Mid

Zed Build 26.22

Zed doubles his damage through shadows, dropping a W shadow that mirrors his Q and E so a clean spread hits a target from two angles at once. On the weaker side at 48.2% and slipping, his win condition is the pick: mark a carry with the ult, detonate for a slice of everything he landed, then swap the shadow to slip back out. He deletes one target, he does not grind a long fight.

#56 of 75 mid this patch · 1.6k games

Win rate48.2%−0.6Games1.6kPick rate7.9%Ban rate19.8%Last 8 patches−1.8 since 26.15Damage profilei

AP 4%AD 88%True 9%DifficultyiHighPunishes misplays

The 10-second answer standard · 48.2% WR

Crimson Lucidity SkillsQ›E›W Runes

Shards

ClassicModernARAM Counter

173 champions

AatroxTopA50.9%AhriMidA51.2%AkaliMidC48.6%AkshanMidD45.0%AlistarSupportS52.8%AmbessaTopC48.5%AmumuJungleB50.2%AniviaMidC49.0%AnnieMidC48.7%ApheliosAD CarryC48.8%AsheAD CarryC48.5%Aurelion SolMidS53.5%AuroraMidS53.3%AzirMidD46.4%BardSupportC48.6%Bel'VethJungleS+55.2%BlitzcrankSupportA51.7%BrandSupportB49.9%BraumSupportA51.6%BriarJungleS54.1%CaitlynAD CarryC48.0%CamilleTopA51.0%CassiopeiaMidD45.6%Cho'GathJungleS52.9%CorkiAD CarryA51.2%DariusTopB50.1%DianaMidA51.1%Dr. MundoTopS52.6%DravenAD CarryB50.2%EkkoMidA51.7%EliseJungleB50.1%EvelynnJungleS53.0%EzrealAD CarryD47.1%FiddlesticksJungleC48.2%FioraTopA51.5%FizzMidC48.0%GalioMidB50.1%GangplankTopB50.6%GarenTopB50.0%GnarTopC48.8%GragasTopC47.8%GravesJungleB50.7%GwenTopA51.7%HecarimJungleB49.9%HeimerdingerTopA51.2%HweiMidB50.5%IllaoiTopB50.3%IreliaTopD47.4%IvernJungleS54.1%JannaSupportB50.4%Jarvan IVJungleD47.0%JaxTopB50.0%JayceTopC48.5%JhinAD CarryB50.7%JinxAD CarryB50.1%K'SanteTopC48.5%Kai'SaAD CarryB50.3%KalistaAD CarryB50.3%KarmaSupportC48.4%KarthusJungleS52.9%KassadinMidS+57.7%KatarinaMidA51.3%KayleTopB49.8%KaynJungleC48.0%KennenTopS53.8%Kha'ZixJungleB49.5%KindredJungleS52.8%KledTopS53.9%Kog'MawAD CarryB49.5%LeBlancMidS53.0%Lee SinJungleC48.6%LeonaSupportA51.6%LilliaJungleB49.3%LissandraMidC49.1%LockeMidC48.8%LucianAD CarryD47.7%LuluSupportB50.2%LuxSupportC48.3%MalphiteTopS52.4%MalzaharMidC49.1%MaokaiSupportB49.6%Master YiJungleC48.3%MelMidC47.8%MilioSupportC47.8%Miss FortuneAD CarryC48.3%MordekaiserTopA50.9%MorganaSupportB50.8%NaafiriJungleB50.2%NamiSupportA51.1%NasusTopA50.9%NautilusSupportB49.7%NeekoSupportD44.6%NidaleeJungleB50.7%NilahAD CarryS+60.9%NocturneJungleD46.9%Nunu & WillumpJungleD47.0%OlafTopC48.5%OriannaMidC49.1%OrnnTopA52.3%PantheonTopB49.9%PoppySupportS+54.7%PykeSupportB50.4%QiyanaJungleC48.1%QuinnTopD43.5%RakanSupportS53.6%RammusJungleS+58.7%Rek'SaiJungleS53.7%RellSupportS53.4%Renata GlascSupportS52.9%RenektonTopB50.4%RengarJungleA51.6%RivenTopC48.9%RumbleTopB50.7%RyzeMidD47.1%SamiraAD CarryC47.9%SejuaniJungleA52.4%SennaSupportS52.7%SeraphineSupportB49.5%SettTopB50.4%ShacoJungleC48.7%ShenTopS52.7%ShyvanaJungleS52.6%SingedTopC47.9%SionTopS53.3%SivirAD CarryB50.6%SkarnerJungleB50.5%SmolderAD CarryC49.0%SonaSupportB50.9%SorakaSupportB50.4%SwainSupportS+55.0%SylasMidC48.0%SyndraMidC48.4%Tahm KenchSupportC47.7%TaliyahJungleB50.7%TalonJungleA52.2%TaricSupportD47.1%TeemoTopS53.3%ThreshSupportB49.6%TristanaAD CarryA51.4%TrundleTopC48.2%TryndamereTopA51.3%Twisted FateMidB49.5%TwitchAD CarryB50.4%UdyrJungleB51.0%UrgotTopD47.4%VarusAD CarryC48.7%VayneAD CarryC48.6%VeigarMidB49.4%Vel'KozSupportS53.5%VexMidS+55.5%ViJungleB50.3%ViegoJungleD47.1%ViktorMidC48.1%VladimirMidC48.8%VolibearTopB49.6%WarwickJungleS54.1%WukongJungleA51.7%XayahAD CarryS53.2%XerathMidA52.2%Xin ZhaoJungleA52.0%YasuoMidC48.2%YoneTopD46.9%YorickTopC48.0%YunaraAD CarryC48.2%YuumiSupportD47.3%ZaahenTopC48.9%ZacJungleA52.0%ZedMidC48.2%ZeriAD CarryB50.8%ZiggsAD CarryS+56.3%ZileanSupportB50.2%ZoeMidS+55.3%ZyraSupportA51.4%

LoL ClassicSee how Zed was built in the classic eraZed Classic Build

When Is Zed Strongest?

Power keeps building past the item spike into the second half, and games at this rank average around 28 minutes. Zed wins by picking the moment to mark a carry, dumping his full shadow combo before the mark pops, and using the second shadow to slip back out clean.

Game timeline · Zed drag or hover to scrub · space plays · ←/→ step

your power minute by minute · gold = item spikes · small = components · dashed = objectives

Camps1:30Drake / Grubs5:00Herald14:00Baron20:00Avg end28:22

Ambush zone8:06–9:36 Power spike 25:08

21:48

12:55

19:14

25:08

0:00 10:00 20:00 30:00 40:00

At 12:00

Power 48/100 · Even

Core 0/3 items

Gold ~5.5k

Phase Lvl-6 window

Next spike Crimson Lucidity · 21:48

Zed Item Build

Zed is an energy assassin who fights through his shadows. Line his shuriken up so it hits from two angles at once and a squishy loses half their health, so the build stacks lethality to turn that shadow burst into a clean kill.

Standard loadout · Zed The consensus path — reliable spikes, no dead time.

Starting items 500g

Doran's Blade×1

Health Potion×1 Core path · click an item for its recipe ›› Boots

Crimson Lucidity78% · 50.0%

Chainlaced Crushers22% · 41.6%

Situational items pick an opponent in the bar above — the right swaps light up

vs AP threatsTheir damage is mostly magic — stack magic resist before their second item.M

Maw of Malmortius6656.1%

vs AD threatsPhysical threats spike with lethality — armor answers buy the mid game back.D

Death's Dance6154.1%

vs stacked resistsWhen resists stack, penetration beats raw stats — swap a damage slot.S

Serylda's Grudge36458.0%A

Axiom Arc57154.6%E

Edge of Night30654.6%

vision controlFights are decided a minute earlier by the team that sees first.O

Oracle Lens92650.5%F

Farsight Alteration23050.4%S

Stealth Ward47842.5%

Best Zed Runes

First Strike matches his one-combo burst, front-loading a big chunk of damage the instant his shadow spread and ult connect. He wants to be even or ahead so that first rotation just kills, and the keystone is the difference between a squishy surviving on a sliver and dying outright. Keep the rest tuned for that early all-in power.

The pre-game page First Strike · Inspiration + Precision · keystone + 5 runes + 3 shards

Inspiration Primary

First StrikeWhen you initiate champion combat, deal 7% extra damage for 3 seconds and gain gold based on damage dealt.

Cash Back50% · 50.9%

Triple Tonic49% · 50.1%

Jack Of All Trades28% · 51.1%

Keystone plus three minors from Inspiration, two from Precision, then three shards — no runebook, no masteries.

Precision Secondary

Cut Down47% · 50.7%

Legend: Haste60% · 49.8%

Stat shards Offense

Adaptive Force+9 Adaptive Force

Flex

Adaptive Force+9 Adaptive Force

Defense

Health Scaling+10–180 Health (by level)

Shards give +18Adaptive Force+10–180 Health (by level)

Build toward Voltaic Cyclosword into Bastionbreaker and treat it as the line between poking and killing. You can lose lane and still take over once the items come online. Bastionbreaker comes online at about the 19-minute mark, and from there his shadow combo does enough that the ult mark alone finishes a squishy. Trade with shadows until then, and save the all-in for after.

Zed Skill Order

Living Shadow takes its single point at level 2 and gets nothing more until 14, so the shadow that doubles his casts holds one rank across the whole mid game. Razor Shuriken maxes at 9 and Shadow Slash follows at 13.

Skill order · Zed R at 6 / 11 / 16 — always

PriorityR

R›Q

Q›E

E›W

WMax Q first; E at level 3.

Lv 123456789101112131415161718

Q14579max 9

W214151618max 18

E38101113max 13

R61217max 17

Zed Abilities

Living Shadow hides a passive under its swap, feeding Zed energy whenever he and a shadow strike with the same ability, which keeps him casting through a fight. Contempt for the Weak rewards the finish, adding magic damage to his autos against a low-health target.

Abilities · Zedpatch 26.22 base numbers · click an ability · all ranks shown

Contempt for the WeakPassiveP

Razor ShurikenMax 1stQ

Living ShadowMax lastW

Shadow SlashMax 2ndE

Death MarkUltRRank-up levels here match the skill order below.

Razor ShurikenPhysical damageMax 1stStatLV 1rank 1LV 4rank 2LV 5rank 3LV 7rank 4LV 9MAXDamage+40 per rank+100% bonus ADlv 180lv 4120lv 5160lv 7200lv 9240Cost-5 per ranklv 175lv 470lv 565lv 760lv 955Constant at every rankCooldown6ssame at all ranks

Zed Base Stats

Base stats · ZedPatch 26.22

Base statslevel 1 · +per levelAD63+3.4AS0.651+3.3%MS345Range125HP654+99HP57+0.65Armor32+4.7MR29+2.05Energy200EN550

Zed Matchups

Zed's matchups hinge on stacking his shadow damage and picking the window to commit. Squishy, grounded targets can't survive the burst, but champions who trade back while his shadow's down, or simply won't die to one rotation, drag him into a losing fight.

Lane matchups · Zed click any opponent to retune the console

Hardest lanes · click to tune

Best hunting

How to lane vs AP mages 01Dodge their skillshots with W shadow, then punish long cooldowns.02Sidestep poke and rush level six to threaten your all-in.03Ult the mage and build magic resist to survive burst. Win rate by game lengthZed overall · all matchupsUnder 20 min46.3%20–28 min45.8%28–35 min50.7%Over 35 min48.5%

Xerath, Lux, and Sion are the ones who can survive his burst or punish him while his W shadow is down and he has no reset to escape on, so play the matchup around that window. Catch them with the shadow spread and the ult still ends them. He hunts down Cassiopeia, Vladimir, and Locke, so once you are set up, roam and mark one of them, then swap the shadow back to safety.

ExploreWhere to go next after Zed

Keep climbing · Mid laneMid Lane Tier ListEvery mid laner ranked by tierSee Mid Lane Tier List