Tips on how to play against Zed, and counters?

iLBGAMing·Nov 14, 2017·10 votes·17,727 views

Yes I know the obvious..

I want some uncommon ways of how to play against him since I face him oftenly, if anyone is willing to help a fellow in need [poppy-wink]

53 Comments

FedoranNov 14, 20177 votes

Remember Zed’s ult teleports him behind you, so if you have cc make sure to cast it backwards when he ults. If you are like Veigar, place the cage on top of yourself during the animation.

iLBGAMingNov 14, 20176 votes

Thanks that's a really good one, I actually found out about that not to long ago but thanks regardless [slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

EcchiOtakuTMNov 15, 20171 votes

I would be careful with that advice, experienced zed tend to save W's CD before ulti so that they can send out W first use ulti->W to dodge skillshots people planned against them after ulti.

Need to add that people need to watch Zed's CD's and respect/estimate when W is up as if it's on a 15 sec CD early game.

deepfriedchickenNov 15, 20177 votes

see zed likes shadows so you need to play at precisely 12:00 noon where there are no shadows. op strategy 1000% garenteed win

ZedUsanGovosNov 15, 20171 votes

it's hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh noon.

ZackTheWaffleManMay 31, 20181 votes

Bandito Fiddlesticks

Zane ZephyrNov 14, 20176 votes

Malzahar

iLBGAMingNov 14, 20171 votes

But.. item 3140 item 3139

Tails9016Nov 15, 20173 votes

Make sure you have a Skarner jg who you're duo with. Tank junglers may be complete trash right now, but at least you'll tilt Zed into the shadow realm. ~~Wait, does Zed lives in a normal building where he trains his students?~~

ZedUsanGovosNov 15, 20172 votes

Yes. He has the Kinkou Temple which he took over after slaughtering most of the students. OP af.

Zane ZephyrNov 15, 20172 votes

If he ever ults you, you can Q on to yourself then ult and force him back.

Also if he buys a QSS first that means he'll be behind on his item spikes because he had to build defensively.

Over InnsmouthNov 15, 20174 votes

Anyone who can go untargetable at will can completely negate his ultimate if you time it properly.

Personally, I'd recommend Vladimir, since in addition to be able to dodge Zed's R every single time with pool, you have a range advantage and you can simply outsustain him and push him out little by little. You also outscale him hard.

The only danger is your early game vulnerability, so you'll still need to learn the basics on how to deal with Zed in general, which mostly just revolves around dodging his shit.

Good luck!

ZedUsanGovosNov 15, 20174 votes

TL;DR

Mages: Poke Zed out and pressure him. CC him if he tries to all-in.
Assassins: Poke Zed and use your mobility spells to dodge his damage and deal yours.
Skirmishers: ^
Items: Don't use Zhonya's immediately as Zed ultis. You leave yourself open to his abilities afterwards. Same with Stopwatch.
Runes: Take Sorcery/Inspiration for Mages, Domination/Sorcery on Assassins/Skirmishers, Sorcery/Resolve on Vlad, Precision/Domination on Yasuo.
Spells: Defensive spells+Flash on passive mages (usually played support). Offensive spells on Assassins and aggressive mages.
Teamfights are good. Use them against Zed.
Push Zed in and roam to get your team ahead. Also ping missing A LOT if Zed decides to go roam. Have your botlane fall back under turret, and your support ward the tri-bush. Also, remind your jungler to ward A SHIT TON.

If you choose to read my full "guide", then here.

A list of champions whomst fucc Zed up (if played properly):

Akali Anivia Annie Cassiopeia Fizz Katarina Kayle Lulu Lux Malzahar Orianna Riven Talon Veigar Velkoz Vladimir Yasuo Zed (Never trust anyone-- even urself)

My experience with these champions:

Mages

Anivia kept using her Q and E, as she should. If I tried to go in, she'd use W directly behind my shadow, so that she could turn on me.

Brand's point+click fucked me when I was going in for CS.

Cassio, need I say more? Her Miasma fucks Zed's mobility, and she absolutely FUCCS Zed with her Q+E+E+E+E+E+E+E+E+E+E+E+E+E+E+E+E+E+E+E+E.

Lulu, while I never fought as Zed, I did fight as Talon, who works very similarly to Zed in terms of kit and playstyle. Needless to say, my all-ins did not go well on Talon, and would probably be worse on Zed.

A good Lux will use E to push the wave and poke me down, and when I try to all in, Q+E+R me. Also take Barrier.

Malzahar is fucking space aids i fucking hate him i hate him i hate him. Although Zed CAN get a QSS/Merc Scim, he'd have to get it as a second item, lest he set himself behind even more.

As long as Orianna zones a Zed and pokes them, she keeps the upper hand. DFT used to work wonders. With these new runes... I'm not sure how she'll do. Play passively for one second (obviously more than a second), and Zed will try to get some decent WEQ poke off.

Veigar and Vel'Koz have CC on their E, and mad poke and waveclear with their Q and W respectively. Most Vel'Kozs I've fought have been ok fights for me, mainly because they didn't poke me as hard as Brand/Orianna do. Had they done so, I'd probably have had a bad time. Also, you've probably already know this, but Vel'Koz's E knocks Zed up, and if you time it properly (just as he comes out of untargetability), it also fucks his flow up.

Vladimir is fucking aids i fucking hate him i hate him i hate him i hate him. Hard scaling, in-lane sustain, and invulnerability are a Zed's worst nightmare. Spam Q, and use W ONLY when Zed comes out of his ultimate. Make sure to also use your EW (aptly named) combo.

Assassins/Skirmishers/Fighters

Akali's damage is always higher than Zed's pre-6 if they play properly, so use it to your advantage. Use your Shroud to keep yourself concealed so that Zed can't get a proper WEQ combo off, and then Q him. Not to mention her in-lane sustain.

FIzz is... interesting. An inexperienced Zed like myself a year ago would forget to bait out his E, thus allowing him to have it up if Zed tries to all-in, and while Zed's abilities were on CD, Fizz would use his. However, be wary of experienced Zeds, as they will try to bait out your invulnerability. Same with Vlad. But Vlad has sustain. Mad sustain.

Katarina is a double-edged blade. Like with all other champions, playing Kat properly can work in your favor. I've fought good Kats and bad Kats. Good Kats often use their W when about to go in for a trade with me, and bad Kats often don't. So keep in mind that using your W ought to help you if you plan to trade.

Kayle is.. well... Kayle. She's SUPPOSED to be a counter, but don't underestimate a Zed's capability when playing Kayle. Twice now, I've fought a Kayle (once top once mid), and both times, the Kayle poked me down, and dove me multiple times. If you manage to poke a Zed down with your E, then don't dive. Simple. Because you're far slower than Zed, and less mobile, meaning that Zed can deal damage to you when you're both under his tower, and furthermore, escape if you're about to kill him, while you die to the turret, giving him a kill. Push the wave in, poke him down, do business as usual. Don't try and cheese him, because it won't work unless Zed is autistic and doesn't know how to use his W.

Riven, as stated in someone else's post, has far more mobility than Zed does in much shorter periods. Not to mention she has CC to fuck Zed's ulti up, a shield/dash to dodge or at least reduce dmg, and damage to rival Zed's own.

Talon ~~is responsible for 25% of all first bloods~~ is a skill-matchup. Although Talon has a stronger laning phase, Zed has higher outplay potential at level 6. Now, when Zed ultis you, you want to use your own R so that he doesn't know where you are, then use your combo, and the R blades will deal extra damage to him, making it so that you deal more damage in less time than he can in his ulti duration. During laning phase itself, you have the advantage. W pokes, and Q pressure should make him back off, if not at least using his WEQ combo to clear the wave/poke you back. Once you push him in, roam botlane to get some more kills/push.

Yasuo. Yasuo, Yasuo, Yasuo. The Bronze God Champion himself. He has a braindead kit, but still requires a decent amount of skill for outplaying. Most Yasuos wind-wall Zed's Qs when Zed pokes with WEQ, which is good for preventing harass/waveclear, but retarded when Zed reaches level 6. Once your wind-wall is down, you're completely vulnerable to Zed's ultimate. So from levels 1-5, use your wind-wall as you please, but around level 6, don't use it unless Zed's ultimate is down. Now, onto the actual process of outplaying Zed during his ultimate. Zed will try to E you if your shield is up, as to pop it for his Qs. So if he does, dash past him (he'll be behind you after he comes out of his ultimate), stack a Q. Your shield will pop. But don't worry. Next, Zed would try to Q you (or WWQ, to close in on you), so wind-wall them (his Q, I mean. Wind-walling his shadow doesn't work). Stack up another Q on a minion or Zed himself if in range. Finally, dash towards his R shadow, since that'll be the only place he can teleport to, and when he returns to it, Q+R him. If you have ignite, make sure to ignite him first. This way, you reduce the amount of damage done, fuck up his mobility, and still get a kill.

In the event you're playing Blind Pick, and the enemy team has a Zed, while also having a lot of squishies, take Zed against them. It's a matter of whose unseen blade is the deadliest. ~~Run Domination/Sorcery, NOT PRECISION.~~ Make sure to use your Q as much as possible. Even if it goes through minions, putting the enemy Zed at lower health gives you an advantage. When Zed ultis you, run away from where he ulti'd, wait for him to come out of his ultimate, and then place your W even further away from his shadow, use your ultimate on HIM, swap immediately to your W shadow, and do your damage. If you need to use your R shadow, use that. This way, you dodge his damage, but you position him and yourself so that you can deal yours.

Spells

Take Barrier and Flash on mages like Anivia, Lux, Lulu, Vel, and Ori. Take ignite on the other mages. Ignite and Flash for assassins/skirmishers, and Ghost and Flash for Vlad (or ignite if you're going to be EXTREMELY aggressive).

Runes

As others have suggested, take the Inspiration branch for your mage perks. For Assassins, go Domination and Sorcery. With Yasuo, go Precision and Domination. With Vlad, run Sorcery and Resolve.

Items

If you're playing a mage with Commencing Stopwatch, you're that much closer to Zhonya's. Use it only when you know the ulti pop might kill you. Not when Zed immediately ultis you. I've seen too many people do that with Zhonya's. When you Zhonya's/Stopwatch right when Zed ultis you, you might have dodged the pop, but there's still the shadows and their extra damage. In the event that you have to Zhonya's bc you're in Lethal Range, keep a jungler on hand so that they can come in to stop Zed before he tries anything.

Final notes

A Zed is at his worst during a teamfight, as he doesn't have the same level of impact as the other champs I've listed do. Use this to your advantage. Also, Zed rushes Duskblade, so if he has to rush QSS/Merc Scim in Malzahar's case, or Exec Calling (lul nobody does that) for Vlad, he'll be put fairly behind.

Anyway. Hope this helped. Although I am a Zed main, I'd rather help people who genuinely need tips and counters to him, rather than... certain people.. who go: "broken shitpiece in a broken game waaaah no counterplay waaaah high damage waaah low-elo BabyRage".. cough [sg-miss-fortune]

EDIT: I've just discovered the GLORY of Domination/Precision Zed. Always go Dom/Pres Zed. If anyone else says otherwise, tell them to shut.

iLBGAMingNov 15, 20171 votes

First of all dude I gotta say thanks, you must of took quite some time to write all of that and I really appreciate that a Zed main such as yourself took the time to tell me some ways of countering your champ.

[slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

"Yasuo. Yasuo, Yasuo, Yasuo. The Bronze God Champion himself." LUL

ZedUsanGovosNov 16, 20171 votes

No problem. Seeing so many circle-jerks about "no counter-play waah" makes me appreciate the few who really do need help with countering him, and who are willing to listen to a player's advice about THEIR OWN main champion. As Zed himself says-- "Ignorance is fatal". [sg-ezreal]

Craft ZeppelinNov 14, 20172 votes

Get inspiration secondary so you can get a stopwatch and cost-cut zhonyas by 600g. Two kills worth of cash!

iLBGAMingNov 14, 20172 votes

The best thing that Riot has done for squishy champions so far lol.

BobaFlautistNov 14, 20172 votes

As a mage, I've found he's much less threatening if I hard push than if I try to hide under tower. If he has to use his W to clear the wave, he can't use it to poke while you last-hitting under tower, and of you keep your distance he'll lose farm, get wacked by minions, and be lower leveled than you if he just jumps on you.

Trying to dodge qs and shadow qs feels a lot harder when I'm stuck under tower.

HalcyonDwellerNov 14, 20172 votes

It helps to harass him with autos and spells at level 1 before he get's his W+Q combo. Also any time he uses his W, wait for him to use his other abilities and then go hard against him because he cannot trade back with his key spells on cooldown.

And lastly, if you see him use his W-shadow, let your jungler know so they know he is an easy gank at that time, because otherwise junglers will avoid ganking him because they know he can W out really easily. Sometimes it works to bait out the W just before your jungler is about to gank.

iLBGAMingNov 14, 20171 votes

The thing wbout his W is that it's hard to estimate when he has it available again due to the E passive I believe.. that lowers the cooldown on his W based on the amount of enemies hit by his E. But thanks for the advice friend.

[galio-happy]

HalcyonDwellerNov 14, 20171 votes

I see, well at most it will reduce it by 2 seconds in lane, the majority of the window of opportunity should still be there. If you wish to make use of my above advice you can always front-load your zoning and harass in the first half of that opportunity window in order to be safe about it.

MhihnjNov 15, 20172 votes

it has a cd of 22 sec at first skill point. Abusing your enemy's CD is one of the key ways to win lane.

robotmasterNov 14, 20172 votes

Stay behind minions so his q does reduce dmg. All in when his w is on cooldown. Don’t try to win trades when autoing he will win. AFK shove the lane so zed can’t roam is not a bad idea ( same thing with fizz). Go into settings and turn off shadows to see his w better. Late game just stay with your team zed will be looking for picks to make you fight a 4v5 team fight. A few tips to help out.

iLBGAMingNov 14, 20172 votes

Thank you!

"Go into settings and turn off shadows to see his w better."

This is a really neat suggestion one that I haven't seen anywhere before.

WolfChasesNov 14, 20172 votes

The guy pretty much explained uou how to counter his kid even tho it sounds easy but is really hard in practice. Zed is really, really strong with new runes tho. If you are interested in specific champions that do "OK" against Zed mid I would suggest you Swain, just play safe pre 6 and dont die, after you get 6 it will be a lot harder for Zed to trade with you. Other than that I find Riven mid good counterpick against Zed because you van always easy stun him when he ults and also, Riven can easily play mid against melee matchups.

iLBGAMingNov 14, 20171 votes

I see Riven being a good pick as you just stated since you can block out a portion of Zed's damage with your E shield.

WolfChasesNov 14, 20171 votes

Not just that, as Riven you have a lot of other tools to play against Zed. Your stun, uour shield, dashes and jumps to dodge his Q and long ranged ult execute if he flashes away from you after a bad trade. Riven is something Zed will never expect to face at mid. And again, riven has a lot of tools to use as an escape if ganked. Mid is a short lane which means its quite safe for Riven. You could as well try Pantheon mid against Zed. Q poke is insane, your passive can block some portion of Zeds damage, you gave point click stun against him after his ult so he cant follow up with enough damage to proc the mark. And as well, being Panth mid means you can easy ult bot and top lane post six to gather some kills. :)

PoskeNov 15, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Not just that, as Riven you have a lot of other tools to play against Zed. Your stun, uour shield, dashes and jumps to dodge his Q and long ranged ult execute if he flashes away from you after a bad trade. Riven is something Zed will never expect to face at mid. And again, riven has a lot of tools to use as an escape if ganked. Mid is a short lane which means its quite safe for Riven. You could as well try Pantheon mid against Zed. Q poke is insane, your passive can block some portion of Zeds damage, you gave point click stun against him after his ult so he cant follow up with enough damage to proc the mark. And as well, being Panth mid means you can easy ult bot and top lane post six to gather some kills. :)

Zed slightly wins that matchup in most cases

Aery might make it even but suggesting riven into zed is bad

WolfChasesNov 15, 20171 votes

I'd rather say its even tbh. Riven can really screw him up. I know it's autowin for Riven but its not one sided for Zed either. Keep in mind that wast majority of Zed players are used to play against Lux and Syndra haha. :D

PoskeNov 15, 20171 votes

{quoted}

I'd rather say its even tbh. Riven can really screw him up. I know it's autowin for Riven but its not one sided for Zed either. Keep in mind that wast majority of Zed players are used to play against Lux and Syndra haha. :D

You know its autowin for riven?

Midlane is to short
Aery is good yes so riven can potentionaly kill zed if he tries to do anything before 6
After 6 Zed is the one which controls how the fights go

zed is bad into lux for example

Single Lux Q= zed is dead And her shield makes her hard to burst..

But syndra is easy matchup for example

Riven should lose in 42% of games against zed in midlane She would win slightly more in toplane

deepfriedchickenNov 15, 20172 votes

if u play temo, build my tank crit build, always wok

Rey HonchkrowNov 14, 20171 votes

Exhaust if you are a mage and Zhonyas also if you are a mage. If you are not a mage, you better be a tank or XD

Rey HonchkrowNov 14, 20171 votes

btw you want a specific champion or? I guess all I can say is wait him to use his W then you go in. Try to freeze lane as much as you can.

PoskeNov 15, 20171 votes

{quoted}

Yes I know the obvious..

I want some uncommon ways of how to play against him since I face him oftenly, if anyone is willing to help a fellow in need [poppy-wink]

I can help you

Forget about this items

very few champions can get away rushing those items
Armguad is UP compared to its counterpart hexdrinker

at most you can buy cloth armor anything more is mistake. Maybe riots fixes itemization one day

Stopwatch. This works idk what else to say
His Q is extremly thin. You should never be trying to dodge his E because thats impossible if he does W>E so dont automaticly start walking away from his shadow Just twitch yourself slightly ussualy to a side towards the shadow 0.05 seconds after shadow reaches its destination
If zed uses W before his ultimate. Aim for the W shadow destination once his R drops on you and then aim for his R shadow. you gotta sell this well
If zed uses ultimate on you from max range. Walk backwards till he drops on you this ensures his ultimate shadow ll be to far for triple Q (Gosh I hate the new zed ultimate position ): ). Unless you want to fight zed then position yourself between his shadows so you can keep chasing but you ussualy dont want to fight zed
If you are low on HP just back, ping when he roams. Dont fall for his 2nd W from max range flash e auto thingy.
Every mage outscales zed. Literaly almost every you just have to survive the lane

Orianna,malzahar,lux,anivia do well against zed

You mainly want durable/shield midlaners or typical anti assassin malzahar, liss functions similar

iLBGAMingNov 15, 20171 votes

Thanks you. I really appreciate that you took the time to write all of that.

Hovering HentaiNov 15, 20171 votes

Kayle

CrazyBigfoot28Nov 15, 20171 votes

item 2420

Danni ChimesNov 15, 20171 votes

{{summoner:33}} <--- That is a ban icon.

But yea...so basically keeping your distance and when he does ult you make sure you are closer to your turret than his...that way he wont be able to dmg you more and increase his ult dmg and you may get lucky and get him to take a few turret shots if he's ultra gungho. Also coordinate ganks with your jungler. Zed will want to roam if you're playing too keepaway, maybe see if your jungle can hang out in his pathways and you can sorta double gank him as he's roaming.

Also... Diana She can kinda go hand and hand with him especially if you both are equal in gold. Her W + E can screw Zed up pretty hard if he's trapped within your minion wave (people discount how much minions hurt you early on...it's pretty significant). Hope that helps.

ChasmOfTrossmNov 15, 20171 votes

Play Swain. He can bully Zed out and survive his ult with minimal trouble.

Diana is also a good pick if you max her W and doesnt suffer as much from building Zhonyas due to her strong burst.

Ahri can kite him and dash outmaneuver him with her ult.

Talon can negate the whole of his ult with his own.

Yasuo's shield is very handy for dealing with his burst and wind wall at least one of his shurikens.

Friendly RamNov 15, 20171 votes

Play middlesticks you will negate his poke with w all in with q and you just roam for kills.

Funkin DunkinNov 15, 20171 votes

Diana and summoner 3 Or my personal favorite. Skarner mid

iLBGAMingNov 15, 20171 votes

Skarner MID? Lol that's something you don't hear everyday.

Funkin DunkinNov 16, 20171 votes

As probably the world's only Skarner main, I've played him in all 4 lanes. Before they removed his passive he was a very dominant lane champion. He still is, but because the current "passive" only procs through a his E you need to wait a few levels for the scaling to finally be up to par. However, that being said, a well played Skarner will beat most people. Skarner actually has lane presence again thanks to Phase Rush. He has great ability to E stun poke poke which give him great hit and runs. Once your ready to go all-in, or if they do something stupid, E > R (into tower range if applicable) and then go to town :)

iLBGAMingNov 16, 20171 votes

Interesting [slayer-pantheon-popcorn]

xelakerNov 15, 20171 votes

Pantheon Ashe Malzahar Sejuani Lulu teamcomp. just blow all your cc on him every single time and he might rage quit.

rework trundleNov 15, 20171 votes

Nasus mid, build ring, back at 900, buy corrupting + ring. Skill order is eqewer max q build is ibg tabi sv

Nanuk PihoqahiakNov 16, 20171 votes

If you know he's being picked, play a character with great push to at minimum keep him in lane, and just farm it out. Malzahar does amazing, and can punish him fast if he roams by taking an early tower. Ideally you'd wait for tower to target a cannon minion, and then summon your three voidlings. Since tower prioritizes voidlings, this maximizes their lifespan and allows them to do 500-1,000 damage.

If you're looking for good characters to duel him with, pick characters that are point and click with crowd control and snares. These generally do well since he has the ability to juke you at any point he's using a shadow. Someone like Lux or Morgana tend to be unreliable at peeling him.

iLBGAMingNov 16, 20171 votes

I been playing Vladimir as of recently, I think he's good against Zed

PumpkinsNTheLawnMay 31, 20181 votes

ur a bum for even trying to fight zed the zedly goat jut get out of dodge Zed not being rude

VargrjalmerJul 9, 20181 votes

you dont, i played him ONCE and he's op af, i went 10/0, after getting ONE serrated dirk i could insta kill anyone by way of ult, w e q tp back to ult shadow, and they would die, if they somehow survived that burst, they died anyway, if they didnt, i could escape ANYWAY, and if they werent in safety, i could proceed to kill them with shurikens bc no mana costs

see, zed is not sleeper op, he's op because rito wants him to be, no mana costs +high mobility + stupidly scaling damage + an untargetable escape that doubles as a finisher and if you would somehow survive the ult burst, you probably die from the resulting execution mark. how is this even fair? Will never play him, thats they day league will stop being fun for me.