Not sure how he's a "healthy" assassin when his presence mid lane forces you to get a Zhonya first thing or plain lose.
Doesn't matter what champ you play, any AP mid is forced to build zhonya, or otherwise risk losing the game on item choice alone.
This is not balanced.
Fadedpf31 votesApparently the only thing toxic about zed is his attack speed. Because he takes turrets to fast. Not is capability to 1v1 almost anyone, no mana, low energy costs so he basically never runs out of energy, infinite wave clear and harass, free flash/gap close, ult gap closer that nukes and can be used again to escape. Tower dives to get fed, with no consequences at all. Thats not toxic at all.
UberAffe22 votesHis wave clear and splitpush/ turret taking were his only real toxic points, otherwise he behaves exactly like any other ASSASSIN.
Keyword: Assassin! They are designed to be extremely strong in 1v1 situations.
Bronze Prophet7 votesUnless you are Katarina, then you can just 1v5
UberAffe4 votesPersonally I see her as more of a teamfight mage than an assassin.
Her main source of damage(r) can be interrupted or avoided by over half of the champions in the game(mobility spells or disruption). For her to really shine, she needs her team to make your team blow all cc and mobility and then she can clean up.
Fadedpf7 votesYes but Bruisers should out class assassins. This is not the case, a zed ults a bruiser and explodes him because or Bork and LW. Assassins are meant to be strong, but also meant to have CLEAR opportunities for weakness
UberAffe2 votespersonally I have never seen a clear weakness for bruisers tank>assassin>adc>tank (ideally) I dont know where bruisers are meant to fit in
Chessburger5 votesBruisers have been the bane of balance since they started releasing them with heavy mobility and CC that almost measures up to tanks. (looking at you jarjar binks squint) Who wants to be a utility tank when you can get 70% of the utility, 100% or more mobility and a lot more damage as a threat in game. They have systematically skewed balance across boards because, coincidentally they're rather easy to play and are forgiving to mistakes because of beef.
Sammystorm2 votesKind of like assassins.
Chessburger2 votesAssassin were historically kept under control by what I call control mages. They were so harassed in lane that they had to pull out really high skilled situational plays to be relevant in the game. Hence why they were rarely picked - either you rolled the risk and were skilled enough to make a difference or you were useless. Right now they're just way to safe (ZED) you cannot kick a zed to the curb in the lane, he has too many mechanics that prevent it. It's also not really assassins who are the problem. It's the aforementioned bruisers who currently reside in the jungle (there's some going top, though it's not as popular at the moment) and invalidate these control mages - Jarvan with his extremly long gap closer and R (you have to waste flash to get out and his ult cooldown is 1/5 the cd of flash), Lee - same problem, Vi same problem. This problem only exacerbates when you have an assassin against you in addition to one of these highly contested gank-with-impunity champions, who can dive in with them and delete you while you cannot meaningfully fight back (you need to be at range to function and express your control patterns).
In short, these dive bruisers make the assassin's job really easy.
Auz the Ripper1 votesThe main problem the control mages currently have is they have mana.
the preseason mana nerfs, while justified, throttled the mage's ability to poke and push manaless assassins out of lane, erasing the manaless assassin's weaker early game and nullifying their risk.
Bruisers in the jungle have significantly less effect on midlane
Chessburger2 votesProblem is that control mages were already phased out of the game before the mana regen nerfs. The only things that remained were mages who could reliably 100-0 at some point or have a lot of mobility (mostly both), or they're xerath who's range is really unparalleled. And from my perspective they were phased out because of ever increasing mobility and power coming out of the jungle not just the assassins themselves being too much of a burden.
MajorPain91 votesWhat tank is owning Assasins? Only one I can think of is Darius.
UberAffe1 votes^Ideally
That is not currently how things work but that is how the power triangle is supposed to work. And I have not seen a power model that works with bruisers.
MajorPain91 votesNot Ideally. If an assasin can kill a tank they aren't countered by an ADC. They will do exactly what they do to an ADC as they do to a tank but much faster.
UberAffe1 votesTank > Assassin > (Squishy carries) > Tank Tank- High health and resistance, low damage burst damage, decent sustain damage, limited range Assassin- decent health and resistance, high burst damage, low sustain damage, limited range Squishy carries- low health and resistances, low-decent burst damage, high sustain damage, long range
Junkο5 votesbecause or Bork and LW
yep Zed is the problem because he buys 2 items that shut down tanks and bruisers.
Auz the Ripper1 votesAlmost no other AD assassin can do that Hell, they said they gutted the bug Specifically because he could duel bruisers
OyddAWqJ5r2 votesDuel
Metaspark7 votesHis wave clear and splitpush/ turret taking were his only real toxic points, otherwise he behaves exactly like any other ASSASSIN.
Keyword: Assassin! They are designed to be extremely strong in 1v1 situations.
you'll have to forgive me if I can't think of any other assassins that can freely jump to the backline 1v5, delete the adc with hard-hitting, easily landed abilities, then jump away with no consequence to himself whatsoever
UberAffe1 votesLeblanc, Fizz(at least in silver and below), Rengar(same as fizz), Kha'zix(less so in 1v5 but often in 1v2/3)
Edit: that being said his wave clear/split push is still too strong
Metaspark5 votesLeblanc, Fizz(at least in silver and below), Rengar(same as fizz), Kha'zix(less so in 1v5 but often in 1v2/3)
every single one of those gets destroyed if they jump in 1v5, unless the 5 are just that bad
sure they might succeed in killing their target, but they don't get away with it like Zed does
UberAffe3 votesZed only gets away if you have bad positioning/crappy team in the first place.
If he doesn't have to use his w to get close enough to ult you had a bad position and your team is blind(or no wards)
If he did use his w to get close enough to ult and still gets away than your team sucks because they cant focus/cc a fairly squishy target that is right next to them with no escapes left.
If he had a reset on his shadows then he would be op
Metaspark5 votesZed only gets away if you have bad positioning/crappy team in the first place.
If he doesn't have to use his w to get close enough to ult you had a bad position and your team is blind(or no wards)
If he did use his w to get close enough to ult and still gets away than your team sucks because they cant focus/cc a fairly squishy target that is right next to them with no escapes left.
If he had a reset on his shadows then he would be op
because his ult doesn't already put him on top of his target immediately. okay buddy
Guy Fox Teemo3 votesHis ult can't jump him all the way to back line, and if Zed uses his w to engage he lowers his damage by almost A LOT. SInce Zed needs to land both of his q's on his adc or he's gonna have to keep autoing for the kill which he'll probably die or just get out with no kill.
Sorioku2 votesSomeone with sense. I don't know what these people are talking about.
Lt Cuddles2 votes
...Has no actual good disengage unless you reach a brush after burning your ult and hop to an exposed ward or minion or jungle creep, or throw your E on one person and still get chased down by them and CC'd, or flash over a wall, and even then, they can follow if they have flash or a dash, Lecunt...I'll give you that one...
...his Q just puts him on top of your team, and its a dash, so it can be canceled with hard CC on the way there. His E is good to dodge the slew of CC+damage getting flug at him, but the "hop" distance is very low, and quite easy to surround, seeing that he stops moving for a whole second just to hop a dead teemo's length away...unless he hops over a wall(Which they can still follow with flash or dashes.) So no to and ,(Especially new fizz.), but yes to 
.
EndlessSorcerer2 votesPeople have been complaining about Fizz and Akali doing exactly that for years now. Don't know how you missed those complaints, since people would just spam the boards with them
Guy Fox Teemo1 votesThe Entire point of an assassin is preety much to be able to Kill anyone, and quickly. They are not meant just for squishys. They are relatively safe since they waste EVERYTHING they have when they go in on a target. They can't for say do continuous damage like an adc/ and sorta brusiers. They must use everything in their kit to kill you, and then get out. But they aren't suppose to be able to takes turrets super fast and have amazing split pushing. They are meant to go in and kill, and get out, Riot wants to keep that aspect of Zed, and take away his amazing split push/tower taking.
Metaspark4 votesThe Entire point of an assassin is preety much to be able to Kill anyone, and quickly. They are not meant just for squishys. They are relatively safe since they waste EVERYTHING they have when they go in on a target. They can't for say do continuous damage like an adc/ and sorta brusiers. They must use everything in their kit to kill you, and then get out. But they aren't suppose to be able to takes turrets super fast and have amazing split pushing. They are meant to go in and kill, and get out, Riot wants to keep that aspect of Zed, and take away his amazing split push/tower taking.
as I said earlier, they also aren't meant to be able to dive the enemy team 1v5, gib their target, and then get away scott-free either
Rikari3 votesDon't forget his invulnerability/dissapearance making a free zhonyas when he ults to deny any timed spell 
Bresn1 votesMeanwhile, tickles Zed with a pathetic AD/Speed nerf instead of his cooldowns and actual skill damages. Riot logic.
Narasimha12 votesI mean, if you were playing against a Talon or Riven mid, you'd build armor first too.
Xtremey10 votesNot sure how he's a "healthy" assassin when his presence mid lane forces you to get a Zhonya first thing or plain lose.
Doesn't matter what champ you play, any AP mid is forced to build zhonya, or otherwise risk losing the game on item choice alone.
This is not balanced.
generally you itemize against your opponent. this is true for every class (except adc)
Decaedeus16 votesLux doesn't force her opponent to rush Athene's. Ahri doesn't force all AD mids to get a QSS or die. It's only Zed, where, if you DON'T get that item you're pretty much guaranteed to lose.
76Summers9 votesHello??? dont team comps force you bulid around them??? doesnt ryze force you to bulid mr at top??? come on man zed is problematic but this argument is weak
Kitten of Evil2 votesYes, your laning opponent will "force" you to build armor or MR, but that's not the same as being forced to build a single specific item for its active. If you want MR, there are several options, depending on your champion: 
just to name a few.
gubigubi7 votesAre you serious?
So I guess tanks are unhealthy as well I have to build 
I guess all AP characters are unhealthy because I have to build and
Not to even mention AD characters are you telling me I have to build 
If you are not changing your build for what you are up against you are not playing the game correctly no build should work in every single match.
tooitchy3 votesI get what you're saying, but you're not just building armor vs. Zed, you HAVE to build Zhonya's, and only Zhonya's specifically because of it's active. And it's a very expensive item that you are forced to rush where you wouldn't need to rush it against anyone else. If it was about the armor you would have options, but it's not.
Handin Out Naps1 votesUr not gonna rush a seekers vs a talon? Oh ok good luck getting 1 shotted in half a second. Good luck dealing with all those ad mids without rushing a seekers armguard. Lets not forget that 120 ap and that armor is completely useless...owait.
not a starburst1 votesRush a seeker's against Talon? Yes. Rush an entire Zhonya's against him, before getting mana regen? No, unless you want to get shoved out of lane by Talon. Zed, meanwhile, forces you out of lane if you don't build some sort of mana regen, and then kills you if you do build mana regen, because that means you don't have a Zhonya's.
Handin Out Naps1 votesI never complete zhonyas vs zed lol all you need is seekers zhonyas is so you can completely counter his ult in a fight. Unless he is really fed seekers will suffice.
JESUSSAYSNO4 votesSo, if I'm top lane against a panthion as nasus, should I be complaining that I'm forced to buy straight armor to survive? No, It's called conditional building. Midlaners aren't used to it, but it's always been a concept in the top lane and jungle. It's not that surprising that as a mage, you have to build around the champion that counters mages.
Metaspark5 votesSo, if I'm top lane against a panthion as nasus, should I be complaining that I'm forced to buy straight armor to survive? No, It's called conditional building. Midlaners aren't used to it, but it's always been a concept in the top lane and jungle. It's not that surprising that as a mage, you have to build around the champion that counters mages.
top laners are also traditionally used as the front line in teamfights, therefor they are meant to build conditionally against the enemy team
mid laners are typically backline, meant to deal damage while the frontline protects them. if they're forced to build armor just to be able to lane against someone like Zed, they can't build that damage their team needs them to build for the later parts of the game
SupaSwagKittyCat3 votes" they can't build that damage" zhonyas literally gives 120 ap youre not lacking damage. Most all mages buy zhonyas you just need to buy it first and then what do you know it completely counters zed and stops 90% of his all in power in lane preventing him from getting fed thus lowering his effectiveness against your whole team. So funny how much mages complain about not having a mana regen item, sure its nice but if you play lanes right it is not completely necessary.
not a starburst1 votes90% of his all in power in lane
90% of his kill potential in lane. He can still poke you and farm without much danger from a gank. Once you have Zhonya's, he might not be able to kill you very easily, but he sure can still make laning miserable.
Hawkefire4 votesHonestly the only nerf that Zed actually deserves and needs, is a nerf to his waveclear (make his Q do reduced damage to minions, and make his E do reduced damage to them. Making his passive not work on minions, or also reducing its effect on minions would also be a good idea).
This idea that Zed pigeon holes you into building zhonya's first is just dumb.
Zed cannot 100-0 you from full HP at level 6, assuming you are both on equal footing of course. It just isn't going to happen. Zhonya's is an excellent item to counter Zed with, but that DOES NOT mean that you have to rush it every game versus him, in fact a seekers armguard generally works pretty well on its own.
Generally speaking when facing a Zed and I am not confident that I can outplay him, then I will rush a seekers, and then I will try to pick up an item that gives some HP (catalyst is a personal favorite here).
If I feel that I CAN outplay him, but I want to play a bit safely, then I will rush a rod of ages (for the extra HP and mana, and for the bit of sustain it provides), and after the rod is complete then I will go ahead and build the Zhonyas.
These are some simple examples, and I am aware that Rod isn't viable on some champs, but there are plenty of other options that you can choose from out there. You just have to be willing to experiment a bit.
Blastermine3 votesEvery non circlejerk post is downvoted. I Mean " I'm forced to rush Zhonya's"? Is that even a complaint? 120 ap and the best defensive active in the game. Also If an assassin is diving 1v5 and getting a kill, it means your team is AFK.
Zoof3 votesI think it is moreso a problem since most mages need a mana regen item early since it's really hard to sustain currently, and if you are versing a Zed you somewhat need to get the Zhonyas early otherwise you will feed. SO you are left with A: Feed but get cs since I have mana regen, or B: get next to no cs since my spells are gated pretty hard, but I won't die to zed.
It's not as great as it sounds rushing zhonyas but I do see your point. I guess with riven and Talon, you just need the armguard early, then go for some mana regen and finish it later since all their power isn't tied up into one single target ability :P
