First of all, Im sorry for the speeling mistakes. I tried my best but I rarely speak english.

My league of legend Background:
Hi guys, I started playing league of legends as a main AD Carry during the Season 3
Since then Ive learn the game as a Marksman and I peaked at plat 2 in Season 6
Up till now, Ive played over 1000 Zed game and most of them are from Season 7
So, Welcome everyone, I'm AQRC Turtle and this is my Zed guide for Season 8
Enjoy!!

THE MASTER OF SHADOWS Mostly played as mid laner, Zed is a melee Attack Damage Assassin and energy user, with strong DPS potential and high mobility.

Lore resume : Born orphan, Zed was taken and trained by a great ninja who eventully became his master But Zed has never been able to win the favor of his master by beating Shen Frustrated he got banned from his clan after defying his own master and unlock the ancient forbidden ways to beat Shen Now, leading the Order of Shadow he's using the ancient forbidden ways to kill those who refuse to embrace the shadows.

WHY ZED
Despite having weaknesses and counters, I love playing Zed He's full of tricks, jukes, kills opportunity and outplay potential that make him one of the best playmaker in league of legends.

The purpose of this video is mainly to show how far zed playmaking potential can reach.
To sum up, during korean challenger SoloQ CuVee (world champion season 7) single handedly outplayed 4 of the best player in the world know as Ssumday(top), Arrow(adc), Hachani(sup) for KT Rolster in LCK
Play Video

pros: +One of the strongest duelist and splitpusher +Can choose his fights very well +Good mobility from his ability +High DPS potential and kill pressure at lvl 6 + Last hitting cs is very easy cons: -Get counter easily by Zhonya's Hourglass Exhaust Stopwatch -Vulnerable to ennemy Crowd control and armor stacking -Lack of CCs, substain and AoE DMG from his abiities. -Doesnt do well in early laning phase and late game teamfight -High skillcap

I strongly recommend these 2 high elo Zed main:

1. AZOH
He's a streamer/youtuber and a Zed main from EU who reached multiple times master tier.
You can ask him for private coaching lesson and follow his social media to support him
https://go.twitch.tv/azoh
https://www.youtube.com/user/Veloceipro/about
https://www.facebook.com/azoh.lol
https://twitter.com/Azohwastaken

He also made a Youtube tutorial series to explain the basics of Zed Play Video



2. LL STYLISH
He's the N.1 Zed in NA and a challenger streamer/youtuber.
You can follow him here:
https://discord.gg/cXeYRkShttps:/
https://go.twitch.tv/llstylez
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjEv6ZUjUR0xObFhPNcKihg
https://twitter.com/LL_Stylish

In my opinion, he has the potential to be the best Zed in the world mechanicly.
You can always judge by yourself!!21 21 21
Play Video

(Passive): Contempt for the Weak
-Autoattacking a targets below 50% health deal 6-10% of the target's
max HP as bonus magic damage.
-Effective on hit that can only occur once every 10 seconds on the same target


(Q):Razor shuriken
-Active: Every 6 seconde Zed and his shadows throw their shurikens, each dealing 80/115/150/185/220 (+90% bonus Attack Damage) physical damage to the first enemy they pass through, and 48/69/90/110/132 (+54% bonus Attack Damage) physical damage to each additional enemy.

Keep in mind the Q Razor Shuriken missile speed is a bit slow and you cant move during the short casting time


(W):Living Shadow
-Active : Zed's shadow dashes forward giving vision of the area, remain untargetable and mimics every Q Razor Shuriken and E Shadow Slash for 5 sec
-At second cast, he swap places with his shadow if inside 1300 range

Landing at least two instances of the same ability on one target will restore some energy

If Zed get hit by crowd control like a knock up, fear or stun, without a Mercurial Scimitar availible he wont be able to switch shadow


(E):Shadow slash
-Active: Zed and his shadows create a burst to nearby enemies dealing physical damage and slowing the traget for 1.5 sec

Each enemy champion hit by Zed Shadow Slash (not his shadow) will reduces Living Shadow cooldown by 2 seconds. Which mean at rank 5 on your W Living Shadow and at least 30% Cooldown Reduction, you can fully reset W Living Shadow by hitting your E Shadow Slash on 4 enemy.

Landing your ability and your shadow aswell on the same target restore some energy and increase the slowing effect by 50%

You can E Shadow Slash while AA’ing, Q’ing and also move since there's no casting time on it


(R):Death mark
-Active: Zed spawn a shadow at his starting position that'll mimics your abilities and remain in place for 6 secondes. Instantly Zed become untargetable for 0,75 seconde to appear behind his target marking him for death.
-After 3 seconds, Death Mark will detonate dealing physical and grant some dmg if his target die from it

A target who's going to die from Death Mark will display a swirling shuriken above their heads (enough shied, heals will make it disappear)

Death Mark doesnt cost any energy and the cooldown drop very low late game. Howerver Death Mark require 0.5 sec CD before u can recast it. A good way to deal with this is to throw W Living Shadow in safe spot just before using ur ult to have an instant escape and the potential to land 3 Q Razor Shuriken.

Hoverall, Death Mark has so many possibilities and different ways to use it. You can use it simply to takedown a priority target, dodge enemy spells/CCs, use it as a gab closer, to escape a fight, to dodge abiity#skillshots even reset the tower aggro when towerdaving.

Starting Items
-Usully I start Long Sword + 3x Health Potion but Refillable Potion vs easier matchup is viable too
-When laning against a ranged matchup like Corki or Jayce, Doran's Shield is a solution to reduce their poke dmg

The 3 core Items

1st or 2nd

Duskblade of Draktharr Grant DMG, SLOW, VISION DENY. Youmuu's Ghostblade Grant mobility/roaming opportunity

3rd

Black Cleaver Give a mix of DMG, Hp and caps ur max CDR

Situational Item

Good defensive item at a very low cost.

Vs Bruisers teamcomp ex: Jarvan IV Riven
OR
Vs health regen teamcomp ex: Soraka Swain

- Maw of Malmortius Grant some MR but keep in mind you will overcaps ur max CDR (40%)
- Mercurial Scimitar Edge of Night Vs Crowd control Morgana Lux
- Blade of the Ruined King For Splitpushing, and 1 vs 1
- Ravenous Hydra for Waveclear and Aoe DMG
- Death's Dance For substain, CDR
- Dead Man's Plate Sterak's Gage Increase your tanks stats

Trinkets: start Stealth Ward for the early vision than trade it for Farsight Alteration or Oracle Lens after laning phase.

Standart Summoner Spells: Flash and Ignite
Optional : Teleport Cleanse

Domination

Electrocute
It's the most commun keystone for assassins champions giving them a burst of dmg on their 3rd attack or ability landed. Replacement of Thunderlord's Decree it's the standart keystone for Zed

Sudden Impact
It give some lethality after using a blink or dash like Living Shadow and Death Mark

Eyeball Collection
Grant adaptive AD or Ap for each Kills, assist and ward takedows allowing you to snowball harder.

Ultimate Hunter
Grant 5% CDR for your ultimate R Death Mark + 2% more CDR for every ennemy takedows for the first time


Sorcery

Transcendence
Give 10% CDR when you reach lvl 10 and overcaps CDR is converted to an adaptive bonus of Attack Damage or Ability Power

Scorch
Boost your early game poke dmg during laning phase.

Usully, it better to play safe and avoid early trades until u hit lvl 3 and get your full combo availible. Since most mid laner are ranged, without gab closer Zed is most likely gonna get kited.

Despite been melee assassin, Zed is a very strong laner with a high kill pressure when he manage to land his combos. Since Zed is very item depedant a lvl 1-2 solo kill on 100%HP target is hard but once he land some poke he can go all-in and 1 shot a low HP mid laner easily. So in order to maximise your poke dmg maxing Q Razor Shuriken is important..

Trades in lane:
When your lanning against a melee champs like Akali Fizz Yasuo At lvl 1-2 try initiate each trades with your basic attack, than Q Razor Shuriken or E Shadow Slash and than a 2nd basic attack as fast as u can to proc Electrocute. Than disengage to avoid extending trades since long fights are not in favor of Zed early game.

When laning against a ranged champ like Lux or Corki play safer until you hit lvl 3 than take ur time to throw W Living Shadow on top of ur target + E Shadow Slash for the slow and than aim to land both Q Razor Shuriken to procs Electrocute


Ability Sequence:
I usully Lvl up 2nd W Living Shadow when im pushing my lane to prevent early ganks from the ennemy jungler

But if im laning vs a melee champion like Akali Fizz Yasuo who's pushing the wave to my turret I take E Shadow Slash instead to last hit Cs undertower and also because youre unlickely to get gank if your playing safe undertower.


To land your combo more often, try to read your opponent pathing, be unpredictable and as quick as possible combos to give less time to your target to react.

If you need more gold you can always clear the wolf/ raptors jg camps and roam to your side lane.

Sometimes after landing my combo that drop my opponent Hp very low. I like to pretend leaving the fight, in order to bait my opponent thinking hes safe but once he get to close, instantly switch to W Living Shadow and finish him.

Quick recap of the laning phase: At first, watch your positionning, keep warding and try to poke your opponent when you have the opportunity. Meanwhile, prioritize farming over poking but avoid been harass for free when going for CS.
"To be a good zed you must dodge everything"
-Faker

Thereafter focus on getting the lvl advantage and manage ur energy availible to go ham when you hit your lvl 6. However zed lvl 6 powerspike is well know so what looks like an ez kill might be in fact a bait for you to go all in while in the bush the jungle is waiting rdy to colapse on you.
"If there is a slightest chance of something going wrong , don't go in"
APDO

Mid game Zed get a big powerspike that give him the potential to 1 vs 1 any champions when his R Death Mark is up.

Your main job during these mid game teamfights is to take down the ennemy dmg carries and be his nightmare for the rest of the game.
Otherwise when youre out of combat, try to play with the mindset of an assassin, avoid ennemy vision, look for Low Hp/isolated targets and use the fog of war, bushes and suprise effect to caugh someone of guard.

Before going ham on ur opponent, keep in mind that if ur target has Flash or an escape availible, in 90% of situations it's better to engages with R Death Mark and hold on your W Living Shadow to quickly follow up ur target's escape/dash/flash and complete the shutdown.



late game Zed slowly fall off since ppl are getting some tanky item, armor stats and might start grouping for teamfight .

Zed job isnt to engage these late game teamfights. Instead you should wait for ur opponent to waste their main CCs/ult and quickly flank their backline to bring ur dps on their dmg carries. Zed doesnt do as much AoE dmg as control mages so he has to take down each target 1 by 1.

Focus on your macros and take good decision making to minimize your mistakes. Since death timer are getting longer, a single mistakes might cost the game to your team

You can put lot of pressure on the map by Splitpushing if the ennemy team has a better teamfight comp or if your strong enough to 1 vs 1 anyone on the other team

At full build complete, you have the option to sell your boots and trade them for exemple a Phantom Dancer to compensate the MS.

Always try to end the game when you have the opportunity. Eventully, Zed will fall off late game if you stall the game for too long even if youre feed.

In the end, Zed basics combos are pretty simple to learn, but it's so easy to mess up with this champ since missing only one skillshot can deny your kill.

Thx a lot for reading my guide!! Feel free to join the community.
Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/zedmains/
Discord: https://discord.gg/HeZCJda

''Ignorance is Fatal''
- Zed

Ive also upload some montages on youtube for fun! Play Video