Zed might be one of the most annoying champions to play against. However, there are champions out there that hard counters him and makes his life a living hell. If you are currently having a hard time playing against the master of shadows, here are the best Zed counters and several tips that will help you win more games when battling him!
Diana
First up on this list is the Twilight of the Moon, Diana. She is a great champion that counters Zed because of her great skirmish and all-in potential. Diana also excels at melee fights. In fact, she is even stronger than Zed in this department because of her ridiculous shield and crowd control.
To make matters worse, Diana is really strong pre-6, which is the point where Zed is the weakest. The laning phase will be really hard for Zed players when a Diana player knows when to dip in and out or control the spacing of the matchup.
Best Zed Counters: Tips for Diana
- Sidestep Zed’s abilities during the laning phase because he will deal more damage than you, and you will surely be in a health deficit during the laning phase if you do not play safely. Still, Diana is stronger in extended skirmishes because of her passive ability. It is best that you engage in longer fights and prevent being poked by Zed.
- Zed can rotate the map much faster due to his abilities. Buy wards and look at your mini-map from time to time. Make sure to notify your teammates if Zed is missing on your lane. Try to counter gank whenever Zed is missing. Be more proactive than your enemy!
- Diana will destroy Zed once she gets her items and ultimate. The Master of Shadows is squishy, and Diana can easily burst him. After hitting level six, you do not have to play safely; just jump on Zed whenever possible. The Master of Shadows is really squishy, and Diana can burst him easily. However, it is important that you still know when to jump on him and get out.
- As an ability power champion, Diana can buy Zhonya’s Hourglass and make the matchup worse for Zed. Just activate it whenever Zed uses his ultimate, and it gives you a better chance of winning the fight.
Vladimir
Vladimir will always be one of the worst matchups for Zed because of his sanguine pool, which grants him momentarily invulnerability. Not only that, but Vladimir has a huge range in his auto attacks and abilities, allowing him to harass Zed during the laning phase. However, it may become more of a skill matchup when Zed reaches level 6. During this time, Zed can now close the gap between him and Vladimir. However, Vladimir will still have the upper hand if he times his sanguine pool perfectly.
Nevertheless, Zed will greatly benefit from ignite when going against this matchup because it will mitigate Vladimir’s healing and make it easier for him to get bursted.
Best Zed Counters: Tips for Vladimir
- Abuse your range. Zed will not reach you when you out-position Zed during the laning phase. Know when to harass and back down. Take a huge chunk of Zed’s health during the early game to force him to go into their base.
- Save your sanguine pool for his ultimate. Vladimir’s sanguine pool is one of the best counters to a Zed ult. Never waste it, and use it whenever you please. Plan and count Zed’s cooldown to know when you will save your ability
- Like Diana, Vladimir is an ability power champion. Thus, buying Zhonya’s Hourglass will be a huge help and make it even worse for Zed to deal damage. Try buying zhonya’s when you are behind or equal against Zed.
- Outsustain Zed. You do not have to recall frequently because Vladimir can just heal using his transfusion. Outlast Zed during the laning phase, but know when to recall properly to always have the upper hand.
Sylas
The next champion that counters Zed, is the unshackled Sylas. He wins this matchup because of the same reason as Diana. He can get in Zed’s face and burst him without any problems. Sylas is always a nightmare to go against when you are a melee champion, and Zed is not different.
Pre-6, Sylas will always out-damage Zed and out-sustain him during skirmishes. It becomes worse when he acquires his ultimate. Sylas can steal Zed’s ultimate and use it when the enemy Zed casts his. Sylas can dodge Zed’s skillshots this way and can easily burst him by closing the gap and using all of his abilities. However, Sylas is arguably the hardest champion to use in this list, so make sure to master him before going into a match against Zed.
Best Zed Counters: Tips for Sylas
- Never engage blindly against Zed. Bait out and dodge his abilities before going in. You will lose the skirmish when Zed hits all of his abilities against you. Only go in when you know that Zed’s abilities are on cooldown.
- Do not waste your ultimate. Zed will have no choice but to use his ultimate against you because he needs to jump to you to deal damage. Never engage with him unless you are ahead. Steal his ultimate and bait out his abilities before using the stolen ultimate.
- Try building Zhonya’s hourglass if you are having a hard time against him. This item is the best counter for Zed. Also, pairing zhonya’s hourglass and Sylas’ kit is a nightmare against Zed. He can’t deal with your damage, and wasting his ultimate will be a big blunder when playing this matchup
Renekton
The first AD champion in this list, Renekton is a hard-hitting bruiser that will make a mark on a Zed player. Zed generally has a problem against tanky champions because he can’t easily burst them without having items. Also, Renekton has one of the best early games out of all the champions in League of Legends, so jumping onto Zed and getting a huge chunk of his health is an easy task for Renekton players.
Not only that, but Renekton excels in melee matchups because of his kit. Zed, being an assassin, has to jump on his enemies to kill them, which gives Renekton the advantage. Not only that, but Renekton gains a huge amount of health when he casts his ultimate, which is also a counter against Zed’s death mark.
Best Zed Counters: Tips for Renekton
- Abuse your early game prowess. Zed will always lose skirmishes against Renekton because he can’t match his damage during the laning phase.
- Most of the time, Zed will try to play safe, stay in a long-range, and poke with his shurikens. Try to zone Zed out by saving your fury and scare him out with your all-in potential.
- Stack armor to deal with Zed’s damage. The master of shadows has to get fed before the 20th-minute mark, or he will get out scaled by the enemy. As long as you are not dying to the enemy Zed, you will probably win the late-game matchup as well.
- Do not waste your fury because it is your best bet when trying to all in Zed. Know what ability to use when going against him. You have multiple choices when you have a full stack fury. Renekton can either stun, dash two times, or heal. Use all of them wisely.
Lissandra
There is nothing more irritating to Zed players than getting no value out of their ultimate. And that’s exactly what Lissandra can do. Zed uses his ultimate? Counter him by using Lissandra’s ultimate. Ice tomb is pretty much like Vladimir’s sanguine pool, but Lissandra can cast it on either an enemy, herself or an ally.
To make matters worse, Lissandra outranges Zed, enabling her to harass him in a huge range. Also, Lissandra is a teamfight focused champion, making her the better champion when it comes to team fights.
Best Zed Counters: Tips for Lissandra
- Play your range and abuse it. Zed will not be able to reach you during the laning phase if you have great positioning. Use auto attacks and abilities while being in a safe range to prevent having your health chipped.
- Know when to use your ultimate. This is situational because Lissandra can either use her ultimate either on herself or Zed. If you have enough damage, you can use your ultimate on Zed. However, using your ultimate on yourself might be better if you lack the damage to burst Zed during skirmishes.
- Like other ability power champions in this list, add zhonya’s hourglass to your inventory. Zed will be unable to kill you if you have both ice tomb and zhonya’s hourglass.
Garen
If you thought easy champions could not counter Zed, then Garen will prove you wrong. Equipped with a strong melee damage and silence, Garen will always win skirmishes against Zed unless he performs a blunder. Garen has a lot of answers to Zed’s kit. The master of shadows tries to all in you? Silence him with your decisive strike and use your judgment to deal great damage. Skirmishing with Zed? Use your courage to reduce the incoming damage.
Also, to make matters worse, Garen has the strongest sustain in League of Legends. So poking as Zed will not work against him. He will just regenerate all of his health every time during the laning phase.
Best Zed Counters: Tips for Garen
- Use your decisive strike when Zed tries to jump into you. Also, it is a great practice to immediately use courage (W) to negate some damage he might face.
- Try to zone Zed out when he tries to go for some cs. You have a strong early game and both decisive strike and judgment deal tons of damage. Use them to scare Zed into going for cs.
- Stack defensive items to negate Zed’s damage. The master of shadows, being an assassin, struggles against bruiser champions because he cannot burst them. Play into your strengths and build tank items to scale well and destroy Zed.
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