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Zilean Build Guide by Zileni

Middle [11.12] [In-Depth] Zilean MID/SUPPORT Guide From A One Trick

Middle [11.12] [In-Depth] Zilean MID/SUPPORT Guide From A One Trick

Updated on June 13, 2021
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League of Legends Build Guide Author Zileni Build Guide By Zileni 16 3 28,841 Views 0 Comments
16 3 28,841 Views 0 Comments League of Legends Build Guide Author Zileni Zilean Build Guide By Zileni Updated on June 13, 2021
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Runes: AGGRESSIVE (MID/SUPPORT)

1 2 3 4 5
Sorcery
Arcane Comet
Manaflow Band
Transcendence
Scorch

Domination
Cheap Shot
Ultimate Hunter
Bonus:

+8 Ability Haste
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+6 Armor

Spells:

1 2 3
Think you win matchup?
LoL Summoner Spell: Flash

Flash

LoL Summoner Spell: Ignite

Ignite

Items

Threats & Synergies

Threats Synergies
Extreme Major Even Minor Tiny
Show All
None Low Ok Strong Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Synergies
Ideal Strong Ok Low None

Champion Build Guide

[11.12] [In-Depth] Zilean MID/SUPPORT Guide From A One Trick

By Zileni

Hey everyone, I am Zileni. I am a 550k Zilean one trick that's in gold and peaked 70% winrate on him. I started playing Zilean around the summer of 2019, I started playing League at the end of Season 8 and he was my first support champion actually. I frequently play Zilean Mid and Support which I think both are really good if played correctly. So why do I play Zilean you may ask? Zilean is probably one of the most preferably fun champions. It's satisfying to land a double bomb, a game winning stun, slowing people for a 99% slow, giving someone a 30 second Guardian Angel for the entire game. Sounds like fun to you? Then my knowledge will show you on how to further expand your Zilean play.

So why would anyone in the right mind would pick Zilean out of the 150+ champions in this game? Let me tell you this champion is pretty unique.
Pros
He is very versatile
He has a free Guardian Angel
Can slow people for 99%
Can speed up yourself or your teammate for 99%
Can stun infinitely
Tilt people very easily
Easy champion, hard to master
LITTLE TO NO BAN RATE/PICK RATE, HIGH WINRATE, NO PATCHES ON HIM

Cons
One of the weakest early games
Many counters both Mid and Support
Have to rely on teammates
Can carry games and get no recognition
Has some pretty bad skins
People hate him on the enemy team, but love him on your team
PASSIVE
ABILITY
Time In A Bottle (Passive): Level up somebody when they are close to leveling up When a champion is almost done leveling up, Zilean can instantly level up somebody. Zilean also gets the same amount of XP after leveling somebody up. This is very good for champions with an ultimate or level power-spike.
Q
Time Bomb (Q): Zileans main damage ability, a bomb that sticks onto somebody, it detonates after 3 seconds.So this is Zileans main bread and butter, and where massive damage can happen if used correctly. Combined with your W it can create a stun for a 1.1 second level 1 to a 1.5 second level 5 after placing 2 bombs on somebody.
W
Rewind (W): Zilean can repeat using abilities except his ultimate. Zilean can reduce his abilities to a 10 second cooldown except his ultimate. This is where he gets his stun, and can be used creatively when it comes to slowing or speeding someone with Zileans E
E
Time Warp (E): Zilean can slow down his enemies or speed up his allies. In my opinion this is one of the most broken abilities in the game if used correctly. It's movement speed modifier goes like this: 40/55/70/85/99%. If this is utilized in the right way for example picking off an enemy or speeding up a diver then it is crazy good.
R
Chronoshift (R): Zilean can revive one of his allies. This is also one of the most broken abilities in the game, not only is it a free but it's cooldown is very low (120/90/60), and Zilean already builds Ability Haste making you even get a 20 second cooldown in a real game with the right circumstances. It heals someone with a 200% AP Ratio starting at 600/850/1100, however this can be easily countered by anti-heal.

So how exactly do you wanna play Zilean? I'll guide you to the right direction on what how you want to play.
So for support, chances are you probably know that Zilean is an AP Control Mage that utilizes a lot of Ability Haste. However many of the problems I see with Zilean players is whether they should take or for support.
My simple way of solving this problem is to just play the game with my recommended rune-pages. Some of the pros to the Guardian build is that it is very cost-efficient and provides even more utility for your team. This can enable your team even more!
What's good about AP is just the huge damage a single bomb or a stun could do.
It's honestly up to you. If you wanna play AP Support Zilean, then I recommend giving mid Zilean a try.
Mid Zilean seems weird at first because he only has one damage ability. Just like other support mids, it surprisingly works! You have a high percentage of winning any trade and having impact in every part of the game. However this is only in the cost of the meta champions that counter you.

LANING PHASE MID

Depending on your matchup, you wanna poke as much as possible and stay safe until your 6. Ask for jungler for help because Zilean has one of the best engages with a simple E + Q + W + Q for your jungler to come in to. He is also really good in river fights if you can be a part of any. Taking Teleport is really good to TP to another Lane.
Late game you wanna be looking for some aggressive bombs and peeling with E and Ultimate.

LANING PHASE SUPPORT

The early game is the hardest phase for Zilean, as he only has one ability that can damage and poke while the rest is either peel or helps himself. Once your 6 depending on your ADC, you can look for a 2v2 or a 3v2 with your jungler or mid. Roaming is really good on Zilean because of his ability to slow and double bomb. Late game support I recommend getting vigilant ward stone because of the Ability haste it gives. I never recommend Cosmic Insight because of how costly it is. It is very easy to get vision around the map using your E!

Some tips I recommend for all stages of game:

Use your E on yourself and/or somebody else so you get to lane faster.
If you use your Q on a bush, it will reveal vision. You can also double bomb the bush that's not warded and it won't show until they look in the bush.
You can use the icons on top of your Mini-map if you want to ultimate somebody.
Zhonyas is an item where if you get it, you can either double stasis yourself or Zhonyas and ult somebody else.
Flashing + E on ally or even an enemy is very worth on Zilean, especially if you do it on somebody that benefits from the movement speed like Garen or Darius.
What separates a good Zilean from a bad Zilean is how well they can zone out with there bombs or bombs that are missed, but still have impact. Try looking for places that can zone out the enemy and they won't be able to step up for 2-3 seconds. This is very effective on mountain soul environment.

So now that you know the abilities, this is a very important part of this entire guide. Interactions.
There is many interactions to go over, so let's get over some basic stuff.

Cheap Shot

A rune that is a part of the domination tree, it is a part of the Aggressive rune-pages, but did you know about the interaction with Zileans Q ?
Reading Cheap shots tooltip, it does true damage to an enemy that has impaired movement. If we throw out a double bomb and it lands on somebody, the true damage will actually be procced on the target. Now I actually can't get a video of this interaction because of the fps lag when I record so your gonna have to trust me on this.

Summon Aery

One of the keystones that Zilean uses, which I highly recommend using. However not only is it a good option for shield and poking somebody, but it can proc twice on someone if you are close enough with your Q . I actually have a video on this interaction here.
So those are the main ones I'd like to introduce. I got some additional ones that are nice to know.

ANTI-FOUNTAIN

Unfortunately this one is not that huge, as you can not use your R to fountain dive, they will just die without the stasis. Just thought I'd put that out there incase you guys stomp a game really hard and you wanna fountain dive. Example:

ELECTROCUTE

So if you saw the notes of the Aggressive rune-page then you can skip this, however Zileans E actually counts as one of the 3 separate attacks to proc Electrocute and here I have a video of showing it.

Alright so now for Zileans "mechanics" There is not much to cover and there is rarely any point these can come in useful, but they are still game-changing if you pull it off.
I'd like to introduce the

Infinite Stun

So this one is gonna need some explaining. With W maxed out and the right amount of ability haste you can pull this off very early. I highly recommend to do this against someone that is tanky and does not have a flash like Cho'gath. Now unfortunately I cannot show a video for this one, but basically you need 49% CDR at least. Make sure you are close to somebody and then Q them. Wait until the bomb almost explodes and quickly W + Q. And there you go, keep spamming W and Q on them until they are dead.
WAIT UNTIL TIME IS ALMOST UP WAIT UNTIL TIME IS ALMOST UP REPEAT!

Flash Stun Engage

This one is one of the more cooler ones, but it's high risk, high reward. You can win any fight if you pull this off at least 2+ people, or you can do it to get a solo-kill up to you. Basically you Q and E yourself then W, run at the enemy, throw a Q on the enemy and flash onto it to get a stun. Afterwards Zhonyas or Ulting yourself is very important so you don't die as fast, if anything you can even add an Everfrost. Here's the example.

Minion Stun

This is one of the more useful ones and can be pulled off numerous times. The minion stun will not only stun, but the bomb will automatically go off which can cause some unexpected damage than a normal double bomb. (In this example I had electrocute, without it, it would be the same damage however the bomb goes off instantly.

So that is it for the Zilean Season 11 guide, my first Mobafire guide. Thank you if you read any of this, and I'd like to mention the Zilean mains discord server. The discord server is extremely helpful and they can tell you about specific matchups! DISCORD
Some resources to some really good and friendly Challenger Zilean players are:
https://www.youtube.com/user/TheDisconnecction
https://www.twitch.tv/thedisconnect
https://www.twitch.tv/bioticzilean
https://www.twitch.tv/temposdiff
Thank you again and good luck!
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[11.12] [In-Depth] Zilean MID/SUPPORT Guide From A One Trick

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