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Recommended Items
Spells:
Flash
Ignite
Items
Ability Order
Cell Division (PASSIVE)
Zac Passive Ability
Introduction
Zac is a very strong champion in ranked solo queue and competitive play but he does have weaknesses; below are the benefits and downfalls to playing the green machine in the top lane.
Zac is a great pick into the top lane in solo queue or in team play. The amount of disrupt he can provide in team fights is immense if you can land your
Elastic Slingshot on several enemies and follow up with your let's bounce. Zac's ultimate provides him with movement speed and a lot of disruption (but no longer provides tenacity). You can disrupt the enemy adc while doing considerable damage as well because of your high base damage. Your passive is also a great tool allowing for you to be in the front and forcing the enemy team's focus while allowing your team time to take out priority targets while they waste time taking out your blobs. In lane you have a lot of sustain available to you if you are able to pick up blobs making you very hard to push out of lane.
When your team is in need of damage Zac can dish out a good deal of it but he should not be your first choice. The blobs dropped by your abilities can be used by the other laner to force trades. They can either step on the blob to deny your sustain or even camp the blob and try to force an all in if you go to pick it up. Your passive can be underwhelming at times; for instance if you die in lane and you're not directly under tower there is nothing to really stop your opponent from killing your
Cell Division blobs.
Vayne's
Silver Bolts is probably one of the toughest abilities for Zac to deal with along with the current %health items
Liandry's Torment and
Blade of the Ruined King.
Pros - Why you're playing Zac
|
+ Potent CC tank + Great sustain + GA passive with ![]() + Incredible base damage + Fits into almost any composition |
Zac is a great pick into the top lane in solo queue or in team play. The amount of disrupt he can provide in team fights is immense if you can land your

Cons - Where he falls short
|
+ Not the best choice if your team needs more of a carry top laner. + The opposing laner can step on blobs to deny some sustain. + If you don't have back up or aren't under tower it can be easy to kill off your ![]() + Champions like ![]() ![]() |
When your team is in need of damage Zac can dish out a good deal of it but he should not be your first choice. The blobs dropped by your abilities can be used by the other laner to force trades. They can either step on the blob to deny your sustain or even camp the blob and try to force an all in if you go to pick it up. Your passive can be underwhelming at times; for instance if you die in lane and you're not directly under tower there is nothing to really stop your opponent from killing your





You want to pick up 9x magic penetration reds and magic penetration quintessences because this will make all of your abilities stronger. Penetration is always more efficient than flat ap because his base damage is high but his scaling is rather lackluster. Flat armor runes are standard, the flat magic resist runes are there if magic damage is an immediate threat but these can be replaced by 9x

Magic Penetration/Defense



I only take one point in





A single point in


Starting
This is my standard start against most laners. The shield gives you flat health and regen while also reducing the damage taken from auto attacks. Most early trades involve trading auto's so this combined with




The




This



Mid Game
These should be your core items in the mid game. Go for the



Late Game
Now that the mid game is coming to a close you've probably started grouping with your teammates. Now you have to look at the enemy composition and decide whether or not you'll be picking up a




Alternative Items
Warmog's is definitely useful as sixth item and can be incorporated even earlier in your build. It is strong against a lot of ap compositions which don't incorporate






Alternative Build Orders
If you are up against a strong ap laner like







Against a strong ad laner and/or composition I would suggest going for a




The skill sequence for top lane
Zac is a bit different than most jungle Zac skill sequences.
For lane you will be maxing
Stretching Strikes first. Maxing this ability allows you to strike at your enemy from a small distance for considerable damage. The most efficient way to use this ability is to try and grab last hits with it while lining up the last hit with your opposing laner. The ability applies a slow as well so if you can land this on the other top laner as your jungler is coming in, it will make it even easier to secure the kill.
Next up is the
Elastic Slingshot which is an incredible gap closer and escape tool. I like to grab slingshot at level 2 just in case the opposing jungler tries to swing by for an early gank. Remember that your slingshot can be interrupted by hard crowd control abilities like knock-backs and stuns. I max this second to get as much distance on the jump as possible. This allows you to initiate fights from fog of war in the mid game.
You level
Unstable Matter last. It is a bit hard to use effectively in lane; with some finesse you can grab tricky last hits you might not otherwise get with the spell and it is on a pretty short cooldown. It does %health damage and is very effective at harassing other tanks in lane. It is the only ability you can use while using your Let's Bounce. This spell probably benefits the most from your magic penetration in the late game since you'll be doing a lot of health shredding to the enemy front line.
Your ultimate is Let's Bounce and you should put a point into it at every chance you get. It works wonders in team fights and is a good tool for finishing off enemies in lane. It can be partnered with your
Elastic Slingshot to keep the other top laner locked up long enough for your jungler to get to your lane or secure the kill. It can even be used as an escape tool because of the additional movement speed (but it no longer gives you tenacity as of patch 3.10a!). For instance if the opposing jungler sneaks through lane and jumps on you, your ultimate will knock up both the jungler and the other top laner and hopefully give you enough time to escape without blowing your passive.
Your passive
Cell Division is a great tool that can be used several different ways. It can be used to bait tower dives if you can work with your jungler to set up a countergank for your lane. You can use it offensively in jungle invades because if you're the person walking at the front of your team, if they turn on you they not only have to kill you but your blobs too. This could provide enough time for your team to score first blood.

For lane you will be maxing

Next up is the

You level

Your ultimate is Let's Bounce and you should put a point into it at every chance you get. It works wonders in team fights and is a good tool for finishing off enemies in lane. It can be partnered with your

Your passive

You're probably sick of it by now but I keep talking about
Zac as an initiator and a cc tank. I'll explain how you should accomplish this (Trust me it's very simple). Come mid game you'll probably have 3 or 4 core items depending on how you did in lane. This is usually the time to start grouping and pushing for objectives. The enemy team is sure to do this too. In team fights you should use your
Elastic Slingshot to initiate on as many people as you can. If you can manage to land on 3 or more people then proceed to pop your let's bounce to knock up the enemy team a second time. If done correctly you can keep them in the air for about 1.5 seconds. This is where your decision making comes into play. If your ad carry is stronger and one or more champions are trying to dive the carry, then you should peel back while bouncing in your ultimate to knock them up and keep them from getting to the carry at all costs. Don't forget to use
Stretching Strikes as the slow will allow your carry to kite more effectively. Spam your
Unstable Matter at all times and pick up blobs when you can, but don't go too out of the way to pick up your blobs! Every second counts in a team fight and you should always be ready to peel back for your carries. Only dive the enemy carries if you are sure that you can secure the kill and/or that your carry is well protected.




I hope you all found my
Zac guide helpful! Zac in my personal opinion is one of the strongest top laners right now and he is definitely a great pick for anyone. His skill set has a lot of versatility and in the right hand he can turn the tides of games.
I'm Mechanic and thank you again for checking out my guide and feel free to leave comments, I'll make sure to read them all!

I'm Mechanic and thank you again for checking out my guide and feel free to leave comments, I'll make sure to read them all!
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