Matchup Summary
Zoe is a hard match up for Renekton, as Renekton's ability to get close is pretty hard against Zoe's sleep bubble as well as the lane being shorter when playing mid lane. To play into Zoe successfully, Renekton needs to take Doran's Shield and Second Wind to help him sustain against Zoe's damage, as well as playing the wave short on his side of the map. If Zoe ever throws her W and misses, Renekton can capitlise on that with a heavy trade or all in. Because Zoe pushes up, Renekton can use his teammates to easily gank and shut her down. When playing against Zoe, respect her roaming potential with her kit, as that will be her main win condition to get ahead. Later on in the game, simply ward behind any walls to prevent Zoe catching you or your team out, as well as jumping on to her as soon as she gets into range.
Detailed Tips
- 01
Play For Sustain Early - Zoe's poke damage from Q and auto's can hurt at most stages within the game. The best thing to do is make sure to keep your HP up by avoiding Q damage from your movement or hiding behind minions, while also abusing D Shield and Second Wind to outsustain and mana burn Zoe.
- 02
Avoid Zoe Q Damage - Zoe’s waveclear can be pretty substantial at most points in the game due to her Q providing her a lot of damage, on top of the fact Zoe can also dish out a ton of damage with her W and Q combo. Try to avoid her Q as much as you can with your movement or hiding as previously mentioned, then look to punish her after she uses her abilities if you can get into range.
- 03
Avoid Zoe E - Zoe E is by far one of the scariest abilities within the game, as she can full combo off her CC, then deal a massive amount of damage on to you that is practically unavoidable. Try to bait it out with E1 then instant E2 back or to the side. on the chance she does throw it and misses her e, this can present you a free all in window to fight and potentially kill her. This isn’t always guaranteed to kill her like this, but baiting out the E or Zoe using it randomly, will be the key to getting free fights onto her.
- 04
Ping Her Roams - Zoe’s playstyle often features the ability to fast wave clear into roaming botside for her team, which is easily accessible with your monkey bot laners always failing to realise that. Following on from the fact her E can go through walls, setting up free kills in the process. Make sure to always ping her movements on the map so Zoe is unable to obtain free kills, while also actively shoving out as soon as she is in fog of war to abuse her roam timers.
- 05
Play Wave On Your Side - Playing the wave on your side essentially means playing wave states on your side of the map, via abusing wave manipulation tactics or freezing on your side of the map. Simply use this to help you combo on your laner, taking away any space from them being able to trade you back (This also helps prevent the enemy running you down with their extended or sustained movement speed abilities). You can also use this wave state to run down your opponent with your abilities up, helping you obtain kills a lot easier vs stalemate or ranged match ups. Look to do this when your opponents are below 50% HP, or potentially make a mistake to provide you an all in opportunity to run them down.
- 06
Play For Ganks - Trying to solo kill Zoe is very hard like most artillery mage match ups, with that you should aim to play the wave on your side and abuse Zoe after she uses R or simply over extends. If you’re able to bait the Zoe E before or while in the gank to miss, you’re easily able to kill her if she has no summoners. Getting a kill in this situation is still not easy, but getting her flash is still a big win and can open the doors to being able to solo kill her.
- 07
Contest Wave Crashes - A lot of this match up is simply about crashing waves, as Renekton you want to constantly try to shove the wave and look to roam with your jungler. While roaming from mid is hard vs Zoe’s pushing power, try to hard push off waves and test the waters if there is an opportunity within this time. This is one way that you’re able to gain a lead over him if you’re unable to make much of anything through the laning phase.
- 08
Respect Zoe W - Zoe's W allows her to get random items and summoners from minions, it also allows her to pick up your summoners if you use them against her. Make sure when flashing you're also not in position to give her a free flash, or a free combat summoner to help kill you or a low ally. This is an incredibly frustrating ability, so make sure to approach the situation wisely before using an item or summoner.
- 09
Build Mercury Treads, Eclipse or Stridebreaker - Go Mercury Treads to lower Heimer's overall damage and CC duration. / Go Eclipse for consistent power through mid game and damage mitigation with the shield. / Go Stridebreaker to cripple Zoe's mobility and provide teammates with additional utility.
- 10
Mid Game + Teamfighting Tips - Zoe’s role within the game is simply setting up plays from fog of war with her W, following into her high Q damage to assassinate targets from the game. Try to utilise blue trinkets to spot out Zoe’s before she is able to combo over the wall. Through the game, building magic resist such as Kaenic is also a priority against Zoe, which then will allow you to soak up her damage to protect your team against her. Within fights, try to W her instantly if she gets into range with R, or try to chase her down and nuke her if the kill is available.