How do you fight Zed

Handy Sandy ·Aug 11, 2016·1 votes·464 views

Everyone says he's easy to beat, he's just meant to stomp people that aren't anywhere near as good as the Zed player. How do you even fight him though? He has safe harass, can close gaps quickly, but I'm sure everyone has heard that a thousand times.

Is taking exhaust the only real way to fight him? It has a 210 second cooldown.. I need my summoner spells for other things like ignite to get more burst power, ghost to travel long distances to get away from good chasers, or teleport for more map control. Build a Zhonyas? That only helps you survive his ult which he used to dodge your ult, he still has other moves while hes at 70%+ health. I'm not trying to say he needs an nerf, I'm just trying to find a way to not lose my lane when I'm put up against one.

9 Comments

Zero Skill TankAug 11, 20162 votes

Winning lane against Zed often is straight up impossible if you are not playing one of few counters.

Best strategy is to stall until your team starts grouping, and just not die while taking all CS you can. When you are grouped up, you can chain CC him when he ults somebody. That is easy, as people say, only it's either very frustrating, or very boring to get there - depending on what kind of person you are.

Basically you let him shit on you for 30 minutes, and if you didn't lose to this point, you will most likely win.

If you think that's BS and shouldn't have place in the game - yeah, you're right.

48983507DEL1Aug 11, 20162 votes

You have to play around the long cooldown of his Living Shadow. His Q got changed that it doesn't hurt as much unless 2 hit you, so wait for him to use it, have it disappear, then be aggressive with him. At the least, you'll zone him off of CS. At the most, you'll hurt him a lot.

When he uses his ultimate, he's going to appear BEHIND you. Keep that in mind so you can set up CC for him when he spawns back there.

Handy Sandy Aug 11, 20161 votes

[{quoted}](name=Zethera Densetsu,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=ZXIOG42X,comment-id=0001,timestamp=2016-08-11T22:57:04.229+0000)

You have to play around the long cooldown of his Living Shadow. His Q got changed that it doesn't hurt as much unless 2 hit you, so wait for him to use it, have it disappear, then be aggressive with him. At the least, you'll zone him off of CS. At the most, you'll hurt him a lot.

When he uses his ultimate, he's going to appear BEHIND you. Keep that in mind so you can set up CC for him when he spawns back there.

Oh, just like Azir and the cooldown on his Q. Thanks.

RageQ2Aug 11, 20162 votes

I play Zed and any champ that has some form of decent poke can do fairly even against zed, what you want to watch out for is the mistakes that the Zed player specifically makes and abuse it. I went up against a viktor and he was able to poke me out, as soon as I made a mistake i.e. going for a little sneaky W burst dmg and moving to my shadow he started to burst me down. I actually lost lane as Zed for once.

Handy Sandy Aug 11, 20161 votes

{quoted}

I play Zed and any champ that has some form of decent poke can do fairly even against zed, what you want to watch out for is the mistakes that the Zed player specifically makes and abuse it. I went up against a viktor and he was able to poke me out, as soon as I made a mistake i.e. going for a little sneaky W burst dmg and moving to my shadow he started to burst me down. I actually lost lane as Zed for once.

It's not easy to poke when he can easily farm with his shadow or Q, and he has more accurate poke with living shadow + shadow slash.

1wolfpackAug 11, 20161 votes

depends on the champion you picked. however, farm safely, dodge his skills shots as best as you can. care for jungle ganks (dont over extend) if he roams, call MIA immediately, know when to fallow his roams and when not too. build accordingly, poke and go for the kill when your in a good position to do so.

GarthBrooksIVAug 11, 20161 votes

Play someone like annie, ahri, or fizz ideally. Zhonya=strong counter. Use movement speed quints and early boots to help you dodge harass. Never walk into a living shadow. Keep track of where the shadows are. Practice the matchup vs each or your favorite champions so you can get a feel of the situations. Also, so many people are just scared of zed because they know he can burst you down quickly, be aware that zed is also very squishy and you can fight back if he engages.

Handy Sandy Aug 11, 20161 votes

Btw I'm not looking to switch champions in order to counter just him, in blind you don't know who you're fighting anyway. I'm just trying to find some general weaknesses he has.

AstôlfoAug 11, 20161 votes

I'd play someone with good farm in the first place if possible (mages for instance). I'd just farm near turret as well as I can and rush Zhonya's in the first place, pressure him with ganks so he can't just do whatever he wants and actually has to be somewhat careful. If he uses his W to go in, he just burnt his only escape. Once mid/late game comes and you have a decent build + Zhonya's, you'll probably be sticking with your team (or at least, you should be). If he comes and tries to kill you, then you can either just immediately CC (or Zhonya's if need be) and let your team crush him together with you. He is extremely good at picking off single targets, but if they fail to die to his initial burst/ult/Duskblade, then he's practically worthless. Also, him diving into a team is suicide for him, so just sticking with your team will be a deterrent in most cases.