How to Counter Locke - Playing Against Guide | Patch 26.13

What They Do

Locke is a high-mobility magic-damage skirmisher who thrives on snowballing. In the Mid lane, he uses his mobility to dodge skillshots, trade aggressively with auto-attacks, and roam to side lanes. He excels at executing low-health targets and scales by securing kills with his ultimate.

Abilities (What to Watch For)

Ability	What You'll See	What It Means For You
	A silver glow on his weapons that intensifies as your health drops.	His basic attacks hurt more the lower you are. Never stay in lane with less than 30% HP or will allow him to dive you with ease.
	Locke throws spectral nails in a cone or line.	If these hit, you are marked. His next attacks will consume the mark for burst damage. Avoid the mark to prevent him from winning short trades.
	Locke glows with blue/white fire, moving and attacking much faster.	He gains a massive stat steroid but drains his own HP. He heals a portion of that self-damage at the end, so ignite him or burst him BEFORE the duration finishes.
	A quick blink followed by a short dash/strike.	This is his primary gap closer and escape. In Mid, he uses this to jump over the river walls or dodge your primary CC ability. It has a significant cooldown early.
	A large binding artifact projectile.	This is a long-range execute. If it kills you, he gets a permanent power buff. Treat this like an Urgot ult—if you are low and see the animation, you must Flash or use a defensive active immediately.

Respect

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Level 3 All-in→With all three basic abilities, Locke can onto you, hit , and activate to shred your health bar before you can react.
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Execution Threshold→Both and punish low-health targets. Being at 40% HP against Locke is the equivalent of being at 10% against other Mid laners.
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Wall Hopping→Mid Locke will use to bypass common river wards by jumping over the raptor pit or blue buff walls to roam.
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Soul Sealing Snowball→If he gets kills with , he gains permanent stats. A Mid Locke with 2-3 seals becomes an unstoppable duelist in the mid-game.

Punish

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is on cooldown (16-12s early)→Without his teleport/dash, he is an immobile glass cannon. Coordinate with your jungler to gank him the moment he uses aggressively.
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The end of duration→Locke burns his own health during . Apply Greivous Wounds or Ignite right as the effect ends to deny his massive back-end heal.
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Missing →If he misses his nails, he cannot proc his bonus mark damage. This is your 6-second window to trade back, as his DPS drops significantly without the marks.
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Level 1 and 2→He needs his full kit to be a threat. If you are a ranged mage, poke him relentlessly before he unlocks to keep him too low to all-in at level 3.

Laning Tips

•Keep the wave closer to your tower. Locke wants a long lane to chase you down with the move speed from .
•Stay away from the raptor wall if you don't have vision; he can through it for an instant engage.
•Bait out and then disengage. He will have wasted his own HP for nothing if you don't let him auto-attack you.
•If you get marked by , back off immediately. The bonus damage from the mark consumption is what wins him the trade.
•Rush seekers armguard or early magic resist depending on his build, but prioritize boots to help dodge the skillshot.
•Ping 'Missing' the moment he disappears; Mid Locke's roam speed with and is faster than most traditional mages.

Teamfight Warning

⚠He will look for a flank. Locke rarely enters a fight from the front; watch for him to over side walls into your backline.
⚠Do not peel for a target he has already hit with unless you can block the projectile; the execute is high-impact.
⚠Focus him immediately when he activates . He is literally dealing damage to himself, making your job to burst him easier.
⚠Save your hard CC for the moment he finishes his dash to prevent him from stacking on your carries.
⚠Zhonyas Hourglass completely counters his . Use it to deny him the 'Soul Seal' stack and the execute gold.

AI-generated counterplay guide • Patch 16.12 • Cached

Ability

What You'll See

What It Means For You

A silver glow on his weapons that intensifies as your health drops.

His basic attacks hurt more the lower you are. Never stay in lane with less than 30% HP or will allow him to dive you with ease.

Locke throws spectral nails in a cone or line.

If these hit, you are marked. His next attacks will consume the mark for burst damage. Avoid the mark to prevent him from winning short trades.

Locke glows with blue/white fire, moving and attacking much faster.

He gains a massive stat steroid but drains his own HP. He heals a portion of that self-damage at the end, so ignite him or burst him BEFORE the duration finishes.

A quick blink followed by a short dash/strike.

This is his primary gap closer and escape. In Mid, he uses this to jump over the river walls or dodge your primary CC ability. It has a significant cooldown early.

A large binding artifact projectile.

This is a long-range execute. If it kills you, he gets a permanent power buff. Treat this like an Urgot ult—if you are low and see the animation, you must Flash or use a defensive active immediately.