# Locke Counters, Matchups & Tips | Baron Buff See Locke counters, hardest matchups, and tips to play against or draft around Locke in League of Legends. Canonical HTML: https://baronbuff.com/champions/locke/ Markdown URL: https://baronbuff.com/champions/locke.md Language: en ## Breadcrumbs - [Baron Buff](https://baronbuff.com/) - [Champion Tier List](https://baronbuff.com/champions/) - Locke ## Page Content Assassin · Burst Assassin · Mid Prepare for battle with Locke — master their strengths and exploit their weaknesses before the game starts. ## Playstyle Profile Locke is a flanker — eliminates priority targets by bypassing the frontline Teamfight Role Assassin Flanker Power Spike Early game Split Threat None Backline Access Low ## Locke's Strengths - Deletes priority targets instantly — Locke removes the enemy carry before teamfights even begin - Dominates early fights — Locke's base stats and kit spike early, punishing passive opponents - Cross-map pressure through roams — Locke turns lane priority into kills and objectives across the map ## How to Play Locke Champion-specific pre-match tips ### Lane Phase Concede early minions at level 1 to preserve your health pool, waiting until you unlock your full basic ability rotation at level 3 to force a trade. ### Lane Phase Cast Q to mark your target before activating W, ensuring you have the movement speed to close the gap and the attack speed to quickly consume the marks. ### Lane Phase Target your E to a location slightly behind the enemy to teleport in and immediately dash through them, guaranteeing you land your Q at point-blank range. ### Mid Game Push side lane waves past the river, then immediately use your W movement speed to rotate into the jungle and flank out-of-position enemies. ### Mid Game Roam to skirmishes as soon as you hit level 6 to secure executions with your R, accumulating your permanent power buff as early as possible. ### Mid Game Hold E when moving through unwarded jungle quadrants, keeping it available to instantly teleport over a wall if you get caught by a collapse. ### Late Game Wait in the fog of war until enemy crowd control abilities are on cooldown before using E to teleport over terrain and assassinate the backline. ### Late Game Focus your basic attacks on targets whose health is already dropping to maximize your passive damage and bring them into execution range for your R. ### Late Game Delay activating W until you are in melee range of a priority target during major objective fights, preventing the self-damage from whittling you down while you position. For matchup-tailored tips, use Baron Buff's AI Coach & Companion App during champion select. ## Core Build Ranked from real ranked-match itemization We look at ranked games after each item was bought. If the player or team gained ground in gold, we rate that item higher. - Rabadon's Deathcap — 3,500 - Sorcerer's Shoes (Boots) — 1,100 - Shadowflame — 3,200 - Lich Bane — 2,900 - Stormsurge — 2,800 - Zhonya's Hourglass — 3,250 total: 16,750 ## How to Counter Locke Counter strategies and draft context group tightly, build defensively, and provide reliable peel for carries - Shut down by grouped teams — Locke needs isolated targets and falls apart when enemies stick together - Falls off significantly after 25 minutes — Locke's early dominance doesn't translate to late game - Roaming is denied by aggressive warding — vision control shuts down Locke's cross-map pressure - Tanks and bruisers that survive burst windows ### Locke's Weaknesses - Grouped compositions with strong vision — Locke can't find isolated targets or flanking angles - Safe, scaling enemy compositions — Locke's early advantage fades when opponents survive lane without falling behind - Defensive itemization and grouping — Locke can't find solo kills when targets build durability and stay grouped ## Best Synergies with Locke Team synergies and draft context - Engage tanks that draw attention away from Locke — enemy cooldowns spent on the frontline leave carries exposed - Aggressive junglers and roaming supports that snowball leads alongside Locke's early power spike - Lane-stable allies that hold waves while Locke roams — cross-map plays need a foundation - Waveclear mids or ADCs that hold lanes while you roam for picks ### Draft Context - Stacks burst with no frontline — nobody absorbs damage while Locke waits for a flank window - Pairs Locke's early power with other early-game picks that all fall off together after 25 minutes - Stacks AP or AD with Locke — one-dimensional damage lets the enemy itemize a single resistance [← Champions](https://baronbuff.com/champions/) ## Machine-Readable References - [LLM index](https://baronbuff.com/llms.txt) - [Full LLM reference](https://baronbuff.com/llms-full.txt) - [Sitemap](https://baronbuff.com/sitemap.xml)