Hecarim vs Locke Counter Pick

With 1,193 games recorded on patch 16.13.1, this is among the better-evidenced jungle results Hecarim has, and it points one way: 58.9% in his favour, difficulty Easy. Locke fights at 125 attack range against 175, and both of his approach tools announce themselves. Ashen Pursuit teleports to a location before dashing into his next target, and Purgatory throws a binding artifact that damages and can execute, each of them needing him inside the space where Rampage cleaves.

Durability settles the rest. Locke reaches 2,508 health at level 18 against 2,427 but only 103.4 armour against 124.7, and Hecarim‘s damage is entirely physical, so every point of that gap is spent. Soul Ignition also costs him health to gain attack speed and movement speed, returning part of it only when the duration ends, meaning his strongest state opens with a deficit. Silver Stake pays more against missing health, rewarding him for arriving after a fight starts rather than opening one.

Difficulty ratings of 6 against 5 are close enough to rule out execution as the explanation. What remains is shape: Warpath converting 345 base movement and everything stacked on top into attack damage, and Spirit of Dread holding Hecarim in place while it drains health from anything nearby. Base movement of 345 against 340 also leaves neither able to simply walk away, and both spend mana, so a long clash comes down to which one turns damage into health first.