Zed

Zed is an energy-based melee assassin played almost exclusively in the mid lane, built around outplaying opponents with shadow clones rather than raw statistics. His entire kit revolves around Living Shadow: the shadow dashes forward, mirrors his abilities, and refunds energy whenever Zed and a shadow strike the same target with the same spell. Managing shadow placement and energy flow is the core skill test of the champion.

How the kit flows

A typical pattern sees Zed cast Living Shadow, then throw Razor Shuriken from both his own position and the shadow’s, catching enemies in a crossfire of skillshots. Shadow Slash adds area damage and a slow from the shadow’s version, letting him stick to fleeing targets or clear waves quickly. The swap mechanic on Living Shadow doubles as an escape or a gap-closer, giving Zed unusual freedom to trade and disengage in lane.

Death Mark defines his all-in. Zed becomes untargetable, dashes onto a champion, and marks them; three seconds later the mark detonates, repeating a portion of all damage dealt in the window. This rewards players who can land a full combo inside the mark’s duration, and his passive, Contempt for the Weak, adds bonus magic damage to attacks against low-health targets to finish the job.

Zed’s strengths are burst damage, lane pressure and mobility; because he builds attack damage in a lane full of mages, he often wins matchups through sheer threat of the all-in. He suits players who enjoy high execution ceilings, deceptive positioning and hunting priority targets rather than teamfighting head-on.