Re: Zhonya's Changes

I can't find it right now, but a Rioter mentioned that the changes to Zhonya's are due in part to the nerf to Mercurial - so that Zed still has some counter. I find this a difficult idea to accept.

The problem isn't that mercurial is too good at countering Zed. The problem is that Zed effectively cannot be outplayed. Item-based counters are all well and good, but they should be softer counters. Lord Dominic's Regards is a good example: It makes tanks easier to kill without completely invalidating armour like old Last Whisper did.

Zed's primary counterplay is not counterplay; it's counterbuilding. Buffing GA's passive does nothing but shift the problem. Now, I know that Zed's being looked at for changes, and this is only a temporary fix. I don't think it's a good reason to change GA, though, as the problem is Zed, even though he's not really that overpowering.

To that end, I'd like to propose a solution: Reduce the damage of Death Mark by 50% if he's too far from his target when it procs. This can be really generous - I don't think 1000 range or even perhaps 1250 would be too big a radius (For reference, turrets have 775 range). This would reduce his ability to completely leave the area and still kill his target, without hurting his general pattern. Additionally, this would provide much needed counterplay for Zed's enemies: they could force him away from his target to reduce the damage.