Hi I'm Daschmertz and I main Zed. I play on the Garena server and the NA server. Feedback would most definitely be appreciated on this guide.

Zed is a Melee assassin who does best against squishy AD carries and mages. He has recently gained popularity due to streamers and pro players using him often. Playing Zed is not too challenging but mastering him is extremely difficult due to his versatility and mechanics.

Pros

-Uses energy instead of mana
-Can win fights regardless of the current situation
-Can farm easily due to his passive
-Good poke with his W, E and Q
-Extremely mobile
-His abilities scale well
-Death Mark can melt enemies for a quick kill and escape
-Good split pusher

Cons

-Death Mark can be countered by Zhonya's and champion's abilities. e.g. Vladimir W
-CC can ruin his combos
-Is a melee champion requiring him to get close to auto attack
-Doesn't do well against tanks

Flash is a must have on Zed. It gives Zed that extra bit of mobility for escapes and kills and it would be difficult without it in game.


Ignite is another summoner spell that a recommend for Zed. It can be used in the Death Mark combo to secure the kill and is quite essential to Zed.

Teleport is a viable alternative to ignite. This can be used if you decide to go top with Zed so you can get back to lane faster as well as teleporting to places to split push and for teamfights.

These runes are fairly standard. They are also used on different assassins and it gives you the armor pen and attack damage that Zed needs.

The masteries I have chosen are 12/18/0. Thunderlord's Decree is a great keystone that fits well with Zed. The points in the Ferocity tree boosts Zed's damage potential while the points in the cunning tree gives him more utility as well as damage potential.

Youmuu's Ghostblade is a must have for Zed. It offers him the extra damage and armor penetration that he needs and the cooldown reduction doesn't hurt either. It is also important for Zed due to it's active which can help during escapes. chases and the deathmark combo.

Black Cleaver should be your second item. Paired with Youmuu's it will shred your opponents armor as well as giving Zed a bit of health and damage.

Bloodthirster offers Zed more damage potential and the lifesteal he needs. However, this is not essential to Zed and can be swapped with other items such as Duskblade of Draktharr or Infinity Edge.

Lord Dominik's Regards is essential to Zed as it gives him an advantage against tanks as well as making armor non-existent.

Guardian Angel offers Zed some bonus defensive capabilities as well as giving him another life just in case you get caught out. This is not essential. Other defensive alternatives could be Sterak's Gage or Randuin's Omen and many others.

Mercury's Treads are great on Zed. It gives him magic resistance as well as tenacity to lessen the effect of CC. Other options for boots could be Ninja Tabi, Boots of Swiftness or Ionian Boots of Lucidity.

Contempt for the Weak
// Zed's basic attacks against targets below 50% of their maximum health deal 6 / 8 / 10% of their maximum health as bonus magic damage.
// This is an extremely useful passive for farming and dealing damage against low health targets. Last hitting is definitely a breeze with Contempt for the Weak
Razor Shuriken
// Zed throws his spinning blades forward, dealing physical damage to the first enemy they pass through and 60% damage to enemies thereafter.
// Razor Shuriken is a great ability for poking and farming in lane. Especially if used in combination with Living Shadow and Shadow Slash. The animation for the ability is quite slow so it is important to predict your opponents movements for a clean hit.
Living Shadow
// Zed throws his spinning blades forward, dealing physical damage to the first enemy they pass through and 60% damage to enemies thereafter.
// Living Shadow is what makes Zed who he is. It can mimic your Razor Shuriken and Shadow Slash for devastating damage. The ability can also be used for escapes and to catch up to your opponent by double tapping Living Shadow
Shadow Slash
// ed spins his blades, dealing physical damage to nearby enemies and reducing the cooldown of Living Shadow by 2 seconds for every enemy champion hit.
// Shadow slash is helpful for farming as you won't have to wait for your auto attack to use it. If used in combination with Living Shadow, then it will slow your opponent making it easier to land your Razor Shuriken
Death Mark
// Zed becomes untargetable for 0.75 seconds and dashes behind the target enemy champion. Upon arrival, he applies a Death Mark to them and Ghost ghosts for 3 seconds, spawning a shadow at the cast location that lasts for 6 seconds. After 0.5 seconds, Death Mark can be reactivated. DEATH MARK: Stores a percentage of all physical and magic damage that Zed deals to the target while marked. The mark detonates at the end of its duration, dealing physical damage equal to the stored value plus 100% of his attack damage.
// This is your go to ability to splat carries. There is an endless amount of effective combinations with this ability such as Death Mark then Living Shadow and followed up with a Shadow Slash and Razor Shuriken. Be sure to tap R again to return to the place you casted it from so you are clear of danger after the kill.

Poking

Zed has high poke potential in lane. The preferred combo for poking would be a W followed by and E and Q. The E will slow your opponent making it easier for you to land your shurikens.

Death Mark Combo

This combo will make your enemy go splat within a few seconds. Start of with by using your death mark on your lane opponent and then W behind them. Immediately follow this up with an E and Q along with an ignite if necessary. Finish off the combo by pressing R to swap back with your shadow if you believe that your lane opponent is definitely not surviving.

Zed is an assassin making him optimal against squishy targets. However, you will usually face a bruiser or a tank that can easily end Zed in the top lane. Mid lane gives you that squishy to obliterate. Top is not the worst at all for Zed but I strongly recommend playing Zed in the mid lane.

Zed is an assassin making him optimal against squishy targets. In team fights, always make sure to go for the fed AD Carry or the bursty mage so the enemy damage output will be significantly lower. Go for another target if their fed squishy mage has a Zhonya's. Zed's abilities also scale extremely well making him most effective in the late game.

Split pushing is a basic tactic used from bronze to challenger. It makes the enemy think about two areas of the map and will lead them scrambling to make a choice. Zed is an excellent split pusher especially when he has a Youmuu's at disposal. You should only aim to split push when the rest of your team is pressuring the enemy team such as when a team fight is about to occur. Another reason why Zed excels at split pushing is that he after Zed is able to take a tower and he sees enemies coming, he has high mobility to escape. You should not split push if you cannot visually see the enemy as you could easily be ganked. Your team should attempt to pressure the enemy as much as possible to draw their attention leaving them distracted and unaware of your split push. If done effectively, the game could be won.

An opponent with Zhonya's Hourglass can be infuriating for Zed as it can screw up your entire Death Mark combo. It will also cripple your damage output and could lose you the fight. Here a few ways it can be countered.

1. Make them panic Zhonya's Hourglass. Go all in with your Death Mark and this will make them panic and activate Zhonya's Hourglass immediately. It is important to save your abilities for when they exit stasis so you can burst them down in that 0.5 second window. Although your damage output will still be lower than if your opponent didn't have a Zhonya's Hourglass, it can still easily obliterate your opponent.

2. Zhonya's Hourglass gives you a 2.5 second window to let your abilities refresh. This can allow for another Shadow Slash and even a Razor Shuriken a few seconds afterwards.

1. Roam
If you're losing lane or if it's your worst nightmare you're against, then you should roam to attempt to re cooperate and get ahead. This will make you more useful to your team as you can help out other lanes and grab some kills and assists while you're at it.

2. Swap Lanes
If you're just completely unable to do anything in lane, then it would be recommended to swap lanes with your top laner if they are winning. Your top laner might be more suitable against your lane opponent and you might be more suitable against your top laner's opponent. This can be a win win situation but it is not recommended to swap lanes if your top laner will also have a hard time at mid.

3. Splitpush
Even if you're feeding, you can still be incredibly useful by splitpushing. Since you won't be able to do much in teamfights when you're behind, you should focus on taking towers at bot and top to win the game for your team. Remember to choose your lane to splitpush according to where your team is and where the enemy team is.

Thanks for reading my guide. Feedback in the comments would be appreciated and I would also like to thank the creators of other Zed guides especially the ones by EXPGUNNER and the one by EVANAVE.

Anything can Happen when you're playing Zed.

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