Zip Counters 2026: Best Counter Picks & Builds

Zip

Support

Health

Damage

Ability Effects

Difficulty

Heroes That Counter Zip

Zip is a support who specializes in protecting allies by swallowing them into his belly. The Zip Bloat passive lets Zip grow larger, gain damage reduction and deal magic damage per second to nearby enemies. Skill 1 Zip Hex Zip Hex stuns the target, then the curse keeps seeking out and locking onto nearby enemy heroes; skill 2 Zip Angry swallows an ally into his belly for 4 seconds after a 1-second delay, granting them a shield and damage reduction, and Zip is immune to CC while swallowing. His ultimate Zip Roll turns Zip into a rolling meatball at max speed, immune to CC and knocking airborne enemies in his path. Zip Zip ‘s weaknesses are his low damage, needing to stay right next to allies to be effective, Zip Angry’s 1-second delay before it starts swallowing, and CC immunity that doesn’t help him get past walls or arenas. Zip’s counters include Ata, Baldum, Thane, Y’bneth in the support role and Omen, Maloch in the Dark Slayer lane.

Ata

Whether rolling with Zip Roll or swallowing an ally with Zip Angry , Zip Zip is immune to CC, so regular stuns and knock-ups can’t stop him. Ata Ata solves this with something that isn’t CC at all: Ghost Ship summons a giant ship for 4 seconds that heroes from both teams can’t pass through. Dropping the ship between Zip and an ally who’s been caught, or across his rolling path into the fight, cuts off his bodyguard role; Ata is also immune to CC while casting it. Sea Anchor pulls Zip in, and if the anchor hits terrain, Ata drags along everyone in his dash path and stuns them.

Baldum

Baldum Baldum ‘s Wild Prison is the cleanest way to neutralize Zip Zip . After 0.5 seconds, the target area slows and then collapses, trapping enemies for 3 seconds: during this time, victims can’t take any action and can’t be targeted. Trap Zip right as his ally gets caught, before he can roll or swallow, and he can’t use Zip Angry or Zip Roll to rescue them. Wild Charge charges forward, knocking enemies airborne and dealing an extra 8% of the target’s max HP as physical damage, perfect against a high-HP support. The Hulking Hulking passive makes targets hit by his skills take 8% more damage for 3 seconds.

Thane

Thane Thane has plenty of knockbacks and pushes to keep Zip Zip away from his allies. Zip is only CC-immune while swallowing and rolling, so aim for the 1-second window before Zip Angry starts swallowing: Valiant Charge charges forward, continuously pushing back and then knocking away, sending Zip far from the person he’s trying to protect. Avalon's Fury knocks away and slows an entire area, useful right as Zip stops rolling with Zip Roll . Once he’s been isolated, Excalibur deals true damage plus 15% of missing HP, while Thane gains 20% damage reduction and becomes unstoppable, enough to whittle down a tanky support.

Y'bneth

Zip always has to stay close to his allies, and that’s exactly what Y'bneth Y'bneth thrives on. Nature's Embrace sweeps a cone area, pulling victims toward the center; hit Zip Zip together with an ally standing next to him and both take 50% extra damage and get stunned. Vine Vine slows, and after 5 hits it unlocks Falling Tree to knock enemies back, separating Zip from the ally he needs to protect. In teamfights, Seed of Life gives Y’bneth a 1000-point shield (+500 per skill level) and CC immunity and creates a magic circle that slows by 60% for 1.5 seconds; heroes hit by seeds 10 times are stunned for 1 second and pulled toward Y’bneth.

Top Lane Fighters That Counter Zip

Omen
Maloch

Omen

Death's Embrace dashes to the first enemy hero hit and creates a death arena, reducing the target’s damage dealt and preventing escape for 5 seconds. Target Zip Zip as he gets ready to roll in for a rescue: Omen Omen keeps him locked in the arena instead of letting him reach his allies; the arena isn’t a crowd control effect, so Zip’s CC immunity won’t help. Death's Beckon pulls enemies in front closer and slows them, and can drag Zip out of formation before Zip Angry starts pulling. The passive Thirst Thirst deals bonus true damage at 5 Thirst stacks.

Maloch

Zip boosts his own damage reduction with Zip Bloat and often soaks hits for his teammates, so the true damage from Maloch Maloch is an effective way to whittle him down. When Cleave Cleave hits a hero, Maloch enters the Plunder Plunder state: each basic attack that lands deals true damage and heals him, Souleater also deals true damage, and Maloch also gets double the attack range of other melee heroes. When Zip spits his allies out after Zip Angry , the whole group usually ends up bunched in one spot, and that’s the moment for Shock Shock to crash down, knocking them all away and slowing anyone trying to escape the zone.

Items That Counter Zip

Gilded Greaves grant +60 Movement Speed and 35% Resistance, which reduces the duration of all types of crowd control. Zip Hex Zip Hex stuns and then chains to nearby heroes, while Zip Roll knocks up enemies along its rolling path and slows at the end; these boots shorten all of these effects so you can react in time.

The Piercing passive grants +40% armor penetration. Zip boosts his own damage reduction with Zip Bloat and always stands in front of his allies, so physical heroes need extra armor penetration to keep every hit on a tanky support meaningful, especially when the whole team has to collapse on Zip to break his protection.

The passive grants +40% magic penetration, helping mages punch through the magic resist of a tanky support like Zip. Once Zip has swallowed an ally with Zip Angry , all damage he takes is transferred to that ally’s shield, so the more penetration you have, the faster that shield breaks.

How to Counter Zip

CC Zip before he swallows: Zip Angry needs 1 second before it starts swallowing, and Zip is only CC-immune while swallowing. Use stuns, knock-ups or pulls on Zip himself in this window instead of CC-ing his ally, because Zip can swallow that ally to protect them.

Don’t group up when Zip uses skill 1: Zip Hex Zip Hex stuns the target, then keeps seeking out and locking onto nearby enemy heroes. Keep your distance from teammates so one cast can’t lock down multiple people.

Block his roll with terrain: Zip Roll is CC-immune so stuns won’t stop it, but Ghost Ship ‘s ship or Death's Embrace ‘s arena can. Note that rolling into a wall makes him bounce back and speed up, so don’t stand right behind that wall.

Burst Zip while he’s swallowing: At this point, all damage he takes is transferred to the shield of the ally inside. Focus Zip to break the shield, then punish that ally as soon as they’re spat out.

Tips for countering Zip

Strengths to Watch Out For

Zip Angry swallows allies, granting them a shield and damage reduction and rescuing them from fights.
Immune to crowd control both while swallowing allies and while rolling.
Zip Roll gives a huge speed boost and knocks up enemies, starting fights very quickly.
Zip Hex stuns and then chains to nearby enemy heroes.

Weaknesses to Exploit

Low damage; the main role is protecting teammates.
Has to stay right next to allies to be effective; weak when the team gets split up.
Zip Angry needs 1 second before it starts pulling, leaving Zip easy to crowd control during that window.
Crowd control immunity doesn’t help get past enemy walls or arenas.