Why is Zed fine the way he is with zero counter play?

HorseProofBacon·Dec 31, 2015·4 votes·1,047 views

I'm not concerned about his damage, his damage is fine. He's an assassin, he should be able to kill things. What bothers me is there is zero counter play to him. You CANNOT gank him, even with a hard stun. He'll just warp one way, then warp another, and get out of fail. It's even worse if his flash is up. This needs to be dealt with. Your only hope to kill him is to hope you can burst him down before he can get out of fail...that is not counter play. As a jungler main, there is nothing more frustrating than trying to gank a champ that can get out of fail by just facerolling the keyboard.

15 Comments

ViashinoWizardDec 31, 201510 votes

Zed has some of the most counterplay of any assassin.

MasterSomethingDec 31, 20152 votes

item 3140 This right

ViashinoWizardDec 31, 20153 votes

Also item 3157

IcyPepperDec 31, 20153 votes

That's just counterbuilding, but he does certainly have counterplay!

If he levels Q first (which most if not all Zed players do), don't be afraid of his shadows level four and beyond whenever his Q is on cooldown. Tanking an E or two is fine, it falls off in damage until around level 9, so taking it like a man/woman to win a trade is perfectly fine. Don't tank it willy nilly, though.

While he does have waveclear and some decent aoe, Zed is still primarily a single-target "get in, delete target, get out" kind of guy. Flanking him to make him use his mobility to escape is nice, flanking him after he's used all his mobility options is even nicer.

His ult is a damage amplifier, and the nuke finishes you off. This gives you ample time to react to the mark if he doesn't finish you off beforehand (which you should be able to do if you play smart). If your team has the tools, setting up traps at his shadows is great if you can force him to use the dash function on his ult/W right into a trap (Caitlyn, Teemo, and anyone with traps/picks like Thresh should be able to do this with the right timing).

Bruisers counter him hard.

When flanking him during his ultimate, try not to move too much away from where his shadow spawns. This limits the range of his mobility.

Save your cc for when he gets close to use his passive or a very personal E. Stun him (very fun to do as Ahri, charming just the tip), then walk away and poke his melee ass.

Zed is annoying AF, but playing against and as him I've learned a few tricks.

MasterSomethingDec 31, 20151 votes

Another way is to wait for him to waste his shadow then grab him or dump your cc on him He can't escape

HorseProofBaconJan 1, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Another way is to wait for him to waste his shadow then grab him or dump your cc on him He can't escape

That can be a long wait if you are sitting in the bush. Most Zeds will save it for an escape.

CindikleDec 31, 20154 votes

Zed's early game has little counterplay.

The rest of the game he's got piles of it compared to other assassins.

StreetonDec 31, 20152 votes

w=faceroll????? and if there is two of you one of you just stand behind zed's shadow so he cant tp to it back there ezpz. low elo problemz

CrunchyCapnDec 31, 20152 votes

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHHAAHA

Sorry i couldn't stop laughing when I saw: ''Zed no counterplay''. Try playing him in a game where everyone has zhonyas/qss except for the tanks and give me some news ;)

HorseProofBaconDec 31, 20152 votes

Apparently nobody read anything I said, so I'll just leave the trolls to it then.

HorseProofBaconDec 31, 20152 votes

I'm not disputing that you can beat him one on on, (when I mid against a Zed I just throw chogath at him, problem solved) that part is simple enough. What bothers me is you cannot gank him unless you are very coordinated with your team. In random games, you'll never get that coordination, thus ganking him is a near impossibility.

That is my only complaint about him. A few morons here didn't bother to read the subject matter and just knee jerk reacted to the thread title. Only Tombdragon offered something constructive, an up vote for you sir for the attempt.

Dominick DestineDec 31, 20152 votes

I tend to agree. Zed is a bit too safe for the level of damage he can dish out.

I would not be opposed to an HP and MS nerf on Zed.

RogueWillDec 31, 20151 votes

this is how you gank him, you ask your laner to bait his shadow, wait for it to dissapear, proceed to gank as normal. Really the only mid laner that is impossible to gank is Ahri

FioraWillCarryJan 1, 20161 votes

{quoted}

I'm not concerned about his damage, his damage is fine. He's an assassin, he should be able to kill things. What bothers me is there is zero counter play to him. You CANNOT gank him, even with a hard stun. He'll just warp one way, then warp another, and get out of fail. It's even worse if his flash is up. This needs to be dealt with. Your only hope to kill him is to hope you can burst him down before he can get out of fail...that is not counter play. As a jungler main, there is nothing more frustrating than trying to gank a champ that can get out of fail by just facerolling the keyboard.

I think you're mistaking Zed for Fizz . Zed is easy to rape. You look at Zed the wrong way and he'll blow his cooldowns trying to escape and from there its free gold. When you gank him, wait for him to make the 1st move, then proceed to mount him like a dog in heat.

HorseProofBaconJan 1, 20161 votes

{quoted}

I think you're mistaking for . Zed is easy to rape. You look at Zed the wrong way and he'll blow his cooldowns trying to escape and from there its free gold. When you gank him, wait for him to make the 1st move, then proceed to mount him like a dog in heat.

Actually, I find Fizz easier to gank as his hop is predictable and he can't just warp backwards. In a one on one situation, you can counter zed just fine, but in the heat of battle it is really easy to lose track of his ghost in the mess of things going on at once.