Hello, This is Martellato (EUW) and I am here with a guide, discussing about the new champion, Zed.
Zed is a kind of champion who perfectly fits in the role of an assassin. He has got unique new Abilities and Passives. He's the 5th Champion that uses energy instead of mana, and is the 8th champion that none of his abilities scale with AP. Also the first Energy user champion that is completely AD. He comes in the price of 6300IP or 975RP. He's a ninja and is worth to buy and fun to play!

Here's a quick list of terms and acronyms used throughout the guide:
AD = Attack damage
AP = Ability Power
AS = Attack Speed
Ar. Pen. = Armor Penetration
M Pen = Magic Penetration
LS = Life Steal
SP = Spell Vamp
CRC = Crit. Chance
CRD = Crit. Damage
HP5/MP5 = Health/Mana per 5 seconds
GP10 =Gold per 10 seconds
CDR= Cooldown reduction
Nuke = Champion who deals a large amount of damage within a very short period, then waits for cooldowns
DPS = Damage per second, Champion who deals damage over time through auto attacks
CC = Crowd Control (slows, taunts, fears, stuns, snares)
AoE = Area of Effect

PROS:

• Energy user champion. (No Mana problems.)
• Living Shadow gives 5/10/15/20/25% more AD!
• Abilities can be used offensive and defensively.
• AoE/CC abilities.
• Built-in Flash
• High Damage output for being tanky.
• Is a badass Ninja Assassin!

CONS:

• Focused.
• Mid/Late-game champion.
• Takes a while to master.
• Has to play against fighters.

Defensive:
Offensive:

When Offensive/When Defensive:

As a solotop champion, you will be playing against tankier champions, like Wukong, Darius, Vladimir and so on. The choice of which Mastery tree you should take, pretty much depends on your style of playing. You want to be a tanky fighter or an assassin. However, Items like Weapon Expertise or Veteran's Scars are very good and are included in both. let's have a comparison of two of the builds.

Offensive: Weapon Expertise + Sunder : 8%+6 Ar. Pen. A great boost of damage early game. Havoc : 1.5% more damage+ Living Shadow passive, helps a lot. Lethality : Not a Necessary item on Zed yet, helps. Specially if you tend to Build AD Carry or items like Infinity Edge, but since the buff is flat 10%, it's a good early game item to have. Executioner : Zed Has a built-in passive that somewhat works the same, but Contempt for the Weak doesn't work more than once every 12 seconds. so this item will help you get the feel of an assassin from this champ a lot better. Frenzy : goesgreat with the 2 pure offense build, awesome with the classic Infinity Edge + Phantom Dancer Combo

SPACE

Defensive: Veteran's Scars : Bonus health for start means more chances for getting the 'First Blood' Enlightenment : 8.1% CDR for late game makes the gameplay feel a lot more fun and easy. Initiator : A boost of movement speed makes defending your lane turrets easier and faster. Juggernaut : Bonus Health that goes great with HP builds. Frozen Mallet and [[Warmog's Armor match really good with it. Legendary Armor : Great with Armor/Magic Resist, defensive builds. Honor Guard : Could it get more tanky?!

Greater Mark of Attack Damage

- My own favorite. Makes you a classic Solotop champion, matches with Living Shadow and boosts your early game power.

ALTERNATIVES:

Greater Mark of Desolation

- Awesome Rune against Cho'Gath and champions who build a lot of armor.

Greater Seal of Armor

- Flat bonus Armor that let's you stand firm against top lane fighters.

Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist

- Since AP casters gain Damage over time, It's not a a necessity to buy flat MR Runes. Yet you get enough MR to save yourself in team fights.

Greater Quintessence of desolation

- Another Flat-bonus item that helps a lot early/mid game. Since all of Zed damage comes from AD attacks, this would be a good rune.

ALTERNATIVES:

Greater Quintessence of Movement Speed

- An S-tier Quintessence that makes your champion mobile and fast.

Greater Quintessence of Endurance

- Add it to Juggernaut and you will have a tanky tank!

Greater Quintessence of Meditation

- For ability spamming!

Razor Shuriken >> Living Shadow* >> Razor Shuriken >> Shadow Slash*

Why Razor Shuriken for start : It's a ranged poke for harassing your opponent and an ability to help you farm minions faster.

Why Living Shadow second : An escape ability and a way to help you deal 150% damage. Also bonus AD%.

Why Shadow Slash fourth : Now you have had enough time to control and push the lane.

Here we discuss item choices

Defensive Items:

HP Items:

• Frozen Mallet: - HP Item with passive and AD. The amount of HP is decent and it's passive can stack with Trinity Force if you decide to build each.
  
• Trinity Force Trinity Force is an item with lots of benefit. Evolved Sheen passive. Let's you deal extra 150% of your Base AD, bonus damage. Evolved passive from Phage lets no one escape. Also evolved passive from Zeal gives you a movement speed boost!
  
• Warmog's Armor A lot of HP (1270 at full stacks and 40HP5) that can be matched with Atma's Impaler and makes you tanky while giving you a lot of AD!

Armor Items:

• Randuin's Omen: This item, is a great item to be used in escapes. (Movement speed debuff), Heart of Gold gives you Gp10 and Randuin's Omen Makes it into 350 health.
  
• Atma's Impaler Matches with Health items like, Warmog's Armor or Frozen Mallet, and gives you AD for 1.5% of your maximum health. Also Armor and Critical chance.
  
• Frozen Heart This goes very good against AS fighters like Olaf or Jax, it gives CDR and a lot of armor. Why not ignore the mana part and just buy it?!
  
• Thornmail: This item is a counter to DPS champions like Tryndamere so buying it is really conditional and depends on your enemy team composition.
  
• Wriggle's Lantern A classic early-game item that in addition of giving you AD and armor it also gives you the ability to farm minions and push the lane a lot faster. Also you wont need to buy Sight Wards all the time.
  
• Guardian Angel As a not-Fighter solotop champion, this will go great on you. If you get in a Team fight and suddenly your team backs off and you're stuck; No problem, as this item is Reviving you, you have the time to think how to escape!

Magic Resist Items:

• Maw of Malmortius: I personally love this item. It gives a lot of AD, A lot of magic resist. A shield that absorbs magic damage and keeps you alive when Diana is following you, spamming Crescent Strike!
  
• Quicksilver Sash: the Ragnarok Item. Easy to escape enemy CC with this item.
  
  
• Wit's End: A classic item to benefit fighters with attack speed. You see this item on Shen all the time. It's also good on Zed

Offensive Items:

Attack Damage:

• Last Whisper more AD, more Armor penetration. these kind of items let you go through any armor, but you gotta watch out for Thornmails on enemy team.
  
• The Brutalizer Gives CDR and Ar. Pen. and builds in Youmuu's Ghostblade Later on and benefits you in team fights!
  
• The Bloodthirster: 100AD and 20% Lifesteal at full stacks. You also have a Living Shadow passive that makes this 100AD into 125AD.
  
• The Black Cleaver: AS, AD, and armor debuff to your enemy. Yet it's not an item for a fighter, but I'd say it goes good on Zed.

Attack Speed:

• Madred's Bloodrazor: Gives Armor, AD and AS. Also deals 4% of enemy's health as Magic damage which is really good in 1v1s
  
• Stinger: Early game item that gives AS and CDR if you decide to go offensive.
  
• Phantom Dancer: This item gives highest AS bonus in the game (55%) and is very good with Infinity Edge.

Boots:

• Boots of Mobility: I've seen this item on similar champions like Talon. It makes you mobile and lets you gank and help other lanes.
  
• Ionian Boots of Lucidity: If you decide to build this item, keep in mind that CDR cannot go beyond 40%!
  
• Mercury's Treads The best Tenacity item in the game. Amazing against those with a lot of CC.
  
• Ninja Tabi: Good item against champions like Olaf or Tryndamere that don't have a solid CC and are DPS.

These are the best Summoner spells in my opinion: (Statistics are according to Lolking.net)

46.8% of summoners use Flash. Combined with your other abilities, becomes a powerful escape/pursuit mechanism

SPACE

40.9% of summoners use Ignite. A great way to secure kills in lane.

SPACE

about 2% of summoners use Ghost. Ghost wouldn't be my first choice, but is useful in many situations.

SPACE

28.2% of summoners use Exhaust Can be used both defensively and offensively. Good Spell but doesn't like tenacity items and Master Yi oh and Olaf wait who else... Garen oh! I forgot to add Irelia and so on...

No1. Jax: As mentioned earlier in the guide, Jax is a champion with AS passive ( Relentless Assault) , therefore items like Frozen Heart would come in handy. Also Jax deals Both Physical and Magic Damage, so Maw of Malmortius / Wit's End would be the best offensive items against Jax. Any HP Item is OK, Armor and Magic-Resist items are strongly recommended, specially Frozen Heart. Best boots would be Mercury's Treads against Counter Strike.


No2. Irelia: Irelia is a Defensive kind of champion that builds Lots of HP and Armor. Because Irelia's main damage is Physical damage and it's not an Attack-Speed champion. Armor items like Thornmail, HP items, also Items like Madred's Bloodrazor could be really good. For the heal on Irelia, You can build Executioner's Calling Early game. Best boots would be Mercury's Treads, against Equilibrium Strike.


No3.Cho'Gath: Cho'Gath Always builds a lot of Armor/Magic Resist and a lot of HP specially, thanks to Feast. Therefore a little Magic Resist like Wit's End or Maw of Malmortius and then Ar. Pen. items such as Last Whisper, Madred's Bloodrazor is also very good. Best boots would be Mercury's Treads against Feral Scream.

No4. Darius: Darius Has all of his damage dealt Physically (Except for Hemorrhage that is nerfed enough for anyone to actually care). High Armor, HP and also Ar. Pen. items are great against Darius. Keep in mind that Darius is a GREAT duelist, try being a real ninja to win. Darius is also vulnerable to harassment attacks, so Razor Shuriken is a good ability to early-game. Last Whisper is also really good. Best boots would be Ninja Tabi.

No5. Olaf: Olaf is also an AS Fighter, therefore Frozen Heart is very effective. Watch out for Undertow and Build items with high AD and high LS. Best boots would be Ninja Tabi


No.6 Nidalee: Nidalee can be shut down early. Build offensive and Guardian Angel. if Nidalee gets fed, learn her style of playing and decide whether Armor or Magic Resist. Always stay close. Best boots would be Ninja Tabi / Mercury's Treads.


No.7 Jayce: Jayce is specially squishy and mana dependent early, so try camping and shutting him down. Try to attract him in team fights and watch out for Thundering Blow. Against Jayce you need to build defensive specially Armor. Keep in mind to ward everywhere for the poke. Best boots would be Ionian Boots of Lucidity.


No.8 Malphite: Even Though Malphite is tough, he doesn't deal a lot of damage. Building high AD and items like Last Whisper and Madred's Bloodrazor is effective against him. Make sure you have as much Tenacity as possible. Best boots would be Mercury's Treads.


No.9 Riven: Watchout for Ki Burst, stay away and proceed while its on cooldown. Since Riven Players max Ki Burst first, means her other abilities are for late game. Build Armor/HP and AD items. Last Whisper would be a great help. Best boots would be Mercury's Treads.


No.10 Teemo: Go offensive against Teemo, If It's AP Teemo, buy Maw of Malmortius, Wit's End; Otherwise buy Frozen Heart, Randuin's Omen. Best boots would be Ionian Boots of Lucidity.


No.11 Singed. Build offensive items, stay far and don't engage in fights near enemy turrets, or you will be Flinged. Last Whisper and Madred's Bloodrazor are effective. Best boots would be Ionian Boots of Lucidity


No.12 Zed. Try building balanced, HP/Armor/AD, Items like Trinity Force are good. Also Frozen Mallet+ Maw of Malmortius. If the enemy Zed has other benefits, don't forget Guardian Angel. Try to confuse the enemy with putting your shadow near enemy's, and dodge the Razor Shuriken, Try Camping and Ambushing to shut him down. Best boots would be Ninja Tabi


Shen. Shen doesn't deal much damage. so try building against just like Cho'Gath. Last Whisper, Madred's Bloodrazor or Bloodthirster helps you getting the kill faster. Best boots would be Mercury's Treads.


Yorick Just defend and farm minions... Best boots would be Ninja Tabi

The Star shows the highest Priority.

• Zed was designed by CertainlyT and Shamizul.
• Zed is the 1st champion whose death animation shows him escaping (via a shadow portal), rather than actually dying.
• Zed is the 5th champion to utilize energy as a resource.
• Zed is one of the 8 champions who does not have a single skill that scales off ability power; along with, Darius, Draven, Garen, Olaf, Riven, Talon and Vayne.
• Zed shares a quote with Shen: "Without a sound."
• Zed's quote, "Balance is a fool's master." could be a reference to Shen and Shen's father.
• Zed and Shen were taught under the same master, Shen's father, and were rivals to one another. Zed would later murder Shen's father and establish a new ninja order, the Order of the Shadow. Zed seeks to abolish the old ways of balance and replace them with the forbidden art of the shadow. Any ninja who refuses to learn will be eliminated.
• According to Runaan, Akali may have some former connection to Zed. What that connection was has yet to be elaborated on.

Thank you for reading my guide, I hope it did help you in any way or at least gave you some new ideas. I'll be looking forward to receive your feed backs. This is Martellato and I wish you a great time playing Zed. Please send me (Via PM) a screenshot of your results playing with this build and I will add it here with your name.
Once again I thank you for your time and patience,
Love you all,

Martellato.