Can anyone tell me what is the counter play to Zed's ult? This isn't a "nerf Zed" post, I'm actually curious as to what to do when Zed ults me. Any advice?
P.S. I've also heard there is a small window when you can CC him, but is the only option to have god like reflexes?
SkyblazeHydraX32 votesDuring the moment Zed dashes to you, Zed is untargetable. But after that Zed is positioned directly behind you and within melee range. From there the counterplay depends on who you're playing as and what tools the champion has at their disposal. The most important thing though is to not panic. Zed's ult isn't an instant "burst you down and kill you" ult, so if you remain calm and think things through then you can counter him with the tools at your disposal.
Positioning is arguably the second most important factor regarding Zed's ult, if not just as important. Besides the obvious of "being within range" and "stay near the team so they can pile on him", being mindful of Zed's positioning is the best way to counter his ult. Keep track of where he is, where his R-shadow is, and for the competent (or trying to be flashy) Zeds, where his W-shadow is. Making or keeping your distance from all three will minimize the damage Zed deals to you, and thus the damage the ult proc does, while keeping track of Zed will also help you to know where you need to throw your CC.
All of this advice is very much generalized, so as to account for most roles and champions. Some can counter or escape Zed's ult better than others, but regardless of the champion you're playing this advice should be at least somewhat helpful.
HudnofskiBleh1 votesDuring the moment Zed dashes to you, Zed is untargetable. But after that Zed is positioned directly behind you and within melee range. From there the counterplay depends on who you're playing as and what tools the champion has at their disposal. The most important thing though is to not panic. Zed's ult isn't an instant "burst you down and kill you" ult, so if you remain calm and think things through then you can counter him with the tools at your disposal.
Positioning is arguably the second most important factor regarding Zed's ult, if not just as important. Besides the obvious of "being within range" and "stay near the team so they can pile on him", being mindful of Zed's positioning is the best way to counter his ult. Keep track of where he is, where his R-shadow is, and for the competent (or trying to be flashy) Zeds, where his W-shadow is. Making or keeping your distance from all three will minimize the damage Zed deals to you, and thus the damage the ult proc does, while keeping track of Zed will also help you to know where you need to throw your CC.
All of this advice is very much generalized, so as to account for most roles and champions. Some can counter or escape Zed's ult better than others, but regardless of the champion you're playing this advice should be at least somewhat helpful.
Thanks for the helpful advice! People mostly said stuff such as "buy Zhonyah's" but that cost gold and I don't have gold for that at earlier parts of the game. What you said was a lot more helpful for those times, as that's when Zed gives me trouble. I also panicked when he ults, as I had no idea what to do, but not panicking was actually pretty good advice lol.
SkyblazeHydraX31 votesHappy to help.
Kukokami1 votesDuring the moment Zed dashes to you, Zed is untargetable. But after that Zed is positioned directly behind you and within melee range. From there the counterplay depends on who you're playing as and what tools the champion has at their disposal. The most important thing though is to not panic. Zed's ult isn't an instant "burst you down and kill you" ult, so if you remain calm and think things through then you can counter him with the tools at your disposal.
Positioning is arguably the second most important factor regarding Zed's ult, if not just as important. Besides the obvious of "being within range" and "stay near the team so they can pile on him", being mindful of Zed's positioning is the best way to counter his ult. Keep track of where he is, where his R-shadow is, and for the competent (or trying to be flashy) Zeds, where his W-shadow is. Making or keeping your distance from all three will minimize the damage Zed deals to you, and thus the damage the ult proc does, while keeping track of Zed will also help you to know where you need to throw your CC.
All of this advice is very much generalized, so as to account for most roles and champions. Some can counter or escape Zed's ult better than others, but regardless of the champion you're playing this advice should be at least somewhat helpful.
As I main Ryze 
, I'l be honest, Zed
is my weakness (along with Fizz 
and Cassieopeia 
and Malhazar 
). What could I do with him specifically to crush the fly that Zed is? I usually can manage to outplay him until he gets ult, then it's over. And if you or anyone else has any videos that bring this counter strategy full circle, by all means please post the link.
SkyblazeHydraX31 votesAs Ryze- or an immobile mage in general, really- facing a Zed, without a doubt the biggest thing to do is adapt your build path. You might want to get your Tear of the Goddess or Catalyst of Aeons early like normal, but unless you're ahead your first item should more than likely be a Zhonyas Hourglass. It's on a longer cooldown than Zed's ult, yes, but the armor helps to mitigate his damage even without the active. Remember, armor counters lethality, not the other way around; lethality might scale, but it still only ignores a flat amount of armor. But then when you take the active into effect, you can use it at any point during his ult; when he initially goes in on you, you can activate it to leave him without a target or a means to attack you. Alternatively if you wanna play aggro or risky, you can fight it out with him, then use the Zhonyas active to save yourself from the death mark trigger.
Ryze's buildpath specifically also offers you a big boon in the form of Seraph's Staff. It's a lategame option sure, but the active can give you a positively massive shield thanks to Ryze's passive and his tendency to build a lot of mana. A shield that you can use to eat Zed's damage if Zhonyas is down, or if you need to hold onto Zhonyas for something else.
With Ryze's kit itself though, you have the biggest assassin cockblocker short of an ultimate: his Rune Prison. When Zed goes in on you, that should be your first instinct- lock him down, then immediately make distance. Unless he can land his Q Zed or his shadows need to be right in your face to deal damage, so the more time you spend away from Zed and his shadows is time Zed can't rack up damage for his death mark popping. If you're especially quick on the draw, the instant Zed becomes targetable again- remember, he always ends up right behind you- use your E and your W immediately. They're both auto-target, so if you can target Zed and he's in range, they'll hit. Zed will be rooted for twice as long as a result of the empowered W, meaning he can't chase you down. After that you can toss out a Q- doesn't even need to hit Zed- and with the shield and speed boost, should be able to outmaneuver and endure his damage. But remember; Zed may not be able to move, but he can still cast spells and auto-attack. Even when you've got him locked down, your biggest priority should still be "get as far away from Zed and his shadows as possible".
After that, bare in mind that as Ryze you have consistent damage output, whereas Zed needs his full kit to capitalize on his ult and thus only has periods of high burst damage. The moment he's used up his kit is the moment he can't fight back, and the moment you should start turning the tables on him.
Tesrac2 votesBest advice I have is CC, but something specific. I had a game playing Cassie and the other team had a Zed that was just vexing to deal with. Right up until I caught him under my turret with my miasma, once he marked me with his ult I cast and stood in it. Then he appeared and because of the grounded effect he popped in and couldn't finish his combo, no shadow step. The turret turned him to hamburger and I just blasted him with twin fang. So see if someone can go with Singed or Cassie and just abuse him for using his ult, also works great against champs like LeBlanc, Yasuo, ect.
Joseph Gladstone1 votesyou could zhonyas if you're ap, reliable and easy to hit CC works good as well, something like a nautilus ult maybe
Eunson1 votes
HudnofskiBleh1 votesZhonya's is my only hope? ;_;
llIllIllIllIll1 votesZhonya's is my only hope? ;_;
Run exhaust vs him midlane (or tell your midlaner to run it and focus it on Zed) - you can literally make him completely irrelevant everytime its up and he goes to burst you/someone near you _______________________________- Poll: Do you run Flash on D or F?
PermabannedGaren1 votesCan anyone tell me what is the counter play to Zed's ult? This isn't a "nerf Zed" post, I'm actually curious as to what to do when Zed ults me. Any advice?
P.S. I've also heard there is a small window when you can CC him, but is the only option to have god like reflexes?
If you're a lone ADC the answer is probably nothing. An ADC generally can not and are not supposed to be able to just stop Zed from killing you 1v1.
TheDangerousTaco1 votesumm counterplay to ults like zeds , fizz, Vladimir, usually involve some form of stasis effect. Since those ults take time to wind up ( or do damage ), you can use items like Zhonya's, QSS ( pre-nerfed ) or champions that give you temp invulnerable, like fizz, kayle, Vladimir, etc. all of those are known counters to zed.
If you really want to CC him while he ults. another good champion to counter him with is riven/karma with shield and exhaust. Usually people just use exhaust though
KylerEzraStar1 votesZhonya's but you have to wait a sec or too, if you are not planning to stop the mark from landing. Flash away, or disengage by other means, before he can deal too much damage to you.
Xivilai Anaxes1 votes"Small window"
His ult is worthless if you stun him before he casts his WQE
HudnofskiBleh1 votes[{quoted}](name=Xivilai Anaxes,realm=OCE,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=UB5NQdk1,comment-id=0005,timestamp=2017-04-06T01:55:47.427+0000)
"Small window"
His ult is worthless if you stun him before he casts his WQE
??? Isn't he invincible while he's coming at you?
Xivilai Anaxes1 votesHe can't cast shit while he's doing that.
His ability to actually cast starts when he pops into reality again behind you.
ReZisT Lust1 voteszed can hold onto his ult to make your cc miss
WitchQueen Annie1 votesDude he's awful.
and or 
, when he appears just kite/attack move and he's not killing you
Mecha MaIphite1 votesA second Zed ult
Zhonya's before the damage goes off, stick with your support if you're the adc, try to dodge as much as possible so his ult pop does less damage.
Eedat1 votes literally makes his ult 100% useless
SnugglePuggle941 votesYeahhh nope. Saves you once, fails you twice more cause the active CD is higher than Zed's ult, and when he gets CDR its even lower. Plus with the armor and ap reduced on it, it's not a good of an item much anymore.
Otherworldz1 votes
[zombie-brand-mindblown]
ReZisT Lust1 votescause were allowed 3 summoner spells*[slayer-pantheon-popcorn]*
DemainaNyx1 votesDepends on the champion you are. Some champions can go invisible like Vayne, Shaco, Akali to some degree. So if you hold your invis until he marks you, it makes it harder for him to get the rest of his combo on you so you have a chance to survive.
If you have some CC, wait till his shadows charge you, then aim your CC behind you. He is guaranteed to land there so you can use this to cut down the amount of time he has with his ult on you so it's less damage you'll take.
If you can make use of a Zhonya's, do it. AD's obviously don't make much use of it, but depending on how smart your team is, it's something to consider but I wouldn't do it normally.
EndsWell1 votesNeed an item counter play or something, he's too snowbally
