Hey there! Considering this is a new champ and im sure youre all itching to dive into the gameplay of it i'll keep this short and simple. Zed is a BEAST! He can ADC, Jungle AND solo top. Hell if you played him correctly you could probably mid with him!

Ill be going over some pros and cons of Zed as well to show you upsides to his downfalls. I'm open to suggestions in terms of improving the guide and criticism is appreciated (within reason). Bare in mind the guide is not fully complete yet.

Greater Mark of Desolation
I chose The armor penetration runes for 1 simple reason: Zed is purely based around damage. Heres a scenario for you;

Blitzcrank has just popped up his shield and youre on 10% health or less (within reason), now for any other character and a semi-decent blitzcrank this is a kill secure providing youre not turret camping HOWEVER this is the beauty of Zed, with the flat damage you get from your runes and your W passive you can throw your shadow in between Blitz and yourself therefore trapping him in the middle, Shift-Q on him to Insta-cast a double shuriken and E to provide him from getting away or to allow you escape time.




If i have to give a reason why i've chosen armor i seriously doubt you've visited mobafire much and i'd consider using google to search the term "armor"



Same reason as above. Self-explanatory.

Greater Quintessence of Desolation

Armor pen more pls. Allows you to 2-3 shot someone early game.

Passive -
This is an absolutely insane passive for damage. You do an extra 8% of the targets health in magic damage every 8 seconds. Mix this with madred's for a high burst output!

Q -
One of the most awesome pokes in the game. This bad boy Q pierces ALL minions and champs (at the cost of reduced damage per hit) Maxing this first allows you to sustain and poke at safe distances whilst making sure you can kill secure. Max it immediately.

W -
Just like Zeds Q being awesome. this is one of the most awesome escapes/chase moves you could have. Producing a clone of yourself also allows you to burst TWICE the amount. This is useful for poking or kill securing, take a point in it second to keep sustain when solo laning or ADC bot.

E -
A fairly decent CC damage skill. Its an AoE slow that increases if you hit with your shadow. This shouldn't be relied on for damage output as compared to Q the damage is significantly lower. This should be used right after your shadow is sent out, this way you can slow the enemy and quickly burst before they escape to safety. Max second.

R -
An ultimate that just screams power! You deal a set amount of damage upon activation and a percentage is dealt back totaling what you just did. Initiate 1v1 fights with this or to burst down your lane quickly, follow up with E-Q-W-E-Q for a kill secure.

I'm not going to go into detail as to why i've chosen this that and the other. As ive explained previously Zed is based around pure damage so using utilizing the masteries which increase the damage given can provide a substantial boost in power.

As for going into the defense side of things it gives Zed more survivability, remember after all he did kill shens father ;)

This bad boy will give you that much needed carry through the mid laning phase when youre pushing into the opposing base. Using the passive plus the other damage increasing items to follow you can hit as high as 1.5k WITHOUT any assist, nashor or neutral buff! This item is 100% needed HOWEVER The Bloodthirster may work out better for early laning when trying to sustain in lane.



These two are what will make you a very happy man/woman. Once your setup has been completed and all items have been obtained you'll be able to solo Baron WITHOUT losing any health! In fact i walked into baron with 50% health, popped Ghostblade and left with higher health than i originally had within 15 seconds! A necessity!



Since Zeds shadow is the perfect escape tool mercury treads serve no purpose. Who needs tenacity? Pfft not zed! The extra attack speed will help you keep up your life when mixed with Bloodthirsters life steal.



Any AD carry or physical damage dealer will swear by trinity force, its expensive, proves you've been fed and gives you that much needed movement speed increase to kill secure! Feel free to take this item early if you have been fed.



Swapping trinity force for one of these two may give that extra bit of damage output. Based on Zeds passive (Increased damage the lower the enemies health is) its worth noting that Madred's will further increase the potential of this and is better for burst damage.

More optional items:


There is nothing more annoying than an ADC or an AD solo top who wont die.. (see sion). So why not give them hell with more health and regen?

Pros!

- Insane burst damage at higher levels.
- Ridiculously fun Late game.
- W is an OP escape tool.
- W-W-R-E-Q-E would make mundo stop going where he pleases.

Cons!

- Early game squishy in comparison to some other champs.
- W-Q can be hard to hit under pressure
- A misclick with W can mean the difference between life and death!

Champs Zed has a hard time with:

Lux - If you're stuck in place, slowed and have no means of escaping you're pretty much screwed as Zed. Him being a high risk high reward character he needs that escape or chase. Avoid lux's Q at all cost if you want to win against her.

TO BE COMPLETED

When mid is an all-out kill fest never be afraid to initiate a fight or chip away with W-Q!
The shadow is one of the most useful tools you'll ever have as zed, it doubles your damage, provides an easy escape and can be used to juke enemies into a misleading death!

A kill-secure tactic if an enemy has backed away due to low health and could be a beneficial assist to the team is to E nearby enemy champs, throw shadow, swap, E again so the shadow slows them down more then finally finish with an R on the cowardly runaway champ followed by your burst combo! This will 9/10 times work granted the player is skilled and timely enough.

Using zed can also be a good bait. Say if youre at mid and your team is running from blue to mid; enemy team chasing you, a good tactic to trick the team is to throw your shadow over the wall towards wolves/wraiths, let your team initiate, swap with your shadow and come from the back of them to stop any fleeing champs.

Along with being one of the highest damage dealers in game, Zed is also the king of minion farm which makes him an excellent AD carry. W-Q-E will guarantee you first and last hit on minions providing your damage output is high enough. Mixed with the high attack speed and life steal you should be able to keep self-sustained and farm efficiently.

As the game starts and the minion waves approach use your Q to farm and poke minions/champs from a safe distance, until you get your W and E there is no definite chance you'll be able to secure a kill or run in and Rambo the opposing team.

Never be afraid to attempt to burst a champ down if you are farming well. By 30 minutes I usually end up with 200+ minion kills minimum. If the enemy champs don't feed you the minions will!

As mid-game approaches try to bush gank mid as best you can with R and E to get an extra bit of income and force enemy champs out of lanes.

This is where Zed hits his prime. Whilst the team is holding off the champs, if theyre doing a good job why not solo baron and give them that edge in battle? As I have mentioned previously Zed can hit over 1k when all items have been acquired and mixed with Ghostblades active you can take down dragon/baron in mere seconds.

Always try and get the stray target that is away from the group or allows you to escape if the enemy team is also fed. 1-on-1 Zed can take on most champs without him breaking a sweat so if you see little old Soraka throwing bananas behind the team make her take a permanent rest! ;)

Excluding the 55-1 match (Was attempting baron in a custom 1v5 bot natch) here are some of my recent Zed matches:
CLICK HERE

When i receive feedback i shall go into jungle strategies and more in-depth laneing tips. Other than that i hope i've been a help to you and thank you for reading!