Garen vs Zac
Hard matchup
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
Core build
Standard
Summoner spells
Anti CC
Other options
Power Spikes
Strength by game phase
Zac's abilities
Passive, spells and ultimate
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
| Level | Q | W | E | R |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 14s | 5s | 21s | – |
| 6 | 11s | 5s | 21s | 2m |
| 9 | 8s | 5s | 21s | 2m |
| 11 | 8s | 5s | 21s | 1m45 |
| 16 | 8s | 5s | 15s | 1m30 |
| 18 | 8s | 5s | 9s | 1m30 |
Playing as Garen
Tips to maximize your impact
- 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.
- Stay closest to your opponent
During Judgment (E), stay closer to your opponent than to their minions: the nearest enemy takes extra damage.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
Other Garen matchups
Patch 16.21.1