Master Yi vs Zed Counter Pick

823 games on patch 16.13.1 put this at 57.4% in Master Yi‘s favor, and durability explains most of it. Zed runs on energy rather than mana, which lets him cast constantly while capping what he can spend in one window, and his 2,337 health at level eighteen is the lower total of the two.

Death Mark defines the exchange. Zed becomes untargetable, dashes in, and detonates a share of his damage after three seconds — a burst pattern meant to finish a target before it can respond. Yi’s answer is unusual: Alpha Strike also grants untargetability, Meditate cuts incoming damage while restoring health, and both fit inside that three-second delay to blunt the payload.

If the burst fails, the fight belongs to the champion built for duration. Double Strike compounds with attack speed, Wuju Style adds true damage that Zed’s 111.9 armor at eighteen cannot reduce, and Highlander refreshes on a takedown while granting slow immunity, which answers Shadow Slash directly.

Reach and pace back him as well: 175 attack range to 125, 355 move speed to 345, so leaving a failed skirmish is realistic. Zed’s output is physical against 33 base armor, apart from the bonus magic damage Contempt for the Weak applies to low-health targets. He is rated 7 for difficulty to Yi’s 4, and shadow management is where those games separate.