Zed: Master His Shadows

Zed is one of those champions where it’s really hard to tell you how to play him, as opposed to playing him yourself. If you’re playing Zed for the first time, you might be thinking “Oh how easy, I don’t know why everyone makes a big fuss” until you start the midgame. At that point, you should have your Q, W, and E leveled once.

When you have to land these skills in perfect unison and you are trying to focus in teamfights while you have 3 shadows up and 3 paths for your Q, you may understand why people say Zed has a high skillcap. Fortunately for Zed players, the easiest remedy to the teamfight jitters is playing him more. Oh , and to read this guide of course!

Passive: Contempt for the Weak

Whenever Zed autoattacks an enemy below 50% health, he deals an additional 6 / 8 / 10% of their maximum health as magic damage. This effect cannot occur on the same target more than once every 10 seconds.

Contempt for the Weak may be the best part about zed, other than his ultimate. This skill allows Zed to score CS amazingly all throughout laning phase, and you should always have more gold than your lane opponent because of this. Also, this makes Zed able to trade with people below 50% amazingly well, especially against people not itemized against magic damage. All in all, make sure you take advantage of Zed’s passive in laning phase, and you will be miles ahead.

Q: Razor Shuriken

Active: Zed and his shadows throw their shurikens, each dealing physical damage to the first enemy they pass through and a lesser amount to enemies thereafter.

Living Shadow: Additional shurikens striking the same enemy deal 50% damage and restore energy.

Kennen’s joke emote is “Yes, they make shurikens this small”

However, since the release of Zed, I think the folks who make ninja gear in Runeterra, have found a way to make an even smaller shuriken. Zed’s Razor Shuriken may just be the thinnest skillshot in the game, and you have to take this into account in laning phase. Often you will be forced to use this as your farming tool, as ranged characters will bully you. However, the slightest misclick on Zed’s Q can cause you to miss a minion, and it can happen very often. Also, the same problem applies to champions, and you should always take an extra second to line up the move, as it’s Zed’s only ranged attack. Level this ability at level 1, and max it at level 9.

W: Living Shadow

Passive: Zed's bonus attack damage is increased by a percentage.

Additional Bonus AD: 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 / 25%

Active: Zed's shadow dashes forward, remaining in place for 4 seconds. Reactivating this ability will cause Zed to switch positions with this shadow.

Zed's shadow will mimic his basic abilities. If both strike the same target Zed regains some energy. Energy can only be restored once per mimicked ability.

Zed’s Living Shadow is one of the most unique tools in the game. It gives him another location to use his abilities without putting him in harm’s way. In lane, you usually want to save Living Shadow for an escape, however if you know the jungler isn’t going to gank you, it’s smart to throw down a Living Shadow, and harass your opponent with a double Zed Q. Also, when trying to gap close, use living shadow toward your target location, and press W again immediately allowing you to switch places with your shadow. Get this ability at level 3, and max it at level 18.

E: Shadow Slash

Active: Zed and his shadows create a burst of shadow, dealing physical damage to nearby enemies.

Zed's slash reduces the cooldown of Living Shadow by 1 second for each enemy struck. His shadows' slashes slow enemies for 1.5 seconds.

Living Shadow: Overlapping Shadow Slashes striking the same enemy deal no additional damage but will incur an increased slow and restore energy.

Zed’s E doesn’t require a lot of explanation. It’s very similar to Katarina’s Sinister Steel, except the radius is smaller. Unfortunately for Summoners, I think Zed is a little to minimalist in the weapons department. Other than using it as a damage tool, when running away, or disengaging for your team, use Zed’s Living Shadow towards the enemy team, and then use Shadow Slash as they get near it, slowing them and allowing you and/or your team to escape.

R: Death Mark

Active: Zed becomes untargetable and dashes to target enemy champion. Upon arrival, he marks the target for death and spawns a living shadow behind the target. This shadow lasts 4 seconds and mimics Zed's abilities. Reactivating Death Mark will cause Zed to switch positions with this shadow.

After 3 seconds, the mark will detonate, dealing physical damage equal to 100% of Zed's attack damage plus a percentage of all magic and physical damage dealt to the target by Zed and his shadows while the mark was active.

Zed’s ultimate is essentially a 3 second game of “who can do the most damage”. You usually want to save this ability for the AD Carry, as you can usually kill them instantly, sometimes even without the mark detonating. What you want to do is, use the move, then immediately burst all of the damage you have, using your E, utilizing Living Shadows for multiple Q’s, and any active items you have. This will allow you to do amazing amounts of damage in that 3 seconds, and if they aren’t dead yet, they will be. This is Zed’s most amusing move, and Reminiscent of the “Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique” where one hit’s an opponent 5 times, and after they take 5 steps, their heart will explode. This also allows Zed to play a lot like an actual ninja, as you come out of the shadows, kill your enemy, and quickly escape.

Final Thoughts

Although no particular move of Zed’s is particularly strong, when used in conjunction, Zed becomes a strong unstoppable force, that is very fun to play, and you will not get bored of him. Also, Zed’s laugh rivals that of Singed, and it is mandatory to spam in lane, if you are to be a Zed player, and Master the Shadows.