Champion Guide

Zed Guide

By LoLSuggest

Mid

Zed is a high-skill assassin with burst, mobility and huge outplay potential: Living Shadow lets him poke safely and dodge, Razor Shuriken farms and pokes from range, and Death Mark finishes squishy targets. He's weak until his first item or level 6, and easily countered by armor and crowd control.

Recommended Setup

Our recommended Zed build

Our recommended runes, summoner spells and items. Compare build win rates on the stats page.

Items

Starting Items

Core Items

Situational Items

The main page is First Strike with Cash Back, Triple Tonic and Jack of All Trades, plus Legend: Haste and Cut Down; Electrocute and Conqueror pages are alternatives. Take Flash with Ignite, Teleport in low-kill-threat lanes, or Exhaust in scary matchups. Start Doran's Blade, a potion and a Stealth Ward (Doran's Shield against poke), then buy Pickaxe, a Refillable Potion and a Long Sword. Voltaic Cyclosword is the most important item; the main build continues with Bastionbreaker, Gluttonous Greaves, Lord Dominik's Regards, Edge of Night and Endless Hunger. Axiom Arc is another second-item option, Serylda's Grudge, Mortal Reminder or Black Cleaver cover armor penetration, and Death's Dance, Maw of Malmortius, Guardian Angel or Spear of Shojin round out the build.

Runes

Primary Tree

Secondary Tree

Summoner Spells

Skill Max Order

Strengths

Huge burst, mobility and outplay potential.
Safe lane, safe wave clear and safe poke — a safe blind pick.
Energy instead of mana, and a strong side-laner.

Weaknesses

Very high skill requirement and weak without W or R.
Weak lane until Voltaic Cyclosword or level 6.
Easily countered by armor, Zhonya's Hourglass, heavy CC and peel; Riven, LeBlanc, Irelia and Malphite are very hard.

Laning Phase

Poke with W, E, Q — always aim your shurikens directly rather than through minions, and place the shadow beside your opponent rather than on them. W, Q, E is faster but less reliable. Against champions who jump onto you, like LeBlanc or Yasuo, use the backwards W, W, Q, E combo to punish their engage. Hit multiple abilities on the same target to refund energy, and wait for your Voltaic Cyclosword spike before looking for kill angles in harder matchups.

Mid & Late Game

Zed is a good side-laner and strong against immobile, squishy targets and comps with little CC or peel. In fights, melee E lowers W's cooldown for each enemy hit, letting you reposition your shadow — but track enemy CC first. Set up W before R to dodge otherwise unavoidable skillshots like Ahri's charm.

Key Tips

When low on energy, use W, Q, E so the double-Q refund pays for your E.
Q, then Flash, auto and E lets you burst without using W.
Buy Oracle Lens against Akali so she can't hide in her shroud.

Matchups

Matchups and synergies

Our picks for difficult opponents, favorable lanes and strong allies. Compare matchup win rates on the stats page.