
How to Carry with Zac [Meteos inspired Zac guide]

Summoner Spells Back to Top
New Runes Back to Top
Masteries Back to Top
Abilities Back to Top
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Items Back to Top
Starting Items
Core Items
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I usually rush cinderhulk into deadmans unless they're either double ap or an ap on their team is getting really ahead. Deadmans is the superior item midgame for Zac and in general. Almost always go Merc treads *unless* they have no hard cc then go tabi. If you have 3+ kills in the early game just go for CDR boots and carry hard. SIDENOTE: Many people are opting for the AP jungle item and then building into full tank. I haven't been able to full test it out and know for sure if I like it better, but if you're lacking damage or get ahead early consider building it over Cinderhulk.
Situational Items
Matchups Back to Top
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DianaMedium
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Dr. MundoHard
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EkkoEasy
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EliseHard
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EvelynnMedium
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FiddlesticksEasy
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Jarvan IVEasy
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JaxEasy
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KindredHard
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Lee SinMedium
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Master YiMedium
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NidaleeEasy
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NunuEasy
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OlafMedium
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PoppyHard
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RammusEasy
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Rek'SaiEasy
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RengarEasy
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SejuaniEasy
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ShacoMedium
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TrundleHard
VS

Diana
Medium
This matchup can be either extremely difficult or pretty easy depending on how fed the Diana gets. Diana can clear faster than you once she gets Runeglaive, but her early ganks are abysmal. Abuse that by ganking lots early and putting your lanes ahead. Diana can cancel your E which is really obnoxious and she can be extremely hard to peel off if you miss your E when she dashes. Try to wait for her dash before using E and use R on top of whoever she dashes to, this will cancel it and allow you to E her easier.
VS

Dr. Mundo
Hard
Mundo is op right now. Mundo does damage to you based off your HP but it's way more than your HP shred. You can kill him and shred him, but he will almost always beat you 1v1 (unless fed with Liandry's or something). Try to peel against him in teamfights as most of the time you will be the only one dealing substantial damage to him. Gank early to try and pull him into skirmishes which you should win since he doesn't really become too bad until 2 or 3 items.
VS

Ekko
Easy
Can be annoying, but as long as you make sure to E after he blinks and CC him so that he can't ult you should be fine. Nothing else about this matchup is particularly bad, he essentially can't kill you early game and your ganks are better. You can hard farm or gank in this matchup one isn't better than the other. You farm faster and stay healthier plus your ganks are superior due to the fact that your CC is much less telegraphed and early game you should do more damage in skirmishes.
VS

Elise
Hard
If she goes AP, she will shit on you, however, if she goes tank it's an easy matchup. Either way, it can be easy due to the fact that you can easily blow her up if you catch her in human form or without Rappel. Care not to let her cocoon you while you charge E. Elise is actually very similar in clear speed and ganks, so I would suggest playing a heavy farm/gank style very much depending on comps. She falls off extremely hard, so if your team can survive the early game you should be able to outperform her very hard.
VS

Evelynn
Medium
One of the few champs that has the potential to outgank you can win skirmishes with you at most points in the game. However, she is still very squishy and relies on running in to do her damage making it easy to chain CC into death. Gank after first clear since she will be too low to respond and then hard farm. Mid game you pull ahead of her as long as she's not super fed.
VS

Fiddlesticks
Easy
Just R him when he ults in and knock him away from your team. Easy kills early game if you countergank or any time he doesn't have Zhonya's. Hard CC is Fiddle's least favorite thing and you can lock him up for 3 seconds to get blown up. Care for wasting E and R before he ults, he will make you regret it.
VS

Jarvan IV
Easy
Pretty simple match up, E him after his combo and abuse the fact that many people group towards R to hit a big E or R. Your ganks aren't always better, but should be easier to pull off without being seen. Not to mention that his damage falls off as you scale up and he won't be able to compete with you at all mid game.
VS

Jax
Easy
Many people have been playing Jax jungle lately so I thought I'd add a small section for it. Jax is an easy matchup because you can just E on top of whoever he Q's and the Ult him away essentially nullifying his full damage squishy build. Now if he gets ahead, you'll have to hope someone on your team can kill him when you CC him otherwise you might as well ff. The toughest part about Jax is that he's mixed damage so if he gets going peeling him off can be a challenge because you can die to him too. Blow passive to kill him if you have to, it'll almost always be worth it.
VS

Kindred
Hard
Hard CC'ing her is the only option, unfortunately her Q makes that very hard. If she's fed, make sure to save ult to knock her out of her ult so that you can actually kill her before she puts out her full damage. I would NEVER try to gank/ countergank vs Kindred unless I absolutely knew she would not be there. She will destroy you in a skirmish or 1v1. Just try to hard farm to mid game where you can engage/ make plays and pray she's not fed.
VS

Lee Sin
Medium
Fairly easy matchup if you know your limits. Level 3 counterganks in particular can get messy if you misplay even just a little bit, but at all other points in the game this matchup is mostly in Zac's favor. I suggest trying to hard farm the jungle to 6 if you see no easy gank opportunites simply because Lee will most likely be stronger in a skirmish earlier on. However, once you have cinderhulk/ are building into deadman's, he should be your bitch as long as he's not fed. Mid and late game are a piece of cake because you do his job better than him unless he gets a clutch kick off.
VS

Master Yi
Medium
Yi is a complicated champ because while Zac hard farms better than most junglers, Yi is not one of those junglers. Therefore, it's usually better to try and gank and put as much pressure as possible before he is able to hit 6. This is to nullify his ability to prey on a losing/ weak lane in order to get fed and then carry the game. Team fighting vs Yi is the one of the only situations where you have no other option to peel. If you let him run through the fight as he pleases, you will lose. Double tap E to "stun" him, but be careful to use it after he has already Q'd or he'll just dodge it. Ult is also a good way to peel him off, but if you can land E into Ult he'll be locked up long enough to blow him up and nullify any of his damage. Usually if he's ahead I go Deadman's - Spectre's Cowl (If AP is doing okay/well) - into Thornmail and that's enough to peel him without melting to him as well.
VS

Nidalee
Easy
CC her and blow her up, counter gank her whenever you can. Make sure to E after she pounces for a guaranteed hit. Pressuring/ ganking is better in this matchup because she will farm faster than you and your ganks are better anyway. Lvl 3 ganks are optimal against her because her first clear is so rough and therefore she won't be able to counter effectively.
VS

Nunu
Easy
Two interrupts for his ult, no real threat of his counterjungle past first clear, and you'll always be able to kill him in fights. Nothing hard about this matchup, I would suggest ganking as much as possible early because your ganks are superior and Nunu will be weaker in skirmishes.
VS

Olaf
Medium
This matchup can either be very easy or very hard. If Olaf accrues a lead early game, it will be extremely hard to deal with him as he can ignore both of your CC's and will be tanky enough to deal with your W damage shredding him. Try to gank early as Olaf will outfarm you if that's what he goes for. You can win early skirmishes as long as your E lands.
VS

Poppy
Hard
Poppy is REALLY strong right now. She can build full tank and still shred tanks just like you except hers is your Q and W in one ability. If both parts hit, it does 12% max hp dmg which is almost double what yours does at max rank. Plus, hers is on a similar cd to yours. However, she can also interrupt your jump at the beginning or end, peel better than you, disengage better than you, and be more annoying in general. The only thing you have on her is your engage power which she can nullify if she's smart. Try to play around that and avoid skirmishing with her early, she's much stronger than you.
VS

Rammus
Easy
You shred tanks and can peel Rammus off extremely well. If he lands a taunt on a priority target, just try to run interference and disengage with Ult. Hard farming and heavy ganking are both okay in this matchup, countergank if you can since you win the 2v2/3v3 with almost any laner(s).
VS

Rek'Sai
Easy
Easy enough, hard to catch/ pin down, but that's not an issue really. Once again this is a matchup where either farming or ganking is okay, but care of letting Rek'Sai dominate early because she can carry the game. Her ganks are very strong especially early on. Counterganking is an option, but I'd suggest just attempting to peel her off/ disengaging.
VS

Rengar
Easy
Keep a pink on you at all times if he gets big enough to one shot your carry. Make sure to be ready to react with an E almost instantlyor else you'll just be trading 1 for 1. E and R can make his life hell if you manage to hit him with them before he's able to oneshot someone and really that's the only strat. Hard farm vs him because you'll farm faster and look for ganks that are a sure thing. Most Rengars won't waste their time trying to gank pre-6 as it's extremely hard to just walk up to someone and bola them.
VS

Sejuani
Easy
You do her job better in every way, out gank her and out damage her. She can out engage you if your team clumps too hard, but you can also disengage from her very easily with your Ult. Hard farm vs her to win mid game or gank early if you see the opportunity. Countergank whenever you can.
VS

Shaco
Medium
Don't get invaded early and make sure to save E for when he unstealths. He may try to dodge it with Ult so be wary of just using it. Ulting is the safer option in this case. He can outgank you so I'd suggest hard farming, however if you can countergank you can usually win. Try to counterjungle him if you see him ganking, Shaco has a horrible clear speed and will be crippled if he can't get kills from ganks and he doesn't have camps to farm.
VS

Trundle
Hard
Trundle is a bad matchup for a lot of reasons, the main one being that he can cancel your jump from a range with Pillar and that he gets tankier from you being tanky and he melts your HP. All of these combined make him a really obnoxious champ to play against. I would suggest heavy ganking to try and get your lanes as far ahead as possible to deal with this monster.
Ganking Back to Top
This is where Zac really shines and can completely win your team the game in the first 10 minutes. Zac's ability to gank out of vision of wards and over walls not only lets you hit your E reliably most of the time just due to surprise, but also makes him one of the scariest junglers pressure wise. The other team should never feel safe because of your range on E. While I don't have a preferred lane to gank, bot and top lane are usually the best as there are more creative uses of fog of war and walls to use as opposed to mid lane where you essentially have 3 choices only. If you know where the enemy warded, try to find a place where your jump can bypass the ward from to essentially nullify their vision and still pull off a successful gank.
Teamfights Back to Top
This is honestly the hardest part about playing Zac, because you just have so many options. Most of the time it won't matter all too much and all the options are decent, but some games are closer than others with only one solution to win.
Peeling: Zac is god tier at peeling for carrys, as his ult displaces the frontline and doesn't allow them to position as they'd like. Not to mention that double tapping E essentially gives you a mini-stun at point blank range for tons of lock up combined with your ult. W also allows you to do consistent health shred damage to their tanks and Q helps for kiting.
Diving: My personal preference on Zac as you can force the enemy backline to focus you while being as annoying as possible and in most cases able to kill the ADC or Mid laner as long as you hit your E. I just think Zac is too good at engaging a fight to sit in the back and peel most of the time, but as I said some games peeling is the better option. After playing many games on him and losing some closer ones due to diving or peeling and choosing the wrong one, you'll start to get more comfortable with playing both styles.
Kiting: Zac doesn't fit too well in kite comps just because he wants to hard engage and stay in the fight with W and cinderhulk burn to do any real damage. However, it's inevitable that you will be on at least one kite oriented comp when you pick Zac. The best way to play it is simply to kite back with your team throwing out Q's where you can and looking for chances to turn and E quickly for a big 3 or 4 man knock up into ult. Otherwise, just stand in front of your team spamming Q and W and let them do their damage, not the ideal comp for Zac.
Changelog Back to Top
1-06-2016:
Wrap Up Back to Top
That's that! I hope you enjoyed the guide and it helps you in your journey to becoming a Zac master. Feel free to leave a comment on anyway I can improve my guide or any sections you'd like to see added. Also, if you have more questions or would like me to watch some replays I'd be more than happy to whenever I have time. My IGN is Until Life if you'd like to add me. Thanks and go gain some elo!