In this Champion Guide, we’ll take a look at Zed, what his strengths are, and how you can best take advantage of them in the game. Zed is a mobile assassin and will give your opponents ADC a lot of headaches. With him, you’ll always be a threat to the Side Lanes and maybe soon in the Jungle.
Zed is a classic assassin for the Mid Lane. In patch 11.18 his Jungle Clear Speed will be buffed, but today we will focus on his Mid Lane build. With a pick rate of 11.7% and a ban rate of over 42%, he is either loved or hated. With two ADC’s per game, you can expect at least one of them to want to ban him. What makes Zed such a danger?
Follow this guide and you’ll soon be making plays like Faker in SoloQ yourself.
Zed Guide: Runes and Item builds
For 90% of all matchups, you play the Domination Build on Zed. With Electrocute as a keystone, you have the best possible poke on the lane and the best execute damage later. Taste of Blood provides sustain and Eyeball Collection helps you for additional AD scaling and improves your Snowball effect. In slot 3, Ultimate Hunter is the best option for Zed and provides him with Ability Haste.
We also have guides for top lane mains! Here is a Sett Guide.
In the Second Tree, you should go for Sorcery. Transcendence gives you even more Ability Haste here, and Scorch gives you more damage for trades and all-ins. Ignite and Flash are the best Summoner Spells on Zed.
Our build will be about the Duskblade of Draktharr Maximum Ability Haste Zed! In patch 11.17 some Lethality Items were generated, which makes this build even stronger.
Zed Guide: Early Game
Always start with your Q! Especially against ranged matchups you have no chance on the lane with Zed until level 3. So you can take the CS from a safe distance and don’t have to trade last hits against poke. From level 3 on you can play around your Electrocute every 25 seconds. The classic combo is W-E-DoubleQ where you really need to hit both Q’s to procc Electrocute. If you don’t hit a Q, you can also jump on your shadow for an auto attack to procc Electrocute.
Zed’s AD scaling on the Q has been buffed in patch 11.17! So the more Q’s you hit, the less fun your opponent will have.
- You are ADC yourself? We also have an Ashe Guide!
At your first base you should get Serrated Dirk and Boots. With Zed’s level 6 Serrated Dirk has an incredible gold value and the Ultimate already offers you the first power spike. With Boots you are now also able to put pressure on the side lanes. Especially Bot Lanes with Squishy ADC’s or Supporters should be your target here. Roaming is one of Zed’s biggest strengths, and the recently buffed Youmuu’s Ghostblade plays right into his hands.
Zed Guide: Mid Game
This is where Duskblade of Draktharr’s strength comes to the fore. With the addition of the Ability Haste and the Ionian Boots, you have very low cooldowns on all of your spells. Due to Duskblade of Draktharr’s Passive, you slow your opponent down as soon as you deal damage to them, always hitting your Q’s safely! When you kill your opponent, you become invisible and can disappear from the fight – just like a real assassin.
- Sylas often has to fight Zed in the middle, that’s how you play Sylas!
When it comes to item choice, you have several options here. Against enchanters like Lulu or Karma, you should get Serpent’s Fang as a second item. If there are many tanks in the opponent team, Serylda’s Grudge is the best choice. So always adapt your build to the matchup and the opponent’s team comp!
In the mid-game, you should also be on the lookout for picks. If a supporter wants to deep-warden, you should punish him immediately. Just don’t let the opposing squishies have any more fun in the game!
Zed Guide: Late Game
In the late game, Zed is very difficult to play because he has very little life himself and all of your opponents will immediately gymnast on you as soon as you engage their ADC. Look for flanks and try to stay out of the main action of the team fight, because if a CC spell hits you, you’re dead. However, the same goes for your opponents once you get to them! So be patient and try not to force fights when the enemy ADC is well protected.
- For the jungle among you, we also have an Ekko Guide.
Otherwise, you can keep proccing Poken and Electrocute on your opponents with your Shadow combo.
Zed Guide: Good and bad matchups
In the mid lane, Zed has some hard counters, especially for the landing phase. Anivia and her Egg are not a pleasant matchup for Zed. Bruisers like Irelia and Sett are also strong picks against the Assassin. If you just want to survive the lane against Zed, Lissandra can also be picked.
On the other hand, immobile Mages have bad cards: Syndra, Ryze, Lux, Veigar, etc. all have problems with the Shadow Assassin. Zed can dodge their stuns and roots with his W and then faces a defenseless Mage without CC. The perfect victim for an Assassin.
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