Zed

the Master of Shadows

AssassinGeneral kit and base stats · version 16.19.1

Contempt 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.

Passive · no active cost or cooldown

Base statistics

Energy

Health: 654
Resource: 200
Armor: 32
Move speed: 345
Attack damage: 63
Attack speed: 0.651

Statistics patch

About this data

Viewing the current patch. If no sample is available yet, you can open an available historical patch.

Editorial plan reviewed for 26.15. This does not establish a review for statistics patch 16.19.

Game plan · Mid

Crash, isolate, mark, and leave with the map paid for

Plan overview

Zed's whole-game plan is crash waves, spend energy only when a trade can create a kill or recall window, and use fog to attack isolated squishies. Early, prioritize the first crash and a stable resource bar over random poke. After the first damage spike, connect a crashed wave to a visible roam, jungle skirmish, or objective setup. When ahead, deny safe side waves and create picks with an ally before taking structures or neutral objectives. When behind, farm the safe side, defend your jungle entrances, and trade objectives rather than entering a prepared 5v5. In late fights, Death Mark is an entry tool only when the target and exit are readable; otherwise, hold it until the enemy's peel is committed. Living Shadow supplies the key repositioning and return route, while Death Mark supplies untargetable access and delayed damage rather than serving as the primary escape.

Plan by phase

Build the first crash and protect your energy

0:00–8:00, especially the first three waves and each crash window

In the opening waves, identify whether you can contest the push without spending all your energy. Use Q to last-hit and threaten the opponent's approach, then use E and a shadow only when the enemy cannot answer the position. Crash before recalling or roaming; if you are behind the early trade, collect experience near your turret and preserve health for the next wave rather than forcing a level race you cannot win.

Game situations

Choose a situation

Lane

Trade through wave and energy states

If the first waves are contestable and your Q can hit the wave while threatening the enemy's last hit, then build a controlled push toward a crash. If the opponent has stronger level-1 pressure or your energy is low after trading, then take safe experience and let the wave come toward your side instead of forcing a full combo.

With Zed

Play with Zed by creating the conditions he needs rather than demanding that he start every fight. If you can push mid or protect his river entry, then move with him toward a visible target; a nearby ally makes his shadow angle safer and turns a pick into an objective.
If Zed marks a target and your crowd control can cover his landing or return path, then hold that control for the enemy's peel or escape instead of using it on the first nearby tank. His value rises when the marked target cannot simply disengage during the three-second window.
When Zed is ahead, let him pressure a side wave while the rest of the team shows only where the next objective or safe tower can be defended. If the enemy sends multiple champions to answer him, then take the revealed space; if they stay grouped, do not force a fight just because Zed is fed.
When Zed is behind, give him safe mid or side-wave access and play for vision-based picks rather than asking him to front-line. If the enemy engages first, protect the nearest safe damage source; Zed can enter after the initial control is spent instead of being the first body into the fight.

Identity, strengths and limits

Turn one opening into a clean exit

MID ASSASSIN · ENERGY · SHADOW ANGLES

Zed is an energy-based assassin who wins by creating a temporary angle on an isolated squishy target, then using Living Shadow to threaten damage and repositioning. Razor Shuriken supplies ranged pressure, Shadow Slash slows when a shadow hits, and Death Mark creates a three-second burst window whose value depends on how much damage you can safely deal before it triggers. He is not a front-to-back initiator or a champion who wants to spend every cooldown clearing waves; his lead comes from wave control, fog, and selective second-wave entry.

Strengths

High threat against isolated, low-health squishy targets.
Energy economy rewards accurate mirrored spell hits and short, decisive trades.
Living Shadow creates a damage angle and a possible return position.
Death Mark converts a safe three-second damage window into a delayed finish.
Strong map pressure when a crashed wave gives him access to fog and side lanes.

Limits and risks

Forcing Death Mark into a grouped target when no shadow route or ally follow-up exists.
Roaming before a crash and donating mid waves for a low-certainty river walk.
Spending Living Shadow for poke when the enemy jungler or support can punish the missing return route.
Treating a won trade as success when it produces no recall, wave, pick, or objective setup.
Entering first into layered crowd control instead of using Zed's second-wave assassin timing.

One idea for your next game

For the next game, make every aggressive move pass one test: is the wave crashed, is the target isolated, and do I have a shadow route out? If all three are true, use Zed's energy and Death Mark to create a short assassination window. If one is missing, farm the wave or hold the cooldown instead of forcing a highlight play. Your measurable goal is to finish each early roam with either a visible assist, a forced enemy recall, or a crashed wave—not an uncertain walk through fog.

Observed builds

No statistics for this patch yet

We do not have any games from patch 16.19 yet.

Champion lore

Utterly ruthless and without mercy, Zed is the leader of the Order of Shadow, an organization he created with the intent of militarizing Ionia's magical and martial traditions to drive out Noxian invaders. During the war, desperation led him to unlock the secret shadow form—a malevolent spirit magic as dangerous and corrupting as it is powerful. Zed has mastered all of these forbidden techniques to destroy anything he sees as a threat to his nation, or his new order.

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