Zed Counters: Who Beats Zed
Updated for patch 26.21. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch.
Zed counters are mid laners who can shut off his shadow swap, wall out his shurikens, or just live through the 3 seconds before Death Mark pops. Zed is an energy assassin built around Living Shadow and Death Mark, and Cassiopeia, Malzahar, Lissandra, Yasuo and Mel each shut down one of those pieces with a single ability.
Five picks, all editorial. I went through each kit against Zed’s abilities instead of pulling up win-rate tables, so what you’re getting is the why behind each matchup, not a tier list.
Why is Zed hard to counter?
- Contempt for the Weak (passive): his basic attacks against low health targets deal bonus magic damage, once every few seconds per enemy champion.
- Razor Shuriken (Q): Zed and his shadows throw shurikens, and each one deals damage to every enemy hit. The cooldown is 6 seconds at every rank.
- Living Shadow (W): a shadow dashes forward and stays for a few seconds; reactivating swaps Zed with it. He also gains energy when he and a shadow hit an enemy with the same ability. Cooldown 20/19/18/17/16.
- Shadow Slash (E): Zed and his shadows slash nearby enemies, and anyone hit by a shadow’s slash is slowed. Cooldown 5/4.5/4/3.5/3.
- Death Mark (R): he becomes untargetable, dashes to a champion and marks them. After 3 seconds the mark repeats a portion of all damage he dealt while it was active. Cooldown 120/110/100.
Thing is, none of that is one big problem. It’s two. Living Shadow gives him a copy that throws and slashes with him, plus an escape, and Death Mark gives him 3 seconds in which every point of damage counts twice (well, a portion of it). The real Zed counters break one of those two loops.
Which champions are the best Zed counters?
Cassiopeia
Miasma (W) grounds enemies who pass through its clouds, and grounded enemies cannot use movement abilities. Death Mark is a dash, so a Zed standing in the poison cannot use it to reach her. Petrifying Gaze (R) stuns anyone facing her, which is exactly where a Zed who just dashed onto her is looking.
Malzahar
Void Shift (passive) gives him massive damage reduction and crowd control immunity when he hasn’t recently taken damage, so the opening Shuriken does far less than Zed expects and the Shadow Slash slow doesn’t stick. Nether Grasp (R) suppresses a champion over a damaging zone. Land it inside the 3-second Death Mark window and he is suppressed for part of that time, so the mark has less damage to repeat.
Lissandra
Frozen Tomb (R) cast on herself makes her untargetable and invulnerable while healing. Death Mark triggers after 3 seconds, so a self-cast Tomb covers the moment it pops (and heals her while it does). Ring of Frost (W) roots nearby enemies. With 125 attack range, Zed is always nearby when he’s hitting you.
Yasuo
For 4 seconds, nothing the enemy throws gets past Wind Wall (W), since it stops every enemy projectile that reaches it. Razor Shuriken is a thrown shuriken with a 6-second cooldown, so one wall eats a full Q cast from Zed and every shadow at once. Way of the Wanderer (passive) also builds a shield while he moves. It absorbs the first hit.
Mel
Rebuttal (W) forms a barrier that reflects enemy projectiles back at the attacker and prevents her from taking damage while it’s up. Every shuriken Zed and his shadow throw into it gets thrown back. Solar Snare (E) roots at its center, and Golden Eclipse (R) hits every enemy marked with Overwhelm regardless of distance, so a Zed who swaps away to his shadow is still in range.
How do you play the lane against Zed?
- Sidestep the shadow line. Razor Shuriken comes from Zed and from each shadow, so stand where only one of those lines can reach you.
- Count his Living Shadow. Its cooldown is 20 seconds at rank one, and without it he has no shadow to swap to and no extra Shuriken.
- Hold your defensive cooldown for the mark, not the dash. He’s untargetable during the Death Mark dash. The damage that matters comes in the 3 seconds after he lands.
- Don’t sit at low health. Contempt for the Weak adds bonus magic damage to his basic attacks against low health targets.
- Drain his energy. Living Shadow’s passive gives energy only when he and a shadow strike an enemy with the same ability, once per cast ability. Dodging one copy of each spell starves him.
Which items counter Zed?
Honestly, one active does most of the work here. Zhonya’s Hourglass puts you in stasis for 2.5 seconds, and the mark triggers after 3, so timing it to cover the pop is the whole trick. Edge of Night and Banshee’s Veil each grant a spell shield that blocks the next enemy ability, which can be whichever Zed spell lands on you first. Plated Steelcaps cut incoming damage from attacks by 10%, and his passive rides on basic attacks (cheap at 1200 gold, too). Death’s Dance turns a percentage of damage taken into damage over 3 seconds instead, which spreads out the burst. Every stat below is listed for patch 26.21 in our LoL items database.
| Item | Cost | Stats | What it does against Zed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zhonya’s Hourglass | 3250 | 105 Ability Power, 50 Armor | Time Stop: enter stasis for 2.5 seconds |
| Edge of Night | 3000 | 50 Attack Damage, 15 Lethality, 250 Health | Annul: spell shield that blocks the next enemy ability |
| Banshee’s Veil | 3000 | 105 Ability Power, 40 Magic Resist | Annul: spell shield that blocks the next enemy ability |
| Plated Steelcaps | 1200 | 25 Armor, 45 Move Speed | Plating: reduces incoming damage from attacks by 10% |
| Death’s Dance | 3300 | 60 Attack Damage, 50 Armor, 15 Ability Haste | Ignore Pain: a percentage of damage taken is dealt over 3 seconds instead |
Which one first? If you’re a mage, Zhonya’s. If you’re a melee AD, Death’s Dance, and Steelcaps as soon as you can afford 1200 gold.
When is Zed at his weakest?
Whenever Living Shadow is down. That’s it, mostly. Its cooldown runs from 20 seconds at rank one to 16 at rank five, and in that window he has one Shuriken instead of two, one Slash instead of two, and no shadow to swap to if your jungler shows up (a Zed without W is just a 125-range melee champion with a 6-second Q).
Death Mark sits on a 120/110/100 cooldown, which is long for an ability his whole kill pattern depends on. Did he just use it and fail? Then you have the better part of two minutes where his only real threat is poke. Funny enough, that’s also the window where the counters above matter least, because a Zed with no ult isn’t dashing onto Cassiopeia’s Miasma or into Malzahar’s suppress.
For what it’s worth, good Zed counters don’t have to win lane outright. Survive the 3 seconds once, and make every shadow swap cost him more than he gets out of it. New to mid? Start with our guide to LoL roles for what the position actually asks of you. The other champion guides have more matchups, his skins are over on the Zed skins page, and if you only queue ARAM, the Zed ARAM guide is the one you want.
FAQ
Who counters Zed the most?
Cassiopeia: Miasma grounds enemies, and grounded enemies cannot use movement abilities, which covers his Death Mark dash. Malzahar and Lissandra are the other clear answers, because Nether Grasp and a self-cast Frozen Tomb both handle the 3-second Death Mark window.
How do you survive Zed’s ultimate?
Death Mark triggers 3 seconds after he marks you and repeats a portion of the damage he dealt in that time. Stop him from dealing damage during those seconds, or use Zhonya’s Hourglass to be in stasis when it triggers.
Does Wind Wall block Zed’s shurikens?
Yes. Wind Wall blocks all enemy projectiles for 4 seconds, and Razor Shuriken is thrown by Zed and each of his shadows.
Which item is best against Zed?
Zhonya’s Hourglass for mages, since its 2.5-second stasis can cover the moment Death Mark triggers. Edge of Night gives AD champions a spell shield that blocks the next enemy ability.
Is this list based on win rates?
No. It’s an editorial list built on ability interactions in patch 26.21, with nothing pulled from win-rate data.