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It's honestly sad to see the amount of hate against Zed here on these boards.

Schàdenfreude·5/2/2018, 12:30:39 AM·5 votes·1,464 views

Ever wonder why Zed has such a high banrate despite being in an alright but not overpowered state?

Because people just hate playing against him as a champion. They're not used to assassins actually having decent poke and some waveclear (although little might be the better adjective here to describe the amount of waveclear he has against mages)

For this reason, people ban him. However, what they are missing when banning him is the question of why assassins aren't allowed to be good in the laning phase against mages (let's face it, Zed is pretty weak in the laning phase due to his lack of waveclear, and waveclear is meta right now. If a mage player has to constantly back against a Zed they're likely doing something wrong such as dodging none of Zed's WEQ combos).

Also keep in mind that it's mainly the lower elos that ban Zed. Up in the higher elos, there is a significantly smaller portion of players banning out Zed. Those who still do are (you guessed it!) players that main mages in the midlane along with ADC players.

Part of this can be attributed to the fact that players have adapted to laning against Zed. In lower elos, where mechanical skill and knowledge of lane matchups is not there, Zed will likely be a much stronger pick due to his all in potential.

With all this information, it should come across as no suprise that Zed is a universally hated champion, but those who hate him have little reason for doing so. It's really the fact that they haven't learned to play against him, which is upsetting because they have no other reason of hating him. If Zed were in a stronger state or actually had the access to this midlane-defining aspect of the meta called waveclear, then maybe the hate against him would be understandable. However, by no means is he as strong as midlaners currently are (wonder why there has been literally zero Zed games throughout this competitive season?)

Edit: Here are my sources for banrates being lower in high elo and higher in low elo not sure if they were entirely reliable, but still. https://www.leagueofgraphs.com/champions/stats/zed/bronze https://www.leagueofgraphs.com/champions/stats/zed/diamond

14 Comments

Bishasaurus Flex5/2/2018, 12:59:54 AM4 votes

I like Zed. He's fun to lane against as a Mage especially Syndra. Plus, I have a crush on him. I imagine him to be a solid 8 inches, and pretty thick with a medium sized head.

[sg-lux]

Marshbouy5/2/2018, 1:11:44 AM3 votes

I'm allowed to hate whoever I want, regardless of what you say. Sorry, but that's how it works. I personally don't like facing Zed that much, but I would take 100 zeds before I face another fucking Xerath.

Fuck Xerath.

Jon 6789105/2/2018, 1:56:32 AM2 votes

First of all, I'd suggest using either lolalytics or op.gg for stats. I've heard that they were better than the alternatives.

However, by no means is he as strong as midlaners currently are (wonder why there has been literally zero Zed games throughout this competitive season?)

Competitive shouldn't be used as a metric for solo queue balance. Zed performs above average in solo queue, even at higher ranks, with a very high play rate. On top of this, he still has a very high ban rate in high level solo queue, even if it is lower than in low level solo queue.

Against zed, my issue has nothing to do with poke or waveclear. The problem I face is zed's ult, which gives him the ability to close the gap and hit you with spells point blank.

MorganFreemanBot5/2/2018, 2:06:31 AM1 votes

Zed, Yasuo, Darius, Warwick, and a few other champs are basically memes on the board.

They're well designed and moderately simple champions who have blatant and HIGHLY telegraphed moments of power, who are generally strong at punishing poor play but not too great beyond that.

One of Riot's design goals is to give clear and obvious moments of power; basically attaching huge particles and unique animations to defensive and offensive benefits. Blatant examples from these champions are Yasuo's W, Darius' passive, Warwick's blood scent, and Zed's R.

The irony is that these same design goals make people hate champions. Boards, and the generally poor players which inhabit it (I'm not saying I'm better; just that I don't share this particular opinion) would rather be murderized by jax invisible damage amps (R and passive), or Shyvana's poorly telegraphed buffs and debuffs (extended burnout duration, cinders refreshing and doing % health damage) than Yasuo or Darius' massively visible power. Whether that power is actually stronger doesn't matter; it just gives them a visual effect to grab onto and blame, so they hate it fiercely.

ZedUsanGovos5/2/2018, 1:04:09 PM1 votes

Tbh.

WalkingInACircle5/2/2018, 1:26:22 PM1 votes

In many ways I hate the Zed wankers more than Zed. No, there is nothing fair about playing against him and his ridiculous poke w/ strong all in. Banning the hell out of him is the only way Riot ever admits he needs nerfing.

Infernape5/2/2018, 1:27:36 PM1 votes

It's not a Zed problem for me, it's just this godforsaken item item 3155

Sir Prepuzius5/2/2018, 1:32:19 PM1 votes

Ok, so we have to learn to play against zed then please explain how do i avoid his ult and no, building hourglass is not a valid response, i prefer to ban him then and i suppose in high elo dudes go mostly tanks or with proper supports protecting their squishies

VoraciousX5/2/2018, 1:03:52 AM1 votes

The only thing I hate about Zed is his ult. When I'm fighting him, my combo depends on burst damage(I also play an assassin) and he avoids a good portion of it if I don't go my dark harvest Lich Bane build(in which case I make Zed's ragequit), unless I stay in the fight, in which case his ulti pop will likely kill me considering I have to be right on top of him. The moment he gets a serrated dirk, he does a LOT of damage. I can see why most mages hate Zed. Their half item isn't near as much of a power spike as 25 AD and 7-8 lethality is for Zed, considering their half item power spike is more to give them mana sustain. They might hate him less if Riot reverted their "feel good" changes for AD assassins, making Lethality start lower and climb higher instead of start closer to the top of it's power.

Honestly, it could just be Electrocute. Since it's adaptive damage, AD assassins get better benefit out of it with lethality. It's also annoying that magic pen is more expensive and ISN'T a core item on AP assassins.

Sohleks5/2/2018, 1:09:43 AM1 votes

I don't think the average player realizes his Q does reduced dmg going through a minion. I don't blame them because there is no visual tell in game about it. The only time you really have to worry about him is when his 20 sec cd shadow is up. And when that's down YOU control him basically.

And then before long you can afk waveclear. Unless you trollpick in 2018 (relax just meme'ing. kind of)