Should Zoe Split-Max Q and E?

For the vast majority of champions, you max one ability at a time, for good reason. You want the ability that gets you the most value at that stage of the game to be as strong as it can be.

However, I think Zoe might be a special case where you can, or even should, alternate ranks between her Q and E, for a number of reasons.

1. Zoe's Q has level scaling. You don't need to put a point in it to increase the base damage.
2. The bonus damage dealt to sleeping targets is gated by the damage of her E, so increasing the rank prevents her combo from overcapping.
3. Her E is her only form of self-peel, and its cooldown is the major window of opportunity enemies have to engage on her. Shortening that cooldown makes her safer and more of a threat.
4. The AP scaling on Zoe's Q is huge. Gold income plays a huge part in her Q's damage, and having her E up more often can let her secure more kills, set up more ganks, or escape from more dives, so she can earn more gold.

The standard rank order is: Q - E - W - Q - Q - R - Q - E - Q - E - R - E - E - W - W - R - W - W

While I'm proposing this: Q - E - W - Q - E - R - Q - E - Q - E - R - Q - E - W - W - R - W - W

Your Q reaches max rank three levels late, but your E reaches max rank at the same time as it would normally. You trade a tiny bit of raw damage for more uptime on your CC during the laning phase, so you get more opportunities to dunk your lane opponent.

Since Zoe is all about that two-spell combo, I really think ranking those spells together is a viable way to play her.