Welcome to the League of Legends Champion Spotlight featuring Zed, the Master of Shadows.
Zed is a melee assassin. He relies on sending out Living Shadows that mimic his basic abilities, allow him to re-position mid-fight and quickly strike down his foes.
When expertly played, Zed can kill his opponents before they even know what hit them.
Zed’s passive is Contempt for the Weak. Zed’s basic attacks against heavily injured targets will deal bonus damage based upon their maximum health.
While this passive has no cooldown, it can only strike an individual target once every few seconds.
Razor Shuriken fires out from Zed and any of his shadows, damaging every enemy they pass through, but dealing reduced damage to enemies beyond the first.
Enemies can be hit by multiple Razor Shurikens and will take damage from each one, but the extra hits won’t deal as much damage as the first.
When laning, I recommend taking Razor Shuriken at level 1 and maxing it first for consistent ranged damage output.
If jungling, grab it at level 2 and max it by level 13.
Living Shadow remains in place for a few seconds, mimicking all of Zed’s abilities. Hitting an opponent with both a regular and mimicked ability will refund some energy back to Zed.
Zed may also re-activate Living Shadow to swap places with it. Additionally, Living Shadow passively gives Zed bonus Attack Damage.
I recommend grabbing a point in Living Shadow early, but maxing it last in favor of Zed’s damaging abilities.
Shadow Slash damages nearby enemies and reduces Living Shadow’s cooldown for each enemy hit.
Enemies hit by a mimicked Shadow Slash will be slowed. This slow is increased if the enemy is hit by Zed’s Shadow Slash as well.
When jungling, I recommend taking Shadow Slash at level 1 and maxing it immediately.
In lane, try taking it at level 2 or 3 and maxing it by level 13.
Death Mark is Zed’s ultimate. When cast, Zed dashes to target enemy champion, dealing damage, marking it, and spawning a Living Shadow behind it.
After a few seconds, the Death Mark will trigger, damaging Zed’s target based on how much damage Zed dealt it while the mark was active.
Like with Living Shadow, Zed may re-activate Death Mark to swap places.
As with all ultimates, I recommend taking Death Mark whenever available.
In lane, try to poke at your opponents as much as possible.
Even though Elise is underneath her turret, Living Shadow into Razor Shuriken allows Zed to deal some damage without fear of counterattack.
Zed’s core damage combo is Living Shadow into Shadow Slash and then Razor Shuriken.
If you can hit both Razor Shurikens you’ll deal a lot of damage to your target.
As your opponents get lower, re-activate Living Shadow to land a basic attack with Zed’s Passive, Contempt for the Weak.
This ability combo picks up an easy kill on the low-health Katarina.
When fighting versus skill-shot champions, make use of Living Shadow’s second activation.
Veigar thinks he’ll land Dark Matter, but Zed swaps places with Living Shadow to dodge it and closes in for the kill, picking up a quick 300 gold.
When jungling as Zed, make use of Living Shadow’s swap to get through the jungle camps faster.
Cast Living Shadow across the wall and hit your other abilities, then re-activate Living Shadow to save a few seconds when clearing neutral monsters.
Even when laning, use Living Shadow to pick up some extra gold from jungle camps.
Zed hops over the wall with Living Shadow, uses Shadow Slash, and aims Razor Shuriken so that both of them hit the neutral monsters.
Living Shadow can help Zed escape ganks. As Taric and Jarvan come to gank, a double-activation of Living Shadow gets Zed to safety.
Now Shadow Slash will slow Taric, allowing Zed some easy damage with Razor Shuriken.
Living Shadow can also be used to close the distance with Zed’s opponents. A double-activation puts Zed in range for Death Mark.
Hitting all his abilities, Zed is able to burst down Veigar almost immediately, picking up the kill and escaping back behind the turret.
Always keep track of your Living Shadows’ locations. Zed comes across and bursts down the opposing Master of Shadows almost immediately.
However, Katarina comes in to avenge her teammate. Zed simply waits for Shunpo and then swaps places with Living Shadow.
Even with Flash, Katarina is unable to catch up and take Zed down.
Let’s put all of these together in a larger fight. Zed sends out Living Shadow with an immediate Shadow Slash to slow the opponents chasing Lee Sin.
However, Zed notices Ashe low on health near his Living Shadow.
Zed swaps and hits Ashe with Death Mark, taking her down with ease before walking away unscathed.
I recommend building Zed primarily for physical damage output with a small emphasis on durability due to his short-ranged nature. Here’s an example build:
Try Armor Penetration Marks, Armor Seals, Magic Resist Glyphs, and Attack Damage Quintessences.
Run 21/9/0 Masteries, taking all the physical damage increases in Offense, plus Health regeneration and minion damage reduction in Defense.
Take Ignite for champion killing when laning or Smite when jungling, plus Flash for increased mobility.
Open with Boots of Speed, Health Potions, and a Doran’s Blade or Prospector’s Blade.
Rush Brutalizer and take Mercury Treads or Ninja Tabi based on your opponents.
Grab Hexdrinker when needed and buy Bloodthirster or Sanguine Blade for increased damage output, and follow up with Last Whisper.
Your final build should also contain Guardian Angel or Overlord’s Bloodmail, Youmuu’s Ghostblade or Lord Van Damm’s Pillager, and Maw of Malmortius.
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