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How do I counter Zed in mid?

MalphiteIsStoned·4/26/2015, 12:55:45 PM·5 votes·10,614 views

Heres my situation, I'm playing normals to strengthen my middle lane for ranked. Whenever I play blind pick ad get the roll, I love to play either Nidalee, or Kassadin. Both of these champs are fun, easy to learn and hard to master. I have a problem though, half the time I get matched against a Zed.

Now normally. I wouldn't be to phased, but recently Zed as a champion has completely been tearing me a new butthole. There's multiple problems with him I just can't get passed.

  1. His Q cooldown seems to be very low compared to what it used to be, and the damage on it, if maxed first outscales alot of AP mid's damages at lower levels.
  2. His dive is extemely safe, and this is really what gets to me. At 6, his all in is almost completely an instant kill on any AP mid. The Zed I will lane against uses Death Mark while I'm under my tower, he then throws his W->E->Q combo, and then ignites me if I'm not dead yet. If I'm under 3/4 health, he WILL kill me. This is extremely frustrating, as this early in the game I have no items to counter the very high levels of damage coming from him.

Well you might say: Q: Pick Kayle A: Well yes, this is an option I've tried, and I've seen succsess with. I had to pickup kayle during the preseason to counter Zed, that was becoming a very potent pick in ranked.

Q: Get better at the champions, the Zed is obviously more skilled than you. A: I really can't agree to this statement. Zed is EXTREMELY potent in lane, and the damage coming off of him in the early game denies me CS, which then denies me the rest of the game. My Nidalee carried me to S1 during preseason 5. No, I am not a "bronzie", and I don't consider myself to be bad at League at all. My main goal during any game is not to get kills, but to not die, denying my opponet massive amounts of gold, and items. This is foiled with Zed's extremely safe dive, and high burst.

Q: Roam then A: This is actually a tactic that has won me many games when I'm laning against a counter. I gank other lanes, and am usually able ot pick up some kills, and get right back into the game. Though with Zed, the early, harass and burst is too much. I end up getting too behind, and feeding the Zed like hell. It understandably pisses my team off, and then we all start fighting.

So here is my question, with Zed's potent kit, and strong dive, how do I refrain from dying to him, while also maintaining a healthy CS?

Thank you for your feedback.

TL;DR: Zed has a very potent kit, with high burst and great harras. How do I stop myself from dying, and maintain a helathy CS?

62 Comments

Meep Man4/26/2015, 5:03:22 PM10 votes

Kayle item 3157 MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!

r11na4/26/2015, 3:39:49 PM8 votes

Zed doesn't really have any hard lane counters. There are champs that Zed will have a hard time killing in lane, or that can push Zed under his tower and force him to be careful, but he can farm easily under the tower anyway.

Best you can do is go even with Zed in lane most of the time unless the zed is clueless.

Nahui4/26/2015, 3:28:50 PM4 votes

Your issue with the Q is easily avoidable in two ways.

First of all, make sure you stand behind minions. The damage it does is trivial, especially early on, if you're not the first target hit. Second, his q is rather predictable. You can tell when he'l use it based off of your own positioning since most Zed's will throw a q if you're in range and it's off cooldown. Try and bait them out.

If you stand behind minions, you should out trade him with your spells or in the least take little damage as he shoves the wave.

sullyb4/26/2015, 5:31:43 PM3 votes

In order to counter Zed, go into settings once in game and disable shadows....

item 3070 Zed item 3070

I'm sorry....I just couldn't hold it in... I'll leave now...

Exposed Ductwork4/26/2015, 1:04:33 PM2 votes

Cho gath is also really strong pick against him. Your combo will do more damage than his, and you have sustain in lane with the passive.

The Great Nimzo4/26/2015, 3:13:21 PM1 votes

Just pick talon, get flask and harass him. u'll win trades if u're not that bad at dodging a mere Q. At 6 just wait for his R before u hit yours and gg.

TwoD4/26/2015, 5:10:20 PM1 votes

Play Kat farm mid since he can't really kill you (unless you're slow as a fucking snail), when you turn 6 things should be a lot easier. Roam and then win the game.

MrBuffington4/26/2015, 5:37:39 PM1 votes

Zed has a very potent kit, with high burst and great harras. How do I stop myself from dying, and maintain a helathy CS?

Long answer, pretty much goes for any champion, not just Zed, but you have to get inside their head and know what they want to do before they do it, and then play around that. Figure out when and where Zed wants to throw his Q and dodge it. The solution to getting zoned out of minions is to not let yourself get zoned out in the first place. You have to know the damage potentials of your champion and of Zed at different points of the game, know what his lethal range (your health value where Zed can one-shot you with a combo, since that's what all Zed players look for when trying to all-in) and play around that, unless you notice the Zed is crap and you're disrespecting them (which is risky). You need the foresight to know if a trade will go in your favor; most assassin players I see in low elo are just stupid aggressive and have no idea of theirs or their enemy's damage potential and the just run at you lvl 1 to try to scare you off. Fight back, I've faced so many assassin players who just run at me lvl 1, I trade back with them, they draw minion aggro and have to flash away like an idiot since they're getting eaten alive by my minions.

Of course the easy route is just play (Lissandra, Kayle, Lulu, Zilean, Cho'Gath, Urgot, whatever champion that counters Zed because they have strong defensive abilities to deny kills) and build (Zhonyas, QSS, items that deny kills or grant tankiness) and take (Exhaust, Heal, Barrier, whatever summoner spell to deny kills).

Chespin20134/26/2015, 5:48:39 PM1 votes

pick urgot and the zed will cry

DoFr4/26/2015, 5:50:51 PM1 votes

there's alot of champions i can suggest

but none of them can match your Request, which is learning an Actual mid laner

but here's this, play Viktor if he all in, cast your prison/stun/bubble at yourself, and sit inside it, pretty sure he will get stunned during landing his combo, you can then Burst your own combo on him, however this works if you can survive

another good laner is probably Xerath , you might need a Barrier/Heal with him though, never run ignite on long ranged champions like Xerath, Vel'koz, etc...

another IMPORTANT tip, always walk sideways during laning phase, like, up and bottom constantly so you can dodge his Qs, it's a skillshot after all, make sure you're always moving.

Try to Farm as much as you can, in mid lane as a mage, losing CS, is not worth Taking the harass, as you're too squishie and that one "harass" could lose you the lane

always, ALWAYS, call mias on zed, as you clearly stated earlier, if you can't win the lane, Roaming is an option.

but if you're not strictly playing mid lane mages, then some of the current suggestions are good, any Bruiser with a Good initiation wins over zed, i ALWAYS win my lane when i play mid Nautilus Against zed (not even Joking), i simply wait for him to use his Shadow Cast and then his Double Q to either farm, or dodge it if he tries it as a harass, and then i engage, as his Escape, and his Maxed out and Strongest spell is used, he's Weak, that's your window, he got nothing, and EVEN if he ulted you, just stand to his shadow location and keep the fight going, Death mark won't do anything because his Q and shadow mimic spells are on cooldown

pretty much killing him and calling lanes to be on the lookout when he roams, cause that's how assassins comeback to lane

ItsJrodzYo4/26/2015, 7:45:29 PM1 votes

Diana Talon Kayle all these mid laners are viable and have no problems vs zed... Also Riven beats him pretty easily. Start cloth 5 and proceed to shit on him with riven. Talons ult negates Zeds ult damage completely. It is also on a shorter cd. Kayle with her ult and range. On Diana rush seekers and you have a shield. Also, if he shadows away from you, ult his ass again

D1rtFarmer4/26/2015, 11:00:36 PM1 votes

any non midlaners it seems the community has to offer. so he is the top of the totem pole of mid lane.

aaronconlin4/26/2015, 11:55:27 PM1 votes

Kayle Lissandra Chogath

somebeety4/27/2015, 3:34:26 AM1 votes

Poke his ass... wait that came out wrong

Drunk Rummate4/27/2015, 3:37:07 AM1 votes

i beat zed by playing ahri

double doran ring, seekers armguard. if you have to choose between cloth armor and d-ring, go cloth. focus on CSing because there's no point harassing, especially since you wont be killing him at any point really.

if he ults you, ult immediately and gtfo.

Epilogue of Life4/27/2015, 5:31:44 AM1 votes

Don't stay in lane with half HP and no mana, even if u under tower. If you don't have reliable hard CC or burst damage between you and your jungler, don't try to make plays or baits. If you're not someone as broken and cancerous as Leblanc or Fizz, don't dive a Zed that LOOKS like easy prey. Most importantly tho you should just try to rush Zhonyas. Forget about mana, it ain't worth shit if you dead. I know for a fact that if you're not on Anivia or something and you have armor in your rune, Zed cannot 100-0 you at lvl 6. If he dives you, throw your CC spell AFTER he ports next to you with his ult. Zed is designed to be a lane bully, as his life becomes living hell after the mages get their Zhonya's, and not maintaining a healthy CS against Zed is very natural. As a mage, your job is to survive lane, not go even with him. Keep that in mind, and try to not be greedy, and try to watch for his shadows. Jeez I feel bad doing this, teaching someone how to counter my champion.

Cain the Enabler4/27/2015, 6:00:31 AM1 votes

Step one: Play Kayle

Step two: Don't die in lane

Step three: Kill mid turret after his first roam

Step four: Follow your adc everywhere

??????

Victory

1000angrybees4/27/2015, 8:46:50 AM1 votes

Honestly, Zhonya's actually isnt a good idea to rush. too much gold, no mana regen if youre a resource champ. Build something that gives you mana back and try to put some gold aside for a qss. It shouldnt have to be this way, but riot and half the community refuse to admit there's anything about him that's not the pinnacle of what an assassin should be. He's a cheap champ and the only thing you can do is try to be aggressive pre-6 and farm the shit out of your lane if you can.

Chaotic Reks4/27/2015, 12:07:47 PM1 votes

Shen mid.

zed ulted you under turret? taunt that bastard. he can't shadow out while hes taunted and he only does half damage to you. plus the turret will be tearing his anus asunder

stuartk114/27/2015, 12:11:38 PM1 votes

Lissandra or Kayle are pretty much the best counters to Zed. Also, you'll probably end up with lower CS than Zed, but just focus on not feeding in lane.

LadyRenly4/27/2015, 1:19:22 PM1 votes

It's not a counter, but rather a skill based matchup, but I like going Urgot into ANY assassin. (Kat, Zed, Akali, Talon) More often than not, I trade with them pretty hard, sending them back to base multiple times, forcing them go to bot for any kind of snowball.(gotta call MIAs) All you need to do post 6 really is counter ult. Death Lotus? Death Mark? Get suppressed, peasant

ABlueQuaker4/27/2015, 1:23:11 PM1 votes

Play Zed then Zed can never kill you in Ranked.

Impish Yordle4/27/2015, 3:49:19 PM1 votes

I found that having some sustain is a good way to deal with him. Zed usually wants to harass you until he dives. If you have decent regeneration to stay healthy and dodge those shurikens he can't really 100-0 you, especially early on.

isKOPPEN4/27/2015, 7:00:21 PM1 votes

instead of learning champs to counter zed, why dont u learn zed. Ull understand his cooldowns, shadows, and how his ult works and where he appears. I dont play zed personally i think his a garbage champ so idk theres my 2 cents. btw in lane all u literally have to do is sidestep his q and just farm.

mvargus4/27/2015, 7:14:27 PM1 votes

Since this is blind pick the best way to "counter" any champ is a combination of.

A) know the abilities of the champions you are going to face. Either play them or have a friend demonstrate the champion to you several times. Eventually you'll get a feel for what the champ can do and be better prepared to dodge skill shots and trade.

B) be better on your champ than the other player is on theirs. One of Sun Zhu's maxims that appears in "The Art of War" is that you should know what you can do before entering a fight. I see lots of players enter a game and say "first time X". With the exception of v AI games these people tend to get wrecked by the person they are facing. This continues through the skill levels. If you can play Nidalee to a platinum skill level, you'll defeat bronze and silver level Zeds with ease and probably find that the majority of gold ones aren't that good. You might be only silver yourself for a while, but your skill on the one champ makes a huge difference. This has been used by many players in high diamond/challenger.

IE. practice.

Sirsir4/27/2015, 7:24:39 PM1 votes

Cho is nice. "Oh you wanted to all in me? QUIEEEET!" Zed can't do much with autos alone. You can't really aggress on him without leaving an opening, but he can't aggress on you without dying, so it works out. Plus this all carries over into when he tries to ult other people. Sustains through his poke, etc etc.

Diana is alright, she is just naturally tanky, her shield mitigates a ton of damage, either from his poke or all-in, plus her E . Again, she can't really get onto him until 6, but if he tries to do any auto trading with her he opens himself up to a world of hurt.

Deyy4/26/2015, 1:15:11 PM1 votes

As keane showed Urgot can be quite a strong pick into Zed. Also if you understand the lane better than your opponent you can definitely win as talon against Zed. Another good pick is lulu as not only will it be nearly impossible for zed to out lane her it will also assist your ad in denying zed those assassinations later in the game. Fizz as an Ap champion is coming back on 5.7 and although you can lose the lane early on because he has range advantage you can just rush seekers and survive. If you E when he tries to ult you it works like zhonya and will cancel the application of Death mark. And his death mark cannot dodge your ult anymore so you outscale him hard. My favorite picks against him are Lissandra and Cassio. Lissandra's ult works the same way fizz's e and zhonya's does allowing you to completely deny the death mark even applying to you. On Cassio i take exhaust and out poke him pre 6. At 6 i try to keep the wave in front of my tower and if he ever goes on you you can just ult him and combo him. I recommend taking exhaust over ghost/ignite as cassio tho because it will make him have very little kill pressure on you. Other champs you can pick are Ahri, Vlad, and Swain as long as you play those lanes correctly. Its going to be very hard to deny Zed farm because of his Q but if you can deny him kills and pick a champ that outscales him you might be able to deal with him later. The thing is even if you pick a good champ to lane vs Zed he can still farm into a monster and deal aoe damage while nuking your ADC and becoming almost impossible to duel 1v1 in the splitpush. So even if you don't die to him in lane hes still going to be able to assassinate people.

Budupops4/26/2015, 1:49:11 PM1 votes

since when was kass hard to master

nomeL4/26/2015, 1:52:57 PM1 votes

Ever heard of Lissandra

magic pole4/26/2015, 2:21:33 PM1 votes

don't let him push on you, unless you're great at farming under turret. Even then, only let him push for the first few levels. (otherwise he will roam and potentially double kill bot lane). He'll probably out CS you, don't worry, his team fight isn't that strong, so pick a good sustained dps champ. Beware of his pick potential that can quickly turn into an objective.

If he decides to just last hit (i.e. not push the lane), then CS as best as possible, sidestep his Q's, and get off a spell or some aa's when he goes in for a last hit. I've often seen bad zeds try to push so hard lvl 1. Remember, his aa is melee, if he is constantly auto'ing just to push on you, you can chunk his health with aa's for the first level or 2.

Barrier or exhaust is nice. Armor and/or scaling armor runes and even armor quints are all great. Zhonya's.

Also i've found this fellow hard counters zed after 6. Swain Seriously, he won't be able to ult you. if you become skilled at timing W, you can root him when he reappears, ignite and 100-0 him if you kept up in farm and have some AP. His E + aa harass is decent at level 1 or level 3/4. Although he is probably one of the more difficult champions to last hit with. hope you took something from this :D