Suit Up - The Elastic Potential of Zac
Riot·7/22/2014, 9:06:11 PM·0 votes·2,423 views
Zac was strong both as a jungler and as a top laner in Season 3, but hasn’t been seen much in 2014. What made him strong initially, what caused him to fall out of favor, and what might make him a top-tier pick again?
As well, the top laners that excelled in the 2014 meta were slightly different. While Zac has a lot of burst stick power, with a long-ranged gap-closer and 2 CCs, once those run out, he finds himself unable to stick to targets. On the other hand, champions like Shyvana and Dr. Mundo have consistent Movement Speed buffs which allows them to put constant pressure onto AD Carries in teamfights.
Top laners agree that Zac has gotten weaker in top lane due to a few notable issues with his kit.
Zac has weak early game trading potential. While he has decent sustain, his low damage makes that a moot point, as he does too little damage to serve as a major threat. Zac’s sustain is very good when just farming/pushing, but when he’s fighting, the distance his blobs fly away from makes maintaining his sustain levels in trades. This is especially notable in group settings, where there are more enemy champions around to crush his blobs.
On the other hand, the revive portion of his passive, while strong in a group setting like a teamfight, is weak in 1v1 situations. Ackerman remarks that his passive often “is not good enough to deal with enemy attacks”, as the enemy laner (especially in the mid-game) can just kill the blobs after ‘killing’ Zac.
However, NoName thinks that the 4.11 changes to Ancient Golem buffed Zac simply by making his build path stronger. Currently, Zac’s weaknesses can be “compared to other junglers who need Spirit of the Elder Lizard”, as compared to them, his “ability to clear the jungle is inferior”, and “he is hard-pressed to win early game 1v1 fights against AD junglers”, while “lacking burst damage compared to current strong junglers”. However, as the Ancient Golem item series is changed, hopefully it will give him the sustain, tankiness, and clear speed he needs to be a competitive jungler.
His ability to farm was only strong when compared to other tanky junglers; the Elder Lizard junglers can simply outpace him, and it won’t matter if he scales well if he has half of their farm. Finally, his item path has been weak, with only Nunu, Jarvan, and Elise opting into the Ancient Golem path. The recent Ancient Golem changes affect his potential jungle strength, but we will have to wait and see the effects of those changes.
Finally, his strengths were supplemented by the meta in Season 3, with assassins at a premium. Their high burst allowed them to follow up on his CC well, and making up for his weaknesses. If damage-heavy laners like assassins find their way back into the meta, he could potentially bounce back as a jungler!
In top lane, he largely seems out of the meta thanks to the strong dueling power of current top laners. The strong top laners simply have too much trading strength for him to handle, and his role is immovable object is not as useful as the split-push potential of Jax, the teamfight damage of Gragas, or the utility of Lulu.
Ultimately, Zac doesn’t offer enough. He has a lot of CC, but not much else. This forces his team to make up for his weaknesses, and doesn’t allow him to make plays on his own.
Mattias "Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman is a League of Legends math-crafter turned esports journalist who spends his spare time staring at mountains of League of Legends data. Tweet him which LCS player you think is most likely to play Zac next @GentlemanGustaf.
Top Lane
As a top laner, when he was strong, Zac became immovable in lane due his passive. As long as he could keep picking the blobs up, he could sustain through most damage, winning trades and reaching his late-game strengths: high base damage, extreme tankiness, and solid initiation. As the champion pool top lane matured, strengthened, and shrank, Zac was forced out due to a few key weaknesses. According to Fnatic’s sOAZ, “Zac is a late game champ who needs a couple of levels to get the ball rolling.” Moreover, changes to the placement of his passive blobs made it harder for him to secure his sustain; this made him very weak “in lane swap situations or against early game champions.” As such, given the strength of champions like Renekton in 2014, as well as the growing popularity of 2v1 or 4v0 lanes, Zac found himself unable to compete.
As well, the top laners that excelled in the 2014 meta were slightly different. While Zac has a lot of burst stick power, with a long-ranged gap-closer and 2 CCs, once those run out, he finds himself unable to stick to targets. On the other hand, champions like Shyvana and Dr. Mundo have consistent Movement Speed buffs which allows them to put constant pressure onto AD Carries in teamfights.
Top laners agree that Zac has gotten weaker in top lane due to a few notable issues with his kit.
Zac has weak early game trading potential. While he has decent sustain, his low damage makes that a moot point, as he does too little damage to serve as a major threat. Zac’s sustain is very good when just farming/pushing, but when he’s fighting, the distance his blobs fly away from makes maintaining his sustain levels in trades. This is especially notable in group settings, where there are more enemy champions around to crush his blobs.
On the other hand, the revive portion of his passive, while strong in a group setting like a teamfight, is weak in 1v1 situations. Ackerman remarks that his passive often “is not good enough to deal with enemy attacks”, as the enemy laner (especially in the mid-game) can just kill the blobs after ‘killing’ Zac.
Jungle
On the other hand, as a jungler Zac can take advantage of Elastic Slingshot, which “is a powerful ability for ganks and a good initiation for teamfights”, and has natural tankiness thanks to one of “the most OP passives among the league champions”, according to LMQ’s NoName. According to Meteos, one of the top Zac junglers in Season 3, the major issue Zac has is “low damage, so his ganks aren’t very scary”. Unstable Matter does offer considerable clear speed, but since it is not maxed first, it doesn’t solve his early game issues. As such, making Zac work requires high damage lanes that can take advantage of his CC and utility.
However, NoName thinks that the 4.11 changes to Ancient Golem buffed Zac simply by making his build path stronger. Currently, Zac’s weaknesses can be “compared to other junglers who need Spirit of the Elder Lizard”, as compared to them, his “ability to clear the jungle is inferior”, and “he is hard-pressed to win early game 1v1 fights against AD junglers”, while “lacking burst damage compared to current strong junglers”. However, as the Ancient Golem item series is changed, hopefully it will give him the sustain, tankiness, and clear speed he needs to be a competitive jungler.
A Whole New Flubber
Overall, Zac is a very niche champion. He was strong in the Season 3 jungle due to the strength of his early-mid game ganks, with strong CC and a long-ranged gap-closer, as well as a good ability to farm and a dominant item path (Spirit of the Ancient Golem). However, with trinket availability, as well as more extensive warding knowledge, the value of his ganks has lessened, due to his need to charge Elastic Slingshot.
His ability to farm was only strong when compared to other tanky junglers; the Elder Lizard junglers can simply outpace him, and it won’t matter if he scales well if he has half of their farm. Finally, his item path has been weak, with only Nunu, Jarvan, and Elise opting into the Ancient Golem path. The recent Ancient Golem changes affect his potential jungle strength, but we will have to wait and see the effects of those changes.
Finally, his strengths were supplemented by the meta in Season 3, with assassins at a premium. Their high burst allowed them to follow up on his CC well, and making up for his weaknesses. If damage-heavy laners like assassins find their way back into the meta, he could potentially bounce back as a jungler!
In top lane, he largely seems out of the meta thanks to the strong dueling power of current top laners. The strong top laners simply have too much trading strength for him to handle, and his role is immovable object is not as useful as the split-push potential of Jax, the teamfight damage of Gragas, or the utility of Lulu.
Ultimately, Zac doesn’t offer enough. He has a lot of CC, but not much else. This forces his team to make up for his weaknesses, and doesn’t allow him to make plays on his own.
Mattias "Gentleman Gustaf" Lehman is a League of Legends math-crafter turned esports journalist who spends his spare time staring at mountains of League of Legends data. Tweet him which LCS player you think is most likely to play Zac next @GentlemanGustaf.
