The Obvious Choices

The below 2 are the one's I'll pick 95% of the time, you may occasionally want to take Cleanse if the enemy are running hard CC and you fear being stunned out of contention (we've all been there, enough time in stun lock to go make a cuppa! No fun at all). In reality I rarely, if ever, deviate from the obvious choices.

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Do I really need to justify this one? It's the best summoner in the game bar none and basically a must pick for every character; Flash just provides too much utility to be left in the locker for anything else.

You picked Zed right? He's an assasin that likes to hurt people, the extra pressure and kill potential added with Ignite can tip close trades in your favour. We're in the midlane so there's always a good chance enemy mid will take Ignite, none of the other options beat it during the laning phase imo

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The Domination tree is my go to for assasins like Zed or Akali who have a mix of abilities to spam at targets making it easier to proc extra damage. This tree has a few options to increase burst and can be flexed to add a bit of sustain if you fear a tough lane. Zed is all about burst and Electrocute synergises perfectly with your combos and any extra damage for Death Mark is welcomed. This rune will help you bully in the laning phase and becomes another layer of damage for your big combos in mid to late game

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Sudden Impact Grants extra lethality and magic penetration after exiting stealth; perfect for initiating with Living Shadow or Death Mark. Your job as Zed is to delete enemy carries and lethality helps the cause, more burst to help pop those squishies. This can be flexed to Taste of Blood if you fear a tough laning phase and want the extra sustain. Zed is tough once he gets behind so this can sometimes be the difference

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This branch is the weaklink for Zed in Domination, I take Eyeball Collection for the extra damage. If you're doing your job you should get the full bonus from this rune by assasinating each enemy at least once; I occasionally take Zombie Ward for the extra vision but very rarely

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This one is a toss up between the extra sustain in Ravenous Hunter and the lower cooldown on your ultimate with Ultimate Hunter. Zed is about making plays so the decision here is whether sustain keeps you in lane long enough to make extra plays or if Death Mark cooldown reduction has a greater impact. No right answer here for me, take your preference

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Being able to spam abilities lets you put crazy damage down, any extra simply gives AP a boost. Win win!

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Helps early trading in lane, increasing snowball potential. If you want better late game then Gathering Storm isn't a bad option but how often do games go long?!

Other Alternatives

For my keystone I always take the Domination rune tree mainly for Electrocute; I don't think other options have the potential for as big of an impact so simply don't take anything else.

There is more room for flexibility on the secondary tree though; the extra CDR, AP and poke damage gained from Transcendence and Scorch synergise so well with Zed's kit and and always seem to be providing some utility. There are other options though:

The Precision tree has a few choices that boost sustain, gold AND damage; sounds good to me!

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This can be the edge during close trades; a number of times a gank has arrived while I'm low on health but i've been able secure a kill during the 1v2; this procs the 12% missing health boost and can be enough to kite and retreat without being killed. The gold is a nice little bonus too.

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You're looking for picks, it's inevitable you'll run into enemies below 50% health numerous times in a game making this rune easy to benefit from. The only reason I don't take this tree is because [coup de grace] never feels like it has as much impact as I think it should by reading it's description

Basic Poke Combo

• Easy combo to use early in game for poke damage; Shadow Slash slows your target making Razor Shuriken easier to land
• Landing Razor Shuriken or Shadow Slash with both you and your Living Shadow will boost energy by 30/35/40/45/50 (depending on level)
• Beware this puts Living Shadow on cooldown, leaving you exposed to ganks and counter engage
• Landing both Shurikens will proc Electrocute for an extra punch of damage, often leaving enemies below 50% health. This combo can setup later all in's if the enemy stays in lane because once below 50% they will be vulnerable to your passive Contempt for the Weak
  

All In Combo

• If the enemy stays in lane on low health (because you're pre lvl 6 so "not dangerous" you can catch them out with this
• If the enemy doesn't react to the dash to shadow the Flash may not be needed, save it if you can!

Basic Ultimate Combo

• The standard ultimate combo, saving Living Shadow so that it is available should you need to react
• Use this when not sure where 1 or more enemies are, Zed is too exposed and squishy without his only movement ability when caught out
• If the target flashes away during this combo you can use Living Shadow to close the distance and secure the kill; be aware of ganks, if you over commit and end up in a 2v1 you are likley in trouble (or at best wasting flash)

Triple Shuriken

• Huge DPS combo that should only be used when you have knowledge of the enemy team and know you are in a solo fight; the use of Living Shadow removes any escape options
• After casting Death Mark try to place Living Shadow so you create a triangle with you and 2 shadows with your target in the middle; making it easy to land the triple Razor Shuriken once Shadow Slash has slowed the target
• Always throw in a quick auto attack to proc Contempt for the Weak before returning to your orignal position with Death Mark second cast to add extra damage to the final burst

Danger Close

• Cast your first Living Shadow backwards (towards safety) so that you can jump out of danger as soon as you've cast Death Mark
• Once out of range cast your Shadow Slash & Razor Shuriken then use Death Mark to get back in range for 1 last auto before the extra damage pops
• Good combo to keep DPS output without being in too much danger; If your target is fed use this more often to stay away from the hurt

• When casting Living Shadow you don't need to wait before casting the next spell; it will be queued and execute once the shadow appears.
  
• If Split Pushing always save Living Shadow for mobility & escape options should the enemy collapse on you
  
• When it comes time for team fights Zed should never be the one engaging; he is too squishy and vulnerable to hard stuns. You should wait in the wings for an opportunity or when you've seen the enemies use their CC. Never forget, a stun-locked Zed is a very dead Zed
  
• Living Shadow can be used defensively to provide vision, no need to facecheck tri bush!
• When in a pinch Death Mark has a period of untargetability(cool word!) that can be used to dodge crucial high damage abilities; nothing more satisfying than watching Fizz waste Chum the Waters only to be re-engaged on and deleted from the rift
• When the team is securing Baron Nashor don't join the battle but patrol the likely entry point for the enemy to contest; often simply having Death Mark off cooldown is enough to cause hesitation and help secure the objective