How to beat Zac

Common role: Jungle

The best counter to Zac in Jungle is Zaahen: 60.4% win rate over 97 ranked games on patch 26.17.

An elastic tank who stretch-pulls you in and bounces your whole team around.

What makes Zac dangerous

Zac stretches his arms to grab and pull an enemy (E is a long-range jump engage), knocks up with his Q, and his ultimate bounces around, knocking up and displacing everyone repeatedly. He revives from blobs on death and is a durable, mobile engage tank that starts fights from far away.

How to play against Zac

• 1Dodge his E jump — it's a long-range engage that knocks up on landing. Sidestep the telegraphed leap and his initiation fails.
• 2On death he splits into blobs that revive him — destroy the blobs fast (they're killable) to deny the second life.
• 3Spread out for his bouncing ult — it displaces multiple champions. Don't clump when it's up.
• 4Low personal damage — kite him and focus his carries. Tenacity shortens his knock-up chain.

Weaknesses to exploit

• ✓E engage is a dodgeable long jump.
• ✓Kill his blobs to deny the death revive.
• ✓Low personal damage — a peel/engage tank.
• ✓Spread teams deny his AoE displacement.

Abilities & how to counter them

What each of Zac's abilities does — and how to play around it.

• P
  Cell Division

  Each time Zac hits an enemy with an ability, he sheds a chunk of himself that can be reabsorbed to restore Health. Upon taking fatal damage, Zac splits into 4 bloblets that attempt to recombine. If any bloblets remain, he will revive with an amount of Health depending on the Health of the surviving bloblets. Each bloblet has a percentage of Zac's maximum Health, Armor and Magic Resistance. This ability has a 5 minute cooldown.

  Strong: on death he splits into blobs that revive him. Weak: destroy the blobs fast (they're killable) to deny his second life.

• Q
  Stretching Strikes

  Zac stretches an arm, grabbing an enemy. Attacking a different enemy will cause him to throw both targets towards each other.

• W
  Unstable Matter

  Zac explodes outward towards nearby enemies, dealing a percentage of their maximum health as magic damage.

• E
  Elastic Slingshot

  Zac attaches his arms to the ground and stretches back, launching himself forward.

  Strong: a long-range jump that knocks up on landing — his engage. Weak: a telegraphed leap — sidestep it and his initiation fails.

• R
  Let's Bounce!

  Zac bounces four times, knocking up enemies hit and slowing them.

Itemization

Zac is an AP engage tank. Dodge his E, destroy his death blobs, spread for his ult, and bring tenacity. Kite him and kill his carries.

This guide covers Zac's core kit and playstyle — advice that holds up across patches.