Guide · Mid

Zed Guide

the Master of Shadows

Assassin

Tier B Mid

Zed, the Master of Shadows, is an assassin champion that is demanding to master. Across our 1258 analysed ranked games, Zed is mostly played in Mid (74% of its games), and more rarely in the Jungle (18%), with a 51.8% win rate in that role: tier B among Mid champions (#26 of 42, ranked by win rate). Zed's damage is mostly physical (88%): armor is the best defensive answer against this champion. Win rate varies with game length: 58.8% in long games (over 35 min, 153 games) versus 47.5% in short games (under 25 min).

Averages measured over 927 Mid games played with Zed, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

Combos and how to play

Zed is an energy assassin who plays with his shadows: Razor Shuriken and Shadow Slash are cast by him and his shadows at the same time. He regains energy when his shadows and he hit the same enemy with the same ability. His ultimate makes him untargetable, teleports him onto a champion and marks the target for a delayed explosion.

Harassment

W › Q › AA AA

When: An enemy is within shuriken range.

Living Shadow sends the shadow forward, Razor Shuriken is thrown by you and your shadow, and your attacks use the bonus from your passive against low-health targets.

The assassination burst

R › W › E › Q › AA AA

When: A carry is within range of the ultimate.

Death Mark makes you untargetable and teleports you; strike with your shadows and abilities. After 3 seconds the mark explodes and deals a percentage of all the damage you dealt during the mark.

The escape

W › W

When: You need to get away.

Reactivating Living Shadow swaps your position with the shadow: place it far away first, then swap.

Laning phase

Living Shadow lets you harass with two sources of damage: position the shadow before Razor Shuriken to hit twice. Energy is your resource: do not waste it, since every ability costs some.

Common mistakes

• Attacking with the ultimate without finishing within 3 seconds: the mark explodes and its explosion depends on the damage you dealt.
• Spending all your energy without landing anything: your passive only refunds it if the ability hits.
• Using Living Shadow without planning the position swap.

Riot's official tips for playing Zed

• Saving energy and spell cooldowns until you use your ultimate will maximize Death Mark's damage.
• Quickly double tapping Living Shadow will teleport Zed to his shadow immediately for rapid escapes.
• Placing a Living Shadow before using Death Mark can give Zed a safe escape from combat.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Bastionbreaker, Edge of Night, and Voltaic Cyclosword (141 games, 68.1% win rate), usually with Crimson Lucidity (54.2% over 598 games).

Bastionbreaker+Edge of Night+Voltaic Cyclosword

141 games · 68.1%

Bastionbreaker+Serylda's Grudge+Voltaic Cyclosword

134 games · 70.2%

Bastionbreaker+Lord Dominik's Regards+Voltaic Cyclosword

120 games · 60.0%

Boots

Crimson Lucidity54.2% · 598 games

Chainlaced Crushers45.0% · 140 games

Immortal Path53.4% · 116 games

Summoner spells

Flash + Ignite51.8% · 735 games

Flash + Teleport52.8% · 159 games

Most-played runes

First Strike + Precision

55.7% · 499 games

Primary tree · Inspiration

Cash Back98%

Triple Tonic100%

Jack Of All Trades56%

Secondary tree · Precision

Legend: Haste99%

Cut Down97%

Shards

Adaptive force94%

Adaptive force100%

Health scaling74%

Electrocute + Sorcery

44.4% · 142 games

Primary tree · Domination

Taste of Blood78%

Grisly Mementos89%

Ultimate Hunter96%

Secondary tree · Sorcery

Scorch93%

Transcendence90%

Shards

Adaptive force98%

Adaptive force100%

Health scaling71%

Electrocute + Precision

53.2% · 79 games

Primary tree · Domination

Sudden Impact81%

Grisly Mementos78%

Ultimate Hunter98%

Secondary tree · Precision

Coup de Grace57%

Triumph56%

Shards

Adaptive force91%

Adaptive force100%

Health scaling67%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Zed's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team56.1% · 246 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Voltaic Cyclosword 57.0% ▲

Bastionbreaker 63.5% ▲

Axiom Arc 62.8% ▲

Serylda's Grudge 63.2%

Edge of Night 68.7%

Lord Dominik's Regards 67.2% ▲

The item that stands out most is Lord Dominik's Regards: 67.2% win rate, +9 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team48.6% · 253 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Voltaic Cyclosword 51.3%

Bastionbreaker 53.2% ▼

Axiom Arc 53.2% ▼

Eclipse 39.7% ▼

Serylda's Grudge 63.6%

Serpent's Fang 47.3% ▼

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Balanced enemy team51.2% · 428 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Voltaic Cyclosword 51.3%

Bastionbreaker 59.0%

Serylda's Grudge 61.8%

Axiom Arc 57.4%

Edge of Night 67.3%

Serpent's Fang 53.6%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Zed in Mid

Akali Zed: 31.6%19 games

Akali has the edge in 68% of the 19 Mid duels against Zed. See the Akali guide.

Sylas Zed: 35.3%17 games

Sylas has the edge in 65% of the 17 Mid duels against Zed. See the Sylas guide.

Lissandra Zed: 38.9%18 games

Lissandra has the edge in 61% of the 18 Mid duels against Zed. See the Lissandra guide.

Yasuo Zed: 42.9%28 games

Yasuo has the edge in 57% of the 28 Mid duels against Zed. See the Yasuo guide.

Syndra Zed: 43.8%16 games

Syndra has the edge in 56% of the 16 Mid duels against Zed. See the Syndra guide.

Who Zed is strong against

Ekko62.5% · 16 games

Yone52.2% · 23 games

Ahri50.0% · 26 games

Viktor50.0% · 18 games

Locke45.5% · 22 games

How to play against Zed

• Zed receives bonus effect from Attack Damage items he purchases, so Armor is super effective against him.
• After Zed uses his Living Shadow, he is at his most vulnerable as his damage, slow, and mobility are both dependent upon it.
• Zed's Shadow Slash can only slow you if his shadow hits you with it.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Zed's matchups.

Abilities

PassiveContempt for the Weak

Zed's basic attacks against low health targets deals bonus Magic Damage. This effect can only occur once every few seconds against the same enemy champion.

QRazor Shuriken

Zed and his shadows throw their shurikens.

Each shuriken deals damage to every enemy hit.

WLiving Shadow

Passive: Zed gains energy whenever he and his shadows strike an enemy with the same ability. Energy can only be gained once per cast ability.

Active: Zed's shadow dashes forward, remaining in place for a few seconds. Reactivating Living Shadow will cause Zed to switch positions with this shadow.

EShadow Slash

Zed and his Shadows slash, dealing damage to nearby enemies. Enemies hit by a Shadow's slash are slowed.

RDeath Mark

Zed becomes untargetable and dashes to an enemy champion, marking them. After 3 seconds the mark triggers, repeating a portion of all the damage Zed dealt to the target while they were marked.

Frequently asked questions

Full Zed page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides