Tahm Kench vs Locke Counter Pick

Locke hits harder the more health his target has lost. Silver Stake adds on-hit magic damage based on missing health, and Purgatory can finish a target outright, so he performs best against enemies who keep their health low. Tahm Kench is a poor matchup for that approach, and the results back it up: a 60.08% winrate across 258 games on patch 16.13.1, rated Easy.

Where his plan falls apart:

• Thick Skin banks a portion of incoming damage and turns it into a temporary shield, which removes the missing-health gap Locke relies on.
• Soul Ignition drains his own health in exchange for attack speed and move speed, nudging him toward the same low health he is trying to punish.
• Ashen Pursuit blinks and then dashes onto a target, putting a 125-range fighter within a 175-unit swing and inside the radius of Abyssal Dive’s knock-up.

The raw stats are closer than the winrate suggests. Locke has more health at both ends, 655 base and 2,508 at level 18 versus 640 and 2,391, and he is faster at 340 compared to 335. His 103.4 armor at level 18 falls short of 118.9, though. Magic resist is even at 32 for each, and both carry difficulty 5. Devour can tip the fight either way: cast on an ally, it pulls a target away mid-execute; cast on Locke, it deals magic damage and pulls him out of a trade he was winning.