Why is Zed toxic right now?

Is it because he is unbalanced? I dont really think so.

The issue with Zed mid in my experience comes down to the lane phase, and the things that make him sort of unique compared to other mid assassins, even manaless ones.

Lets think about the poke, and the pushing ability combined...

Zed has skillshot nukes that pass through minion waves, even though they deal reduced damage after they hit minions, they are essenitally free to use. Zed also comes with plenty of aoe and a passive that makes wave clear and last hitting trivial. If he is feeling threatened at all, he will get An item that is very gold efficient right off the bat, this doesnt hamper his ability to cast spells to push/trade at all. It is a win/win purchase.

If a mage is threatened by Zed, they have to get An item that isnt even fully powered when bought, and gives no form of sustain against a champion that has virtually unlimited harass. If a mage is forced to get this item instead of their early standard mana item, Zed can take advantage of this by pushing, forcing them to use mana to hold back a flood of minions, and mana starving them. If he gets a instead of Hexdrinker, and force lots of trades, and infinitely sustain health while his oppoenent cannot sustain mana or HP due to the weakness of their only defensive item choice.

TLDR I think people hate Zed because the defensive options against AD champs in lane are crap, and Zed amplifies this issue by being manalessas well as having very strong ranged harass and wave clear. is a very expensive item, AD mids have access to far better early defensive item choices than mages in lane. Mages have to make a sacrifice when buying their early defensive item, whereas AD champions do not.