Counterplay to Zed?

Covert Ops Gnar··3 votes·1,042 views

Please name 2 ways to counter Zed if you are playing an AD Champion- which implies buying Zhonyas isn't an option.

Armor Doesn't do anything because he rushes Ghostblade and then Duskblade, and sometimes even Maw which all provide flat armor pen.

Dodging abilities/Going in when W is down Can dodge every single ability when Zed ults, have him Auto Attack you once, ignite you, and you're dead, even if you have early chainmail. (then add in Thunderlords for overkill)

Sit under tower Does such an absurd amount of damage that is also delayed so tower doesn't aggro, can go untargetable, and teleport out from under tower with one of two abilities

Outsustain Lol

Poke Lol

Outfarm Lol


Really, I want to hear some options to counter him. He gets buffed up the ass and gets a bunch of items changed or added in his favor such as Duskblade being added, QSS no longer removing ult, and Zhonyas getting 30s longer CD on the active.

Even the Keystones make him overwhelmingly powerful. Just a single auto attack and Q will proc Thunderlords (Thunderlords also scales higher with AD which Zed gets +20% extra), adding in another 175-275 damage for a poke/kill.

Let's do the math, for level 11 with having 200AD against somebody with 1600 HP. 8% of Max HP from passive- 100 damage Ignite- 250 damage Thunderlords- 150 Auto attack- 200 Q- 350 Ult- 550

Totaling out to 1600 damage which would be if he ults you, hits you with only one of his Q's, missing his E, igniting you, and auto attacking you once. Also, this is if he only has 200 AD, which would be one full item at level 11, which isn't likely. Also the item wouldn't be Duskblade, which, if it was, would total to an even higher amount of damage.

Per say you have 2 chain vests for armor, it will deal 800 damage if he has 0 armor penetration, not even from Masteries.

32 Comments

venomous frost3 votes

ban him

Zero Skill Tank1 votes

This. The sheer presence of Zed on enemy team is so crippling for all your team that even if you manage to outscale him and win it's simply not worth it.

SnowFall2 votes

The only option is to run away as far as you can, when he ults you, no matter how strong you are if you fight with him during it, you're always at disadvantage. I feel especially bad for ADC since their actual skill now doesn't matter, Zed just touches you with item 3147 and boom you go. I lost every lategame as ADC vs Zed because of sheer impact he does, forcing me to buy item 3157 or item 3026, both don't quite work well against him, I could also suggest item 3102 sometimes, against those cheesy flash ults

Covert Ops Gnar1 votes

"Run away"/"Don't fight him" aren't viable counterplay options.

Banshee's doesn't work because he just does WQ until he pops your shield that you have to not take damage for 45s to get.

spombjop1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Covert Ops Gnar,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=jVWO5OaF,comment-id=00090000,timestamp=2016-05-29T07:36:08.488+0000)

"Run away"/"Don't fight him" aren't viable counterplay options.

Banshee's doesn't work because he just does WQ until he pops your shield that you have to not take damage for 45s to get.

summoner 3 works item 3026 works item 3157 works summoner 21 works summoner 1 works summoner 7 works item 3047 working

Covert Ops Gnar1 votes

Ninja Tabi boots are the shittiest boots in the game and don't do anything against Zed. Cleanse does nothing against Zed. Heal and barrier do nothing because he out-damages it. Zhonyas isnt a viable item build for an AD champion. GA has a 5 minute cooldown. Exhaust has a 3 minute cooldown.

BakedLotion2 votes

Look, I'm an expert at fighting Zed this is how I do it. Step 1) Go into lane Step 2) Try to farm minions Step 3) Get bullied by Zed cause fucking bullshit manaless harass with long ass range Step 4) Hide under tower Step 5) OMG JUNGLE GANK FOR ME PLZ Step 6) 2v1 him with you jungler and Zed gets a double kill

Results may vary. Mana bar will be at 0 from struggling to farm under tower too.

Covert Ops Gnar1 votes

You forgot about the part where he turret dives you.

spombjop1 votes

{quoted}

Look, I'm an expert at fighting Zed this is how I do it. Step 1) Go into lane Step 2) Try to farm minions Step 3) Get bullied by Zed cause fucking bullshit manaless harass with long ass range Step 4) Hide under tower Step 5) OMG JUNGLE GANK FOR ME PLZ Step 6) 2v1 him with you jungler and Zed gets a double kill

Results may vary. Mana bar will be at 0 from struggling to farm under tower too.

Or just pick Katarina , manaless point and click harras which bounces so u don't even have to click on opponent

BakedLotion1 votes

{quoted}

Or just pick Katarina , manaless point and click harras which bounces so u don't even have to click on opponent

Zed absolutely destroys kat because shes melee and he can rush hexdrinker. Also her q is only up every 8 secs while his is longer range and shorter cd. Also hurts more.

IWrath1 votes

Playing zed you shouldn't limit yourself to only ad champs but I'll give this my best shot.

1.)

Yasou. Poke and farm from afar, you can do this even under your tower. The only time he should have a chance to deal dmg to you, your passive should be up. If you can survive the ult, you'll kill him.

2.) Kayle.

Enough said. (btws Kayle is a hybrid build. AS AP AD)

Covert Ops Gnar1 votes

If you are already an AD champion and then the other team picks Zed top or mid. Not even limited to just laning, but the entire match.

Covert Ops Gnar1 votes

How does Kayle make you immune to Zed's poke? I know it stops his ult, but what about him pressing Q on you repeatedly with infinite sustain?

Nyhver1 votes

if deathmark is going to kill you why wouldn't zhonyas be a legit option

the only argument is that other defensive options are better

Kitty Whiskers1 votes

{quoted}

if deathmark is going to kill you why wouldn't zhonyas be a legit option

the only argument is that other defensive options are better

Zhonya's on a adc looks weird and kinda useless because you dont really scale off ap. But if that's what it take's to stay alive so you can actually do your job then i dont see why not. I do think a phantom dancer with it would be nice though in case your enemy adc thinks about punishing that zhonya build.

Covert Ops Gnar1 votes

Because it is an expensive item that doesn't scale with anything on an AD champ?

Ruin Lance1 votes

and the "zed is op" circlejerk continues

CerealBoxOfDoom1 votes

pick a champion and I'll tell you how to counter zed with this champion

Pick two teams and I'll tell you how to counteract zed on the other team in a more realistic scenario.

Covert Ops Gnar1 votes

Doesn't matter what champion you are playing.

Counterplay options for Yasuo:

Move horizontally, dodge 3rd Q, don't stand next to friendly minions Buying armor

Those can be done on any champ. Zed has no options. Doesn't matter if you build armor, doesn't matter if you dodge his abilities, doesn't matter if you're fucking Yorick you won't be able to out-sustain.

CerealBoxOfDoom1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Covert Ops Gnar,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=jVWO5OaF,comment-id=00040000,timestamp=2016-05-28T09:44:32.671+0000)

Doesn't matter what champion you are playing.

Counterplay options for Yasuo:

Move horizontally, dodge 3rd Q, don't stand next to friendly minions Buying armor

Those can be done on any champ. Zed has no options. Doesn't matter if you build armor, doesn't matter if you dodge his abilities, doesn't matter if you're fucking Yorick you won't be able to out-sustain.

If you are playing yorick build some defense and just all in that bitch. Doesnt yorick get that stupidly strong reduction as long as he meets some condition? You can farm with your ghosts and if he's stupid enough to push back just go in after he casts.

name a champ

Kitty Whiskers1 votes

{quoted}

If you are playing yorick build some defense and just all in that bitch. Doesnt yorick get that stupidly strong reduction as long as he meets some condition? You can farm with your ghosts and if he's stupid enough to push back just go in after he casts.

name a champ

pikachu?

Covert Ops Gnar1 votes

Yorick needs mana, can't farm with ghosts.

Doesnt yorick get that stupidly strong reduction as long as he meets some condition?

what the fuck are you talking about?

If you are playing yorick build some defense and just all in that bitch.

instant kills and teleports away

CerealBoxOfDoom1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Covert Ops Gnar,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=jVWO5OaF,comment-id=0004000000000001,timestamp=2016-05-28T10:08:41.045+0000)

Yorick needs mana, can't farm with ghosts.

what the fuck are you talking about?

instant kills and teleports away

Unholy Covenant

Innate: Yorick deals 5% more damage with his basic attacks and reduces incoming damage by 5% for every ghoul or revenant he has active, stacking up to 4 times for a maximum 20% modifier.

Additionally, each of his basic abilities spawn a ghoul near their target and grant it a unique bonus.

Kitty Whiskers1 votes

Im not positive but i think sterak's might be great against him and if that's not enough then sterak's+GA. Wouldnt know though. Hes always banned.

Critmaster Garen1 votes

people are exaggerating about zed. ive beat one on ashe simply by throwing a stun in his face when he ulted me.

youre not gonna 1v1 him on an adc, but you can outplay him and have your team blow him up.

Covert Ops Gnar1 votes

Just did the fucking math right in front of you.

Kitty Whiskers1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Covert Ops Gnar,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=jVWO5OaF,comment-id=00060000,timestamp=2016-05-28T10:09:26.507+0000)

Just did the fucking math right in front of you.

Dude why are you so salty all of a sudden. These people including me our taking our time to talk to you about way's to possibly counter a problem that you think exist's. To me that's nothing to be salty about.

Covert Ops Gnar1 votes

Look at the math and tell me "that's balanced". There is 0 way to counter him. I haven't seen any viable suggestions.

Lùmen1 votes

I usually try to kite him when he all ins as hard as possible. if he misses all shurikens and screws up his E, you might just survive. but it's usually enough for him to get an auto attack, then duskblade will pop, causing death mark's dmg to rise over 1000 and destroy me.. it's tough. just saves summs..

Mecha MaIphite1 votes

Talon Gangplank should already beat him.

If you're an ADC, just hope your team peels properly.

If you're Yasuo, I have no sympathy for you (the matchup should be fairly even anyway)

Indominus 13371 votes

gitgud n00b.

q3fogWe6LF1 votes

First, why would you have two chain vests? If you're going to counter a zed, build real armor like Thornmail and add some mr.

Assuming this is midlane, Lissandra is an awesome anti-zed champ. Early game, harass amap on early levels with autoattacks and Q, as he won't be able to retaliate with anything other than his Q (which is weak early levels). Save your W in case he tries jumping you - don't use it for wave clear, since he will use it as an opportunity to attack you if you put it on cd. And when you see his ult activate, ult yourself - you'll totally negate the damage from his ult, including the damage tick at the end, and you'll get him with some of the AoE on your ult.

Other good champs: Kayle, Malz, Vlad, LeBlanc, Akali, Fizz.

Also, Shen - definitely not meta for mid (and took some weird nerfs this patch) and so not ideal here, but he can take zed 1v1 ftmp with his EQW combo. Probably wouldn't be able to obtain a viable farm with him though.

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