I literally dont know how to play against zed

Succubús GF·Feb 28, 2017·10 votes·12,080 views

With his pickrate being number 1 I'm seeing him literally every game unless he is banned and it is so frustrating because zhonyas has a high ass cooldown and is extremely expensive, so what do I do before that? While I'm not saying zhonyas should be cheaper or anything (although buffs would be kinda cool bc of all the MR ASSASSIN ITEMS HAVING LOW CDS , ahem scuse the salt), it seems to be the only form of counterplay to zed, I know his w is on a relatively high cd, but many champions have relatively high cds "syndra e" "lissandra e" "akali w" "lb w" plus a lot of his items are relatively easy to get cd from so it isn't like too difficult to get max cdr. idk post 6 he just seems so difficult to deal with

THIS IS NOT A THREAD SAYING ZED SHOULD/SHOULDNT GET NERFED

22 Comments

EedatMar 1, 20174 votes

First, take summoner 3

Second, his Qs dont do that much damage if they hit a minion first. Keep minions between you.

Third, abuse the shit out of him when he uses his shadow to harass you. It has a 22 second CD at rank 1 and he maxes it last.

RavenMagusFeb 28, 20173 votes

I would get an early Seekers, but I wouldn't upgrade it to Zhonyas first item.

Unlike the AD items, Zhonyas stats are pretty trash, so if you build Zhonyas first you won't have any mana or damage to even fight back.

Get a seekers, build your core, then finish zhonyas as second or third item.

KorijenkinsFeb 28, 20171 votes

Can I have more info? Who do you play most?

Tyrone LannisterFeb 28, 20171 votes

Well i hope youre taking exhaust. If not, then wtf you doing. Dodging his q is key. Perhaps start boots pots. Sure you lose oit on stats but it gives more mobility so you can dodge

Titanium70Feb 28, 20175 votes

Starting boots is a terrible decision. item 1056 is the only source of mana sustain mages have besides their base-reg. It's THE single best Item you can get as mage and therefore without any alternative.

My build path against any terrible AD matchup is item 1056 -> item 1029 ->/ item 3191 -> item 3157

Sure being save against a zed is important - but it's even more important to keep your sidelanes save from Zed! And you can't achive this by with boots because of sore waveclear due to less AP/Mana, the second Zed realizes you're OOM he can simply push the wave and is free to go whereever he pleases without risking anything!

Idealy you have to be the one pushing Zed into his tower and forcing him to use his Spells on CS instead on you!

@OP Some more input on Zed: You don't need to kill Zed to win the game - keep him bussy as I explained earlier, pink your River, tell your JGL to Pink your River as well. If you get an opportunity to kill him before 6 fine, do it, but dont risk to much once he is 5-6.

With current AD Itemization it's simply impossible for a mage to win a single 1v1 against an ADCaster! So, dont even try it, play around him! Stick with your Team once laning is over and force Teamfights - you can easily beat him there.

SOLOQSUPERHEROFeb 28, 20171 votes

Take exhaust, have armor in your rune page.

You don't need to go all the way to Zhonyas first, an early seekers does wonders.

Ward well to avoid his roams and avoid his q as much as you can.

If you avoid dieing to him and keep up in farm, you'll likely be more useful than him later.

Knight SkyFeb 28, 20171 votes

well taking exhaust is huge. In terms of laning it really depends on who you play, assuming its a mage then

try not to push your wave and stay far back.
Dont trade with him after hes lvl 6.
if your lane does push then dont follow
in teamfights you should stay next to the tank or support, depending on whos peeling.
also right after he all ins someone is the best time to kill him since his w and r will be on cd.

good luck bud [slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

Truly PridefulFeb 28, 20171 votes

Take exhaust, flat armor yellows, rush your class specific early armor item, and most importantly play safe and farm what you can. If you don't give him kills and you keep track of his roams with wards you minimize his value since he's not really the best teamfighter. Picking early fights with him is usually pretty risky unless you know his cooldowns are down and you have a nice health advantage.

You can also run some of the safe mids into him like Ori. With exhaust and your shield it's very difficult for him to kill you unless you misplay. You can also have your jungler pressure him frequently so he'll hesitate to be aggressive.

EschetonFeb 28, 20171 votes

Sion Mid. Ult me, weakling. GL.

AlienPrimateFeb 28, 20171 votes

I just go tryn mid against zed. His ult is useless against tryn's ult and tryn crushes squishies.

sit kidFeb 28, 20171 votes

And pre-6....?

AlienPrimateFeb 28, 20171 votes

"and tryn crushes squisies."

Pre 6 applies to both of you so it doesn't matter.

III BAKURYU III Feb 28, 20171 votes

summoner 21 summoner 3 summoner 7 - Forget ignite, unless you know how to beat Zed/Play champions that he counters but still win.
I personally like having when I face him as I typically just stay away from him and roam/push the F out of my lane so I don't get tower dove etc and try to help my team while staying a safe distance from him.
I like heal because when it comes to teamfights he/the enemy team might not focus me every fight but instead sometimes say the adc or top/Junglers who go in first so I can use my heal to keep them or for myself in fights longer or to survive.

Kirius DarkFeb 28, 20171 votes

If zed doesnt get ahead early and falls behind then he's pretty weak. In lane he's not as OP as you think. He's capped by CDs and energy which you can punish.

Punish CDs - If he uses his shadow to poke, then you can retaliate since it has a very long cooldown (22 sec) since it takes away his damage amplifier, gap closer or escape

Punish Energy - If he doesnt hit you with his shadow and champ's abilities, double shuriken or slash then he doesnt get the energy refund. Dodge at least 1 shuriken and you'll be able to go in on him, especially since the shadow was used and he'll be super low on energy to retaliate.

Basically if he uses shadow at all, or abilities on minions, you have a window to trade efficiently

sit kidFeb 28, 20171 votes

Okay, I'll go through every phase of the game

Pre-game Preferably a top lane > jungle tank Usually take armor seals and normal masteries Take exhaust if you often lose against him (i personally don't take exhaust, but it is a good idea to deny him 1v1)

Pre-3 This is probably where Zed is weakest and you can really make him suffer the first two levels. AA him every time he even goes near a creep, and if you feel brave, try zoning him all the way to his turret (not pushing, just zoning). Just make sure that you don't get ganked tho.

When Zed hits level 3, he has way more options for damage, as he unlocks his basic combo that synergizes really well with Thunderlord's Decree. I would consider starting to poke him with max range spells (like Viktor E, Azir soldiers, generally spells that have stupid range) If you're playing something like Vel'Koz or Syndra, you can prepare your all in combos for him. Not for all inning, but to get some damage onto him. He has to farm melee most of the time, and his CS movement is still very predictable.

Level 6 If you're not already ahead, get an Armguard and always play with more than 80% HP. He will be able to do alot of damage if you don't have any defence, so playing without exhaust or summoners is very dangerous.

Avoid following his path when he is roaming, because he might surpise you from a river bush or something (goes for pretty much every champion). It is very important to keep track of him, not only for yourself, but also your bot lane. A 2/0 Zed on bot lane is really unfortunate and he will just start to annihalate you.

Mid-late game

Usually stay grouped as 5 after the laning phase. Traditional mages have way better teamfighting options than Zed. Have a tank, exhaust or something peel so he doesnt get to blast someone. He really starts being useless if he cant pick out someone to kill instant.

Zed as a champion doesn't fall off, but the ways mid and late games are played are just a counter to assassins. Sometimes, and it does happen that Zed gets fed into the mid-late game, simply because teams can't play around him

Golden Tager XFeb 28, 20171 votes

move in an awkward way, if you attempt to dodge his q by running away, they will always know what you are doing and nail you. if you move in an awkward way they will be forced into a guessing game on where and if you will move.

Urf Mode Is LifeFeb 28, 20171 votes

its amazing what buying HEAL does for people

Hexs FortuneFeb 28, 20171 votes

The over usage of the word "literally" on these boards...

SirsirFeb 28, 20171 votes

Its very simple.

Ban him

[slayer-jinx-wink]

Crokinole AceMar 1, 20171 votes

I have the most success playing mobile champs. Currently favoring LeBlanc and Ahri. Lissandra is kindof okay against a mediocre Zed, but understand that a decent Zed will crush you.

Leblanc, because she can avoid a lot of Zed's damage with her trickery and hooliganery, makes for a fun way to counter play. Remember that a Zed that doesn't snowball is not a terribly huge issue for you as the game goes on. Leblanc also follows Zed roams at minimal risk to herself.

Ahri, because she has charm, mobility, threat to melee champions level 1 - 5. But BE CAREFUL, it is a skill matchup which does favor Zed in a lot of ways.

Basically, to fight Zed you have to understand how to trade against cooldowns. His W is on a 15 second cd or so, and it is his last max ability. Most midlaners have about 6-9 second cooldown trades available. Usually a mage can shove in level 1-3, go for early back if you want it for more pots or a cloth armor.

Summoner spell - exhaust is downright the strongest. Take it.

Itemization - Rush that seeker's arm guard. That item reduces harass damage you take. If you have mana problems, take the 'Meditation' mastery. It's in the blue tree, trade %damage to low hp targets for that mana. It's an awesome advantage for mages, since they have higher base mana pools, which makes it effective. No need to finish Zhonya's if Zed hasn't managed a couple kills early.

SohleksMar 1, 20171 votes

His Q does reduced damage piercing through your minions. You can honestly just disrespect his rank 1 and 2 Q when his shadows down behind your own minion so long as you punish back when he's defenseless minding creep damage of course. At a high level zed knows he has to save early Qs for the early CS and NOT push the lane early if his ranged opponent is a competently strong ranged champion.

Then it becomes a mini game of baiting out minimizing his shadow dmg combo which can hurt and leave you killable if it was bad enough and then pressuring him hard when it's gone and you're healthy.

You should have the advantage first few levels but he starts to hit his lane prowess especially if he buys hexdrinker which is a very powerful inexpensive item. I suppose they go more for edge of night these days which makes his laning a little more open to challenge before he finishes it.

Act like you're the boss of the lane in the early levels and maybe you'll get advantage but you'll have to respect him mid laning phase as that's traditionally his strongest point. Honestly you just win by not feeding him. At least that's how it used to be when he is bad or balanced.

The problem with Zed is he IS gated with cooldowns and being melee when faced with competent ranged caster play but if he gets an foot he gets a mile also as he's kinda meant to be strong in lane at least when he's even remotely competitive.