League of Legends: Guide to Play Zac in the Jungle

Zac was the first champion in my 2022 journey, aiming to go from Silver to Diamond in less than 30 days. Not only I made it, but I kept playing this champion until the present day, becoming a “mono champion” and a specialist with it, so much so that I was the third best Zac in Brazil during the same period I reached Master in Solo/Duo queue in 2023.

The Secret Weapon from Zaun is a Jungler and Top laner which sets itself apart by being a crowd control tank, being very useful in team fights, since you can jump onto the enemy backline and stun your adversaries for many seconds.

We can make an analogy with Amumu, both are very similar in this sense. Zac is a little harder than The Sad Mummy, but in return, my experience with it makes me feel he is a more complete champion, since he doesn’t spend mana and has a high healing rate due to his passive.

In addition to possessing mobility with his E, and a much higher damage than the opponents imagine, mostly with his W, we’ll see more about his abilities soon.

He is a late game champion, which means he is stronger at the end of the game. Beyond level six it is already possible to create some plays using his ultimate, but prioritize leveling up and evolving your E to gank better.

Passive: Cell Division

His passive is formed by two mechanics, the first being that when we land a hit with an ability, be it on champions, monsters or minions, a small slime will be dropped to the ground. Go over it to heal part of your HP. If an enemy champion steps on it first, it gets destroyed.

Besides that, when you are defeated, instead of dying and giving a kill to the enemy instantly, Zac divides itself into four smaller parts which will gradually go back to the center, resurrecting the champion, and the enemy will only kill you by eliminating these four parts. Take note that this resource has a cooldown of five minutes.

Q: Stretching Strikes

The enemy hit by Stretching Strikes will receive damage and slow, and will also be marked for one second. If Zac hits a basic attack on any other being, he will lift them both and cause a crash between them.

You cannot aim your Q at a plant or a sentinel, but the basic attack after hitting the enemy with the skill works, and you will stun them.

W: Unstable Matter

Zac causes an explosion in an area close to him, causing damage based on the target 's maximum health, very effective against tanks. This skill is your greatest source of damage, since it recharges fast.

Notice in the video below that the slimes left by his passive recharge your W cooldown in a second.

E: Elastic Slingshot

The most impacting skill from Zaun’s Secret Weapon! His E is a jump which throws the enemies it hits in the air, the more you evolve this skill, the longer its reach. It is great for tanks, chasing and escaping. See in the video how this skill is also useful to jump over walls.

R: Let’s Bounce!

Let’s Bounce is Zack’s ultimate, basically he will jump four times, and the first jump landed on each enemy will throw it up in the air. It’s worth mentioning that you can move freely during the ultimate, and hits also generate slimes from his passive.

Combos

Zac’s combo is simple, its objective is to use E to get to enemy carries, usually the ADC and MID, maybe the Support (in case it is a peel for the ADC). After that, use W and Q, hit a basic attack on any other champion to stun them both with your Q and finalize it with the ultimate.

During the ultimate, focus on getting the slimes while you’re in the air, and when you hit the ground, hit the champions. Use W as much as you can, getting the slimes will help you with that.

The most common thing is seeing this champion with Aftershock, but I learned, from another mono Zac, a more hybrid approach to the champion, which also focuses on his damage potential. So, my first rune is First Strike! Since we jump on enemies, it’s usually us who start contact in team fights, that alongside First Strike makes us get some extra gold, and also raises our damage.

It is very different, and I have myself witnessed many teammates signaling or commenting negatively about this rune. But don’t worry, if you want to be more aggressive you can trust this approach, and on the contrary, choose Aftershock which is more common and leans only towards defense.

Version using First Strike:

Version using Aftershock:

There are two ways to be followed, a full tank build, recommended when we are behind on the match, when we are the only tank in the team, or when the enemy team doesn’t have an “anti-tank” such as Vayne.

I prioritize merging defense and damage, the other approach, especially at the occasions when I have more gold.

But overall, your key items are Sunfire Aegis, Bramble Vest (if you need more armor, evolve it to Thornmail) and Spirit Visage. This third one increases your healing, which is great for Zac.

Of course, it’s not recommended to attach yourself to these items, should the enemy team offer more threats with magical damage, exchange Sunfire Aegis for Hollow Radiance.

Bramble Vest is the perfect “heal-cut” for Zac, in addition to providing a lot of armor, but if there’s not a lot of healing and physical damage on the other side, it will be a waste. Otherwise, if there are no mages on the enemy team, Spirit Visage might not be the best option, you need to have that notion during the matches.

When it comes to boots, Plated Steelcaps and Mercury’s Treats are the most recommended for him, remember that beyond statuses, they offer distinct characteristics. The former offers Armor and protection against basic attacks, the latter Magic Resistance and Tenacity (resistance against stun, slow, etc.).

In case there is a lot of magical damage in both teams, Abyssal Mask will be a great fit, it lowers the magic resistance of enemies around you and raises yours. Meaning, your team (including you) will cause more damage and you will receive less.

In a scenery where you have the advantage, or you’re just confident, make a more hybrid build. Your first return to base will be with Dark Seal and Bami’s Cinder (Bami’s Cinder will evolve to Sunfire Aegis or Hollow Radiance). Your boots can also be the Ionian Boots of Lucidity, which lowers the cooldown on your abilities.

If you have many charges on the Seal, and few kills overall, evolve it to a Mejai's Soulstealer. Liandry’s Anguish or Riftmaker are also good options.

Remember: This is a hybrid build, don’t forget to continue with a few defensive items, I recommend only one or two (maximum) damage-based items.

Zac is bad against

Kayn

This is my main ban, he is scarily strong against Zac. Since we are a champion who doesn’t press a lot at the start, Kayn can gank and farm freely, releasing the Darkin (red) or Shadow Assassin (blue) without difficulties. He will also finish items earlier, and will certainly give your teammates some trouble.

Kindred

Usually, fragile champions suffer in Zac’s hands, but the Kindred are a different matter. The Eternal Hunters possess great mobility, and, since we offer no threat in the early game, they will not hesitate to invade us. If the Kindred player has a notion of the Jungle, they will also find you to get some kills at your expense in it, and also get the marks for their passive.

Bel’Veth

This void creature has some characteristics like the ones from the two previously mentioned champions to face us. Bel’Veth’s power peaks towards the end games, and Zac cannot stop or threaten her until then. She also has great mobility to escape the attacks.

Janna

Even not being a Jungler, Janna can cause problems for Zac, she’s known to have a great disengage, which means stopping the enemy from advancing. She can cancel our jump just with her tornado, and there is also her ultimate, which pushes enemies away. Basically, we will not make it to their back line.

Zac is good against

Lee Sin

Lee Sin has a strong beginning and there is a real risk of winning the game after a few accurate ganks in lane phase. But most of the time, placing many sentinels and avoiding traps from him, Zac can hold the game and make the difference in the final team fights when Lee is weakened.

Briar

Briar is an assassin which has Blood Frenzy as their highest source of damage, this state causes her to automatically run towards her enemy, with no possibility of the player controlling her steps. That makes her predictable, which makes it easy for Zac to land his combo.

Karthus

He offers no threats to Zac, allowing us to farm freely, both are late game champions, but, in teamfights Karthus is fragile and needs to stay still to channel his main skills (Q and R), which opens a perfect window for our stunning combo, and to eliminate him.

Sejuani

Despite shining a bit more than the zaunite in the early game, Sejuani does not pressure us by invading the Jungle, and so, Zac has the necessary time to farm and progress his build. By the end of the lane phase and going into teamfights, the spotlight goes fully to Zac because his stuns are in area, and his infiltration of the enemy backline is more precise, which makes him more efficient than Sejuani.

Best Duos for Zac

The ideal is to get a “carry” champion, with high damage and the potential to carry a game. Since Zac infiltrates the enemy backline easily, give preference to characters who also can, for example, Yasuo, Irelia and Rengar.

Basically, we will use our stun combo with E, Q e R, stopping them for many seconds. Meanwhile, your duo can cause a lot of damage, but he needs this infiltration and damage capacity.

Yasuo and Rengar will reach it easily with the ultimate. Irelia can “surf” between enemies with her Q, until she gets to the opponent’s backline, she will also have an easier time landing her E and R with the enemies stunned by Zac, raising the chance of eliminating them even further.

If your duo is inhibited by the enemy tank, without this nature of reaching enemy carries, you will not have enough damage to eliminate the two or three champions which will be on the backline.

Another good match for Zac is a champion which depends on landing skillshots to explode enemies, such is the case for Brand and Orianna, and even Irelia as mentioned above. These can take advantage of the high stun time you bring to land their skills with more precision. But certify yourself that they will be able to get this space, if they stay well at the back they will not have reach for it.

Don’t attach yourself only to the champions mentioned here, there are many characters in League of Legends. Focus on understanding their characteristics, there will be other champions capable of doing that part.

There are also a few exceptions which fall outside the previously mentioned pattern, for example, Malzahar. As explained, in some matches it’s interesting to build Dark Seal to create a lot of advantage, and each kill or assistance raises the item’s potency (unless you die, then you will lose a part of it), and it is easy to stack this item with a Malzahar duo.

His ultimate paralyses a champion for a long time, you will take advantage of the moment to jump and cause a lot of damage. A little before the enemy gets out of Malzahar’s R, land your Q (they will be still, so it will be easy), and when Malzahar’s stun ends, hit a minion to trap the adversary with your Q, combining the stuns.

You will still have your own R, causing even more paralysis while your duo lands a lot of damage, eliminating the opponent with ease and increasing the Dark Seal charge.

Know how to potentialize your Q

It’s possible to hit with a basic attack monsters, plants and sentinels to reactivate your Q, after hitting a champion, to stun them.

What has helped me a lot: I hit the enemy with my Q, and they run away, there are no minions, plants or monsters around. So I instinctively turn on my sweeping lens or use the control sentinel, formerly known as “pink”, to try and discover an enemy sentinel. If there is any, I hit it and manage to stun the adversary, maximizing my Q’s potential.

Play for your team

Even possessing great tools for team fights, Zac needs a damage partner, wait for your team’s cooldowns on their important abilities to move them alongside yourself.

I hope this article has helped you to comprehend the fundamentals of Zac! I invite you to read our recommendations on how to deal with toxic players if you are having a hard time with them!

Thanks for reading!