starting fights from max range. Let the wave come in, keep your carries alive, and look for counter-engage on the first enemy who oversteps. Xin Zhao can still punish messy dives even when behind, but he cannot fix a lost lane by charging alone into full cooldowns.
  • Next move: Reach level 6 with enough health to fight. Once your ultimate is available, your engage and peel both become much harder to punish, so the next stage is about choosing whether you are the spearhead or the bodyguard.

Levels 7-11: force grouped fights only when your team can hit with you

  • Position: Stand one step ahead of your carries when your engage is ready, and one step beside them when the enemy has assassins or heavy dive. This small shift matters. In front, you threaten a fast catch with Snowball or dash follow-up. Beside your carries, you deny enemy divers the easy angle and can turn immediately when they commit. Do not sit alone in the enemy half of the bridge unless you already know your team can walk with you.
  • Trading and poke rhythm: Mid game fights are usually decided by the first bad cooldown. Watch for missed hooks, failed knockups, wasted mobility, or a poke mage stepping forward after casting. That is your trade window. Go in hard, force the enemy to respond, then decide quickly whether to keep chasing or reset behind your team. Xin Zhao wins many scrappy fights, but he loses when he chases one target through the entire enemy team while his own backline is still clearing the wave.
  • Snowball use: This is the best stage to use Snowball aggressively. Throw it through minions when enemies line up to clear, or aim it at a carry who has just used their dash or defensive spell. If it lands on a frontliner, check the map state before taking it: if your team is stacked and ready, use the frontliner as a bridge into the fight; if your carries are zoned or low, let the mark expire and keep your body available for peel. A missed Snowball is not a disaster if you still hold your position and do not panic-walk into poke.
  • Augment use: By this point, your augment choices should define your fight job. With durability or healing-oriented tools, you can start fights earlier and soak the first response while your team follows. With mobility or reset-style tools, wait for the first enemy to be damaged, then enter as the finisher. With damage-heavy tools, avoid hitting the enemy tank forever; angle toward carries after their peel is used, or turn back and kill the diver threatening your own damage dealers.
  • Push or stall choice: Push after a won trade, a kill, or a forced enemy reset. Xin Zhao helps convert a pushing wave by standing in the lane pocket where enemies must walk through him to clear. If your team lacks waveclear or is losing health to poke, stall instead. Hold near your side of the bridge, preserve health, and wait for the enemy to overextend into your engage range. A stalled wave is not passive if you are using it to create a shorter, safer all-in.
  • If ahead: Chain pressure without forcing coinflip dives. Walk with the minion wave, threaten the carry closest to the wall or brush, and make the enemy choose between clearing and respecting your engage. If they split too far, take the isolated target. If they group tightly, let your team poke first, then enter after crowd control or burst lands. Your ultimate should protect your commit or break the enemy’s return damage; do not waste it after the fight is already won unless it secures the push.
  • If behind: Become the anti-dive champion. Stay near the carry who can still clear waves or deal sustained damage. When the enemy tank or assassin enters, hit that target immediately and buy space. Behind Xin Zhao does not need a flashy backline dive; he needs one clean shutdown or one saved carry to flip tempo. If your team wins a defensive fight, do not chase too deep. Take the wave first, then look for a safer Snowball on the next enemy trying to stall.
  • Next move: Turn mid-game wins into structure pressure or health advantage. If you cannot hit the tower safely, do not stand under it taking free damage. Back up, reset the wave, and prepare the next engage with Snowball and key augments ready.

Levels 12+: pick the fight shape before you press forward

  • Position: Late game Xin Zhao must choose a job before the fight starts. If your backline is stronger, position as a peel bruiser and punish divers first. If the enemy backline is exposed or your team has layered engage, stand in the second line and follow the first crowd control into their carries. Do not hover in no-man’s-land. At this stage, one stun, silence, displacement, or missed defensive button can decide the whole game.
  • Trading and poke rhythm: Stop taking health-negative trades. Late poke matters more because death timers and structure damage are brutal. Use short forward steps to bait spells, then retreat behind minions or terrain until the enemy cooldowns are down. When a carry gets chunked, that is your signal to threaten all-in. When your own carry gets chunked, your signal changes: slow the fight, stand in front, and make the enemy spend more tools before they can finish.
  • Snowball use: Late Snowball can win the game or throw it. Use it when the landing point is safe enough for follow-up, or when taking it forces the enemy carries to scatter and lose damage time. Do not take a mark into five healthy enemies just because it hit a high-value target; if your team cannot cross the distance, you are only delivering yourself. A strong late use is often delayed: land Snowball, wait for enemy panic movement, then take it after your teammates are in range.
  • Augment use: Treat augments as fight rules, not decoration. If your setup rewards extended combat, stay on the nearest valuable target and keep moving with your team instead of tunneling a carry through slows and peel. If your setup rewards burst entry, hold until enemy protection is used, then commit with everything. If your augment package gives defensive triggers or recovery windows, plan around absorbing the first response and exiting toward your team rather than deeper into the enemy base.
  • Push or stall choice: Push only when you can protect the wave and survive the counter-engage. Late towers and inhibitors are won by spacing, not bravery. Stand where enemy waveclear must expose itself, but keep a retreat path through your team. Stall when your team is waiting on respawns, key ultimates, Snowball, or a stronger augment window. Clear safely, deny the enemy a clean engage, and force them to start under worse conditions.
  • If ahead: Close with controlled pressure. Use your body to zone carries away from the wave, then hit structures when the enemy cannot contest. If they hard engage, turn immediately instead of splitting damage between tower and champions. A clean ace or two kills is usually worth more than a few greedy structure hits that leave your backline dead.
  • If behind: Play for one mistake. Hide your intent, protect the carry with the best scaling damage, and punish the first enemy who enters without backup. If you find a Snowball on an isolated carry, take it only when your team can follow through the same lane space. If not, peel, clear, and wait again. Late comebacks come from denying the enemy’s first engage, then chasing after their cooldowns are gone.
  • Next move: After every late fight, decide instantly: end, take structure, or reset the wave. Xin Zhao is strongest when he keeps tempo moving. If your team is healthy and enemies are dead, lead the push. If your team is low, stand between them and the respawning enemies while they finish the safest objective. If the fight was messy and no one can hit structures, back out before the enemy respawn turns your win into a wipe.