I seriously have no idea what to do against Zed mid after 6

Moustachismo·4/5/2018, 12:31:54 AM·20 votes·3,607 views

What champs do you usually play to counter Zed mid? His flash ult is an instant kill which just snowballs him. I've tried Kayle, Lissandra, Anivia. I take Barrier. I immediately rush Hourglass but by then the snowball has begun. He kills me then roams and kills everyone on my team (in my elo no one listens to pings of course). So what do I do vs Zed? Lately I've just been taking a SUPER long range farmer like Malz or Zyra and just staying very far back and farming but he can still get to me.

80 Comments

FullmuteAll play4/5/2018, 12:36:52 AM16 votes

Galio Pretty hard to kill for zed His W nulifies Zed ult. He also prevents effective roams, as he needs to walk only few to ult to side lane. All he really needs for this is warded river.

No flash no life4/5/2018, 1:03:41 AM10 votes

I uh, press E on Fizz when I see zed ult.

Weiss Guertena4/5/2018, 12:45:02 AM7 votes

There is really no counter to Zed due to his practically resourceless mage-level waveclear. If he feels the matchup is bad, he can just shove you in; you need mana to push back (which you don't have due to rushing Seekers), and once you run out he'll simply gank another lane.

It's literally impossible for a good Zed to be beaten in lane; his worst case scenario is going even.

KoKoboto4/5/2018, 1:18:07 AM6 votes

lmao flash R dead...?

You should be able to react to where he is going to land after his R (If you didn't know he will appear behind you) than just land CC and abilities. Try to dodge the Q and if you can't just flash away. He shouldn't be able to just flash R kill you unless you really misplay or he really outplays you hard.

If you're playing Lissandra you need to try and harass with Q and auto attacks early on. Just use ultimate to stop each of his ultimates and use W whenever he gets close, you can also bait him under your tower with your E if he ults you.

Kayle isn't the best match-up because she needs time to scale.

For Anivia you should be able to win everytime if he ults you just stun him, just manage your R cooldown and don't play too aggressive if your Q and R are both on CD. Malzahar just perma pushes the wave so... Zyra just make sure to play around plants, Zyra isn't the best to counter... You would need to rely on your skill.

I think exhaust is better than barrier if you are trying to play against assassins, barrier is better against mages.

And if all else fails just pick a tank into mid, rush sunfire and just push. Zed is ALWAYS a skill match-up and it just seems like you need better reaction time. The lack of detail in your post makes me believe you probably lose to everything. If you can't react I could 100-0 you with Xerath, Azir, Ahri, Fizz, Ekko, Talon, Anivia, Syndra, any champion.

Edit: Lastly, respect Zed but also respect yourself. If you see that you can find an advantage in lane to harass and go for a kill go for it. Just be weary of his abilities and keep track of his cooldowns.

ReySolomon4/5/2018, 12:34:25 AM6 votes

After the constant buffs you probably should start banning him every game.

Try out Vlad I mean I still win as vlad against him but the trade is cancerous if he does land full combo.

Bloodrage Shadow4/5/2018, 1:48:52 AM6 votes

Ekko Ekko's ult nullifies Zed's ult assuming you ult at the correct time. Has very good waveclear after one item or so. Can match his roams pretty well and if he manages to catch you out in the jungle you can just ult away. Even if you don't have ult up, if he ults you just W yourself and you should be fine.

Ben SwoIo4/5/2018, 12:54:34 AM4 votes

Use Talon. More reliable damage and scales better imo based on my experience playing both champs (not that I've done numbers or anything).

If Assassins aren't your thing, try someone who wave clears very well and can play relatively safe. Assassin players usually want to make that play to get them to snowball, but they will roam if they realize they can't get to you in lane. This is when you pressure them by pushing to their tower, constantly making them decide on whether or not the roam is worth the tower risk. Unfortunately, this would require your bot lane to pay attention to MIA pings.

Also consider taking someone who offers more for the team (Anivia for example). You may not exactly "win" the lane, but as long as you farm and don't feed you're solid. Zed may be able to burst the squishies, but if you take someone with wide AOE or CC you offer your team much more in team fights (especially for objectives like Baron / dragon etc).

As much as I love Zed (he was my first champ), he is VERY frustrating to play against. Watch his cooldowns, especially if he wrecklessly uses W, and try to punish him for it. Good luck.

PopcornBunni4/5/2018, 3:57:42 PM3 votes

Anivia summoner 21 is my go to midlaner against assassins other than Akali

Reanimatrix4/5/2018, 3:10:54 PM3 votes

Ban counters him easy.

koshkyra4/5/2018, 1:29:41 AM3 votes

I just ban him, ive tried everything and he still just does his WQE poke combo, chunks me for 50% of my health with it, then goes to the W, R ignite autos me and goes back and i die.

It doesnt matter how many of his WQE's i dodge, the moment he hits one on me im dead and there's nothing i can do about it.

XxJaSo0oMxX4/5/2018, 8:47:03 AM3 votes

Play him. Like, actually play him. Seems like you have misconceptions about his power-spikes, so play him and find out first hand. Personally I've never had trouble against Zed, and I've mained things like Rengar, Nidalee, Diana and Evelynn which, theoretically, should all have a lot of trouble against him or be skill matchups.

Vekkna4/5/2018, 5:47:34 PM3 votes

Believe it or not, Elise is actually super strong against him. If he ults you in human form, you get a free stun, unload your combo on him, and then secure the kill with Rappel when he blinks back to shadow. If he ults you in spider, just Rappel right before he appears and drop to a nearby minion at the end of the duration.

Of course, then you're playing lane Elise, so maybe not a net gain unless you're super good with her.

IT3etlWEXJ4/5/2018, 2:41:46 AM3 votes

You kill him

FrostQueensPlane4/5/2018, 2:21:29 AM3 votes

I seriously have no idea why they keep buffing Zed. Out of all the assassins in the game Leblanc and Zed are the worst designed because of how hard it is to punish one that's just being passive and waiting for the jungle.

Btw Zed has no counters in lane, his only counter is literally the support pick and how fed top is, so don't be lost when you lose lane to a Zed, because it's literally impossible for him to lose lane if he doesn't want to.

MrHaZeYo4/5/2018, 12:34:21 AM3 votes

ever tried Annie?

M00ndanc34/5/2018, 2:30:11 AM2 votes

Malzahar If im playing mid and i see the enemy picks zed I just will pick malz and im good to go

The Minion hunt4/5/2018, 12:51:51 AM2 votes

Camille Its a fun match up if you know what your doing.

and if you ult right after he ults, most noobs throw everything at that time doesn't always work but can win u a fight. and you out scale the shit outta him.

Schenix4/5/2018, 1:24:38 AM2 votes

Galio - Difficult for Zed to kill, Taunt is effective. MonkeyKing - Trading patterns and outplaying ultimate are strong into Zed. Talon - Ult counters ult, early can go back and forth but mind game who uses Ult first. Swain - Swain ult makes it difficult for Zed as well as tanky building. Harder to utilize however to bully. Akali - Shroud and base damages as well as varied build paths and roaming potential. Ekko - Ekko ultimate makes it difficult for Zed to all in effectively, can go back and forth fine. Lissandra - The former main Zed counter. Ultimate and harass work well against him.

You play as if you mean to kill him, not just to survive his 6 and after. Your concern is that when he is 6, you should have put the wave in a bad place for him or harassed well enough that his all in is riskier -- or that your 6 is just better than his 1v1. However, the primary concern is that you can farm better, deter him from killing you, and match or better his roams.

Sharp Chedarr4/5/2018, 1:31:29 AM2 votes

Dude play Ziggs. I've never lost to a zed. Just keep poking him down and be safe. He won't ult you if he's too low.

Not only that, but just keep pushing his wave. Deny him farm and keep him pushed. You may not get a kill but you handicap his early snowball

Battalion4/5/2018, 1:53:18 AM2 votes

Depending on your champ: item 3157 item 3812 item 3027 item 3040

champs:

Galio Swain Annie Fizz Talon

Eedat4/5/2018, 2:40:07 AM2 votes

If you're legitimately having that much trouble take exhaust, grab a stopwatch, and/or try Annie or Anivia. Try to punish him as much as possible when he uses W. It has a 22 second CD early. His shurikens also do significantly less damage if they hit a minion first so try to keep some between you

Ahri Baka4/5/2018, 2:27:22 PM2 votes

You can't do anything sadly

Madsin254/5/2018, 6:35:06 PM2 votes

I really don't think Lissandra counters zed as hard as people think. Sure you can ult yourself to prevent his ult but it doesn't mean much in the long run of things.

As far as the best counter to zed I would say Vladimir .

You can cancel his ult by using pool.

Can easily sustain through all the poke he throws at you.

Can kill zed.

Can't ask for much more.

Zéychin4/5/2018, 7:39:35 PM2 votes

I'm mostly on the mage side of the matchup, but I am more than familiar with playing Zed as well, which is how I come to these conclusions. These do assume equal skill level, that you're not eating bad trades because you have poor knowledge of laning relative to your opponent.

If I am Zed, we both base around level 5 or 6 and you come back with item 3802 and some item 2003 s , you are going to die very soon unless you have a gimmick like Kayle , Lissandra , Anivia , et cetera do. This purchase offers little in the way of firepower, offers no defenses, and the sustain from does not help you if you get one-shot, because again, you have no defenses.

If I am Zed and you come back with item 3010 and item 1029 , I am going to have a bad time. Health, armor, and sustain are very strong into Zed. Once you have Rod of Ages and Seeker's Armguard you will have a lot of effective health due having purchased health and armor, you are going to outpush me from a safer distance, be able to take a full combo with my ult and Ignite and live 1v1, and you will have outscaled my "cheese" period of the game.

These are not absolute. Zed can kill someone with and a mage with can 1v1 Zed and live. These are recommendations for players who can not effectively match Zed at their current skill level.

Beyond the above, I see too many players playing passively against Zed pre-6 or even after when they should objectively have the upper hand. If Zed uses his W, throw your poke at him and avoid the range of the W shadow so he can't swap to it and hit you. At early levels, his W has a very long cooldown and this is your window to continue to abuse him. Don't allow him to farm for free without getting an autoattack and poke ability onto him whenever his W is down. This will give you a health advantage, especially prior to level 6 so he will be far less likely to all-in you. It will likely give you a CS advantage because he can't play forward if he is at low health.

Zed needs to be able to get ahead to be effective mid-game. If he can't get ahead for mid-game, he is going to have trouble remaining relevant. Zed is out wave-cleared by every mage and many assassins in the game. If he can't match you 1v1, he can't splitpush. If he can't waveclear for his team or splitpush effectively, he has to teamfight. Zed doesn't have the strongest teamfight presence when he has not snowballed, so the likelihood of his success goes down considerably.

If these pointers don't help you succeed against Zed, I would be happy to live coach the matchup with you 1v1.

Blåbæret4/5/2018, 7:41:57 PM2 votes

Go Garen. Only thing that counters him.

Veraska4/6/2018, 8:38:27 AM1 votes

You play malzahar and outplay him with ur R

Malix Farwin4/5/2018, 3:40:10 AM1 votes

Annie kinda dumpsters him tbh as long as you are good at dodging his shurikens.

SierraTangoDelta4/5/2018, 8:42:57 PM1 votes

Zed has always been a problem champ ever since release. Right now there's no real good counter to him, so it's best to just ban him. The issue there is that another OP mid laner just gets picked in his place.

Zed genius4/5/2018, 10:11:51 PM1 votes

I doubt zed players below higher elos will have the confidence to just flash ult you tbh, Don't look for a pick to counter zed, just dodge his q's in lane so u are not low hp, get one or 2 cloth armors early(never rush full hourglass), cc him when he appears behind u from his ult, have your jungler near when he's about to hit 6, farm it out until you eventually outscale etc. If like none of these work for you just ban him