The one where he drops his ult shadow right next to his target
this was at least somewhat balanced, as opposed to the current assassin trend of 
where its, get in kill target, disappear so that they cannot even attempt to hurt you with 0 chance for counterplay
Nausicäa 2 votesThe counterplay is buy Zhonya's and QSS to completely negate his ult damage?
The counterplay is take exhaust instead of ignite?
Sorry thats too difficult for you.
Chaotic Reks1 votessorry, that counters every other champion too
Nausicäa 1 votes[{quoted}](name=NyX Reks,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=EGgElMk9,comment-id=00010000,timestamp=2015-02-24T00:45:36.474+0000)
sorry, that counters every other champion too
Uh no? it doesnt?
Come back and talk to me when you get out of Bronze. Thanks.
Chaotic Reks1 votes"Come back and talk to me when you get out of Bronze." this coming from a level 20?
MohawkBird2 votes[deleted]
Nausicäa 1 votesThe counterplay is to fuck up your whole build path because you have to rush Zhonya's no matter what if you are an AP mid laner. If you are AD mid laner, fuck up your build path as well by buying a QSS. Someone's presence in a lane shouldn't instaforce you to rush that item or just get completely demolished like someone would with Zed.
120 AP item. It is one of the highest AP items in the game. How does that 'completely fuck up your build path' exactly?
AD mid laners can buy cloth armor and have escapes.
How exactly is this any different from Zed being forced to build a Hexdrinker in certain match ups?
Learn to adapt to different match ups. No one is forcing you to build the exact same items in the exact same order every game.
ModAcademy Kayn2 votesCounterbuild is not the same as Counterplay. Counterplay is listed as one of two things; Possibility to respond and Clearness of whats happening. This is where i'm conflicted with Zed. He does have to possibility to respond I.E stuns, you know where he is going to be and yes, Zhoynas. He also is clear in what he's about to do I.E his ult has a HUGE X and his shadows are of clear visibility.
Counterbuild is like buying Penetration to kill armor, MR to counter AP, or like ya said, Buying Zhoynas or QSS. But let's think abot it like this. Imagine a world where QSS and Zhoynas don't exist. Zeds would reign over every mid laner or adc.
Meanwhile people like Lissandra or... other zed counter would be their only solution. As much as counters are great and all, this doesn't work as well in blindpick or TB and would probably force people to either Main these counters or make Zed a 100% ban pick in any form of Draft.
What annoys people is that he can be really safe to play as, like the OP's shadow in, shadow out, and see if kill resolves with the extra damage, let alone it being seemingly impossible to rush Zhoyna's pre-six. And QSS as much as it is great killing the extra damage, is seemingly useless otherwise since all it gives is MR.
It essentially is the tunnel vision: at the end is a zhoyna's and chasing you down said tunnel is a Zed. Only way to go is towards the Zhoyna and salvation or getting merc'd by Zed. A lot people or champs don't got the choice to break through the wall.
SouL1ess2 votesAD mid laners can buy cloth armor and have escapes.
Well that's some sad AD laners, having to start cloth armor instead of longsword/Flask...
and that's really a bad idea. You can outplay Zed, it isn't impossible, don't gimp yourself on your starting items and still lose to the Zed because you aren't a threat to him, and he just farms up lol...
PerishSoftly1 votesThe counterplay is to use Diana mid and first buy Frozen Heart. Diana with armor is able to duel Zed very powerfully. If he builds Hexdrinker to counter her magic damage, he has no armor pen. Zed loses trade. If he builds Brutalizer to penetrate some armor he has no MR. Zed loses trade. Diana now has a huge chunk of mana, CDR, and an AS slow to lower Zed's damage across the board and a shield that can soak a fair amount of Zed's harass and/or all-in. If Zed leaves lane, Diana can shove lane for free losing Zed his tower. If Zed shoves lane, Diana can very easily punish him by landing a Q and then closing the gap with her ult.
SouL1ess1 votesidk, both have their pros and cons.
Old shadow drops a shadow right behind you - this allowed Zed to apply a 80% slow to you immediately, making landing his shurikens very easy. This is punishing to champions without mobility spells as they will be taking double shuriken for sure (they are moving at the speed of a dazed turtle after all). He will also have negligible energy costs when he goes in because everything is a guaranteed duplicate hit. Zed can also just W before he goes in, therefore technically still giving him a way to retreat if something goes wrong, although he will need to be closer in order to escape and his escape location will also be closer to the battlefield.
New shadow allows Zed more safety when things go wrong, and he has a very large escape range (2000) and also a longer shadow duration (6 seconds compared to 4 seconds on W) that makes his escape more lenient. However, it will be more difficult to get a kill because the enemy, regardless of how mobile they are, have a chance at dodging his Q (not that high since they are in almost melee range of Zed, but still a chance), effectively lowering the success rate of Zed's assassination. Throwing out his shadow again
I personally favour the first option because I thought it makes more sense for an assassin who should be focusing more on his kill than his escape path (you respawn when you die anyways...), but honestly speaking the new ult sounds more balanced in the game as an assassin kit. It also ties into how Riot wants Zed to require more items or more snowballing in order to go on a killing spree, a.k.a. delaying the time at which Zed can 100-0 someone very quickly. Similar strategies has been done for Fizz (Lich bane changes) and Talon (Cutthroat "bugfix" aka nerfs).
Kingsgrave1 votesHonestly just reduce the jump back range. Its like 2000 compared to normal Shadow only having a jump back range of like 550ish
SouL1ess2 votesIt's 750-900 from my experience, or maybe 1000.
Definitely not 550, that is the shadow cast range. The leash range is much bigger.
