Zed does excel in the mid lane and is weaker in the top lane, specifically during the laning phase. However, his mid game and late game are where he truly shines. He still has great dueling potential and burst potential, however slightly less due to giving up ignite for teleport. Is it worth it giving up kill potential for faster split pushing power? That is all for you to decide, but from experience, TP has helped me in those scenarios where teamfighting is not an option. Zed mid will always be better, but Zed top lane is still pretty damn good if you don't want to be playing those "WAIT TILL LATE GAME THEN I KILL EVERYONE" champions, such as Nasus, Jax, etc. Tryndamere and Nasus, IMO, are better split pushers than Zed, and would pick them over Zed for split pushing. Zed top should only be a pick in which you are confident in playing Zed and need a strong, mobile, bursty champion. I will warn you incoming Zed top players that he is VERY weak to meta pics in the top lane so beware and play safe if needed. Other then that, have fun with this interesting pick. :)

Runes may vary. I personally like APen Quints, Ad Marks, and regular defensive stats such as Armor Seals, MR Glyphs, but do not hesitate to change them to your in - game scenario.

Lifesteal Quints are really nice for sustaining in lane with your Doran's item.

MOVESPEED QUINTS??????? I don't reccommend them, but why the hell not, it could prove to be useful like getting to lane faster or getting away from the goon squad :)

Attack Speed Quints aren't that great and won't have any use for Zed except maybe pushing a tower down super fast if you have a lot of AD/Apen already.

Hybrid Pen ... Please don't it doesn't work that well even with his passive's magic damage.

21/9 Standard AD Assassin Masteries work fine for top. (AD, Cdr, Feast for sustain, etc.)

9/21 should usually never be your choice but if you don't feel confident winning lane, Put 2 points in CDR, Feast, and AD and amplified damage in the first slot. The 21 in defense in Armor/MR, Bonus HP, and Tenacity works fine.

Early: Farm with W+Q or E if you aren't safe to walk up to cs. NEVER EVER go up for CS that will cause you to take too much damage. Farm until you get some items and be strong enough to 1v1 most of the enemy champions.

Mid Game: Try to make sure all your other lanes are doing ok. Is your jungler getting countered way too hard? Don't hesitate to ward as often as possible. Burning 75 Gold to possibly prevent the enemy team getting 300 or 500 gold depending on your KDA is so worth it. If all your lanes are performing well, no need to split push, just group mid and win! If you or your team is not doing well, or teamfighting is not an option, just follow this guide and split push top or bot so your team can get objectives and help your team's late game.

Late Game: Be ready to one shot a squishy, given they don't have a QSS, Zhonya's, or outdamage you or outay you. Get ready to get away, buy wards and ping your team to take objectives. TP to them if you need to help them if it means winning a fight.

Currently as of the day I am making this guide (1/13/2015), I am a Gold 3 Zed main on NA. As much as I don't like to admit it, I am a huge one trick pony with Zed. The only other champions I think I can play would be Riven and Nidalee. I made this guide becauze Zed is my favorite champion and would like to share the capabilities of this champion and different roles he can fufill. I have been playing from September of 2013 (I haven't been playing for long, honestly) and took 8 months just to get to level 30. I jumped into ranked immediately, duoed with a Silver friend at the time, played Draven(which was my main for most of Bronze 1-Silver 3). I am not ashamed to say I was carried from Bronze 1- Silver 3 but I have improved a lot and even surpassed in mechanics, knowledge, etc. to those who have even played years before I have! Once I got to Gold, which took 4 promo tries :) and the first two games I did duo with a friend who was good at the game *_*. TY DURNTEHVAIN. I was in a period of time in which I won a game and lost a game and I really was not getting anywhere. After I had practiced my main champions more, I just played with the mentality that I am better than this rank (even if it's not true) and I had just been winning more and eventually just breezed through Gold 4 (without getting carried :D). My career in League of Legends is not anywhere near over, and I would like to make more guides through the champions I've picked and played to rank up.