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How to play against Zed, A Guide for Boards whiners.

Nausicäa ··7 votes·24,283 views

Whether or not you choose to accept it, Zed probably has the most counterplay of any assassin in LoL. This is the reason that Riot calls him a 'healthy assassin' because he has both counterplay and windows of strength/weakness. One of the main things to consider here is that most of Zed's power is tied up in his ult, if his ult is down he most likely cannot kill you and isnt a big threat(unless godly fed).

Attitude.

Bad attitude is one of main reasons people do poorly/ fail to be good at games. There are 2 main bad attitudes that id like to discuss here that are likely contributing to you doing poorly in LoL or other games. The two attitudes im going to discuss set you up for failure before you even play a game.

  1. General stubbornness. You refuse to use something in the game because you feel you shouldnt have to. You think you should be able to pick/choose anything you please and succeed with it in any circumstance.
  2. The hipster attitude. You only play things that are unpopular, you feel that doing certain things or picking certain things in the game and the players that do it are beneath you. Basically an unwarranted superiority complex. Picking unpopular things or refusing to pick certain things in a game on principle DOES NOT make you special. Get over yourself.

In short if you're refusing to use things available to you in a game to succeed its no ones fault but your own, not the game balance, not Riot, just you.

Summoner Spells There are two underrated and underutilized summoner spells that are extremely powerful against Zed. If you're having trouble laning against Zed its recommended that you take one of these rather than ignite.

  1. Exhaust. Quite simply using Exhaust on Zed after he ults will prevent him from killing you in most situations. Without his ult damage, Zed should not be able to kill you.

  2. Barrier. Shields for more than heal and is not reduced by grievous wounds, for this reason it is superior in this match up. It will reduce a significant amount of his burst damage.

Items

  1. Cloth armor. You should buy this after first back it will help you survive his level 6.
  2. Seekers arm guard, if you're doing poorly/ Zed is a bad match up for you buy this item ASAP.
  3. Zhonya's. This item quite literally counters Zed. Once you have it you can essentially negate Zed's ultimate. As ive previously stated Zed with no ult = much weaker.
  4. Quick Silver Sash. This item counters Zed as well. It dispels his ultimate.

**General Tips **

  1. NEVER stay in lane with low HP. Zed is an assassin, assassins specialize in killing other champions, staying in lane with low HP is basically giving him free kills. I know what you're thinking, 'but i will miss CS' well so what? You missing a couple of CS in lane is much better than giving Zed a free kill. Add to this that if you're dead you will be missing CS anyway.

  2. Stay away from his shadow after he uses his W harass. Wait for it to disappear. He can E a second time, standing on/near it is giving him even more free harass. A popular post 6 strategy is to W harass, back off baiting the enemy forward thinking they are now safe, swapping places with the shadow and ulting. If you're low from the harass you will likely die.

  3. Dont be afraid to miss CS or use you spells to get CS from safety. You dont HAVE to get every CS. You dont HAVE to always use your spell to harass him.

  4. Buy his counter items, Zhonya's QQS. Yes you're a carry, yes you're supposed to deal damage, but if you're dead guess what? You're doing literally 0 damage.

  5. Contrary to popular belief Zed is not resourceless. Energy is a resource and its possible for him to run out if he spams/harasses too much. Take advantage of this. If you see him with low energy know that he cannot W combo harass you, take this opportunity to damage/harass him.

  6. Stand behind minions if you're not good at dodging his Q. His Q damage is significantly reduced after passing through other targets.

  7. Zed's W cooldown 18 / 17 / 16 / 15 / 14. If you see that he has just used it, take advantage of this and deal damage to him knowing he cannot gap close/deal significant amounts of harassment to you for 10+ seconds. Furthermore Zed is most vulnerable to ganks after using W. If its down he has no escapes aside from flash.

  8. Ping MIA if hes not in lane multiple times if you think hes roaming to another lane.

34 Comments

Zmuecat8 votes

Wait, so all I have to do is buy Zhoynas and dodge his skill shots?

Well hot damn, I haven't seen advice like this since every thread complaining or defending Zed.

Oh, and farm CS with spells? Well, I certainly hope you don't have mana, and if you do you're a champion with a mechanic to get it back, because rushing a Zhonyas to counter a level 6 Zed dive is going to drain that noise fast.

Everyone knows Zed has energy, and everyone also knows that his energy costs are not as punishing as say, I dunno, Shens.

Thanks for your thread.

Nausicäa 2 votes

{quoted}

Wait, so all I have to do is buy Zhoynas and dodge his skill shots?

Well hot damn, I haven't seen advice like this since every thread complaining or defending Zed.

Oh, and farm CS with spells? Well, I certainly hope you don't have mana, and if you do you're a champion with a mechanic to get it back, because rushing a Zhonyas to counter a level 6 Zed dive is going to drain that noise fast.

Everyone knows Zed has energy, and everyone also knows that his energy costs are not as punishing as say, I dunno, Shens.

Thanks for your thread.

Early game mana regen was nerfed but guess what? If you dont stupidly spam your spells every time they are up, you wont go oom. It is easily possible to play conservatively, using spells to CS/harassing a little bit.

And yes, once you build Zhonya's Zeds ability to 1v1 you takes a nose dive. It is really that simple, sorry you refuse to do it.

Zmuecat1 votes

I'm a support main, I don't buy the hourglass. I do take exhaust.

So, you are supposed to not stupidly spam your spells without building a mana regen item while rushing something to counter his level 6 all in.

Cool. I don't care who you are, if you are trying to use spells to CS and harass, you are going to run out of mana before Zed runs out of energy, forcing you to either back or try to farm with AAs, while dodging skill shots and having a super awesome attitude.

Awesome. That sounds great.

Nausicäa 1 votes

{quoted}

I'm a support main, I don't buy the hourglass. I do take exhaust.

So, you are supposed to not stupidly spam your spells without building a mana regen item while rushing something to counter his level 6 all in.

Cool. I don't care who you are, if you are trying to use spells to CS and harass, you are going to run out of mana before Zed runs out of energy, forcing you to either back or try to farm with AAs, while dodging skill shots and having a super awesome attitude.

Awesome. That sounds great.

If you're a support main then what are you crying about exactly? You're not laning against him and you have exhaust.

If you're complaining because Zed an assassin is capable of killing a support guess what? Most of the carry champions in this game can do the exact same thing, so why exactly are you complaining about?

Kitten of Evil3 votes

That, kids, is what we call an ad hominem. Instead of addressing his points, you just point and say "oh he's a support main. He can't possibly have any insight as to other champions in other roles." "Oh, other guy's in Silver 4. He can't possibly have a valid opinion either."

Nausicäa 1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Kitten of Evil,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=Ru4kgXLh,comment-id=00020000000000000000,timestamp=2015-02-03T01:02:45.282+0000)

That, kids, is what we call an ad hominem. Instead of addressing his points, you just point and say "oh he's a support main. He can't possibly have any insight as to other champions in other roles." "Oh, other guy's in Silver 4. He can't possibly have a valid opinion either."

Or you know, it could have something to do with the fact that Zed is a mid laner and he plays support and not mid? Thus hes not directly laning against Zed, the phase of the game from which most of the complaints against him arise.

Its called logic kids. Its also called reading comprehension, something you clearly lack. Nice try tho.

BeatzBoyFTW2 votes

He is just saying he doesn't get to main mid a lot and does support more. He is also addressing if he were a mid laner, he wouldn't want to spam spells to get oom fast cz of mana regen nerfs, and has to risk his laning phase autoattacking minions to last hit, & having to know how to dodge Zed's moves & stuff, especially if ur using a champ like Veigar or Syndra with no mobility.

So, you are supposed to not stupidly spam your spells without building a mana regen item while rushing something to counter his level 6 all in.

Cool. I don't care who you are, if you are trying to use spells to CS and harass, you are going to run out of mana before Zed runs out of energy, forcing you to either back or try to farm with AAs, while dodging skill shots and having a super awesome attitude.

But seriously, stop dodging his points. It was pretty logical to me imo. And try not to use that "Oh ur Silver elo, gtfo" excuse on me.

TriGunstaR5 votes

So ladies and gentlemen - I will sum this essay up for you.

  1. To beat Zed you must have a good attitude. (LOL.)
  2. Buy Zhonyas, start Cloth, ping MIA's, dodge his skill shot.

That's all folks. That is what he wrote. LOL.

Nausicäa 4 votes

{quoted}

So ladies and gentlemen - I will sum this essay up for you.

  1. To beat Zed you must have a good attitude. (LOL.)
  2. Buy Zhonyas, start Cloth, ping MIA's, dodge his skill shot.

That's all folks. That is what he wrote. LOL.

And this is why you're stuck in Silver 4. If you spent more time trying to get better rather than issuing snark comments you might not be stuck in 'elo hell'

Maybe if you took some advice, and got a better attitude you'd actually be able to gain elo.

Kitten of Evil1 votes

Oh damn. I guess I didn't wish hard enough last game.

Ellphi4 votes

Another Attitude:

I picked a mage and I'm entitled to win mid lane. It should be as easy for me to kill Zed as it is for him to kill me.

Another general tip:

If Zed is low on energy, force him to use another spell. It stops his energy regen and shyt actually takes forever to restore.

Kitten of Evil1 votes

Zed, low on energy?

Cale0173 votes

Hm...

Nope. You seem to lack the fundamental understanding of why the people who aren't just generic QQers voice their disdain for Zed.

krawkaw3 votes

I'm sorry but I didn't learn anything, and most of your points won't help me if I'm Lux

Summoners

  1. Exhuast on lux? I need ignite for dmg for kills.
  2. Barrier is an option, but like I said, u need ignite as lux.

Items

  1. And have no dmg or mana regen?
  2. ^^^
  3. I won't have zhonyas at lvl 6 and ^^^
  4. I shouldnt have to explain this

General Tips 5. A good zed will be smart about his energy. And by good i mean not retarded 6. Trust me, it helps, but in the long run he will just out sustain u if you keep eating Q to the face even behind minions. not to mention he can W over the minions and hit u with it 7. Reasonable

The way to do it is just play safe and use your E to hit minions and poke him at the same time. Go Athenes first and play very safe. never use Q unless he W or ults u.

Nausicäa 1 votes

{quoted}

I'm sorry but I didn't learn anything, and most of your points won't help me if I'm Lux

Summoners

  1. Exhuast on lux? I need ignite for dmg for kills.
  2. Barrier is an option, but like I said, u need ignite as lux.

Items

  1. And have no dmg or mana regen?
  2. ^^^
  3. I won't have zhonyas at lvl 6 and ^^^
  4. I shouldnt have to explain this

General Tips 5. A good zed will be smart about his energy. And by good i mean not retarded 6. Trust me, it helps, but in the long run he will just out sustain u if you keep eating Q to the face even behind minions. not to mention he can W over the minions and hit u with it 7. Reasonable

The way to do it is just play safe and use your E to hit minions and poke him at the same time. Go Athenes first and play very safe. never use Q unless he W or ults u.

You're incredibly ignorant and clearly did not read or take into consideration the thing i said about attitude. You're obviously too stubborn to get better at this game.

  1. You dont NEED ignite 'for kills'. If you're feeding Zed in lane what good is that ignite doing you?
  2. You should have around 1000 gold by first back. Thats more than enough for both cloth armor and Forbidden Idol.
  3. You wont have Zhonya's at level 6 but you should have exhaust or barrier and he wont kill you? Since you're playing Lux guess what else you have? A root and a shield, how exactly is he killing you? I think you need to practice more before playing against real players.

The fact that you're suggesting going Athene's rather than Morello's against Zed alone completely discredits you. Get out of bronze/better at this game before commenting on things you dont understand.

krawkaw1 votes

lmao get out of bronze... i dont know why i bother posting

Maximum Morde2 votes

Why does Zed get to 100-0 people over and over while simultaneously being one of the safest champions in the League? I don't really have a problem with any one facet of Zed's kit, I do have a problem with it being all in there together. He has ranged poke/harass/farming tools on short cooldown. He has god tier mobility. He is resourceless(If you can buy CDR on an energy champion and have it not be worthless, you are basically resourceless). He doesn't pay for any of these benefits other than being somewhat squishy, which is offset by god tier mobility. However, that is something common to EVERY champ that isn't a tank, so...

Beating Zed basically requires you to offset his cancer with other forms of cancer. Invalidating champions with lolImmune, or removing the ability for a player to even play the game(endless CC spam) are just as frustrating from a receiving standpoint as Zed is. As it stands, I don't feel like a Zed player did anything special when they do well. It just feels like they are abusing a broken champion and it's nothing special, which is a shame.

Nausicäa 1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Maximum Morde,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=Ru4kgXLh,comment-id=0004,timestamp=2015-02-03T00:18:26.810+0000)

Why does Zed get to 100-0 people over and over while simultaneously being one of the safest champions in the League? a tank, so...

He doesnt thats exactly my point.

Use Exhaust and Zhonyas, and guess what? He pretty much cant never 1v1 you. His all is gated by the cooldown of his ultimate and his ultimate has counterplay.

You clearly have never played Zed against a half competent team. Mid has Zhonya's ADC has QQS, top is a tank or has Zhonyas, Jungle is tank, support has exhaust and CC. There are no free kill targets in teamfights.

Maximum Morde3 votes

{quoted}

He doesnt thats exactly my point.

Use Exhaust and Zhonyas, and guess what? He pretty much cant never 1v1 you. His all is gated by the cooldown of his ultimate and his ultimate has counterplay.

You clearly have never played Zed against a half competent team. Mid has Zhonya's ADC has QQS, top is a tank or has Zhonyas, Jungle is tank, support has exhaust and CC. There are no free kill targets in teamfights.

Then he just roams and gets kills because he can 100-0 dive people under a turret and give no fucks. News though, he doesn't need his ult to hurt people badly enough that they either leave lane, or risk feeding. That in itself puts him ahead in terms of gold almost as much as a kill does. There is literally nothing to punish him for trying to poke either. Missed? Try again in a few seconds. His late game isn't the issue, its his laning. Just about every Assassin has a shit lane phase, except Zed. That's the issue. Either take away his lane phase, or take away his assassin capability.

Kitten of Evil3 votes

Just about every Assassin has a shit lane phase, except Zed.

THIS.

Nausicäa 1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Kitten of Evil,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=Ru4kgXLh,comment-id=0004000000000000,timestamp=2015-02-03T01:03:49.821+0000)

THIS.

Leblanc, Fizz, Ahri and Kassadin all have reasonably safe and decent laning phases.

No other assassins are worth mentioning because they are remnants of old design values and fundamentally lack counterplay.

Kitten of Evil2 votes

You're joking, right? If LB or Fizz or Kass want to last-hit minion waves, they have to burn their mobility or AOE slow. And Ahri isn't an assassin. She's a kite mage. They're supposed to be safe.

asktiks2 votes

they ALLL have horribad wave clear and only have "safe " laning phases , not great, its SUCKS going against zed as all except live ahri...but shes getting instanerfed cuz cant have any overbearing champs...meanwhile zed...

JustMyBassCannon1 votes

I think the main problem people have with Zed right now is that almost everyone whining about him believes that pre-nerf item 3028/item 3174 was balanced.

Which it wasn't. Mana-based champions becoming manaless for (less than) 900 gold, and then getting a completed version of the item that grants sustain, damage, CDR and defense all at once? Oh, and it's MR, so it's especially useful when matched against other mages or AP assassins.

MohawkBird1 votes

Hug turret...oh wait.

jpguy9021 votes

Notice he's on a smurf cause he doesn't want people to know he's a zed main.

DisasterSola1 votes

{quoted}

Notice he's on a smurf cause he doesn't want people to know he's a zed main.

I wonder if zed top is toxic? i mean, zed is ranged...

BeatzBoyFTW1 votes

No, he is melee, just that he gets to use his QW combo a lot to hit at a far range. But I'm not sure how he fares at top lane doe since he is mostly up against tanky champs.

BeatzBoyFTW1 votes

Dunno, he could be Bronze 5 in disguise.

SheStupidThicc1 votes

He's so op he loses more games than he wins in all elos, damn. Add me on league and let's 1v1, you can play this negative winrate super op no skill champ and I will beat you with a champion supposedly countered by him, because I've taken the time to learn and practice facing him, as well as playing him often myself.

PrinceOfStorms1 votes

PrinceofStorms' guide to playing against Zed:

Step 1: When you see the other team picked a Zed

Step 2: Dodge.

And OP, try playing against Zed as any mindlaning mage that isn't named Ahri and get back to me on that. You're forced to rush for Zhonya's or you just straight up die to the allin at level 6, during which time you don't have a mana regen item, which makes your sustain crap (Zed, btw, has energy, so he can spam his abilities like the world is ending). This causes Zed to just push a lot of mages out of lane simply by being their lane opponent.

Then, post-6, when Zed's opponent has their Zhonya's, now they have to build a mana regen item to get actual sustain. Boots will probably have to be built somewhere in there. This means that effectively, Zed's opponent is forced to not build any damage until their 3rd/4th item, whereas Zed can just build damage all game, further snowballing out of control.

Rozair1 votes

sounds like he has almost no counterplay

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