Zed
Champions that beat Zed
- Briarjungle
Blood Frenzy (W) auto-pilots through Living Shadow (W) clones, ignoring Razor Shuriken (Q) lines. Certain Death (R) fear scatters the Death Mark (R) shadow-swap setup, and Crimson Curse (P) outsustains his burst window.
- Dr Mundotop
Zed's damage profile is one combo. Goes Where He Pleases (P) eats Death Mark (R) shadow-swap CC for free, Heart Zapper (W) refunds Razor Shuriken (Q) damage as heal, and Maximum Dosage (R) recovers HP before the mark detonates.
- Lissandramid
Self-cast Frozen Tomb (R) Stasis nullifies Death Mark (R) detonation cleanly — the mark expires on an invulnerable target. Ring of Frost (W) roots Zed during Living Shadow (W) swap and Ice Shard (Q) shards punish his shadow positioning before he commits to the kill.
- Malzaharmid
Nether Grasp (R) is a 2.5s single-target suppression that ignores tenacity — Living Shadow (W) swap does not break it. Death Mark (R) detonation cancels under suppression and Razor Shuriken (Q) chip damage stops while Malefic Visions (E) spreads through his shadow positioning.
- Pantheonsupport
Pantheon's W stuns through Zed's R dash and his E shield blocks the Q + E proc from one direction. He flattens the kill window before Zed can W-out to safety.
- Skarnerjungle
Impale (R) suppresses through the Living Shadow (W) swap and the Death Mark (R) ghost return — neither dash breaks the suppression effect. Seismic Bastion (W) shield absorbs the Death Mark (R) detonate burst long enough for Threads of Vibration to chain back.
- Veigarmid
Event Horizon (E) stuns anything crossing the outer ring. Zed Living Shadow (W) swap path walks through the cage edge if perimeter is dropped on landing, locking him during Death Mark (R) for Veigar W Dark Matter and Q execute. Contempt for the Weak passive lost.
- Vexmid
Zed Death Mark (R) dash and Living Shadow (W) swap path both proc Doom 'n Gloom passive mark on entry, and Vex empowered Mistral Bolt (Q) fears him mid-combo. Shadow Surge (R) locks onto him once Death Mark commits and the takedown reset chains into a second pickoff.
- Volibearjungle
Volibear jg is a strong counter to Zed at 16.10 — Q stun + R suppress lock cancel Death Mark before he can re-position with Living Shadow
Champions Zed beats
- Aniviamid
Living Shadow (W) plus Death Mark (R) chains two dashes into Anivia during her Flash Frost (Q) cast windup. She has no dash and one Rebirth (P) egg — Razor Shuriken (Q) plus Shadow Slash (E) marks burst the egg before Glacial Storm (R) finishes forming.
- Anniemid
Living Shadow (W) swaps Zed out of the 600 Pyromania stun radius and Death Mark (R) repositions through Summon: Tibbers (R). Razor Shuriken (Q) plus Shadow Slash (E) marks burst Annie before her Molten Shield (E) can soak the damage.
- Aurelion Solmid
Living Shadow (W) plus Death Mark (R) chains two dashes onto ASol mid Breath of Light (Q) channel, interrupting his damage. Razor Shuriken (Q) plus Shadow Slash (E) marks burst him faster than Cosmic Creator stardust scales, and Astral Flight (W) cooldown is too long to escape.
- Auroramid
Living Shadow (W) plus Death Mark (R) chains two dashes onto Aurora during the Across the Veil (W) cooldown gap. Razor Shuriken (Q) plus Shadow Slash (E) marks burst her before The Weirding (E) hop can disengage.
- Azirmid
Living Shadow (W) plus Death Mark (R) chains two dashes onto Azir pre-6 when Shifting Sands (E) is on a long cooldown. Razor Shuriken (Q) plus Shadow Slash (E) marks burst him before Arise! (W) soldier chain matters.
- Brandmid
Living Shadow (W) plus Death Mark (R) blinks Zed past Sear (Q) so Brand cannot land the stun. Without stun his kit has no self-peel, and Razor Shuriken (Q) plus Shadow Slash (E) marks delete him before Pyroclasm (R) finishes its first bounce.
- Corkimid
Corki has only Valkyrie (W) on long cooldown. Living Shadow (W) clones enter cast range before W is back up, Razor Shuriken (Q) chunks from outside Phosphorus Bomb (Q), and Death Mark (R) bursts through Trinity HP before two items.
- Heimerdingermid
Turrets have a slow attack cycle. Living Shadow (W) plus Death Mark (R) triple-dash assassins enter the turret nest and kill Heimerdinger before the first beam fires; Shadow Slash (E) slow keeps him pinned during Razor Shuriken (Q) burst.
- Hweimid
Living Shadow (W) plus Death Mark (R) dashes beat Hwei's slow cast times — while he selects a subspell, Zed is already inside hitbox with Razor Shuriken (Q) plus Shadow Slash (E) ready. Subject: Torment (E) eye does not lock targets mid-shadow swap.
- Jaycemid
Living Shadow (W) closes the Cannon Q gap inside the cast window and lets Zed bait Shock Blast onto the clone. Once Death Mark (R) lands, Razor Shuriken (Q) + Shadow Slash (E) burst Jayce before he completes a Hammer Q-W-E combo even with Edge of Night charged.
- Jinxbot
Living Shadow (W) closes the rocket Q gap inside the cast window, and Death Mark (R) executes Jinx before she can drop Flame Chompers (E). Razor Shuriken (Q) + Shadow Slash (E) burst kills her through Phantom Dancer shield.
- Kassadinmid
Living Shadow (W) closes Null Sphere (Q) range gap and Death Mark (R) deletes Kassadin before Riftwalk (R) scales — Q magic shield is useless against physical damage. Razor Shuriken (Q) chunks Kassadin from outside silence range every wave.
- Luxmid
Living Shadow (W) swap repositions Zed inside Lux's Final Spark (R) channel window before the laser fires. Death Mark (R) detonates after Lux's Prismatic Barrier (W) decay and Razor Shuriken (Q) chip damage punishes her cast windows from outside Light Binding (Q) range.
- Melmid
Living Shadow (W) swap and Death Mark (R) jump on Mel before she can land Solar Snare (E), and Rebuttal (W) only blocks projectile damage — Razor Shuriken (Q) projectile reflects but the mark execute is melee. No dash means no escape after the burst lands.
- Naafirimid
Living Shadow (W) swap dodges Hounds' Pursuit (R) target lock-on and Razor Shuriken (Q) chip damage out-trades Darkin Daggers (Q) bleed setup at range. Death Mark (R) bursts Naafiri before The Call of the Pack (W) untargetability triggers and itemization matches hers linearly.
- Neekomid
Living Shadow (W) swap dodges Tangle-Barbs (E) root entirely and Razor Shuriken (Q) chip damage punishes Pop Blossom (R) channel windup. Death Mark (R) bursts Neeko before her 1.25s stun connects and Shadow Slash (E) plus Contempt for the Weak (P) finish through Shapesplitter
- Oriannamid
Zed's Living Shadow swap repositions out of Command: Attack range mid-projectile, and Death Mark dash closes inside her 825 range before the Ball can return. Shadow Slash slow on a marked target cancels Command: Shockwave windup, and Orianna has no dash to escape the R lock.
- Ryzemid
Living Shadow (W) plus Death Mark (R) double-dash blink onto Ryze inside the 615 cast range during the Rune Prison (W) windup. Razor Shuriken (Q) pokes from 900 while Ryze stacks mana, and the Contempt for the Weak passive amplifies the kill threshold on low-HP backs.
- Smolderbot
Living Shadow (W) plus Death Mark (R) double-dash reach Smolder's back line through terrain-ignoring leaps. Flap, Flap, Flap (E) flies toward the lowest-HP target — often Zed himself as bait — so the evasion tool is the commit tool that wastes the only mobility.
- Sonasupport
Living Shadow (W) plus Death Mark (R) double-dash delete Sona before Aria of Perseverance (W) can complete the cast animation. She has no Zhonya's-style escape baseline and the 1.5s Crescendo (R) windup is too long to interrupt his gap-close.
- Sorakasupport
Without Flash, Living Shadow (W) plus Death Mark (R) double-dash gap-closes through Astral Infusion (W) cast time and one-shots Soraka before she can finish the heal. Wish (R) 2.5s channel is also interrupted by his dashes and Death Mark (R) detonate burst.
- Syndramid
Zed uses Living Shadow W and Death Mark R as two separate dashes that bypass Syndra's E stun cone. He swaps with his shadow mid-Q, dodges the stun setup entirely, and Razor Shuriken chips Syndra from outside her own 800 Q range while her cooldowns stay on the burn.
- Taliyahmid
Zed's Living Shadow W ignores Seismic Shove W's aim window — he swaps with the shadow onto Taliyah before the 0.85s delay finishes. Razor Shuriken Q chips her from outside Unraveled Earth E mine range, Shadow Slash E slows her in place,
- Twisted Fatemid
Zed's Living Shadow W swap closes onto Twisted Fate inside the Pick a Card W cycle, before he can re-press W on gold. Death Mark R lands a delayed-damage execute that Destiny R cannot blink out of in time, Razor Shuriken Q chips him at range,
- Twitchbot
Twitch has no dash and no instant CC against gap-closers. Zed's Death Mark R lands on his back-line spot before Ambush Q can refresh stealth, Living Shadow W swap closes the gap, Razor Shuriken Q chip pre-bursts him,
- Viktormid
Zed Living Shadow (W) swap path plus Death Mark (R) dash chain skips Viktor Gravity Field (W) tick and closes the 600 range gap before the field stuns. Viktor has no dash to peel and Razor Shuriken (Q) plus Shadow Slash (E) shred him through Glorious Evolution shield.
- Vladimirmid
Zed Death Mark (R) re-tags Vladimir after Sanguine Pool (W) ends, denying the untargetable escape window entirely. Living Shadow (W) plus Shadow Slash (E) chains before W comes back up and Razor Shuriken (Q) chips him through Crimson Pact HP scaling while he has no early
- Xayahbot
Zed Living Shadow (W) swap plus Death Mark (R) places the marker on Xayah while she is not in Featherstorm (R) untargetable window, and Razor Shuriken (Q) plus Shadow Slash (E) shred her HP. Contempt for the Weak passive bonus damage punishes her low HP pool.
- Xerathmid
Living Shadow swap closes half the lane in a single button while Razor Shuriken pokes Xerath through minions. When Death Mark R lands during Rite of the Arcane channel, Xerath is rooted with no Shocking Orb angle and no Flash up to break the mark before it detonates.
- Ziggsmid
Zed's Living Shadow W swap closes half the lane in a single button, crossing Ziggs' Bouncing Bomb Q range before he can land more than one poke. Death Mark R untargetable dash lands on Ziggs during Satchel Charge W cooldown, and Razor Shuriken Q chunks through.
- Zileanmid
Zed's Living Shadow W swap closes the 900-unit Time Bomb Q cast range in under a second, and Death Mark R untargetable dash lands on Zilean during the bomb wind-up. Razor Shuriken Q chunks Zilean while Rewind W is on cooldown for the second stun.
- Zoemid
Zed's Living Shadow W swap plus Death Mark R untargetable dash close the gap before Zoe can land Sleepy Trouble Bubble E. Razor Shuriken Q pokes Zoe through minions, and Portal Jump R is a 1-second blink not a real escape, so once Zed engages she has no answer.