^
And Zhonyas also used to have like 120 AP and 50 armor. Now it has like half the stats it used to, which is also extremely dumb. This applies to Talon as well. Not just Zed.
Akali is SO HOT17 votes- All bronzelords ever
Shadòw10 votesI might be biased, but that statement is just total bullshit
Ahris5 votesIt is true though. No mages can really duel Zed unless they have invuln already like Fizz.
HaIlMonitor3 votesFizz isnt a mage. He is an assassin.
Shadòw5 votesIt is true though. No mages can really duel Zed unless they have invuln already like Fizz.
mages everyone
apart from the fact that there are even enough mages who at least go even with Zed, if not straight up counter him.
Ahris2 votesZed counters Ori, Kassadin, Taliyah, Syndra, Cass, and etc. That seems to fill up the meta picks though.
Shadòw2 votesZed counters Ori, Kassadin, Taliyah, Syndra, Cass, and etc. That seems to fill up the meta picks though.
Well he is supposed to counter them. Still, Zed, or Assassins in general aren't quite the best picks in current Meta too.
So why should the champ be broken only because he counters what is Meta on mid atm?
If you still want to completely deny him on lane already, you also have this "masterpiece" of a champ: 
Ahris1 votesI don't know you are only showing one mage and Zed actually does better than most assassins because of having access to QSS that denies his ulti. Zed's poke can easily remove his passive and you can easily win lane. Out of all assassins, zed probably has the easiest time against Malz. Even as Ahri you need to buy QSS to survive against him. Wasting 1300 gold early game too.
Revali5 votes
all three can play into zed pretty well. and easily too.
if you want to be a bit spicy play 
plenty of workarounds to zed.
Slythion6 votes...Ahri doesn't need to buy a qss
SnugglePuggle945 votesUm sorry to burst your bubble but QSS doesn't drop his ult anymore.
Ahris1 votesIt drops the suppressing portion, and Zed can easily burst Malzahar after
SnugglePuggle942 votesI meant Zed's ult, not Malz
PimpStickNasus1 votesI don't know you are only showing one mage and Zed actually does better than most assassins because of having access to QSS that denies his ulti. Zed's poke can easily remove his passive and you can easily win lane. Out of all assassins, zed probably has the easiest time against Malz. Even as Ahri you need to buy QSS to survive against him. Wasting 1300 gold early game too.
Why would you waste 1300 gold on qss when you could just get a seekers arm guard to build zhonyas? Zhonyas will be used for the same thing as QSS only better and no wasted stats or item slot. Maybe it's not Zed and it's just you
Ahris1 votesI was clearly talking about Ahri vs Malz matchup. For Zed you obviously go Zhonyas because of how broken Zed is if that item did not exist.
PimpStickNasus1 votesI was clearly talking about Ahri vs Malz matchup. For Zed you obviously go Zhonyas because of how broken Zed is if that item did not exist.
Yeah I hate Malz too. Though Zed isn't really op and that comment showed up as a reply to mine so I assumed it was Zed. Forgot they got rid of qssing his ult
jwebb01139 votesannie is a good choice vs zed
ahri is a skill match up
malazar is good vs zed
aniva , kayle , vlad, diana , swain, morgana , zil
lux, tf, ziggs, velkoz, all have favorable win rates in the match up as well .
Slythion4 votesI feel like Twisted Fate, Lux, and Velkoz should all get stomped by Zed in lane at least
jwebb01134 votesI feel like Twisted Fate, Lux, and Velkoz should all get stomped by Zed in lane at least
yea you could FEEL that way...
i based what i put on stats
https://lolalytics.com/ranked/worldwide/current/platinum/plus/champion/Zed/Middle/counters/
if you click on the column "zed win rate against counter" you can filter from lowest win rate for zed or highest
lux vs zed , zed has a 47.02% win rate tf vs zed , zed has a 48.42% win rate velkoz vs zed , zed has a 49.03% win rate
Slythion1 votesYes, those are overall win-rates. I said I feel like Zed wins in lane though, so wouldn't the relevant statistics be more "win-rate before 25mins" or something along those lines, as that's more where Zed would win through his lane. My prediction would be that the win rate would likely favor Zed in those shorter games which indicated that Zed wins lanes. idk
As far as I can imagine, TF, Lux, and Velkoz are everything Zed would love to lane against yet be terrified of in team fights.
And it's important to remember that the original post was referencing counters to Zed in lane and not necessarily in team fights, at least that's how I understood it.
jwebb01131 voteswell you dont win lane win game
the game is more complex then that...
Slythion1 votesThat doesn't mean you shouldn't care about laning phase. OP made a statement describing how he doesn't enjoy Zed because he feels as though Zed counters everyone in lane, aka extremely oppressive.
Quality of gameplay does matter and is a valid topic of discussion in the Gameplay section of the boards...
Then you presented champions that counter Zed in terms of the big picture, when we really were only talking about a specific part of the picture.
jwebb01131 voteszed isnt that oppressive ... he is a good 1 vs 1 champ that is what he is designed to do ...
when facing a zed having armor in your runes help, maybe instead of going 18-12-0 or 12-18-0 take some points in resolve to help with lane phase. its ok in the game to have a champ who is a lane bully who makes it a hard game if you make a mistake. and with the lethality build he just like other ad assassins are strong early due to the lack of armor stack in a lane.
but you could always start with cloth armor and pots. rush into ninja tabs or seekers and then play from there. everything in the game has a pro and con , a trade off. if the enemy picks zed if he dont win lane or roam and get other picks he falls off and useless as the game goes. and champs with high burst and scaling , good aoe damage or dps are better for over all team comps
the issue (IMO) is every one wants to blindly pick a champ into anything... dont have to consider counter build, or counter play or win conditions, power spikes etc of the game and if they have to do any of this they find the game or the champ the face "unfair" "oppressive " "toxic' "anti fun"
and over all zed Plat + has a sub 50% win rate. there are ways to win and beat him and if you dont want to use those to your advantage then the problem is with the player not adjusting their play for the match up ... not a problem with the game or champ
Slythion1 votesAlright, now we've kind of gotten back on track.
For the record I don't agree with OP. I think that Zed does hard-counter a lot of mages but there are definitely ways to win and survive the matchups, it's not necessarily a "he picked Zed so now I lose" situation like a lot of, say, Pantheon matchups are.
You're tips are correct and definitely answer OP's statement and so at least we've covered that.
As for what our conversation was, which branched off from OP's discussion, still remains unresolved. Sure there are ways to play around Zed and make things a bit more bearable. We've established that Zed has some counterplay and it's not an insta-lose lane in most all cases, there's still the question of:
"are tf, lux, and velkoz really lane counters or do they just scale better into the game"
Because we were talking about enjoyability/quality of gameplay during the laning phase after all.
jwebb01131 votesAlright, now we've kind of gotten back on track.
For the record I don't agree with OP. I think that Zed does hard-counter a lot of mages but there are definitely ways to win and survive the matchups, it's not necessarily a "he picked Zed so now I lose" situation like a lot of, say, Pantheon matchups are.
You're tips are correct and definitely answer OP's statement and so at least we've covered that.
As for what our conversation was, which branched off from OP's discussion, still remains unresolved. Sure there are ways to play around Zed and make things a bit more bearable. We've established that Zed has some counterplay and it's not an insta-lose lane in most all cases, there's still the question of:
"are tf, lux, and velkoz really lane counters or do they just scale better into the game"
Because we were talking about enjoyability/quality of gameplay during the laning phase after all.
and as far as " enjoyably/quality of gameplay during the laning phase" i go back to my last statement about where i started with " IMO "
i will say this people want riot to keep watering down the difficultly of the game... and anything that is deemed "oppressive , toxic, " etc basically to me want riot to fix the game so they dont have to get better and learn how to navigate hard things in game.
at some point ... we need to decided ( or riot) if they want the game to be fun to all casual players but adjusting for this , or have difficulty in game with choices , strategies , play style , etc end up king and if we want a game of competitiveness and integrity to show "SKILL" via the rank system and so on then kinda need to not cater to the casual make fun for everyone ideology. cant really have your cake and eat it too.
and personally as a player who mains certain champs and roles i find match ups i hate that make me sigh when i see it picked after i lock in my main/favorites but i take it as a way to improve and get better. and learn there is more to the game then the laning phase and that even though i might have to be passive and defensive in lane... that if i play correctly i can still be a factor in deciding a win for me/team ...and i learn how to be a better over all player
for example i main maokai ... top lane ( but can play him jng. sup and mid ) and some of the hardest lanes for him for me. is kennen ... flat out sucks ... but i know what i need to build. how to set up my masteries, runes , how to play the lane and how if i dont screw up and let him get to big of a lead i can still be effective in game and have a presence on the game outside of the lane and help my team win. i wont win that lane... unless they make a a bad mistake and let me get ahead. another lane is darius... this is a coin flip for me... if i mess up early im done in lane... but i have won many lanes vs darius and decidedly ... and the list goes on.
another would be support role... picking SONA into blitz, leona etc i know her so well and the match ups and laning phase so well in those situations i play it no problem. but i learned this through bad games and gettign wrecked and feeling frustrated ... and at one point i would feel its unfair , oppressive but after so many games and improving as a player to me its not a problem anymore. do i still have bad games in that match up? ya but i can have a favorable match up and play bad. so that is neither here or there.
so im not a fan of this thought of everything is oppressive and anti fun... its not suppose to be if its a competitive game
just my thoughts
Slythion1 votes...you've gotten off track again and applied the perspective we were looking at for the zed vs tf/lux/velkoz matchups and applied it to every lane for every matchup
We both agree that oppressive laners are needed in the game, otherwise there would be no reason to not pick hypercarries. The question still remains
"are tf, lux, and velkoz really lane counters or do they just scale better into the game"
Because I personally don't see how a competent Zed could lose those 1v1 matchups.
Maszii1 votesWell Lux is tricky, cus that massive E deals quite some damage and is on a low CD plus free TL proc, also if she plays it well she will just stun lock you when you come out of R shadow. TF is one of the easiest matchup for Zed. Yasu is a pain in the ass early. Hvent played vs Vel a lot, but he should be able to poke you a bit but you can also dodge a lot of poke.
Slythion1 votesI can imagine Lux giving you trouble until maybe level 3-4 when zed has the safety of his shadow, same with Velkoz.
I feel like by level 4, and especially by level 6, Zed wins lane pretty easily.
I understand that Yasuo has the advantage against Zed until about level 5-6 ish as well, and TF is well...he gets slaughtered by Zed in my imagination
Maszii1 votesYeah you can play around the skills but that e will be there denying you cs ^^. And she will just hold onto her Q if she is smart. Also they run exhaust while TP is normal on Zed now. What's anoying on Vel is his poke range and angles, but hey its just a dodging minigame
Hovering Hentai3 votesI feel like Twisted Fate, Lux, and Velkoz should all get stomped by Zed in lane at least
When I play Vel I die a lot to the W Q Zed combo. It's just late game Vel is way more safe and Reliable than Zed
Miraweave1 votesTF is solid against Zed provided the TF player is good enough to stun him as soon as he tries to do anything. Lux and Velkoz can both just farm from way out of his range.
Lux in particular doesn't "counter" him, but she should just never die to him unless she fucks up horribly because her range combined with her shield mean that he should just never have an opportunity to kill her in lane.
Xion The XIV9 votes
would like to have a word about this countering people.
Ahris6 votesIt is dumb. Zed doesn't really have any counters in lane, a lane bully, scales well into mid and lategame.
PimpStickNasus11 votesscales well into mid and lategame.
Not seeing where you're getting this from. Mid game sure a bit but late not at all
Ahris1 votesLate just means hard for Zed, it is not that he doesn't have damage but harder to assassinate. Zed can quickly burst target late just by simply Q ~> E ~> auto then R out and the target is usually dead, late game. Other Assassins don't have 3 flashes(W to go in, R for in and out) that guarantees a lot of safety. If you compare the late game of other champs other than hyper carries and ADC, Zed does quite well.
PimpStickNasus3 votesLate just means hard for Zed, it is not that he doesn't have damage but harder to assassinate. Zed can quickly burst target late just by simply Q ~> E ~> auto then R out and the target is usually dead, late game. Other Assassins don't have 3 flashes(W to go in, R for in and out) that guarantees a lot of safety. If you compare the late game of other champs other than hyper carries and ADC, Zed does quite well.
Compare him to any tank or teamfight Mage and he doesn't at all. The only thing he outscales are champions like panth
Slythion10 votesZed scales terribly into late game, are you kidding?
Ahris1 votesScales is a bad term. Zed has really high damage and lategame he barely needs to do much to burst his target with ulti. The better word to use is assassinating is harder due to everyone grouping. That is true, but other assassins also suffer just as much as Zed, though Zed is stronger than most assassins.
chipndip16 votes...you can just admit you're wrong and stop embarrassing yourself, honestly.
AlienPrimate5 votesOr any fighters or tanks. Zed counters squishy mages and ADC's. That is it. Bring a tank or fighter to fight him and you will destroy him.
Leblancs Boob3 votesIm confused. Zed counters anyone who doesn't rush zhonyas or run exhaust?
So... Rush zhonyas or run exhaust...
SwiftKitten883 votesIm confused. Zed counters anyone who doesn't rush zhonyas or run exhaust?
So... Rush zhonyas or run exhaust...
rushing 
means you lose lane because you have no mana sustain, where as zed who uses "energy" can out cs you and shove you out of lane.
if u try to get mana items first then you dont have a and he just kills you.
this has ALWAYS been zed's issue. he will destroy nearly any AP champsion that uses mana, becuase you either get the mana you need to fight him but then die becuase u have no armor. or you get the armor and dont die but lose lane and let him outfarm and outscale you so u lose later anyways.
its a lose/lose situtation
Maszii5 votesJust get Lost Chapter into Zhonya, its not so hard.. Or you can stop wasting mana for CS
Then you risk taking a lot of dmg just to cs with aa.
Maszii1 votesBut you dont, Ori Q doenst take that much mana and you have a shield.
Nyarlathοtep1 votesNot every mage has mana costs like ori.
Maszii1 votesIdd thats why you take lost chapter. Just stop playing midlane if you cant dodge Zed poke/manage mana.
Some champs end up having mana problems despite having lost chapter. Besides i never said i dont buy it. But here comes the catch. If i rush lost chapter i end up getting demolised by zed because i have no armour. You could say that i can buy both of them, but i need the active of zhyonias. And sure as fk i cant stop playing mid because of a single champ. And lastly, how do you evade his poke when its point blank range/under the effects of his slow on e?
Maszii1 votesYou have runes and exhaust or barrier (which is common). If you run out of mana you just dont know how to manage it. Quite a lot of the mages tend to do fine with their mana vs Zed. His poke is quite easy to dodge you just have to learn when his w is up or not.
Nyarlathοtep1 votesI always run barrier when im against zed. I actually i run it every time i play a squishy mage. But guess what, its not enough against him. So my choice when a zed pushes like there is no tomorrow with his q is to not use my spells? Oh oke then. Thx man i will keep it in mind. Sarcasm aside, you dont know how i manage my mana and trust my, i try my best to keep my mana high. But when he has his w up, he quite literally extends his range by a wooping 650. I cant aa safely when his w is up. The same applies when he hits lvl 6. And sure as fk i cant farm only with my spells.
Quite a lot of the mages tend to do fine with their mana vs Zed.
Not every mage can refund their mana like annie. And no. His poke cant be evaded with ease when his shadow is in your face and you are slowed by his e. And as i mentioned earlier, i cant keep my distance whenever his w is up.
