Locke vs Mel Counter Pick

Rebuttal reflects enemy projectiles and prevents damage, which reads as a hard counter to anyone who throws things. Locke mostly does not. Silver Stake is on-hit magic damage attached to basic attacks, Ashen Pursuit is a teleport followed by a dash, Soul Ignition is a self-buff paid for in health. Only Ritual Nails is a projectile, and it is the one ability he can afford to hold. Over 1,405 games on patch 16.13.1 he takes 53.7%.

Range still shapes the early exchanges. Mel works from 550 units against 125, and Searing Brilliance adds up to nine bonus projectiles to her next attack after a cast, so she wins any trade where he simply walks forward. The counter is the teleport component of his entry, which does not have to travel through the space she is zoning.

Once he arrives the numbers turn. Mel has 21 base armor against physical damage, the weakest defensive value between them, and 630 health that only reaches 2,313 while Locke goes 655 to 2,508 and moves at 340 against 330. Solar Snare roots at its center and Golden Eclipse strikes marked targets at any distance, so a failed dive is not free. Both are rated 5 for difficulty. Her 54 attack damage at level one sits under his 58, which means that once the distance is gone she has no basic-attack answer at all, only cooldowns and the Mana to pay for them.