Zaahen vs Locke Counter Pick

Both champions deal physical damage, which turns the exchange into a straight armor race, and Zaahen wins it. He carries 36 armor at level 1 rising to 121 at 18; Locke starts at 32 and finishes at 103.4. Health follows the same pattern once a game runs long, 640 to 2,578 against 655 to 2,508, and 365 games on patch 16.13.1 give Zaahen 55.9%.

Locke’s threat is burst on a mark. Ritual Nails marks enemies and lets him consume those marks for bonus attack damage, Silver Stake adds on-hit magic damage that grows as a target loses health, and Purgatory can execute outright. Against that pattern, sustain matters more than resistances: The Darkin Glaive heals on its double slash and Grim Deliverance returns a portion of the damage it deals, so health lost to the mark combo comes back inside the same fight. Soul Ignition costs Locke health for attack speed and move speed and only refunds part of it at the end of the duration, and that window is precisely when Dreaded Return should pull him in. Reach favours Zaahen too, 175 against 125, and move speed by 345 to 340. Locke’s difficulty rating of 5 against Zaahen’s 2 means the marks, the teleport of Ashen Pursuit and the self-damage timing all have to be sequenced correctly for any of this to threaten a fighter with 2,578 health. Locke’s abilities are listed on the Locke entry.