Hello there, this is MikenIkey and thank you for looking at "Bouncing to Victory | The In-Depth Guide to Jungling Zac.". This is my first guide on Mobafire, and I am trying to make it as useful and informative for everyone out there to use. Zac may be a new champion, but he has become my new favorite champion. His unique health abilities combined with his huge presence in teamfights makes Zac a force to be reckoned with.

Seeing how this is my first guide, I would appreciate it if everyone who reads through this could give both positive and negative feedback. Feel free to upvote or downvote this guide, depending on how you see the content. It would help a lot, though, if you could explain why you are upvoting or downvoting this guide so I can make adjustments accordingly.

Currently, I have only played Zac in the jungle, but once I have gotten quite a few games down with him, I shall also include sections on Zac in the top lane.

This guide is aimed at:

• Help you learn more about Zac
• Help you learn how to build Zac and use his abilities to the fullest potential
• Give tips and tricks to unlocking Zac's fullest potential

*PLEASE NOTE*

This guide has taken me quite a bit longer than I expected, and as such, not everything is in this guide that I would like to be. At the bottom of the Summary section, you'll be able to see what I intend to add to the guide in the near-future. For now, though, I thought it would be beneficial to all new Zac players to release this guide as soon as possible, as those sections aren't incredibly necessary.

I would also like to personally thank you for checking out my guide, and I hope you like what you see/read!

*SPECIAL NOTE*

Go check out Wookien's Guide to Zac for Support and Top information!

Pros Incredibly fun to play Incredible amount of sustain High amount of CC Massive AoE Fast Clear Times Lots of ganking options Not Buff Dependent

let's bounce

Cons Squishy early game Weak single target damage Very immobile after ult and leap Base Armor isn't that great Countered by Ignite Bad alternative skin

Offensive Tree

• Sorcery It's cooldown reduction. It helps his clear time, and we want this early.
• Blast Bonus Ability Power, especially at higher levels. Ability power is good anytime.
• Arcane Knowledge Simple magic penetration. Allows Zac to do some damage and also helps towards clear times.

Defensive Tree

• Durability Again, more health. Want as much of it as we can get.
• Tough Skin Reduces damage during jungling. Simpler way to put it, we save health.
• Hardiness Doesn't have that good of armor, so we get a little extra to help out.
• Bladed Armor Helps with clear times. What more can I say?
• Unyielding Gives more survivability during teamfights.
• Veteran's Scars +30 health. Enough said.
• Block Gives more survivability during teamfights.
• Juggernaut Increases health by percentage. We want health.
• Tenacious Let's him bounce around more and take CC like a champ
• Honor Guard Well, we already have 20 in defense. Why not get this?

Utility Tree

• Summoner's Insight This reduces the cooldown of Flash, which means more usage of Flash.
• Wanderer Allows you to zoom around the jungle faster.
• Improved Recall Reduces recall time. Be out of battle faster.
• Mastermind Even more cooldown reduction on Flash, plus 6 seconds off of Smite's cooldown.
• Runic Affinity Have buffs last for longer.

Greater Mark of Magic Penetration- This is pretty easy to explain. Since Zac is an AP based champion, I take Greater Mark of Magic Penetration in order to deal more damage to minions and champions. Another alternative could be Greater Mark of Ability Power if you like the early AP instead of magic penetration. Greater Seal of Armor- I take flat armor seals in order to bolster my early game. These help greatly in taking the early minion damage while jungling, and also helps out in fulfilling his tanky role. Another option would be Greater Seal of Scaling Health in order to give Zac more health in the lategame. Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist- I take scaling magic resist glyphs to help out against AP-based damage in the lategame. Zac doesn't need much magic resist early on, seeing how when he's jungling or laning, he'll be taking attack damage. This helps out with his lategame, though, by making sure he can't be assassinated by carries. Greater Quintessence of Ability Power- I take flat AP Quints in order to deal some damage during the early game and gain a slight advantage as well as clear minion camps faster.

Flash is great for any champion, and Zac is no exception. With the combination of his ult, this can be a great teamfight initiator. Also, this can be used to get out of sticky situations and doesn't need to be charged up, like his leap.

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Smite is must have for any jungler, and Zac is no exception. While Zac is able to jungle without Smite, you should always take it because it helps your early game clear times, as well as secure those dragon kills and baron buffs. Plus, nothing's more fun that jumping over baron pit at the right time and stealing the enemy's baron.

Exhaust is a great summoner spell to use with Zac. Since Zac is all AoE (area of effect) damage, and his abilities are short-ranged, this allows Zac to close in on his enemies and finish them off. It also allows him to help in teamfights by exhausting the AD Carry, and reducing their damage output by a lot. Summoner spell to replace: Flash

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Ghost is a great summoner spell to use against a team with a high amount of CC. This will aid Zac in running around either in retreat or full-on offensive towards the enemy team without being affected much. I personally prefer Flash to Ghost because of the instant short-ranged teleportation over the long-range run, but it's mainly a preference thing. Summoner spell to replace: Flash

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Teleport is a powerful summoner spell for a jungler to carry. This allows Zac to travel almost anywhere on the map. This gives your team a heavier presence, since it's always possible for Zac to teleport to secure a dragon or baron, participate in a teamfight, or jump to a ward at bottom to gank. Summoner spell to replace: Flash

I do not recommend taking Ignite with Zac. It has no importance or aid while in the jungle, and won't really help Zac that much during a teamfight except maybe stop the enemy tank from recovering health, but that's about the only uses for it.

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Barrier is not a summoner spell I would recommend on Zac just because he's got enough health as it is., and the shield from Barrier won't really do much in late-game teamfights. Compared to what can be done with Flash, taking Barrier is not worth it.

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Heal, though giving instant health, will actually hinder Zac's tanky capabilities during teamfights and just obliterates his passive. Seeing how Zac thrives on the healing from his passive, by using Heal, all that health gets reduced, taking away his high sustainability. This, with the combination of crippling the passive on Spirit Visage just hurts Zac.

Clairvoyance is not a good summoner spell to take on Zac. Compared to Flash, it does not offer enough in order to replace Flash with this. Clairvoyance, if taken by anyone, should be reserved to your support.

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Clarity restores mana to yourself and surrounding allies. Well, that's really great if you use mana, but Zac doesn't use mana. It would be better to grab a Mana Manipulator if your team really needs a major boost in mana regen. Don't waste a good spot with this.

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Cleanse wouldn't be worth taking as a summoner spell on Zac. He has enough escapes/gap closers in order to counteract CC, plus he has the 75% tenacity bonus given to him by let's bounce. Plus, you should be soaking up damage since you're the tank. Taking this would ultimately hurt your teamfights.

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Zac has his passive Cell Division before he dies, and so he can cheat death if used correctly. The cooldown on Revive is much longer than the cooldown on Cell Division, so it wouldn't be worth your while.

Cell Division- (Passive) Each time Zac hits an enemy with an ability, he sheds a chunk of himself to a nearby location. Zac can move over these chunks to reabsorb them, regaining 4% of his maximum health. Enemies may move over these chunks to destroy them. Upon taking fatal damage, Zac splits into 4 chunks that attempt to recombine. If any of these chunks remain after 8 seconds, he will revive with 10-50% health depending on the health of the surviving chunks. Each chunk has 12% of Zac's maximum health, and 50% of his armor and magic resistance. This effect has a static cooldown of 300 seconds. This is Zac's bread and butter. This passive is what gives Zac his high amount of sustainability and helps solidify his role as a tank. With his passive healing for 4% of his overall health, this allows Zac to restore his health at alarming rates, especially when combined with Spirit Visage. His secondary passive allows him to control teamfights by forcing the enemy where to engage, and then forces them to either try and kill him while he reforms or face the wrath of the rest of your team. His secondary passive also allows him to tower dive during ganks like a complete boss. * Gives huge amount of sustainability * When paired with Spirit Visage, makes tanking a breeze. * Allows Zac to stay in the jungle for a long time. * Second part of passive allows for massive teamfight control. * Can be used to towerdive with ease * Be conscious of when his passive is down

Stretching Strike- Zac lashes out with an elastic punch, dealing 70/110/150/190/230 (+50% AP) magic damage to enemies in a line and slowing them for 2 seconds. Slow: 20%/25%/30%/35%/40% Range: 550 CD: 9/8.5/8/7.5/7 Cost: 4% of current health Stretching Strikes is a great ganking tool for Zac. After using an Elastic Slingshot to get within close range, a well-placed Stretching Strikes allows Zac and his allies to reach their opponents. This skill doesn't do much damage, but the slow really helps during ganks. This can also be used in lane to farm creeps much more easily. The main reason I use this skill while jungling is just for the health regeneration bonus that you get from his passive, because it heals you for more damage than you use by casting this skill. * Slow that helps while ganking * Applies on-hit effects (e.g. Red Buff slow) * Combined with his passive, allows Zac to regain quite a bit of health * Helps a lot with farming in lane

Unstable Matter- Zac's body explodes outward, dealing magic damage equal to a base amount (40/55/70/85/100) plus a percentage of their maximum health 4%/5%/6%/7%/8% (+2% per 100 AP) to all nearby enemies (max 200 damage against minions and monsters). CD: 4 Cost: 4% of current health Unstable Matter is Zac's core skill. This is his main damage dealer, jungle clearer, etc. Unstable Matter allows Zac to clear the jungle with relative ease due to it almost dealing quite a bit of AoE damage. Unstable Matter is also the core anti-tank skill. This allows Zac to actually target tanks and go after them. When completely upgraded, it does 8% of their health, plus 2% more for every 100 AP! Think about that. If you get him up to only 100 AP, you do 10% of everyone's health every 4 seconds, plus you get to heal off of that. * Core skill on Zac * Does a great deal of damage during lategame. * Great anti-tank skill, doing health percentage damage * AoE, so best when he's in the middle of the fight * Able to use during his ult

Elastic Slingshot- Zac faces the cursor and begins channeling. After channeling or after reactivating the ability he launches himself towards the target location, dealing 80/130/180/230/280 (+70% AP) magic damage to all enemies hit and knocking them back for 0.5 seconds. The range of Elastic Slingshot increases based on how long Zac channels. Can be cancelled by moving, refunding 50% of the health cost. Maximum Channel Time: 0.9/1.0/1.1/1.2/1.3 (seconds) Maximum Range: 1150/1250/1350/1450/1550 CD: 24/21/18/15/12 Cost: 4% of current health Elastic Slingshot is partly what makes Zac such a fun jungler to play. Elastic Slingshot is Zac's core skill when it comes to ganking. This ability give Zac such a great gap closer, and allows him to gank from multiple angles. Because the range is so long, especially when upgraded, it allows Zac to gank from completely unexpected areas. The knockback that is given after landing this skill allows your allies to gain on your opponents, and this skill also does considerable damage. Elastic Slingshot can also be used to escape over walls when being chased down. A short charge will bounce Zac over almost any wall. The most fun thing to do with Elastic Slingshot, however, is the ability to fly over the varying pits and smite steal buffs, dragon, and baron. *This skill can also be used to sling Zac over the gorge between the nexus and the jungle in Twisted Treeline, which allows him to either backdoor, or kill creeps as soon as they spawn from the nexus. I use this mainly to troll the other team, though, but it's a lot of fun to use. * Zac's ganking skill * Long-range gap closer or escape * Does significant damage when leveled * Can be used short-ranged for the knockback and damage * Can be used to smite steal buffs and objectives (dragon and baron) * Allows passage over the gorge in Twisted Treeline * Health refund and cooldown reduction on cancellation is nice * Have to charge in order to be effective

let's bounce

Let's Bounce!- Zac leaps into the air and begins to bounce on the ground, up to a maximum of 4 bounces. Each bounce deals 160/240/320 (+25% AP) magic damage to nearby enemies, knocks them up for 1 second, and slows them by 20% for 1 second. Enemies hit more than once take half damage and are not knocked up. Zac gains an accelerating movement speed buff (20-50%) and 75% crowd control reduction while active (does not reduce Suppression). Zac can right-click to move while in the air. While active, Zac is unable to activate Stretching Strike or Elastic Slingshot. Maximum Magic Damage to Same Target: 400/600/800 (+62.5% AP) CD: 130/115/100 Cost: None let's bounce is one of the most fun ultimates that I have used. When Zac uses this, he turns into a giant bouncing blob of goo that's incredibly hard to target and does a good amount of AoE damage. In addition, the effects that stems from the use of this ult are just incredible. A slow for helping your team catch up, a knockup when you hit enemies, a speed boost to zoom around and squish your opponents, and the 75% CC reduction which let's you be a freaking awesome blob. This, combined with the the ability to use Unstable Matter is able to turn the course of teamfights around drastically. Another use for let's bounce is running away. If Zac is in trouble, his ultimate let's him just zoom away from the enemy team, allowing him to run away safely. As stated before, he gains 75% Tenacity and a speed acceleration. His ult can also be used to jump over small walls, such as the ones around the dragon and baron pits. Since let's bounce doesn't cost anything, even if he's at incredibly low health it won't harm him. * Incredibly fun to use * Knockup can disrupt teamfights significantly * Does a great deal of damage * Gain of 75% Tenacity * Speed boost and slow * Can be used to get over small walls * Has no cost * Hard to target while using * Is affected by stuns and snares while being used * Difficult to control Zac well while using

let's bounce

Since we're going after fast clear times early on, I take my first point in Unstable Matter. It does the most damage early on, is purely AoE, and also has the shortest cooldown, so we get the heal from his passive more.

Upon reaching level 2, if I'm not doing an early gank, I take a point in Stretching Strikes since it has the second-lowest cooldown and does ok damage. Mainly, go after the lowest cooldown skills because we want to benefit from the sustain that Zac's passive gives us. If I'm doing an early gank, I'll put my second point in Elastic Slingshot since it's his gap closer and has the knockback.

Upon level 3, I'll put a point into my remaining skill. From here, I max Elastic Slingshot because I play a gank-heavy Zac, and so this allows me to gank from much farther. You can max Unstable Matter first if you are going to jungle more, but I prefer Elastic Slingshot for its ganking capabilities.

After maxing Elastic Slingshot, I max Unstable Matter for better damage and wave/jungle clearing. The reason I take this over Stretching Strikes is that it lets Zac clear faster and have more DPS. I consider the added range much better compared to the better slow that Stretching Strikes offers.

Lastly, I max Stretching Strikes simply because it is the last skill to put points in. Obviously, we put points into Let's Bounce at 6, 11, and 16, like you do with every other champion.

Hunter's Machete + 5x Health Potion With Season 3, this is the common jungler start because of the jungle benefits from Hunter's Machete. This setup allows Zac to stay in the jungle for ages. I've achieved almost 4000 gold before backing once just by using the machete.

Cloth Armor + 5x Health Potion This is the other common jungler start, though it's not as used in Season 3 because of Hunter's Machete. The only reason I would start Cloth Armor is if I plan on building an early armor item, and don't plan on building Spirit of the Ancient Golem or Spirit of the Spectral Wraith. Otherwise, I would stick with starting with the Hunter's Machete.

The Spirit Stone is the first item I buy when I back. This gives Zac added health regeneration along with a boost in his jungling. This is key if you plan on getting Spirit of the Spectral Wraith or Spirit of the Ancient Golem. Even if you don't plan on getting either of these, it is still helpful.

On your first return to base, you should always have enough to grab a Kindlegem. This builds into Spirit of the Ancient Golem and Spirit Visage, which are core items on Zac. Early on, Kindlegem gives quite a bit of health along with the early CDR, which helps with clear times.

At this point, if you still have extra gold, go ahead and buy Boots. We're going to have to buy them eventually, and it'll help you move through the jungle faster.

sight ward At any point when you return to base, if you have the money, buy 2-3 wards for your team. You can choose to lay them anywhere you like, whether at an enemy buff, an objective (baron or dragon), or at the lane you are about to/already ganked. These will help out your team tremendously, and are always worth it.

Spirit of the Ancient Golem is an incredibly core item on Zac. It offers 500 health, quite a bit of health regeneration, and much needed Tenacity . What this item does is also allow Zac to grab Mobility Boots instead of Mercury's Treads, allowing him to get around the map faster and gank more, which could be the difference between winning and losing a game.

Spirit Visage is one of the most core items on Zac. It gives him a significant amount of magic resist, but what we're especially looking for is the passive. The passive increases health regeneration effects by 20%. Hmmmm, now how does this help Zac? Oh wait, he has a health regeneration passive! Spirit Visage gives Zac's passive an incredible boost, making him have so much more sustain.

I always grab Mobility Boots on Zac. Since you should be ganking as much as possible on Zac, these are useful for zipping around the map. Also, because we got a Spirit of the Ancient Golem, we get Tenacity from that, and therefore don't have to grab Mercury's Treads.

Abyssal Mask is definitely what I would consider a core item on Zac. First off, by building this, you allow your AP carry to build another AP item instead of this. As Zac, you will be launching yourself into the middle of the enemy team, and so they will all be affected by the aura. Secondly, this allows Unstable Matter to do massive damage to the enemy team, even though you are building primarily tanky. Lastly, it synergizes well with Sunfire Aegis to increase the damage output from its passive.

Rabadon's Deathcap is generally compared to being the Infinity Edge of AP-based champions. Giving 120 AP, plus 30% increase on all AP, this boosts your damage output significantly. If you're going for more offensive-based play, this would be a core item.

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Liandry's Torment gives Zac both health and AP. I personally do not like this item as much as others for a few reasons. First, it doesn't give a significant amount of health. Second, I don't find the passives that great compared to the cost, and it doesn't give a significant amount of AP. this is mainly a preference choice.

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Deathfire Grasp is a good offensive AP item on Zac. It gives out quite a bit of AP, enough for more damage on Unstable Matter, and also gives a slight bit of CDR. The active can also do a good deal of damage to enemy tanks.

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Zhonya's Hourglass is my favorite AP item for Zac. It gives 50 armor, a rather good amount for an AP item, and also gives an incredible amount of AP at 120. In addition, it's active is great to use right in the middle of their team. I generally always get this item on Zac because it's great both offensively and defensively.

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Spirit of the Spectral Wraith is the AP jungling offensive item. I, however, really dislike this item for a few reasons. First, the stats it offers aren't very good compared to other items. Second, it offers no defensive stats. Third, the mana regen doesn't help us at all, and four, in the late-game, the Smite shouldn't even matter because you should only be smiting dragon or baron. This is a preference, but I don't like this item.

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Iceborn Gauntlet is another tricky item that comes down to preference. The AP, armor, and CDR all help Zac, though the increase in mana doesn't effect us. The passive is also helpful in teamfights. I don't like this as much seeing how I rarely stop and actually get off a basic attack while in a teamfight. This is another that comes down to preference.

Sunfire Aegis is definitely a good defensive item on Zac. It gives a great deal of health and a good amount of armor. The passive, however, is what makes Sunfire Aegis really good on Zac. Since Zac will almost always be in the middle of teamfights, hitting enemies for 40 magic damage per second definitely helps.

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Seeing how Zac is a health-based champion, it never hurts to have more health. The passive gives Zac 1% of his maximum health every second. Combine this with the passive from Spirit Visage and Cell Division, and Zac's sustain just goes higher and higher.

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With Locket of the Iron Solari, you definitely want to get one of these ONLY IF NO ONE ELSE HAS ONE. Generally, this is the support's item, so if the support is in the process of building a Locket of the Iron Solari, it makes no sense to get another one. However, if no one builds a Locket, then it is your job to build it since it's a great team item to have, with the Magic Resistance aura and the active shield in teamfights.

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Randuin's Omen is probably my favorite defensive armor item. It has great armor and health stats, and both of it's passives are great for a tank. With Cold Steel, you'll be able to slow down their ADC's DPS. The active is great to use during a teamfight since it gives your team a large advantage for a moment. Always make sure your team has one of these.

Lich Bane is an item that should not be taken on Zac. During teamfights, you will almost always use your abilities nonstop, leaving no time for you to get off a basic attack. This would render Lich Bane useless. As Zac, you also don't usually build up enough AP in order to make this item worth a slot. If you want something with Spellblade, get Iceborn Gauntlet instead.

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Though many aura items are good for Zac, this is not one of them. There are two main reasons why this item is not good on Zac. The first is that it offers no defensive stats, which we require seeing how Zac is a tank. The second reason is that it gives Spellvamp, which doesn't help us at all. Spirit of the Spectral Wraith is a better item than this because it offers the same amount of AP, gives off health regen, CDR, and jungling help, and it costs less. Replace this with Spirit of the Spectral Wraith or even better, Abyssal Mask.

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Morellonomicon is actually not a bad item on Zac. It offers 75 AP and 20% CDR for its low cost. The only problem with Morellonomicon is that, like Will of the Ancients, it offers no defensive stats. With Zac, you want AP items that also help armor, health, or magic resist. Replace Morellonomicon with either Abyssal Mask or Zhonya's Hourglass.

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Guardian Angel, while it offers good defensive stats, should not be taken because of its passive. As Zac, you have Cell Division which is essentially a free Guardian Angel. They even have the exact same cooldown for each passive. It isn't prudent to spend money on this item when you have a free version. Get Randuin's Omen or Sunfire Aegis instead.

At the beginning of the game, you're going to want to buy either Hunter's Machete and 5 Health Potions or Cloth Armor and 5 Health Potions, depending on what you are building early on/what you prefer. Secondly, you're going to want to take a point in Unstable Matter first, since it procs your passive the most and does the most damage. The great thing about jungling Zac is that he is not buff dependent, so you can choose to start with either buffFrom here, you an either go for the early CDR that the ancient golem offers, or you can go for the great ganking capabilities that the lizard elder offers.








When jungling Zac, I almost always follow the same jungle route against most junglers because it sets them back and everything is rather unprotected. When using this route, you will start at their red buff. Now, when jungling this way, you have to make sure that the enemy jungler starts at blue buff.

First, carefully walk over to the enemy's red buff. If you meet any resistance whatsoever, immediately flee and go to your red buff. If there is no resistance, move into the bush next to red buff. You can do this with or without allies since Zac is able to solo red easily at level 1. Use 1 Health Potion and use autoattacks plus Unstable Matter to kill the Elder Lizard.

From here, walk over to blue buff. Use another health potion and then proceed to give blue buff to your mid player. This will give your mid player a large advantage over the enemy mid. After blue buff, kill wolves. At this point walk immediately over to your red buff. Smite should be up at this time. Kill your own red buff, put a point in Elastic Slingshot, and proceed to gank any lane that is pushed up.

This route gives you an advantage over the enemy jungler and also gives your mid player an advantage, especially if they get a kill during this time.






After you have bought Hunter's Machete and your Health Potions, you'll want to have your mid player stand in the banana bush on the other side of blue, and have your bot lane duo stand in the bush next to blue. At the 1:30 mark, ask your teammates to travel towards wolves. At 1:40, wolves will spawn and get the aid of your teammates to clear wolves. Once you are finished with wolves, move over to the ancient golem, use 1 Health Potion here, and have your fellow teammates help you clear it as well. Then, take a point in Stretching Strikes. There are two options from here.

For the first option, head across mid lane over to the wraith camp and proceed to clear wraiths. After that, travel over to the lizard elder. Use your second (or third if you got low at wraiths) Health Potion and then kill the lizard elder. Notice, though, that you will not have Smite when you kill it, if you have correctly done everything up to speed. You shouldn't need Smite, but if you don't think you can clear the camp without it, do golems and then go back to the lizard elder. Afterwards, clear golems if you haven't already and if you have, go clear wraiths. After this you should have 1 point in each skill and be able to gank. If all the lanes are pushed, return to the jungle. If you can, go gank one of the lanes.

The second option is slightly more riskier, but can help set their jungler back a bit. After clearing blue, walk across river, through the jungle, and to the other person's red buff. Proceed to quickly clear their red buff. If you can, drag it into the bush so that it disappears. If done correctly, you should be able to steal it without the other jungler knowing you are there. However, you have to remember that if you do this, Smite will not be available to you. From here, run back across the river to your side and take your red with Smite. This will give you an advantage over their jungler. Now, feel free to either gank a pushed lane, or continue jungling.







Starting red first on Zac is the more aggressive ganking style. When starting at red buff, there are a few things to consider.

• Does the enemy jungler start with red or blue?
• Which lane do I want to gank early?
• Do I want to steal any of the enemy's buffs?

When starting at red, generally you want the other jungler to start at red as well. This means they are more likely to not attempt to steal your blue early, and you have the ability to steal their blue early on. The main reason for getting an early red, though, is to gank a lane early and get an early kill. Otherwise, there's not a lot of reason to take red buff early on.

First, ask one of your teammates to stand in the bush in the middle of the river close to red buff. Then, at 1:35, get your teammates to go over to wraiths and help you clear them. Then head to red buff and when it spawns, get your teammates to help leash it and kill it. From here, you'll want to take Elastic Slingshot instead of Stretching Strikes because it helps for during ganking with its knockback and gap closer. After you gank whichever lane you choose, you can either go back to your blue buff, or you can attempt to steal the enemy's blue.

One of the key things while jungling is controlling your jungle and the buffs. It is key to know the spawn timers of each minion camp so that you can make sure your camps are protected. It also allows you to steal other camps with more ease.

Red Circle = Areas where teamfights occur most often
Blue Arrows = Good Elastic Slingshot paths for teamfights when on the Blue Team
Purple Arrows = Good Elastic Slingshot paths for teamfights when on the Purple Team
Green Arrows = Good Elastic Slingshot paths for teamfights when on both teams


Zac has a very similar role to Amumu during teamfights. First off, when positioning for a teamfight, you should be standing in a position for you to use Elastic Slingshot on as many enemy champions as possible. Now usually as a tank, you want to be on the front lines and soaking up pokes and whatnot, but not with Zac. Since he has incredible range on Elastic Slingshot, you generally want to position yourself out of sight until you initiate on the enemy team. Doing this can do one of 3 things:

*Surprise the enemy, sending them into disarray for a moment and get them off balance
*Bait the enemy team into thinking they are fighting a 5v4
*Allow yourself a full charge on Elastic Slingshot to get right in the middle of the team.


Once you've jumped into the middle of the enemy team, use Unstable Matter for the health % damage, and THEN use let's bounce to disrupt the enemy team and apply damage. The reason for using Unstable Matter BEFORE let's bounce is because the initial knockup from let's bounce will usually knock your enemies away from you and so they will not take damage from Unstable Matter. Also, you'll be able to use a second Unstable Matter during the casting of let's bounce.

What seperates a good Zac player from a great Zac player is how you use your skills. When positioning for a teamfight, line up your Elastic Slingshot from BEHIND the enemy. When Elastic Slingshot hits, this will cause your enemies to be knockbacked TOWARDS your own team. Once you use let's bounce, the knockback from that will throw your enemies even farther towards your own team, allowing you to envelop them.

Using Elastic Slingshot and let's bounce towards the team is more of a defensive play. This will knock your enemies away from your team, thus giving you time to retreat or form up in a more defensive manner. Never use let's bounce from a frontal position if you intend it for an offensive use, as this knocks your enemies back to a safer location.

Elastic Slingshot doesn't always have to be used for long-range initiations either. Jumping a very short distance can be just as good, since it provides the knockback that will disrupt channeling ults such as Fiddlesticks's Crowstorm, Katarina's Death Lotus, or Nunu & Willump's Absolute Zero.





These example scenarios are not exactly how games will occur, since the variations of champions is so vast. It is supposed to teach you how to deal with an example situation that can carry on to any game.

Scenario 1: Purple team is closing in on the Blue team while the Blue team is clearing Dragon. They haven't dragged Dragon out of the pit, and so are clustered at the entrance. As Zac, you charge up an Elastic Slingshot and land right in front of the entrance, knocking the Blue team farther into the pit. You then activate let's bounce, knocking the Blue team further into the pit while the rest of your team closes. Caitlyn escapes with her 90 Caliber Net, and Nasus and Thresh escape using Flash. This leaves Lux and Rumble in the pit alone. Your team quickly kills both of them and picks up Dragon.

Scenario 2: Your team is pushing up on the inner tower in mid lane. You notice that the enemy Tristana is down at the bot lane farming the pushed up wave. The enemy's mid tower has 500 health left. With this in mind, you should initiate onto the enemy tower and start a teamfight there while trying to take out the tower. Since the enemy AD Carry isn't there, the other team's damage output is significantly reduced, thus you being able to take the tower and win a teamfight.

Scenario 3: Both teams are in the bot lane trying to push. The enemy team is made up of Lux, Nidalee, and Caitlyn. Since their team has a long-ranged poke-heavy composition, and are relatively squishy, you'd want to Elastic Slingshot as soon as possible and ult them towards your team, since they can outpoke your team drastically.

Ganking is one of the most important things to do as a jungler. The term "ganking" refers to leaving the jungle in order to jump into a lane and help a fellow summoner to either kill an enemy champion or make them retreat, taking pressure off of your ally. By ganking, you give an advantage to your allied laner and help them win their lane.

There are many factors that you must consider while ganking. The first is that, as a jungler, you must be actively checking the map to see which lanes are pushed up. Those are the lanes of most importance to gank, since they are in danger. Now, if no lane is pushed, but someone asks you to gank, then gank that lane since the rest are relatively safe.

As the jungler, you can also try and setup a gank by walking to a lane and communicating to your ally to let the enemy push up so that they are in a more vulnerable position. Once they are farther up, you initiate the gank and net your ally a kill.


Green Arrow = Good Ganking Paths


One of the most unique things with Zac is his incredibly strong ganking capabilities. With his ability Elastic Slingshot, Zac is able to gank incredibly well due to the large range on Elastic Slingshot. What makes Zac pretty unique, though, is that he can gank from places where most other champions cannot. For instance, in the top and bot lane, Zac can gank from the little niche close to each tower. This allows Zac to stay out of sight from wards and hit with more surprise.

As with the teamfighting tactics included with Elastic Slingshot, when ganking, you must consider your positioning in regards to Elastic Slingshot. When using it to net a kill, land so that you are behind the enemy, knocking them forward and farther from their tower. If you are trying to protect your ally, land in front of your enemy in order to knock them back. This should give your ally enough time to retreat safely.

This portion of the guide is going to be quite a work in progress. It's pretty difficult to get enough matches against a specific champion, so I'll be filling this in and editing it as I go along. I will be filling up this section champion-by-champion, so the information will not be put up in a specific order.

Diana is a strong AP jungler with relatively fast clear times and a good damage output. Like almost all AP junglers, she has to start at blue buff for the CDR and Mana Regen. She can kill you incredibly faster than you can kill her, since she has low cooldowns and the extra damage from her passive. At level 6, she becomes a nightmare, with her ability to use her Q and R combo almost endlessly. Avoid a fight with her at all costs, as she will kill you quickly and gain a massive advantage. Jungle Route One positive thing is that Diana has to start at blue or she cannot jungle properly. Start at her red buff, Smite it, and kill it. Then, go to your blue and give it to your mid player. Follow up blue with wolves. Then run straight to your red buff. Smite will be up by the time your reach it, and Diana won't have time to run to yours and so you steal a buff from her, killing her early ganking capabilities. This will set her back for a little more time, helping your team greatly. Difficulty: 9

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Fiddlesticks is a tricky champion. He's weak early on jungling wise, but you don't want to get in a fight with him. His drain will take down your health rapidly early on, and you won't be able to disrupt it if you don't have Elastic Slingshot. Try and counter-jungle him if you can without getting caught, as you need to set Fiddlesticks back as much as possible. Jungle Route Fiddlesticks has to start at blue or he cannot jungle properly. Start at his red buff, Smite it, and kill it. Then, go to your blue and give it to your mid player. Follow up blue with wolves. Then run straight to your red buff. Smite will be up by the time your reach it, and Fiddlesticks won't have time to run to yours after he notices his red is missing. Finish off red buff and then gank whichever lane is pushed. Difficulty: 6

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Early on, Shaco is considerably weaker than you. The main form of damage he has is in the form of his Jack In The Box. Combine this with the fact that he's just so dang squishy, and you have an incredibly easy matchup on your hands. You have considerably more health and damage than him for a low-level fight, and your passive will help out with prolonged sustain. Since Shaco is dependent on his Jack In The Box for jungling at low-levels, and you can clear just about anything solo, you are free to counter-jungle him as much as you like. Jungle Route If it is safe enough to do so, start at Shaco's red. You are not in danger of being discovered by Shaco since he will be laying down Jack In The Boxes. Once you have stolen his red buff, proceed immediately to your blue buff and give it to your mid. After you have completed this, run directly to your own red buff and take it so Shaco doesn't steal it. This will set Shaco back and allows you to now gank strongly. Otherwise, take your blue buff, proceed to Shaco's red, and steal from there. Difficulty: 2

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Shen is a slower jungler and doesn't have much DPS early on. You can abuse this with your fast clear times and self-healing ability to counter-jungle him well. With his shield, you shouldn't try and fight him early on, but you can go into his jungle, clear camps, and leave with a pretty safe time. The key to fighting against Shen is stalling his progress to level 6. The longer you can prohibit him from reaching six, the better off your team will be. Jungle Route Shen is tricky champion because, like you, he can start at either buff. The best route to take is to start at wolves and then move to blue golem. If you think he started at blue buff, then head over to his red buff and take it quickly. If you think he started red, then start at your blue and proceed with a safer jungling path. Don't try anything too risky, because with his shield, he can take you in a low level fight. Difficulty: 5

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Shyvana is a nasty jungler to face. Her clear times are basically up to par with yours and, like you, she isn't buff dependent so she can start at whatever buff she feels like. This makes it hard for you since you're in the same boat, and so the buff counter-jungling ensues. It's also recommended to not try and face her in the jungle, since she does a great deal more of damage against you then you can do to her. Jungle Route Against Shyvana, it's pretty much a guessing game on who goes where. I would recommend starting with a safe blue buff opening while your bot/top lane (depending on which side you are on) guards your red buff. Then, go to wolves, wraiths, and then red. Take Elastic Slingshot at level 3, and gank. Difficulty: 9

Zac is a great champion to play with. He is incredibly useful during teamfights, does great AoE damage, and all-in-all is really fun to use. Since you will play Zac most often as a tank, don't expect to get kills. Those are for the carries doing the massive damage. Rather, just jump into teamfights with let's bounce and try to disrupt as many of them as possible.

Warding Section
More pictures/videos
How Zac does against enemy junglers (since he's relatively new, it's still hard to determine accurate matchups against other junglers.)



I would like to add a Hall of Fame to this guide, so feel free to send me a picture of you being successful with Zac while using this guide. If it's not visible, include your username so I can giver credit to where it's due.

Credits:

Jhoijhoi for her incredible guide on making guides and the wonderful line dividers

4/18/13-
Added explanation for Perseverance + Legendary Armor vs. Tenacious .
Added explanations to all summoner spells and added Teleport to Summoner Spells section.
Added Changelog.

4/19/13-
Added Teamfighting chapter

4/22/13-
Added Ganking chapter
Added Jungle Matchups chapter
- Shaco matchup

4/23/13-
Changed name of guide to better fit the guide

4/24/13-
Added Shen and Fiddlesticks to the Jungle Matchups chapter
Added Items to be Avoided section in the Items chapter

4/25/13-
Added My Jungle Route to Jungle Route chapter
Added Shyvana to Jungle Matchups

4/26/13-
Added Champion Synergy chapter
- Ahri
- Akali
- Alistar
- Amumu
- Anivia
- Annie

4/29/13-
Changed Deathfire Grasp to Rabadon's Deathcap in Offensive Build
Added Diana to Jungle Matchups

7/4/13-
Major overhaul on guide
Changed item builds and the Items section to new setup
Deleted synergy section