Zed's Shadow:
Do you possess enough chakra to perfect my new technique called, "The Slow Binding Jutsu" ...?

Many have tried but few have successfully mastered the power that lies ahead. If you are willing to train hard, create unbreakable bonds, and make a few enemies along the way then you too can harness the glory within this extraordinary build.

Here are your first lessons:

1) For Jungle

2) Great for Summoners experienced with Shen and Lee Sin

3) Comment with your likes and dislikes about this build

+ Can perform combos with ease
+ Great for ganking
+ Secure kills
+ Can easily escape
+ Clearing jungle is simple
+ Counter jungling is superb
+ Wonderful for harassing champs
+ Can perform skills near enemy's turret while taking minimal to no damage


- Damage properties are average at best
- Energy runs out FAST!
- Farming can be difficult
- Requires fast reactions, timing, map awareness and good decision-making

Offensive Tree:

Summoner's Wrath I take Ghost and Smite, because it allows me to chase my enemies down, get to lanes quicker for a potential gank or escape

Brute Force Provides +3 Attack Damage, and you need this extra damage

Alacrity Gives you 4% Attack Speed, which is helpful in fights and/or jungling

Weapon Expertise Adds 10% Armor Penetration, this boosts the damage of your attacks

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Defensive Tree:

Resistance Gives you +6 Magic Resist, this will increase your survivability during fights against AP champs

Hardiness Gives you +6 Armor, which is what we want!

Durability Provides you with an addition +6 Health per level and +108 Health when you reach level 18. Health = Good

Indomitable Reduces incoming damage by 2

Veteran's Scars Adds +30 Health, with this you will start with an additional 36 Health at level 1!

Evasion Reduces the damage taken from area effect abilities by 3%, which will also assist you in fights with AP champs

Initiator Increase movement speed by 1% when above 70% health that'll help your mobility through the jungle or during ganking opportunities

Honor Guard Reduces damage taken by 1.5%, and we want as much defense as possible

Juggernaut Increases your maximum health by 3% and reduces the duration of incoming disables by 10%

Greater Mark of Desolation: Gives you +14.94 (1.66 x 9) Armor Penetration thru your opponents armor. This may not seem like much, until you consider the addition 10% Armor Penetration from Weapon Expertise

Greater Seal of Defense: Gives you +1.35 (.15 x 9) Armor each level. Then multiply by level 18 (1.35 x 18 = 24.3). Now, add Hardiness +6 Armor (24.3 + 6 = 30.3). That means you will have an additional +30.3 Armor. That's not even including your defensive buffs like Honor Guard !

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: Provides you with +12.06 Magic Resist. Now, add Resistance +6 Magic Resist (12.06 + 6 = 18.06) and now you have a total of 18.06Magic Resist in the beginning of the game!

Greater Quintessence of Armor: Gives you +12.78 Armor, but wait ... there's more! Remember the +30.3 Armor you will have at level 18 from the Greater Seal of Defense, well just go ahead and add 12.78 (12.79 + 30.3 = 43.08). Now, you have a total of +43.08 in additional armor

Yeah, I still like trying to be a bootleg statistician when I get the opportunity. What can I say? I'm a Psychology major :p

Offense: I use Ghost to turret dive and chase my opponents down in a 1v1 or ganking situations.

Ghost is perfect for getting a quick ganking kill at level 2 or 3 or chasing down opponents while slowing them with Shadow Slash (which I'll explain later)

Defense: In certain situations, you may find yourself being ganked, pursued during team fights, or trying to survive with low health. During any of these situations, it is dire that you have good map awareness. Why? Because depending on where you are on the map you could have several options by using Ghost and/or Living Shadow to escape through walls or high-tail it out a sticky situation!

Smite should be used to clear the jungle and assist your team with securing Dragon and Baron buff

Remember, you're building Zed into a tank! You will be surprised the amount of damage he can take and still be able to escape with ease!

Contempt for the Weak: (Passive) Whenever Zed autoattacks an enemy below 50% health, he deals an additional 6 / 8 / 10% of their maximum health as magic damage. This effect cannot occur on the same target more than once every 10 seconds.

/// This is ONLY important information for jungling and when you are idle preparing to gank or fight your opponents

Razor Shuriken: Active: Zed and his shadows throw their shurikens, each dealing 75 / 110 / 145 / 180 / 215 (100% bonus AD) physical damage to the first enemy they pass through and 60 / 88 / 116 / 144 / 172 (+80% bonus AD) physical damage enemies thereafter.

Living Shadow: Additional shurikens striking the same enemy deal 50% damage and restore energy.

/// Use ONLY for harassing your opponents. There's no point to spam this attack, while wasting energy that could be used for chaining combos instaed
/// Use ONLY after you've caste Living Shadow, this will help restore your energy faster


Living Shadow: Passive: Zed's bonus attack damage is increased by 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25%.

Active: Zed's shadow dashes forward, remaining in place for 4 seconds. Reactivating this ability will cause Zed to switch positions with this shadow.

Zed's shadow will mimic his basic abilities. If both strike the same target Zed regains 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40. Energy can only be restored once per mimicked ability.

/// Use this skill sparingly, as the cooldown is very high and you may need it to go on Offense or Defense against opponents
/// This skill should be utilized for ganking
/// Use for starting combos

Shadow Slash: Active: Zed and his shadows create a burst of shadow, dealing 60 / 90 / 120 / 150 / 180 (+80% bonus AD) physical damage to nearby enemies.

Zed's slash reduces the cooldown of Living Shadow by 1 second for each enemy struck. His shadows' slashes slow enemies by 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 / 40% for 1.5 seconds.

Living Shadow: Overlapping Shadow Slashes striking the same enemy deal no additional damage but will incur an increased slow of 30 / 37.5 / 45 / 52.5 / 60% and restore energy.

/// Use this OFTEN, as the cooldown on this skill is like 3 seconds! This skill will be the key to your victory
/// Use for farming
/// Use for slowing down opponents
/// Utilize this skill for escaping


Death Mark: Active: Zed becomes untargetable and dashes to target enemy champion. Upon arrival, he marks the target for death and spawns a living shadow behind the target. This shadow lasts 4 seconds and mimics Zed's abilities. Reactivating Death Mark will cause Zed to switch positions with this shadow.

After 3 seconds, the mark will detonate, dealing physical damage equal to 100% of Zed's attack damage plus 20 / 35 / 50% of damage dealt of all magic and physical damage dealt to the target by Zed and his shadows while the mark was active.

/// Use ONLY for ganking, attacking or turret diving opponents, however, use Living Shadow afterwards in front of your opponent, followed by Shadow Slash then Razor Shuriken to slow and maximize your damage
/// Can be used to escape

Remember, the objective with Zed is to slow down your opponent while giving you or your team a kill opportunity. Having Frozen Mallet and Randuin's Omen in conjunction with your Shadow Slash will devour your opponent's movement speed

Aegis of the Legion: If you are going against an AP heavy team, then replace Thornmail with this item. It's a little cheaper than Thornmail, so farming for this item won't be very difficult. In addition, this item has a unique aura that will benefit your team with more magic resist, armor, and attack damage.

You may think that more MR is needed like a Force of Nature or Banshee's Veil, however, when you consider the magic resist you will be getting from Hexdrinker and Guardian's Angel then you'll see that it's not such a bad idea and you won't have to sacrifice your attack damage. Instead, you'll be increasing it.


Frozen Heart: If you're going against an AD Range Heavy team (which is a rarity but if so, you'll be prepared) then trade your Thornmail in for a Glacial Shroud then complete the item for a Frozen Heart. This item will ensure that your enemies attack speed is decreased by 20%!

Early Game:

First, at level 1, you should start at the Red Buff. Ask your team to help give you a hard leash (have them take at least 50% of the monsters life). After getting your buff, you should clear the wraiths and wolves. At this point you should be level 2, getting close to level 3. At this point, I'd return to base for healing (I will add video soon).

You should be looking a potential gank since you have red buff. If you have a good opportunity to gank, then you shouldn't be afraid to use your Ghost to secure a kill. If no gank is available, then go back to wraiths and wolves. At level 4 and/or 5 you strong and tanky enough to kill the Blue Buff monster easy. Be a good teammate, and give this buff to mid lane if needed. You honestly won't need it, even for experience points.

IF, your team does not want to help you then start at wraiths, wolves, then the golem brothers (if you have enough life). Go heal yourself, look for a potential gank and if there is none then get your Red Buff.

In addition, don't be afraid to counter jungle and take your enemies wraiths or Red Buff.

Late Game:

Once you've reached Level 6, you should be in the jungle less and start looking to gank even more at least to get an enemy's health down or make them use their spells. Then return back to jungle. Once laning phase is over with, Zed should always be targeting the AP Carry. If you are able to kill the AP carry, then you and/your team will surely win 80% of your team fights. Why? Ironically, everyone will try to attack you for trying to destroy their AP Carry, meanwhile, your team should be annihilating the AP Carry then focusing directly at the AD Carry afterwards.

Don't forget that if you or a teammate are running low on health, you might be able to escape by using Living Shadow to teleport away or create distance and slowing your opponent with Shadow Slash (I will have videos of this soon).

Ganking Methods:

1) When ganking an enemy, make sure you indicate to the team who you want to target.

2) Try to put your Living Shadow in front (ahead) of the enemy you and/or your team are targeting. Now, you activate Shadow Slash while you're close to the enemy and slow them from escaping while possibly doing more damage.

3) Buy Vision Ward! Don't worry, you're cashing in on the Heart of Gold! You want to destroy the other teams sighting wards that way you have a better opportunity to gank. In addition, psychologically you have the team afraid to push.

4) Don't make your ganks obvious! You have Ghost to catch them slipping. Don't be afraid to go the long way around in the enemy's territory to escape from being spotted by your enemies Sighting Wards!

Remember, Zed needs to get kind of close to his opponents for his skills to be effective. So, trying to gank from a long distance won't be very effective. Try to find ways to get close without being detected ... you're a flippin ninja!!!

First, as always, I'd like to thank every one of you who was willing to read or try this build. I've played this game for a long time, and I experiment with different ideas.

Second, I do NOT claim to be a Pro but some people were kind enough to say that I'm pretty good. Maybe I'll try MLG or a serious group tournament one day?

Lastly, This is the SECOND guide I've made here on Mobafire and I'm pretty excited about it. Since Season 2 has ended and records have been reset, I'm actually going to attempt to play more ranked games and try to climb the ladders. Isn't that exciting? I hope to see some of you there as well.

12/1/2012
- Updated Introduction, Masteries, Summoner Spells, Skill Sequence, and Early/Late Game sections

11/17/2012
- This build was published