How to win the jungle race as Locke against Nidalee · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Locke's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Nidalee.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Respect Nidalee | Max-range Javelin poke decides who enters the scuttle fight healthy, and Locke has no clean answer to it at the first buff — a max-range Javelin into the Hunt pounce executes you before the fight even starts. Keep a camp between you and her spear line — the Javelin is the whole matchup, and give up your opening camps rather than the kill. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Respect Nidalee | The window on the second camp belongs to Nidalee: Pounce-reset cat clears let them out-tempo and kite the slower kits. Your own line is real — the blink-auto mark consume chunks hard, but spending E in a duel spends the escape too — but it arrives second here. Keep a camp between you and her spear line — the Javelin is the whole matchup, then refuse the level-2 skirmish. |
| Level 3 Route | Respect Nidalee | At level 3 this window belongs to Nidalee: the spear-hunt-pounce execute pattern wins any fight they start at range, and a max-range Javelin into the Hunt pounce executes you before the fight even starts. Keep a camp between you and her spear line — the Javelin is the whole matchup. Give up the level-3 river fight and bank tempo on the opposite side of the map. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Even — Farm & Track | Levels 4-5 are a farm-and-track window vs Nidalee — bank camps, keep river vision, and hold the fight for your level-6 totem instead of coin-flipping. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Purgatory Favoured | The Purgatory totem turns any low-HP skirmish into a chain of executes and blink resets. You win the breakpoint against Nidalee, not the whole game — cash the advantage on the first objective after both sides hit six. |
| First Item Spike | Lich Bane / Shadowflame Spike | Lich Bane turns every blink-consume into a Spellblade chunk and Shadowflame sharpens the low-HP crunch. This is your strongest duel window of the game — cash it on a pick, not a coin-flip. Nidalee's first item makes the spear a genuine execute threat rather than chip damage on the way to a fight. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Locke Favoured at Full Build | Late game you are a cleanup engine, not a frontliner: enter second, blink the marked kill, and chain E resets. Every sealed soul permanently raises the totem floor — your scaling is the seal count. |
Start Red with a leash and Q the camp from max nail range — W’s grey-health refund keeps the clear honest, but full clears cost real HP, so path toward a healthy scuttle, not a fight. Nidalee clears extremely fast in cougar form with pounce resets, and she is usually the first jungler to level three.
Ranked by the race windows in Locke's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Locke vs Nidalee report continues with scuttle & dragon rules, invade windows and safety boundaries, the top-side objective fight, macro rotations and the win condition — plus the live enemy-jungle tracker that shows their start, clear and gank timers in game.
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No clear favourite — Locke holds 3 windows, Nidalee 3, the rest are even.
Yes — Locke vs Nidalee plays as a skill matchup: the jungle race swings window to window, and the better first clear usually sets the tone.
Playing the other side? Nidalee vs Locke guide →
All Locke jungle matchups →
More Locke jungle matchups: vs Master Yi · vs Morgana · vs Naafiri · vs Nocturne · vs Nunu & Willump · vs Olaf