Zac is a really fun champion to play. His ganks can come from any angle, he does high damage even if you build tanky due to Unstable Matter, and he doesn't even use mana! Add on to that three forms of CC and you have got yourself one awesome tank.

SPACE

Pros

1. No mana required
2. THREE forms of cc
3. Strong ult
4. Has damage even when building tanky
5. Longest range leap in the game

Cons

1. Can die easily if not built tanky
2. Ultimate is hard to use
3. Leap takes time to charge
4. Passive is poor in 1v1 situations

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Greater Mark of Magic Penetration Greater Seal of Armor Greater Glyph of Magic Resist Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed

Zac does almost all magic damage, so to take advantage of that we're going magic pen on reds. We want standard tank runes otherwise. Don't need AP quints, movespeed is better for ganks and chasing down targets.

We're building HP/tanky items, so we definitely want 21 points in defense. From there, we basically just have to decide if the extra damage is more valuable than flash CD / buff duration, and it is! So we take 9 points in offense.

Machete/5 is the standard jungle start. I would never do anything different.



You will want Spirit of the Ancient Golem since it's the most efficient item for junglers. Even though we waste 180 gold on mana regen, it's so efficient for tenactiy/HP/CDR that it's worth it over every other jungle item.

Boots or Giant's Belt should be your next pickup, depending on what you can afford after healing. From there, Sunfire Aegis is your first major item to increase your damage by a large amount while retaining tanky stats. We are almost always in the front line so this item's passive will always be worth damage.

Spirit Visage is also a must buy, and definitely no later than second item - you want to take advantage of this item when the big fights start happening. The synergy with your passive is insane, you absolutely can't skip this item when building tanky.

Mercury's Treads are your boot of choice since they provide both MR and tenacity, but if the enemy AD is fed then I won't fault you for building Ninja Tabi.



Randuin's Omen and Warmog's Armor are our choice defensive items. Warmog's Armor is best against burst as it gives the most HP, and Randuin's Omen is best against a fed enemy AD or multiple AD carries, for obvious reasons.

Thornmail and Liandry's Torment finish off our build (sell Madred's Razors when you get to this point). The Liandry's Torment will do great damage even though you don't have much AP since it scales off enemy health. Thornmail makes it so that pretty much no one except a farmed AP mid can 1v1 you late game as it always comes down to autoattacks, and with your gross amount of HP/HP regen they'll never be able to finish you off without dying themselves.

Smite is a necessity for all junglers. Helps you kill buffs, secure objectives, etc etc.

Flash is important for letting you escape sticky situations and finishing off kills, and is particularly good on Zac because you can flash with lethal DoTs on you and still survive with Cell Division.

You want to take Unstable Matter at level one since it's the most efficient skill for killing jungle creeps. However, we are maxing Elastic Slingshot first as getting it to the maximum level is really important for mid-game long range engages. Stretching Strikes is next due to the fact that it lowers the CD. We're not really the main damage dealer with this build so we don't need to max Unstable Matter - we'd rather go with better utility.

Zac's early game is unique because he can gank any lane, even through wards usually - and, he doesn't even need a smiteless leash since Unstable Matter is so OP at clearing jungle. So, at the start of the game take a look at the lanes and pick the easiest one to gank and start across the map from it (ie, if you're purple side and want to gank top, you start at blue buff). Try to get a smiteless even though you don't 100% need it since the extra HP will help you if your gank turns into a 2v2.

It's important to make sure you pay attention to enemy wards, or ask your lane. Elastic Slingshot allows you to take paths around most wards, so as long as you know where they are you should be able to avoid being seen. Then you just wait for Elastic Slingshot cooldown again and land it behind them for an almost certain kill.

And don't forget to pick up your blobs!!!!

Zac's midgame is similar to an Amumu's. Look to team-fight with your awesome ult let's bounce, and take objectives quickly with Unstable Matter. As in the champion spotlight, use Elastic Slingshot to jump over walls on unsuspecting enemies. The insane range of this spell often means you can initiate with it for lane ganks, a privilege usually reserved for Nocturne.

If you can get your support to put a Vision Ward at dragon, you can sneak in with Elastic Slingshot as well, so keep that in mind!

Zac really shines in the late game. You're a tanky blob with often over 4k HP, insane HP regen, and all defensive items. Try to sneak initiates in team fights by hiding in a brush or over a wall and charging Elastic Slingshot into let's bounce. Keep in mind that your Unstable Matter is most efficient when hitting high HP targets, so do your best to peel rather than dive. If you're going to die, do your best to die near allies so they can punish enemies for trying to kill you through Cell Division.

Keep in mind that your dueling potential is extremely strong - if the fights boil down to a 1v1, you will almost always win because your spells cost current health but heal max health.

Zac doesn't have that many awesome tricks (just one really), but there are a lot of small optimizations to keep in mind.

1. Fly-by smite steal - This has gotten a lot of attention on reddit - If you fly over the edge of the baron pit with Elastic Slingshot, you will be in range for Smite while mid-air, and you can Smite it without risking yourself. Obviously even harder to pull off than most Smite steals, but this move is really awesome when you can pull it off! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGcWE4Aq_kU is a clip of it (not mine).

2. Aiming let's bounce - This one can be tough. The important thing to note is that it knocks people AWAY from you - so try to use Elastic Slingshot to position yourself such that let's bounce will work towards putting enemies in the right direction. Also keep in mind that you can move and keep bouncing - generally towards the enemy in ganks, and towards your team in teamfights.

3. Move between skills - This is standard advice for every champion, but it's important for Zac as a caster-type jungler. Your autos don't mean as much (you should still get one it to proc red buff if you have it), so you can usually forgo a couple of them to stay in range of your other spells.

4. Mini-sling - Always remember that your Elastic Slingshot can be double-tapped for a quick knockup. This is useful for close fights where a .5 second stun will mean the difference. Make sure you time so you interrupt an auto-attack for maximum effect. Blocking dashes like Quickdraw and Rocket Jump will often mean a kill.

5. Proper spell order - When initiating, make sure you pop Unstable Matter before using let's bounce since that will knock the enemy out of range. It should go Elastic Slingshot --> Unstable Matter --> let's bounce --> Stretching Strikes.

I hope you all have enjoyed my ZAC guide! ZAC is one of the funnest junglers in the game right now, and takes a lot of practice to master. I hope this guide will help you in your endeavors! Here's an embed of my stream! www.twitch.tv/yodatv