Zac vs Locke — Top Lane Matchup Guide

How to win lane as Zac against Locke · 48.57% win rate over 593 Emerald+ games · Updated 2026-07-27

Verdict: Closer than it looks — Zac owns 3 of the 7 game windows, but the win rate still favours Locke: you have to convert those windows or the game slips away. Zac wins 48.57% of games vs Locke in top lane (593 Emerald+ games analysed).

Favour timeline — who owns each window

StageFavouredWhy
Level 1Even / skillEven on skill at 1 as his on-hit poke meets your blob sustain.
Level 2Even / skillLevel 2 stays a skill trade around your healing blobs.
Level 3Even / skillLevel 3 remains even as his Q burst trades into your sustain.
Levels 4-5ZacLevels 4-5 are yours: Slingshot engage and blob sustain spike you.
Level 6Even / skillLevel 6 is even-ish - his R totem can execute you if you over-commit at low health.
First itemZacYour first health item and blob revive out-heal his grey-health steroid.
Two+ itemsZacLate, your HP pool and revive survive his poke and execute threshold.

Early game (levels 1–5)

Levels 1-3 are an even skill dance: his Q Ritual Nails on-hit poke taxes your walk-ups but every blob you pick up undoes a nail's worth of chip, and your Q Stretching Strikes threat keeps him honest - trade patiently, hoard blobs, and let your passive sustain grind the small exchanges even.

Read the rest of this matchup

The full Zac vs Locke report continues with the mid-game plan, the late-game and teamfight plan, every power spike to play around, and the win conditions for both sides — plus cooldown tracking and the live enemy-jungle tracker inside the app.

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Related guides

Playing the other side? Locke vs Zac guide →
All Zac top lane matchups →