My name is LceFire (Ice was taken) and I'm currently sitting at Gold 3 in NA. I reached Plat 4 last season, and plan to reach high plat this season. I started playing in the late part of Season 4, and fell in love with all assassins in League. This is my first guide on my favorite champion, Zed. I have 344,498 mastery points with a rank 7 mastery. Hopefully this gets you started on the Master of Shadows. NOTE: Zed is a high skillcap champion - don't play him once and expect to be Faker - doesn't work like that.

Zed is incredibly rewarding once mastered and I love every game I play with him. That being said, let's get started.

Pros

Great burst

Safe laning

Good against a lot of popular mages

High skillcap

Looks flashy

You're a ninja!

Cons

Squishy

Like most assassins, can't fall behind or is useless

Can be countered with Kayle or Lissandra easily

Tough to master

Always take Flash!

For your second slot, Teleport, Ignite, and Exhaust are all viable.

I rarely use TP unless I'm playing Top, and usually use Ignite in lane. Exhaust is a good substitution when you're facing someone like a Yasuo or a Diana - people who can burst you before you get your damage off.

Quints - lethality or AD works, I like one atk speed for easier CS and getting the passive off faster.
Marks - AD or lethality, I prefer AD for a better lane presence
Seals - Armor in lane, health as it scales
Glyphs - 6 flat for lane, 3 scaling out of lane

Ferocity

Feast and Fresh Blood are interchangeable - Feast in a hard lane, blood when you can kill easily

I prefer vampirism over natural talent - not too much of a difference there, but the lifesteal helps out earlier than the flat values.

Cunning

Wanderer and Savagery can be interchanged as well - movement speed for roaming, minion damage for easier CS

Thunderlord's is the most useful keystone for Zed because of the extra burst damage in lane and into his combo, but Stormraider's Surge can work. However, I only recommend you use Surge in easy matchups - this is because you need to be sure the lack of Stormraider's damage won't lose you a bunch of kills. With Surge you can more freely use W as the burst of speed can get you out.

Resolve

Not useful on Zed

Check the notes - all is explained above.

Zed can CS very easily with his Q and his passive.

Use E-W-Q for harass

Read your opponent - figure out their playstyle and champion and play accordingly

Kills pre-6 are definitely possible - land a few EWQ combos and for the last combo, use W again to teleport to your shadow, AA and Ignite if necessary for the kill.

Watch your jg - find out if he's going to gank to get you ahead

Watch their jg - Enemies will try to shut you down early as you need to snowball to stay relevant.

This is where Zed excels - find skirmishes and make quick work of their squishies

Group with the team or go split - whichever benefits towards the win.

Look to close out the game - late team fights are when Zed drops off.

In teamfights, wait till CC and spells are blown on others before diving their backline - try to find inconspicuous ways to get there.

Be extremely careful - one death (while being caught out) and it might be over.

Wait till spells are blown, kill your target, and you've done your job. Zed will probably die at this point because everyone has caught up in levels and items. Be smart, but if your death is a trade for their ADC, it is worth in the end.

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll work on adding videos soon. Go kill some peeps!