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Recommended Items
Spells:
Flash
Ignite
Items
Ability Order
Contempt for the Weak (PASSIVE)
Zed Passive Ability
Threats & Synergies
Kayle
If Zed every truly had a counter, then this is it. Everything in her kit can destroy yours. She can slow, kite and worst of all Intervention>Death Mark. This killer will stop you in lane and in teamfights when you're trying to blow up the enemy. Just sit back and farm.
Introduction
Pros
|
+ Best ninja in the game + Energy User + Easy farming champion because of Contempt for the Weak + Huge Burst + Decent wave clear for an assassin + One of the best splitpusher's + One of the most fun and rewarding champs |
Zed is an amazing champion with tons of reasons to play him. He has a plethora of tricks and skills at his disposal coupled with an enjoyable kit. One of the most rewarding champions to play who is not that hard to pick up (It was a Zed free week a couple of years ago, and I decided to play him, in that astounding game I went something like 28/7 . |
Cons
|
-First times will not be perfect -Easy to miss spells -Lack luster damage without Death Mark - Death Mark damage countered by Zhonya's Hourglass -Consumes energy fairly quickly if spells are spammed - Razor Shurikenis easy to miss -Dynamic abilities like Living Shadow make him hard to play |
Not everything is luscious and green on the other side, this includes Zed! This ninja has drawbacks as well such as not being easy to play at first. However, the Pros outweigh the Cons and if you can get past these pesky problems you will enjoy success on Zed! |
Flash
Must Take Summoner Spell//This summoner is a necessity on Zed, it allows him to avert a dangerous situation or to create one by flashing in to gain extra ground for Death Mark.
Let them burn
//Extra bit of damage to ensure that Zed can definitely assassinate the target. Really good against self healing champions such as Dr. Mundo and Swain.
Take for Top Lane
//Take this summoner spell for Top Lane. You do not want to cop the blame when your team mates get caught out for a 4v5 and you're stranded top laning solely farming. This spell is essential for split pushing as it allows you to join a team fight from anywhere.
Situational
// Exhaust is situational for a ranked game while in champ select. If you're facing up against another assassin such as Talon or Fizz I can definitely recommend this summoner spell as it nullifies their damage when they commit to an all in against you.
Alternative Runes
Greater Seal of Armor | Instead of Greater Seal of Scaling Health you could also use armor seals. These are useful to reduce the painful auto-attacks from mages. Another good way to use these runes is in ranked, if you're facing a fellow ad based laner for example Talon, it would be very ideal to use these! |
Time for my favorite section, items!
Why My Core Item's Are Relevant To Zed?
I like Mercury Treads because they give Zed something very valuable, tenacity. League is a game where everyone second counts, and Zed being unstuck from CC for just that one extra second could be decisive in the game winning team-fight.
Blade synergises so well with Zed. The attack speed is really nice late game however getting the daggers is certainly a drag :(. Many Zed players purchase this item mainly because of its active which amplifies ] by a lot. Ever since the price increase to Bilgewater Cutlass I have been purchasing multiple Long Sword, completing them into Youmuu's Ghostblade, then going into second item Blade of the Ruined King.
Ever since the preseason, it is now beneficial to purchase Youmuu's Ghostblade first rather than the Blade of the Ruined King. Ghostblade active is pivotal to catching up to enemies and the item provides Zed everything that he possibly needs. It gives CDR and Armor Pen, blade can certainly be pushed back a little in favor of this item.
I think Lord Dominik's Regards is a good item for it's price. Zed shines most during the mid game and this item has some really niche build paths, which includes the famed Last Whisper having that invaluable armor pen. Having the trio of Blade of the Ruined King Youmuu's Ghostblade Lord Dominik's Regards, no squishy will be making it out alive once Death Mark is set.
Both these items are really good on Zed and mesh well, while both providing something different. Ideally, if I am insanely fed, then Infinity Edge will help solidify my damage, however if I'm not the leading force of my team then the shield/lifesteal offered by Bloodthirster is amazing. Most of the time I go with Bloodthirster since I prefer split-pushing however if I had an abundance of gold late game I would definitely go with Infinity Edge for the absurd damage a crit would do on a squishy, potentially game-winning.
This item causes me so much relief while also adding even more pressure on myself. Being caught out split-pushing with this useful item means that I have now lost an invaluable item active, while having that second life gives me that reassurance that I may live to end the final fight in my favour. I'll gamble and hope the latter pays off. I prefer this item over Banshee's Veil because I like to take risks thus hoping that I look like a superhero winning the game!
As an assassin, Zed needs to disappear off into the shadows catching enemy squishes off-guard. However, trinkets can easily reveal assassins resulting in reinforcements by the opposition. With the Sweeping Lens ensure that the area in which you are about to kill the squishy is concealed for a smooth kill.
Situational Items
This item is a very situational and niche pick. Having that shield is amazing and could be the difference between life and death. Whenever I am facing a burst mage, I like to grab a Hexdrinker because that shield really comes in handy during the laning phase. Late game if I purchase a Hexdrinker I normally do not finish to Maw of Malmortius and instead grab a Bloodthirster since the shield is more reliable. |
The reworked Black Cleaver is actually pretty good on Zed. The health and damage are a nice added bonus but the real selling point is the 20% cooldown reduction. Mix this item in with Youmuu's Ghostblade and you will have a quicker spell rotation to not only assassinate carries, but also clear waves. The move speed after autos helps too! |
I do not like this item on Zed nor do I dislike it. It has its uses such as a nice wave clear mechanic, however Zed already has a decent wave clear mechanic innate in his kit. The active is useful but is it really worth giving up a 400 health shield Bloodthirster provides you, or a potentially 2000 damage auto attack crit Infinity Edge can give you? The item is a good first buy against immobile teams who have to sit through the auto attacks, however, definitely not recommended for late game. |
The Arsenal Of Abilities Zed Obtains
Q
W
E
This ability is so severely underrated. Most people will purposely run through shadow because they believe after there is no threat, however. has plenty of meaning full utility even after the damage. |
R
What I like to do in lane is poke. is a really good zoning tool so use it to the best of its ability. There are many tricks to Zed such the E+W however I'm going for the simplified, simple version
> >
BACK OFF, WAIT FOR A FEW COOLDOWNS THEN
TRY AND behind the opposing laner AUTO ATTACK finishing with
POP THAT LONELY SQUISHY!
OH LOOK, A WILD BOT LANE BY HERSELF. Lets kill her with full utilization of our combos,item actives and summoner spells to create free split push pressure.
FIRSTLY, POP for the speedup THEN > forward > > > > > > Auto Attack
How The Utilization Of This Combo Works?
The passive from Youmuu's Ghostblade allows us to catch up towards the enemy Ashe. Then, in the case in which she starts running away and there is still too much distance, we Living Shadow to close even more space, until we can Death Mark. Once we're able to Death Mark then we shall utilize the full combo for an amazing burst. Starting off with the active of Blade of the Ruined King to amplify our ultimate damage, then Ignite to have constant dps (damage per second) ticking. After this we use our regular abilities, Shadow Slash for the niche slow and Razor Shuriken, finishing it off with an auto attack just in case, then porting back to original Death Mark shadow to look cool!. With Blade of the Ruined King it allows us to keep up with our enemies, this is why it's such an important item on Zed, for the sticking potential given by the active effect (slow them down, speed you up).
Q&A Why Did You Living Shadow In? You're not able to shadow behind them now and that shadow's shuriken will most likely miss!
Well normally, this assassination would occur somewhat pass laning phase but still early in the game. We would like to do this combo during the mid-game before the enemies start grabbing counters to our Death Mark. Most of the time, since you were in a solo lane and bottom lane not. The ad carry should be behind you in levels, thus creating an advantage already. A lvl 11 Zed will definitely kill the lvl 9 Twitch. Zed's mid-game power is strong with everything up including item actives and summoner spells, he will definitely pop the squishy even if he uses his Living Shadow as a gap-closing tool.
Another Weakness In Zed Top
Another glaring weakness in Zed top, is that taking him there deprives your team of a tanky member. Honestly, junglers just do not receive enough gold, or as much as the solo laners do to carry the game unless they afk farm or get the majority of the kills. I'll tell you one thing, that Lee Sin you see every 3 games, at least 2 of them will not get rolling thus, being deleted like how a fly swatter swats flies. This means that now you have possibly 5 eggs waiting to hatch but no basket to in-case them in.
Crush Or Be Crushed
There is so much pressure for top lane Zed to go off. And when I say "go off" i mean like explode in the laning phase. Many top lane champions like Maokai and Singed scale into the late-game really well by being indestructible beings with stacks from Rod of Ages. If you're content with just 'laning' with them, you have lost the laning phase. It's already bad enough that your team doesn't have a sturdy, durable team member, but also that your rival laner will just scale into the cliffs of Everest.
Creep Killing
is an amazing creep killer. This is mainly because his full combo entices easy wave of farming, + + =$ Profit. Another reason why is such an awesome wave-clearer is because of , this extraordinary passive allows easy shred of minions's health below around half. Really healpful and neat passive which I believe is one of the best in the game because of its regularity of use.
Jungling
jungle is not as optimal as it may seem. The new jungle really sucks for clearing and I haven't even dared taking him there. Before, back when all the jungle camps didn't receives steroids I would start Red but I guess now for the new patch, start golems,red,wolves (the ex-wraiths deal a lot of damage now} back/buy, then gromp and finish with blue.
ganks are hard to pull off unless the enemy laner is REALLY overextended. At best you can land one , is your only form of crowd control, and the only way to hit it is with which has a decent range but not decent enough to pull off ganks.
> > > . If your team needs a tank grab a GA, finish your build like you would normally do just go that one extra defense item instead of offense.
Jungling
jungle is not as optimal as it may seem. The new jungle really sucks for clearing and I haven't even dared taking him there. Before, back when all the jungle camps didn't receives steroids I would start Red but I guess now for the new patch, start golems,red,wolves (the ex-wraiths deal a lot of damage now} back/buy, then gromp and finish with blue.
ganks are hard to pull off unless the enemy laner is REALLY overextended. At best you can land one , is your only form of crowd control, and the only way to hit it is with which has a decent range but not decent enough to pull off ganks.
> > > . If your team needs a tank grab a GA, finish your build like you would normally do just go that one extra defense item instead of offense.
Jungling
jungle is not as optimal as it may seem. The new jungle really sucks for clearing and I haven't even dared taking him there. Before, back when all the jungle camps didn't receives steroids I would start Red but I guess now for the new patch, start golems,red,wolves (the ex-wraiths deal a lot of damage now} back/buy, then gromp and finish with blue.
ganks are hard to pull off unless the enemy laner is REALLY overextended. At best you can land one , is your only form of crowd control, and the only way to hit it is with which has a decent range but not decent enough to pull off ganks.
> > > . If your team needs a tank grab a GA, finish your build like you would normally do just go that one extra defense item instead of offense.
Jungling
jungle is not as optimal as it may seem. The new jungle really sucks for clearing and I haven't even dared taking him there. Before, back when all the jungle camps didn't receives steroids I would start Red but I guess now for the new patch, start golems,red,wolves (the ex-wraiths deal a lot of damage now} back/buy, then gromp and finish with blue.
ganks are hard to pull off unless the enemy laner is REALLY overextended. At best you can land one , is your only form of crowd control, and the only way to hit it is with which has a decent range but not decent enough to pull off ganks.
> > > . If your team needs a tank grab a GA, finish your build like you would normally do just go that one extra defense item instead of offense.
A Preferred Composition For Zed
A team composition like this would be perfect for Zed. Zed is an assassin and excels at picking off unsuspecting enemies with Death Mark, a team built like this allows easy catches with initiates such as Cease and Desist and Frozen Tomb. Another plus side with this team is decent waveclear, while you're forcing/applying pressure else where, you need to trust that your team will be able to clear the minions/stop the recalls. Enemies trying to initiate 4v5's will be stopped dead in their tracks with champions like Nami, and also be chased down by champions like Lissandra!
However, not all super powerful things in league of legends have no counter play. Zed, late-game is easily countered by items such as Quicksilver Sash which renders your Death Mark damage use less (disregard this, since it is not the case anymore, Riot has changed qss meaning that it no longer denies Death Mark damage). Once this happens, look at the scoreboard and aim for someone else to target, with a Zhonya's Hourglass on the enemy mage, don't give them first priority. It is possible to even peel for your Lucian instead of going for their Tristana, thus eliminating their front line more quickly than yours.
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Thank You Everyone For 1 million
First of all, I would like to thank everyone who read my guide. I would also like to thank everyone who took the time to comment and help me out with the making of this guide. I made this Zed guide a little over a year ago and it has been one of the most rewarding experiences. Building this guide was certainly no easy feat, I recommend anyone who wants to create one to have a lot of patience and dedication. Once again, I really appreciate everyone who took the time to read my guide and all the plethora of facebook likes and upvotes that this guide received, it's been a long journey but we finally made it!
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