How to beat Zed

Common role: Mid

A burst assassin who deletes squishies with his shadows and ultimate.

What makes Zed dangerous

Zed pokes with his shurikens (Q) through his shadow (W) and all-ins with his ultimate, marking you and returning to detonate all stored damage. He is a lane bully who snowballs by assassinating carries in the mid-game.

How to play against Zed

• 1Dodge his Q-shurikens — most of his poke and damage comes from them. Stand behind minions so only one of the three shurikens can hit you.
• 2When he ults you, watch which shadow he's near — you can flash or dash away from the shadow he'll swap to, dodging the delayed burst.
• 3He uses energy, not mana. Bait his abilities and he runs dry — punish his low-energy windows with a trade.
• 4A single point of hard CC or a Zhonya's Hourglass shuts down his all-in completely. Group with your team — he struggles when he can't isolate a target.

Weaknesses to exploit

• ✓Energy-starved if he wastes abilities.
• ✓All-in is telegraphed by his ultimate mark and shadow.
• ✓Falls off if the enemy carries build defensively.
• ✓No reliable escape once his W shadow is used.

Abilities & how to counter them

What each of Zed's abilities does — and how to play around it.

• P
  影忍法！灭魂劫

  劫的普通攻击会对低生命值的目标造成额外魔法伤害。这个特效在数秒内只能对相同的敌方英雄生效一次。

• Q
  影奥义！诸刃

  劫和他的影分身一起将他们的手里剑向前方掷出。每支手里剑都会对命中的每个敌人造成伤害。

  Strong: long-range poke that hits from him and his shadow for double damage. Weak: skillshot — stand behind minions so only one shuriken lands.

• W
  影奥义！分身

  被动：当劫和他的影分身用相同技能击中一名敌方英雄时，劫会回复能量。每次施放技能只会回复一次能量。主动：劫的影分身向前突进，并在一个地方维持若干秒。再次激活此技能会让劫与这个影分身互换位置。

  Strong: places a shadow to poke and dash to, key to his all-in and escape. Weak: once used he has no reposition — punish him while W is on cooldown.

• E
  影奥义！鬼斩

  劫和他的影分身进行斩击，对附近的敌人造成伤害。被一个影分身的斩击命中的敌人们会被减速。

  Strong: slows and empowers his shurikens, part of every combo. Weak: short range — space out of melee to avoid the slow and reduce his damage.

• R
  禁奥义！瞬狱影杀阵

  劫变为不可被选取状态并突进至一名敌方英雄，同时为目标施加死亡印记。在3秒后，印记将会爆炸，同时造成额外伤害，劫在印记激活期间造成的伤害越多，则此额外伤害越高。如果该英雄死于此技能期间，那么劫可以获得该英雄的一部分攻击力。

  Strong: marks you and returns to detonate all stored damage — his kill button. Weak: telegraphed; flash or dash away from the shadow he'll swap to and dodge the burst.

Itemization

Zed deals physical damage, so armor is king: Seeker's Armguard into Zhonya's Hourglass is the classic answer for mid — the active negates his ult burst. Plated Steelcaps and any armor item help every role.

This guide covers Zed's core kit and playstyle — advice that holds up across patches.