Garen vs Zac

Garen
vs
44.3%

over 61 games

Zac

Hard matchup

Strong engageHeavy AP damageVery tankyHeavy CC

Build vs Zac

Build adapted to this matchup

Recommended items for Garen: Stridebreaker, Mortal Reminder, Phantom Dancer, Berserker's Greaves, Executioner's Calling, Youmuu's Ghostblade, Dead Man's Plate, Force of Nature.

Starting items

Doran's Shield
Health Potion

Core build

Stridebreaker
1
Mortal Reminder
2
Phantom Dancer
3

Standard

Berserker's Greaves
4AS
Executioner's Calling
5

Summoner spells

FlashDot94%
FlashTeleport5%

Anti CC

Mercury's Treads
4vs CC

Other options

Executioner's Calling
Youmuu's Ghostblade
Dead Man's Plate
Force of Nature
Spear of Shojin
Black Cleaver
Infinity Edge
Sterak's Gage
40.0% WR5 games
PrecisionPrecision
ConquerorConqueror
TriumphTriumph
Legend: HasteLegend: Haste
Last StandLast Stand
SorcerySorcery
Axiom ArcanistAxiom Arcanist
CelerityCelerity
Adaptive ForceAdaptive ForceHealth Scaling

Power Spikes

Strength by game phase

Zac's abilities

Passive, spells and ultimate

Cell Division (P)

Each time Zac hits an enemy with an ability, he sheds a chunk of himself that can be reabsorbed to restore Health. Upon taking fatal damage, Zac splits into 4 bloblets that attempt to recombine. If any bloblets remain, he will revive with an amount of Health depending on the Health of the surviving bloblets. Each bloblet has a percentage of Zac's maximum Health, Armor and Magic Resistance. This ability has a 5 minute cooldown.

Cooldowns

Cooldowns by spell rank

LevelQWER
314s5s21s–
611s5s21s2m
98s5s21s2m
118s5s21s1m45
168s5s15s1m30
188s5s9s1m30

Playing as Garen

Tips to maximize your impact

  1. Silence, spin, back off

    Trade with Decisive Strike (Q), then Judgment (E), and back off: the Decisive Strike silence stops your opponent from answering with spells.

  2. Stay closest to your opponent

    During Judgment (E), stay closer to your opponent than to their minions: the nearest enemy takes extra damage.

  3. Back off to regenerate

    After a trade, back off until Perseverance (passive) kicks in: without recent damage taken, you regenerate part of your health every second.

  4. Courage just before impact

    Activate Courage (W) just before the bulk of the damage: you first gain a shield and tenacity, then a longer damage reduction.

  5. Save your R to finish

    Save Demacian Justice (R) to finish: its true damage grows with the target's missing health.

Playing against Zac

How to counter and exploit weaknesses

  1. Step on his Goo

    Walk over the chunks of Goo he sheds: you destroy them, and Cell Division (passive) can't heal him with them anymore.

  2. Spread out after his Stretching Strikes

    If Stretching Strikes (Q) grabs you, spread out from your allies and minions: his next auto on one of them flings you into each other.

  3. Interrupt his Slingshot

    If you have a stun, a silence, a root or a knock-up, use it while he charges Elastic Slingshot (E): his charge is interrupted before the jump.

  4. Kill all his bloblets

    When he dies, kill his bloblets: Cell Division (passive) splits him into 4, and if any remain, he comes back to life. This passive has a 5-minute cooldown.

Patch 16.21.1