A champ that counters Zed

Angelofchaos16x··5 votes·1,925 views

Ok, so a lot goes around about Zed, and how he offers no counterplay, farm so well in the early game, can split push later, has one of the best escapes and can 1 shot pretty much anyone. But there is a Champ that does not let him do any of these things. That Champ is Malzahar. He is rare to find, but he beats Zed. Of course, you have to know how to play Malzahar, but if they both know how to play the champs, the result should be Malzahar's. Here are the reasons

  1. Malzahar pushes lanes better then Zed, even early game: Malzahar is that champ that will spend most of the game sitting in the mid lane and just pushing. Everything about his kit just says "PUSH THE LANE YOU SCRUB" and he does it better then zed. This works late game 2 ( Ps : Ward VERY heavily as you have no escapes other then Flash, and since you are going to be pushing lane you will be prone to ganks)
  2. His escape can be useless as you can ult to set up ganks
  3. Zed can NEVER 1 v 1 him. Ok here is where things get good. Zed needs his ult to kill someone.But what malzahar does is, as soon as he ults you, use the pool under you and as soon as him and his shadow shows up, ult him. This will mean: 1 He will not be able to trigger damage of the death mark 2 he will take a lot more damage then you because of this 3 He will take the ult damage ( that scales with 130% of your Ap) plus the damage from null zone ( And any other thing you might use, ignite etc). If done correctly, the only way he stands a chance is if he buys a Hexdrinker, Banshee's and a QSS, lowering a lot of his damage. Again this only works if you time your ult with his.

So overall he has a very good time against Zed. I have been in this match up plenty of times a Malz, and like 2 as Zed, and in all cases the result was the same. I am prepared to be downvoted by lots of people that are going to claim that Zed has no counters and that there is nothing that can be done. So I am just leaving this here for anyone that is wanting to know what works.

30 Comments

Nameless Voice15 votes

Lissandra does really well against him, too.

The thing is, it's not fun being forced to play Lissandra or Malzahar every game.

Champions need counterplay, not counterpicks.

TheRakkun9 votes

that's counterpicking not counterplay.

Durzaka3 votes

The problem with Malz vs. Zed is Malz cant stop him from farming, just killing him.

Zed can CS forever under tower easily, and push when he wants to.

And he roams WAY better than Malz, so he can just go top or bot for kills when he wants to while Malz sits in midlane pushing and tickling the tower.

Ape ded I Kled2 votes

I think the problem is not that one cannot defeat a zed (he doesn't have a 100% win rate after all), but it's that it is no fun to play against, nor even win against a zed. Like another comment said it's no fun to play lissandra or malz every game just to beat him, especially if neither of those champs are your main and you don't feel comfortable with them. Plus, I'm not 100% sure, but if zed ults lissandra and then she ults him he could just simply go back to the shadow and escape before dying if he has hex drinker. Zed can be defeated, pretty easily if the person doesn't play a lot of Zed, but personally (and I'm sure many would agree) I feel like it just is not enjoyable, sure winning is nice, but if 30 minutes of my game are working around catching this champion or always keeping tabs on him, and then the last 5 minutes we win one fight and end it, thats not fun for me. I might be picky, I probably shouldn't complain about winning games, I would just like to enjoy the games I do win more.

Fauxfire2 votes

Meh, as a consistant Zed player, I feel it's his laning power that makes him a little too strong. Zed's laning is summed up with: "either I snowball or we both just sit here and farm." Too ez-pz to farm under turret and escape ganks is what makes him 2gud for mid lane. Not to mention the damage, but that's fine and natural. Just the safety part. That's a bit dumb (and fun).

DrCabes2 votes

A good Veigar used to be able to counter him Veigar item 3070 item 3070 item 3070

Lamfira2 votes

I've seen Vladimir dominate Zed in a Challenger Series game. The thing is that when people say "counter play" it can mean different components of the game and changes depending on which one you are talking about.

The Vlad game vs Zed basically the Vlad farmed until lvl 11 and didn't let Zed get fed. Then he "counter play" the split push from Zed and started owning in the 1v1's. Urgot can deal with Zed in the team fights. Lissandra can handle him during the 1-11. I don't think there's any characters who can do all three, so I dunno if that's why people complain.

At least there are a lot more tanks now, and while they can't do anything to Zed they can't be 1-combo to death by him.

jjookkeerr2 votes

item 3140 >>>>Malzahar

Angelofchaos16x1 votes

{quoted}

item 3140 >>>>Malzahar

It does not remove the damage, I hope you know that

Ra1d1 votes

Garen "Hahaha! Zed? He tickles!"

EvilRabbitt1 votes

DEMACIA!

IllumanatiObama1 votes

Kayle can crap all over Zed. She's stronger than him early game. She can deny him kills with her ult which negates his completely. Plus she pushes as hard as him and if played correctly, does not use much mana to sustain in lane.

Serevas1 votes

Basically anyone who has point and click CC will be able to beat Zed without much problem, even champions with easy to hit CC will be able to.

Malzahar is a good example, Lissandra was mentioned, Annie is another strong choice for the point and click.

The easy to hit CC comes in the form of Cassiopeia, her ult will stop Zed in his tracks. Ahri can charm him under tower when he ults. Riven has a very easy to hit stun. Galio has the ability to get him taunted under tower, not the most advisable choice since he wants to build primarily MR anyway.

Another fantastic Zed counter that doesn't technically fit either of these is Urgot. Everything about Urgot's kit is about making sure Zed can't do anything. His passive reduced all damage Zed puts out by a flat 15%, you can harass Zed back in just as endless of a fashion due to Acid Hunter's low cooldown and low costs, He has a shield that makes Acid Hunter apply a slow, if you hit with Noxian Corrosive Charge, all the mobility in the world can't save him because your Acid Hunters are locked on, plus if he ult you, just counter ult him, you put him in a bad spot and gain massive amounts of tankiness. Urgot also has the advantage of one of his core items being Frozen Heart, which basically neutralizes most of the threat that Zed puts out. You also have the flexibility of other summoner spells like summoner 3 and summoner 21 as you don't really need ignite with the way that Acid Hunter works.

Renaille1 votes

There are lots of champions that can beat Zed. Kayle, Diana, Lulu, ect.

Tyrant Ken1 votes

Lol nah not diana mang, zed will just dodge easily her q forcing her to waste her ult to dash on zed, zed can still dodge that dash with the ult and then kill diana.

EvilRabbitt1 votes

The 3 second q against 9 second shadow... Gr8 b8 m8?

Tyrant Ken1 votes

Most of the 1v1 fight last around 2-5 seconds, and since zed's kit is based on instakilling carries, then diana won't have nuff time to do anything.

EvilRabbitt1 votes

As far as what I saw (assuming no bush jumps or low hp engages, because those are very one sided) Diana can shield out Zed's shadow shuriken damage on light poking. If he hard engages, she can use her E to pull- pop the W for big shield+damage-and press Q all in the same span (almost faster than Zed can Shadow Whirl) then double Ult dash. If zed ults into her, she Zhonya's then uses combo. It may be based on instakilling carries, but a good Diana (imo) will build bruiser ap: Does 10-15% less damage, is 30-40% more tanky. Zed won't stand a chance. If they build glass, then they got fed to ungodly proportions and are comfortable in murdering said Zed and team.

Not trying to argue, trying to see if Zed has a secret technique >.>

Thefriendlyorc1 votes

I remember when kayle was the captain of the anti assassination squad. Then they gutted a lot of her kit.

Takhuan1 votes

Kayle or Lissandra yea. Does fizz trickster counter his ult as well? Also tryndamere-- IF he doesn't get kited.

IcyPepper1 votes

Lissandra Annie Kayle

possibly Karma if you time her shields right

Kitten of Evil1 votes

Karma actually does well against a lot of the assassins because of her shield/speed boost and very strong poke and push.

She's just not very meta at the moment

IcyPepper1 votes

Why not? She's got teamfighting utility, decent waveclear, and can hold her own against assassins.

She may not be super popular, but that doesn't have to stop people from playing her in ranked. Just like playing fotm champions won't guarantee a win (look at Lee Sin's pick and win rate, then feel free to call me a hipster).

Kitten of Evil1 votes

I'm not sure. When I support, Karma's my favorite choice, so I know how good she can be, but people just prefer other champions right now (and always). She's eternally not-that-popular, for some reason.

insaiyanbacca1 votes

yup, also i dont even play zed but these items do help come mid game ish:item 3140 item 3139 item 3157

Toben1 votes

Technically, Bard counters Zed. He can ult them right as Zed uses death mark. :o

Mecha MaIphite1 votes

Jax

Relatively safe in lane, roams, beats him 1v1.

BeatzBoyFTW1 votes

Urgot

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