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Seeing as im going to be dealing with zed every game he isnt banned who counters him??

AMADEUSdotEXE··9 votes·6,976 views

Take into consideration he got buffed 4 patches in a row and half of his old counters either got gutted or nerfed hard. I don't even think diana counters him anymore just because of the amount of buffs he's gotten across the board. I'm guessing kata doesn't either ( i used to love how easy that lane was) with how hard she got hit with the passive nerfs and her overall rework. Also would help if you can think of a champ that can kill him as quickly as he can kill you (considering he's the only assassin aside from kha and nocturne that can basically kill you before you can react if you don't have a zhonyas up every 30 seconds (late game) and that you can't buy qss to counter his ultimate either. Talon maybe? I know the lane is hell pre 6. Yasuo is also a skill lane and you also have to remember the qss nerf which helpe yas out. He can still windwall most of his combo if plays his cards right, but thats a long walk.

Seriiously though, who the hell counters him riot has been dead set on making him meta for how many seasons now??

72 Comments

Hügö15 votes

Go to options and turn shadows off?

JarodDempsey1 votes

🤣🤣🤣🤣 if only

BLACK REALM GOD5 votes

who counters an AD champion that does physical damage and builds lethality and cooldown reduction... i wonder...

Malzahar nope nothing comes to mind.

AMADEUSdotEXE1 votes

I thought about that... Zed > item 3140 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CW8ZO6vUoAE1Wqv.png

IT STILL WORKS FOR HIS ULT

BLACK REALM GOD3 votes

{quoted}

I thought about that... Zed > item 3140 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CW8ZO6vUoAE1Wqv.png

Xerath well that's just terrible.

Arisha the Dark5 votes

Malz, as mentioned before, is a solid pick. Only downside is that any smart player would rush qss against him as Zed. It will mean that they won't have their ad items as fast, but is still very annoying.

Another option, full tank Malph. I know sounds weird, but he counters most assassins. Pre getting your first tank item, like sunfire, it will be hard and he can kill you if you are not careful. But once you get your first full item, he won't be able to do much against you. Finish frost gauntlet as second item and he won't be able to leave his turret.

ZackTheWaffleMan1 votes

FINALLY SOMEONE ELSE WHO DOES THIS

woodvsmurph1 votes

Don't forget - run comet. Because most zed players don't build lifesteal so your poke damage sticks and hits pretty hard early. Eventually he'll fall behind you due to missing cs and xp from having to base so much from your poke.

Purgë5 votes

zed now can actuly brute force win matchups since he have a retarded amount of overkill damage means he one shot everyone no matter who they are

Akali is SO HOT3 votes

This is why people like you tend to lose a lot more against Zed.

BobaFlautist4 votes

Things I have historically found effective against Zed (disclaimer: I've never broken out of silver and mostly play against bots at the moment. I haven't faced him in his current incarnation. I think this advice is still useful, but feel free to disagree):

  1. Pick long-ranged wave clear and push early. You'll miss some farm, but you'll stay current with xp, which is what really matters against assassins, and it's much easier to dodge Zed's poke when you're not trying to last-hit under tower. Your primary goal here is to keep up in levels and not die level 3. I like Morg, but you do you.

  2. Level 3 gets him w, and a huge powerspike. When he has his w placed, stop trying to last-hit backrow minions and just keep moving and watching until he uses double q. People talk about how long his w cd is but it's under 30s at every rank, so he gets at least one w every wave. Keep that in mind.

  3. Levels 4-5 Just keep pushing him in (while standing behind the Lane's half-way point) and stay warded up. If you're getting low on Mana or under 3/4 hp without hp pots, shove as hard as you can and go back. Keep in mind that at these levels you're stronger than him when his w is down, except in a melee-range all-in.

3.5. For your first back, whenever it is, buy a cloth armor and at least 2 pots. I don't care how much gold you have, you absolutely need these. I don't care if you keep running oom, use fewer spells and get cloth armor. Get a item 3191 asap (you don't have to finish the zho ya's right away) and strongly.consider getting another cloth armor just to completely negate all his Lethality. I cannot emphasize how important this is.

  1. At level 6, try to stay out of his ult range - keep your distance from his shadow, and try to force him to w + flash to get ult off on you. If he ults you, and you aren't 100% confident you can outplay with cc or dodging his Q, wait for him to appear again and flash under your tower. If he hasn't forced our your flash with a gank or by you standing too close, it's really easy to deny his first ult all-in by just flashing, and that really slows down his snowball. You should have stopwatch from the rune by the time his ult is up again, which denies his second huge opportunity to get a kill and start snowballing, and by the time his third ult is up landing phase is pretty much over and you should have adc + support in your lane anyway, making it much harder for him to make plays.

  2. Once you have your seeker's, your champion's core components (item 3010 or item 3802 or whatever), boots, and maybe a cloth armor, you're in great shape! You probably still shouldn't pick fights with him, unless you're super confident, but you should be relatively safe shoving from a distance.

"But Zed doesn't even use ults on me, he just roams bot and gets a free double-kill!"

Keep vision up as best you can and keep pushing, you'll KNOW when he roams because you're keeping minions against his tower, and you'll either pin the enemy jungler mid to stop your push (in which case ping up a storm and your bot should be able to fall back easily enough, maybe set a trap with YOUR jungler) or you'll get some serious tower damage off, and your jungler can maybe help you rush down first turret - unless he gets a ton of kills, the roam will actually set Zed back in Co and maybe even gold, depending on how many waves crash into the tower, and you should be able to (cautiously) follow him if he roams again.

So, the highlights:

  • Three times to really be wary of Zed are level 3 and first two ults. Level 3 kill can be denied by just sitting back, first ult by sitting back and if he ults flashing the second he reappears, and second ult by stopwatch. Beyond that, general cautious play and aggressive (but long-ranged) pushing should keep you safe.

  • If he roams, SHOVE the wave under tower. Don't hit the tower until you know where he is, and be aware of where the enemy jungler might be (e.g. if it's Nocturne with ult up don't sit on the tower if he can solo-kill you) but try to deny Zed farm and just ping like 5 times straight if you think he's roaming.

  • 1st back get cloth armor + AT LEAST 2 pots. I like 4 tbh. Get seeker's asap and consider another cloth armor, it makes him so incredibly less scary and you can always build ninja tabi or some shit later or even sell it.

Ahri Body Pillow3 votes

Lissandra. Her kit in general is an extremely hard counter to Zed. Firstly, if he ults you just ult yourself to heal up and block the ulti pop. If he gets in melee range and you don't have your ult, press W and then E away. Zed is hard to gank because of his shadows, but you can lock him down for 2.6+ seconds with your own CC plus whatever your jungler might have. If he still manages to get out of control somehow, you can sit on your AD in teamfights and play as a peel bot. As long as you dont stack your CC, you should have more than enough to keep him from killing anyone, even if he has a QSS. Also, Zed likes to roam, but Lissandra can roam just as hard through screwy angles and positions, so that shouldn't be a problem.

Additionally, Lissandra tends to build pretty tanky. Zhonya's is bought on her almost every game in addition to Liandry's. Rod of Ages and Protobelt are also popular items and give her a decent bit of tankiness. Hell, Tear would even work of LIssandra. It'd be hard for Zed to chew through your Stasis/Armor/Health/Shield to actually pop you.

If you pick Lissandra, then there is no way in hell Zed gets to pop off.

Thefrostyviking1 votes

This is unfortunately no longer the truth, for as Zed has gotten buffed Liss has remained stagnant.

Now a good Zed beats a good liss more often than not.

Vlad, annie, heimer and kayle are all better picks, even Diana.

The price paid for being a CC bot vs "all skill" assassin x)

Targon3 votes

Annie is one of the best hard counters to Zed and to most assassins because of her targetted Q, damage reduction, and instant burst.

MLDzXnRRR2 votes

Swain, Galio, any tank that you can pick mid, Diana/Akali, if you don't feed early, Kayle, Syndra, if you are semi-decent with her. Xerath and Ziggs will afk farm. Heimer will outplay him with stopwatch and live while being annoying.

AMADEUSdotEXE1 votes

So i can play akali (sorry not enough time to reply to all posts but i did read them) and i generally do well with her, i just don't understand how to teamfight with her.

OurLestrade2 votes

Taric Rests chin on Zed's shoulder from behind, placing a hand on his thigh "You're shaking."

Thefrostyviking1 votes

This is more a case of Taric causing nightmares for Zed despite never even leaving botlane :p

So rather than getting close and personal its long range harassment......the promise of eternal failure and frustrations.

Taric will never let Zed do as he wants x)

Its All Skillzz2 votes

Chogath He ults you silence him so he cant get any skills off, then knock him up and eat him. You become way to tanky to kill and you still do decent damage as a tank.

Disulfiram1 votes

I once did this to a Talon mid in a past season... also our jungler was Rammus and iirc our top was Malphite .

They eventually surrendered XD

(It was in a time when building armor still meant something... don't know if it would still work though)

M00ndanc32 votes

Its funny because a lot of the champs i play do well into zed. I think Chogath Malzahar Rammus and Veigar also buying a item 3157 works well just don't pop it as soon aas he ults you (ive made that mistake before and still died to the pop as soon as the zhonya ended) but in all reality just try to play safe in lane till you can roam or he messes up. or play a champ with cc and hope to land some on him.

Spoofghoul2 votes

Chogath Just R him when he R's you

Problem fixed

And since you get free health item 3060 item 3512 Demolish

He could roam if he wanted too but i wouldn't advise it

ºFerrAhriº2 votes

get zhonya's and ninja tabi and everyone counters him

JarodDempsey4 votes

wrong. the cooldown on his ult far outpaces zhonyas now and he can almost ult twice per minute wheras zhonyas is a 2 minute cooldown and normal cdr is much more readily accessible than item cdr.

ºFerrAhriº1 votes

{quoted}

wrong. the cooldown on his ult far outpaces zhonyas now and he can almost ult twice per minute wheras zhonyas is a 2 minute cooldown and normal cdr is much more readily accessible than item cdr.

well let me put it this way. pre 6: you get to out poke him since he's mostly melee level 6 all in: you nullify his ult and possible use it against him with stop watch level 8-9: same thing but with zhonya. he'll have hexdrinker but you'll also have alot more damage to counteract. level 10: fair fight but he won't have enough damage to 100-0 you even if he ignites since you got so much armor.(and possibly a few kills ahead due to the previous engages)

that's 3 chances he'll be out of position for you to ult and kill, 2 time you can use his ult against him, and only 1ce he can actually damage you with his ult, but he probably can't kill you anyway. if that's not enough to shut him down then nothing will. and no he can't ult twice per min. his cd on ult is 120 / 90 / 60. lane phase usually end before level 11. so unless he some how get 30% cdr above the cdr limit by 10min, he wont be able to do that

woodvsmurph2 votes

Ekko Kayle Renekton Vladimir Zilean Nasus (just keep stacking, use that lifesteal passive; eventually you just chunk half his hp w/ q when he dashes in on you)

I can't say I've personally tried nasus into zed, but I played it into talon who has an arguably stronger early game pre-6. And I was 1v3 killing him, udyr, and his support by midgame.

Kuwabaramulberry1 votes

Can't morg shut down his snowball pretty well too? She can afk push just as well as malz and make it a farm lane (which is an instant win if you can manage to put zed in that situation)

AMADEUSdotEXE1 votes

Does morg mid still work?

Daddy Ants4 votes

Kayle is a massive cock block to Zed.

Ult yourself when he ults you.

If he can't do any follow up damage then the Death Mark pop damage is going to be minimal.

gg ez.

item 3070 Zed item 3070

{quoted}

Does morg mid still work?

Yes it does,

Slythrin Umbreon1 votes

Vs Zed, anything that can waveclear from range works.

Blu 11 votes

Urgot maybe?

Automated Riven1 votes

Chogath, galio, Morgana, lissandra, Kayle, zillion, (however the fuck you spell his name) leblanc, karma, sion, Fiora (she does work mid into specific matchups) also irelia. Exaust

Skill matchups would be, anivia, ahri, ryze, Cassiopeia, orianna, akai.

That's just what I got off the top of my head.

Disulfiram1 votes

[{quoted}](name=Automated Riven,realm=NA,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=nOMxOyFc,comment-id=0018,timestamp=2018-06-04T21:43:06.472+0000)

Skill matchups would be, anivia, ahri, ryze, Cassiopeia, orianna, akai.

Fiddlesticks too. While he can't shove Zed he can still poke him well, and Fiddle is one of the few champs that would have rushed an early item 3157 anyway. Also, he can reliably CC Zed when he tries to ult the ADC, and Fiddle's ult is better in a teamfight than Zed's.

I also know for a fact that a Fiddle with Ignite and Electrocute can win Zed's level 3 all-in as long as there's at least 1 enemy minion nearby (did it a few times, always got First Blood; nowadays though I prefer running Comet, to maximize poke and try to push the enemy out of lane instead of relying on them underestimating Fiddle's level 3 damage).

EvilxUndertonez1 votes

Ekko Kayle Swain Vladimir Zilean

TheSingularity1 votes

Urgot Kled Yorick Sion

I know it isn't optimal to pick certain champs mid. But urgot also counters yasuo and basically every other champ who wants to engage onto you.

these champs either devour or simply never die to zed. An unfed zed is a useless zed

5050BS1 votes

Illaoi does well. You E him so when he shadow steps away you still have him

TheSingularity1 votes

Yas has the edge here actually. All he needs is to windwall your E and he has shutdown your engage. A good yas will be able to weave through your Q's and will knock u up and disengage when u ult.

An illaoi can (not will) beat a bad yas. But a good yas will stomp any illaoi

Tychusfindlay9181 votes

{quoted}

Yas has the edge here actually. All he needs is to windwall your E and he has shutdown your engage. A good yas will be able to weave through your Q's and will knock u up and disengage when u ult.

An illaoi can (not will) beat a bad yas. But a good yas will stomp any illaoi

Darius is just a better yas counter all around than illaoi.

Andevar1 votes

Talon post-6 is a counter to Zed. But until 6, it's all a skill/luck matchup, depending on roams or who hits 6 first.

Not to mention Talon's roams are much stronger than Zed due to his mobility.

The only negative is if you die in lane and Zed gets 6 before you, you're pretty much lost at that point. If it is pre-6 though and assuming none of you roam, the matchup is still very doable. Zed's only way of killing Talon is with his shadow and all Talon needs to do is land both his W, Q, auto (passive) ignite.

OatheSworn1 votes

With any of these champions, you have a high chance of winning: Akali Annie Anivia Ekko Diana Heimerdinger Lissandra Vladimir Karma Viktor

Other mentions that require a little more skill: Fizz Yasuo Talon Leblanc

For the people wondering why this guy: Malzahar He isn't on the list is because he requires a jungler to beat Zed (at least in my experience)

This guy: Azir Bullies Zed early extremely hard but as long as you don't tilt, you should easily win 6

Champions that Zed counters: Ahri Brand Cassiopeia Karthus Kassadin Katarina Leblanc Lux Orianna Ryze TwistedFate Taliyah Swain Veigar Velkoz Zoe Ziggs Xerath

Obviously these are all my opinions based on my experiences so don't take them at face value--just because I listed them doesn't mean you will auto win/lose. For those of you who've noticed, I put Leblanc in both categories because it's gone both ways for me and I'm not really sure who would win on terms of equal skill.

FirewaterDM1 votes

Heimer only wins till 6, then it becomes even.

I don't hate the matchup because a lot of zeds are greedy/fuck up at my elo but heimer doesn't auto win because after first back unless ahead zed can oneshot turrets, and if heim misses the punish on the ult (grenade behind you where zed will/is supposed to show up after he ults you die if you don't have summs/stopwatch/zhonya etc. and sometimes with them.

It's an outplay matchup but after 6 Zed is a threat at all times even after zhonya. Admittedly if you dodge his ranged/shadow shit pre 6 is kind of a joke if you don't get poked so low he can go in with ignite/their jungle ignores it.

OatheSworn1 votes

{quoted}

Heimer only wins till 6, then it becomes even.

I don't hate the matchup because a lot of zeds are greedy/fuck up at my elo but heimer doesn't auto win because after first back unless ahead zed can oneshot turrets, and if heim misses the punish on the ult (grenade behind you where zed will/is supposed to show up after he ults you die if you don't have summs/stopwatch/zhonya etc. and sometimes with them.

It's an outplay matchup but after 6 Zed is a threat at all times even after zhonya. Admittedly if you dodge his ranged/shadow shit pre 6 is kind of a joke if you don't get poked so low he can go in with ignite/their jungle ignores it.

The problem is that even if Zed is a threat to Heimer, it doesn't change the fact that Zed was bullied for practically the entire laning phase. He would have likely missed a lot of creeps, putting him behind in gold/items and overall just screwing Zed's damage overall. Zed is useless really unless he's fed and so as long as Heimerdinger doesn't die over and over to Zed (which is highly unlikely) Heimer has a pretty free lane and can do whatever he wants. His turrets allow him to push incredibly fast and so a roaming Zed means first tower for you and opens opportunities for you to roam more safely. I hate getting matched up against the donger because he puts me so behind, fortunately I have never seen him in Ranked.

Tychusfindlay9181 votes

you can bruiser mid into him if youre willing to off meta. Irelia is the only meta bruiser mid that can probably fuck with zed but she'll probably be banned in plat+ if youre up there.

Veraska1 votes

Malphite mid

CppL1 votes

Nothing counters a good zed player

PopcornBunni1 votes

Anyone with all-in protection: Anivia Ekko Zilean Lissandra

Bisaknosp1 votes

you better learn how to play him

GripaAviara1 votes

Lulu, no joke. Try it

Slythrin Umbreon1 votes

Ziggs does pretty well Vs Zed, AP Kogmaw kills Zed pre 6.

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