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Shadow Reaping... What the Hell? RIP Zed

WitchQueen Annie··3 votes·2,106 views

So what's up with the mini Zed rework?

Shadow Reaping? In exchange for losing bonus AD from W and just lower numbers in general?

Shadow Reaping...

Did no one at Riot feel that this sounds just a LITTLE bit too cheesy? Zed is a master of shadows, not some Shadow stealer/shadow reaper.

Its too hard to proc. The enemy has to die from the Ult popping (if any other attack scores the kill, no shadow reaping). So much effort... and for what? Bonus AD that won't overcome the overall nerfed numbers and now non-existent W extra AD?

This is nothing short of a nerf.

And Zed didn't need a nerf. He had no late game to speak off (as soon as he Ults, he gets silenced/cc chained and killed), he's absolute crap at team fights and he could get countered BY A FREAKING SUPPORT Zilean Sona Lulu Taric

Now why the hell would I play him again?

Is this rework meant to troll assassins in general? Cause even before the rework I thought mages were better, now mages are definitely better.

13 Comments

zlumpy2 votes

Why shouldn't supports be able to counter something? Thats kind of an odd statement to make.

WitchQueen Annie1 votes

its such a clumsy gimmick though...

instead of just getting bonus AD from his W, now he has to actually kill people with R to get that bonus AD (which makes no sense). You barely steal ANY AD early on or in the mid game because at that point the ADC's likely just making a Ghostblade.

Also, its super awkward how you have to keep "re-stealing" the shadow over and over to get more AD (as the character builds more AD, you don't automatically get it, you have to kill again). Its super awkward how you HAVE to kill with the Ult to get it too.

It just makes no sense. They want to give him a "niche" to seperate him from other assassins but he already had one. He's the SPLITPUSHER/ultimate duelist assassin (who sucks at grouping and teamfighting because any competent team can just CC chain him when his delayed ult is cast but who is good at splitting in certain comps). He's tower control assassin.

I don't get why he needs this weak gimmick of AD stealing (which, when you look at the numbers, is a nerf). Also, its not even worth "stealing" anything until late game when the ADC does have lots of AD. And by then, its impossible for him to team fight so even IF he manages to steal the AD, at best it makes him a marginally better split pusher (but he could ALREADY 1 vs 1 anyone by that point in most situations if not behind as a splitpusher). If anything, the lower numbers in the early and mid game make it harder for him to do his job an the gimmick on his Ult doesn't make up for it.

He already had an identity as an assassin. He's the only "Jax-style" split push duelist assassin who can tower push and wave clear effortlessly.

The Sword Saint1 votes

{quoted}

its such a clumsy gimmick though...

instead of just getting bonus AD from his W, now he has to actually kill people with R to get that bonus AD (which makes no sense). You barely steal ANY AD early on or in the mid game because at that point the ADC's likely just making a Ghostblade.

Also, its super awkward how you have to keep "re-stealing" the shadow over and over to get more AD (as the character builds more AD, you don't automatically get it, you have to kill again). Its super awkward how you HAVE to kill with the Ult to get it too.

It just makes no sense. They want to give him a "niche" to seperate him from other assassins but he already had one. He's the SPLITPUSHER/ultimate duelist assassin (who sucks at grouping and teamfighting because any competent team can just CC chain him when his delayed ult is cast but who is good at splitting in certain comps). He's tower control assassin.

I don't get why he needs this weak gimmick of AD stealing (which, when you look at the numbers, is a nerf). Also, its not even worth "stealing" anything until late game when the ADC does have lots of AD. And by then, its impossible for him to team fight so even IF he manages to steal the AD, at best it makes him a marginally better split pusher (but he could ALREADY 1 vs 1 anyone by that point in most situations if not behind as a splitpusher). If anything, the lower numbers in the early and mid game make it harder for him to do his job an the gimmick on his Ult doesn't make up for it.

He already had an identity as an assassin. He's the only "Jax-style" split push duelist assassin who can tower push and wave clear effortlessly.

That's too many things to be good at, that's why it's a nerf. Now you have to pick him into an enemy team that has champions who build a lot of ad if you want to do the same zed things you did before instead of just spamming your mastery and emotes at people because you know they can't smash your smug face in because you are the 'ultimate duelist assassin' who also has waveclear and escapes for days in case you don't feel like actually fighting at that moment.

WitchQueen Annie2 votes

What? He was never good.

Unless your team had great coordination, even a fed Zed will throw the game later because of his inability to group well consistently against competent enemy teams.

Leblanc, Fizz, Akali were all better teamfighters who didn't become completely useless late game in groups.

The Sword Saint1 votes

{quoted}

What? He was never good.

Unless your team had great coordination, even a fed Zed will throw the game later because of his inability to group well consistently against competent enemy teams.

Leblanc, Fizz, Akali were all better teamfighters who didn't become completely useless late game in groups.

You don't have to ever group to win games, that's just one common way (group and win a teamfight) thats easy to understand and rally people behind who don't have a better idea. A correctly executed 1-3-1 or 4-1 split is devastatingly effective if you have a skilled person splitting on a champ that excels at executing that strategy - like zed.

Splitpushing is a mid-lategame strategy that when done correctly puts the pressure on at the right places and times to end the game. One inhibitor falls eventually, which forces some of the enemy team to stay behind and defend against those supers, meanwhile the splitpusher switches to a different lane and the other teamates go for an objective. Now that you have one person defending supers you have to defend the objective 3v4 while you send someone else to stop the splitpusher or give up either the inhib to the splitpusher as you send 4 to stop the objective or just give up the objective for free. That objective at this point being either baron or elder which will just allow the enemy team to push even harder.

A team who doesn't know that they have effectively lost when a splitpusher breaks open the first inhib will just lose against this strategy if they don't get a huge lead and win before that can happen, and a team that does understand this can be forced to respond to the splitpush threat in ways that you team can strategize around.

But this is all macro and besides the point. Previously zed could fill in on any team as the splitpusher if they want to do this strategy, but now he's specialized as the splitpusher you want when the enemy will be sending a high ad champ to defend the push - someone like riven or an adc or another ad assassin. It gives more room for reasons to pick a different splitpushing champ than zed during any meta where zed has decent numbers.

WitchQueen Annie1 votes

his lower numbers may mean that he can no longer 1 vs 1 that Riven or Darius... even before it was questionable

The Sword Saint1 votes

{quoted}

his lower numbers may mean that he can no longer 1 vs 1 that Riven or Darius... even before it was questionable

Wtf would it be a good thing for zed to 1v1 a darius ever? Riven should be a skill matchup unless stupidly ahead in gold.

Being a splitpusher doesn't mean you have to kill the other person they send by the way, any competent team will be sending someone who at least can take you with them if you dive them under tower, but the point is to stop you from pushing into the base, not to duel you.

Wanting to be able to easily just kill whoever they send and keep pushing is asking for too much unless you are super far ahead.

Narvuntien1 votes

Good!

WitchQueen Annie1 votes

Why is that good?

Theon: "Because it means you're not SJEW-pid"

Report for Wuju1 votes

Its too hard to proc. The enemy has to die from the Ult popping (if any other attack scores the kill, no shadow reaping). So much effort... and for what? Bonus AD that won't overcome the overall nerfed numbers and now non-existent W extra AD?

Yes it does if the ennemy has ult mark on him and you kill him with a spell.

haaaaaaalp1 votes

Zed needed the nerf, his lategsme map pressure was stupidly good. The point was to make him work for the free ad which he honestly never needed.

WitchQueen Annie1 votes

His late game pressure depended on a number of things.

  1. He didn't lose lane (if he did, there won't be much pressure)

  2. the enemy doesn't have an AD top like Fiora or Jax who's more ahead and will prevent him from splitting

  3. the team UNDERSTANDS the concept of split pushing and stays disciplined enough to play with this play style (a huge condition that is often not met)

  4. The ball is in your court to START the split push because if the other team has momentum and dictates a 5 vs 5 style play by forcing big battles in mid, then you have to group and fight and that's where Zed absolutely sucks, especially if they have a support to counter you and a Zhonya built.

haaaaaaalp1 votes

Actually, all he needs to do is farm safely in lane which his kits guarantees. His early game and mid game are so good that he is guaranteed to be able to dictate the pace of the game as long as his allies to even. Compared to the other champions in league, zed was one of the strongest champions and deserved a nerf to his free damage.

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