If there’s one thing that the first week of the 2023 LEC Winter Split has shown fans, it’s that the meta launched alongside the start of League of Legends’ 2023 season is incredibly volatile and rewards players for opting for more unorthodox strategies.
One of these strange picks took the spotlight on the final day of the Winter Split’s first week when G2 Esports sought to secure their third victory by soaring past Astralis. While Astralis’ draft included meta options like Aatrox, Caitlyn, and Lux, it was G2 that ventured in a completely different direction, placing Karma in the top lane, renewing the power of Kindred jungle, and, most surprisingly, handing Caps full-AP mid lane Zac.
The Secret Weapon’s popularity has increased immensely over the past year as players have discovered new synergies with his kit and a variety of items available in the game, allowing him to venture into other roles than just his intended jungle presence. In professional play, off-role Zac was most recently played at the 2022 World Championship during the group stage, where Saigon Buffalo’s mid laner Froggy explored both a straightforward tank build and mixed AP/tank set, emerging with one win and one loss.
Though fans were immediately perplexed at Caps’ decision to bring Zac into the matchup when many of his more comfortable champion picks were available, he quickly showcased the champion’s power through taking complete control of the matchup against Dajor’s Sylas. The sheer amount of survivability and damage that this build offers provided Caps with an 8/1/7 score alongside G2’s victory.
For fans wondering exactly how Caps was able to flourish with this strange, off-meta pick, here is a breakdown of his AP Zac mid build and its effectiveness alongside his team.
Caps AP Zac mid runes
Precision
Conqueror: While Conqueror is Zac’s preferred keystone in most situations even outside of being played in the mid lane, it works exceptionally well when he opts for a full-AP build. Thanks to the aggressive in-your-face nature of Zac’s kit, he will constantly be the one engaging on enemy champions and thus the center of attention. With Conqueror, the longer he’s in these skirmishes, the more he will heal from the damage he causes—which also couples nicely with Zac’s ability to heal himself by picking up blobs.
Triumph: Like Conqueror, Triumph rewards Zac’s persistence in jumping into and around his opponents. Not only does this rune give Zac a decent portion of his HP back upon getting a takedown, but it also gives him an additional 20 gold, which can oftentimes be the difference between buying an item component or completed item without having to rely on an extra wave.
Legend: Tenacity: One of the major counters to Zac’s immense mobility potential is crowd control and is sometimes the only way to stop the Secret Weapon from snowballing a game. While the only real way to counter crowd control in this full-AP build is with a Zhonya’s Hourglass, taking Legend: Tenacity provides Zac with much-needed tenacity per kill, which decreases the effectiveness of disruptions.
Last Stand: Zac may have many ways to heal himself, but being such a large target will undoubtedly bring him to low health in some fights—especially if he foregoes building tank items. Fortunately, Last Stand allows Zac to capitalize on these risky moments with extra damage, but it doesn’t always proc efficiently due to Zac’s ability to constantly regenerate.
Resolve
Second Wind: This particular rune works better when Zac is surrounded by a group of enemies. Should he jump into an entire enemy team, Second Wind will provide Zac with healing based on the damage each individual opponent has dealt to him, slowly restoring his HP as he continues to take very little damage.
Revitalize: Zac enjoys the strengthening of his healing that Revitalize provides regardless of the build he goes. Since Zac can heal himself by picking up blobs that he drops upon using his abilities, Revitalize makes it so that this healing grows in power. When combined with the other runes in this build, it ensures that even though Zac is building AP, he has enough health and regeneration to survive long fights.
Bonuses: +8 ability haste, +8 magic resist, +15-140 health (based on level)
Caps AP Zac build and gameplay
The core piece of Caps’ AP Zac build is the legendary item, Demonic Embrace. This item, which provides an exceptional amount of health, ability power, bonus ability power based on health, and the ability to burn surrounding enemies in combat, has allowed champions like Zac and Maokai to dominate the start of the season.
Yet fans may notice in Caps’ build that he had successfully built three complete items—all of which are rather costly—within the span of 25 minutes. Ultimately, this came from the lead Caps accrued via the synergy between him and his jungler, Yike. Each time that Astralis thought they had caught Caps out of position, Yike appeared from the brush to ensure that his mid laner maintained a strong lead that remained unmatched throughout the rest of the game.
Though getting a lead this strong so early into the game may not be simple for most players trying this strategy in solo queue, players should remember that this Zac build only gets stronger as the champion builds more items. Should Caps have added items like a Rabadon Deathcap or even a Sunfire Aegis to his build, he likely would have removed squishier enemies quicker than he already was.
But the crux of what makes this Zac build so powerful comes in its roaming potential. Zac already has an easy time venturing around the map, but when combined with the extra damage through his AP-centric items, Zac can take care of those he ganks without needing the assistance of that lane’s player. Caps demonstrated this on multiple occasions, particularly by heading to the top lane where he was crucial in making sure BrokenBlade’s unorthodox Karma pick didn’t fall too far behind.
Therefore, should players opt to replicate the successful AP Zac mid pick that earned Caps and the rest of G2 a victory this past weekend, they should keep in mind how powerful Zac can be outside of just the mid lane. Even just a simple roam near the Rift Herald or dragon pit can be enough to completely throw the enemy team off and earn your own substantial lead—whether that be physically or mentally.
