Locke is one of those champions who can make a perfectly normal mid lane feel uncomfortable very quickly.
You aren’t necessarily losing the lane because he has some ridiculous level-one combo. The problem is what happens after you’ve taken a few bad trades. Suddenly you’re sitting at half health, Locke starts moving faster, his attacks hurt more, and walking back into lane feels like volunteering for an execution.
That is the important thing to understand about Locke, the Ashen Exorcist.
He’s an Assassin/Mage designed around punishing weakened targets. Riot’s own champion page describes his passive as dealing additional magic damage on-hit, with that damage increasing based on the enemy’s missing health. His kit also gives him mobility, self-damage with a later heal, and an ultimate built around finishing enemies.
So if you’re wondering how to counter Locke, the answer isn’t simply “pick a good champion.”
You need to deny him the situations his kit is built for.
First: What Does Locke Actually Want?
Before talking about counters, it’s worth understanding what you’re trying to stop.
He doesn’t need you to be at 10% HP before he becomes dangerous. Every time you take a bad trade, his passive becomes more threatening because your missing health increases the bonus damage on his attacks.
You get hit.
You stay because you want the wave.
You take another trade.
You are now low enough that Locke can threaten an all-in.
You back away.
He pushes and roams.
And if you greed for one more wave, you might not get the chance to recall.
This is why playing against Locke often feels worse than the scoreboard suggests. You can be only slightly behind in health and still be in a much more dangerous position than you realize.
The Most Important Rule: Don’t Fight Locke While You’re Low
This sounds obvious, but against Locke it matters more than usual.
If you’re sitting at 35–40% health, don’t convince yourself that you can win because your cooldowns are ready.
His passive specifically rewards him for attacking targets with missing health.
So the usual League instinct of “I’ll just stay and farm under pressure” can backfire badly.
If you have enough gold for an important component and you’re already damaged, recalling is often the correct play.
Giving up a few minions is much better than giving Locke a kill, because an early kill gives an assassin exactly what he wants: gold, experience and the ability to start controlling the map.
Mobalytics also recommends avoiding overstaying in lane when low against Locke because his passive, Q and ultimate give him substantial kill pressure.
Keep the Wave on Your Side
This is probably the most practical laning tip.
If you’re playing an immobile champion, don’t permanently leave the wave sitting in the middle of the lane.
A wave closer to your turret gives Locke less room to run you down.
This matters because his mobility becomes much more dangerous when you have a long stretch of lane behind you. If you are already low, that distance can be the difference between safely reaching your turret and watching your grey screen appear.
You don’t necessarily need to freeze every wave.
Don’t Follow Him Into Fog
This is another big one.
Locke leaving mid does not automatically mean you should chase him.
If he disappears after pushing the wave, ping it and make him choose between wasting his roam or finding someone who wasn’t paying attention.
A common mistake is walking into the river because you saw Locke leave lane three seconds ago.
That’s exactly the sort of situation an assassin wants.
Instead, if you have priority, pushing the wave into his turret can force him to lose minions while you warn your teammates. I recommend this approach rather than following Locke into areas where he can set up an ambush.
And remember:
Missing doesn’t mean roaming toward your teammate.
It can mean he’s standing just outside vision waiting for you to walk into him.
Understand His Passive: Silver Stake
This is the ability you should have in the back of your mind throughout the entire game.
Silver Stake gives Locke additional magic damage on his attacks, and that damage increases according to the target’s missing health.
In practical terms, don’t treat 30% HP against Locke the same way you would against a random mage.
You’re not simply “a little low.”
You’re entering the part of your health bar where his kit becomes increasingly efficient at finishing you.
This also affects how you approach trades.
If you’ve taken a decent chunk of damage and Locke is still healthy, extending the fight is usually a bad bargain. Your damage doesn’t suddenly become better because the fight is longer, while his passive continues to make your remaining health more valuable to him.
Short trades followed by safe farming are much more sensible than trying to prove that you can out-duel him while already damaged.
His W Is a Window You Should Know About
Locke’s Soul Ignition is interesting because it comes with a cost.
He ignites his own soul, gaining Attack Speed and Move Speed while damaging himself. At the end of the effect, he heals back part of the damage he took during it.
That means there is a very important distinction between running away from the ability and understanding when it is safe to punish him.
If Locke activates W and you immediately panic, he gets the movement speed he wanted.
If you can safely interrupt or disengage from his follow-up and prevent him from getting value from the ability, you’ve forced him to spend part of his kit without getting the fight he wanted.
But don’t blindly jump on him simply because he’s hurting himself.
The damage he takes isn’t necessarily free damage for you. The ability is designed to give him combat stats and later recover some of the health he sacrificed.
Think of it as a timing window, not an invitation.
Don’t Give Him Free E Engages
Ashen Pursuit is one of the reasons positioning matters so much against Locke.
He’s an assassin/mage with a way to get onto targets, so standing in an exposed position and assuming you can simply walk away isn’t a great plan.
This becomes particularly important around jungle entrances.
If you’re playing mid, don’t stand permanently on the side of the lane where Locke can disappear into fog and suddenly appear on top of you.
Ward the entrances. Watch the minimap.
Your CC Is More Valuable Than You Think
If your champion has reliable crowd control, don’t waste it just because Locke walked into lane.
This is especially important in team fights.
Locke is mobile, and once he gets onto a vulnerable target, allowing him to continue attacking can become a serious problem. Hold CC for him and focus him quickly when he commits.
For champions such as Annie, Galio, Lissandra, or other champions with reliable lockdown, your job isn’t necessarily to start the fight.
Sometimes it’s better to wait.
The Best Champions Against Locke
The numbers change from patch to patch, so I wouldn’t treat any counter list as permanent.
On patch 16.17, Mobalytics’ Emerald+ data puts Naafiri, Katarina, Akali, Yasuo and Galio among the strongest performers against Locke.
Other current datasets show some variation. U.GG’s current Emerald+ data, for example, lists Cassiopeia, Gwen, Talon, Katarina and Qiyana among its strongest Locke matchups.
That’s worth pointing out because “best counter” isn’t a permanent title.
Different sites use different samples, ranks and methodologies.
Still, there are some patterns worth understanding.
Katarina as The best Locke Counter
Katarina is an interesting matchup because she doesn’t want to sit around slowly losing trades.
If Locke misses an important part of his damage or wastes his mobility, Katarina can punish him with her own mobility and reset potential.
The matchup becomes much more about cooldown tracking than simply poking him down.
Current matchup data consistently places Katarina as the stronger options into Locke.
Does Akali counter Locke?
Akali has the mobility to avoid being an easy target and the burst to punish Locke when he commits too far.
The important part is not turning the lane into a pointless slugfest.
Wait for opportunities.
If Locke spends important abilities and doesn’t kill you, Akali has the tools to turn the fight around quickly.
Is Naafiri good counter to Locke?
Naafiri is especially interesting because she gives Locke another assassin to deal with.
Instead of allowing Locke to freely dictate when the fight happens, Naafiri can threaten him with her own engage and burst.
Does Galio counter Locke?
Galio approaches the matchup from the opposite direction.
He doesn’t need to beat Locke at his own assassin game.
He can survive pressure, provide crowd control, and become particularly useful once fights start happening around the map.
Current matchup data has Galio performing positively into Locke.
Does Yasuo counter Locke?
Yasuo’s mobility can make it difficult for Locke to get a clean engagement, while Yasuo is perfectly comfortable fighting around minion waves.
The matchup still requires mechanical skill, but the numbers currently favor Yasuo overall.
Champions bad against locke
It’s also useful to know what not to pick if you’re trying to make your life easier.
Current Mobalytics data has Mel, Orianna, Irelia, Taliyah among the weaker matchups into Locke, with Mel and Orianna particularly low in the listed sample.
That doesn’t mean you should dodge every Locke game on Orianna.
If you’re an excellent Orianna player, you can obviously still win.
It just means you shouldn’t expect the champion matchup to do the work for you.
Locke’s Power Spikes
There are three moments you should pay particular attention to.
His First Completed Component
Locke’s first significant power spike comes with his first completed component because it improves his damage and makes pushing and roaming easier.
This is where you should become much more careful about allowing him to shove the wave for free.
If he gets the wave under your turret and disappears, your team needs to know immediately.
Level 6
This one is obvious but important.
Once Locke gets Purgatory, his kill pressure increases considerably.
Don’t treat the level-six lane exactly like the level-five lane.
The same amount of HP that was acceptable five minutes ago may no longer be acceptable once his ultimate is available.
Level 9
Locke reaches the maximum rank of Ritual Nails at level 9, increasing his damage and wave-clear potential.
This is another reason why you don’t want to give him a comfortable mid-game lane.
If he can clear the wave quickly and disappear every thirty seconds, the game starts becoming less about your 1v1 and more about whether your teammates can survive his movement around the map.
What To Do in Team Fights
The simplest rule is:
Don’t let Locke choose the weakest target for free.
If your ADC is already at 40% health and standing alone at the edge of the fight, Locke doesn’t need some complicated assassination plan.
Because his passive becomes stronger against targets missing health, protecting low-health teammates is particularly important.
This is also why finishing a damaged enemy before Locke can reach them can sometimes be more valuable than chasing another target.
The Biggest Mistakes MaDe Against Locke
1. Staying in lane at 30% HP
You’re not “playing safe.”
You’re waiting for the execute.
Recall.
2. Fighting him in the jungle
You are giving him exactly the kind of environment where an assassin wants to operate.
3. Wasting CC before Locke commits
If your strongest lockdown ability is on cooldown when Locke dives your backline, you’re making his job much easier.
4. Fighting while isolated
If you don’t know where Locke is, don’t casually walk through the river alone.
So, How Do You Really Counter Locke?
Stay healthier.
Ward the paths he wants to use.
Respect level 6.
Save CC for his engage.
And most importantly, don’t give an assassin free access to an isolated, low-health target.
And that’s probably the biggest lesson when playing against him:
Don’t try to beat Locke at his game. Make him play yours.
