Zed is healthy for the meta

Regardless of your thoughts on Zed's current balance, it is clearly the case that a Zed meta is a healthy meta.

1. Assassin vs Assassin promotes more skill and interaction in the mid lane match ups than a mage meta. Consider the absolute complexity,calculation, and outplay potential of a Zed vs Kat or Zed vs Fizz meta mid lane match (as compared to a farm fest like Xerath vs Azir/Ahri vs Ziggs). This is more exciting and interesting from both a Solo Q ranked as well as an LCS watching experience. When 1 or both of the mid laners CS at close range and there is greater snowball at close quarters with inherent outplay built in, it raises the stakes that much higher.

2. There is more counterplay to Assassins like Zed than meta mages. Many mages at 3+ items can 100-0 targets from hundreds of meters away. They lob tons of AOE and CC at the enemy team. In even the worst case, they stand back and act as long range artillery with very little counter play. Assassins must get in close range to actually kill anyone. Meanwhile, Assassins can always be shut down with teamwork, strong support/peel and strong frontline no matter how fed. They also inherently fall off at a later stage in the game, making the stakes much higher. If both sides run an assassin, there is inherently a late game possibility that superior teamwork or a high risk misplay will lead to a reversal.

3. Zed is a model assassin. He is a cornerstone of good assassin balance. There is clear telegraphed counterplay (attack him when his 20+ second W is down, abuse melee, outplay his Death Mark combos). Unless overwhelmingly fed through outplaying (in which case there is still counterplay but he is fairly and sufficiently rewarded for his earned lead), there is plenty of counterplay in the sense that his damage is telegraphed (Qs can be dodged and Ult is telegraphed). At the same time, he's a high skill champ that promotes dedication to the game and has sky high ceilings of rewards for those who will practice the combos. To many extents, Zed is the Ezreal of mid lane, there is a very proportional translation of player skill into champion effectiveness while at the same time giving a fair chance for counterplay and promoting high risk plays/outplays.

Thoughts?