The TRUTH About BEATING ZED that Challenger's Don't Tell You 

Simplify Solo Queue and RANK UP at www.skill-capped.com/lol 💪💪💪

This guy honestly has the best take on trying to give advice to low elo players. He actually understands the perspective and the environment of low elo, and it feels like most of the other coaches on the channel just do not. He even mentions how most challenger players really tend to only give advice from an extremely narrow perspective but then they act like it's great advice that should apply to everyone. On top of that, he's funny as hell. More content like this pls. I would LOVE a video from Hector on why control wards are useless.

I’ve never left a comment on a Skillcapped video before (I think) but I wanted to chime in and say that this is, to me, the absolute epitome of skillcapped. This level of understanding of what actually occurs at low elo mixed with phenomenally clear explanations is pretty common for skillcapped, but the explanation of why other guides don’t feel helpful at times and the reasoning why some zed tips are unhelpful mixed with Hector’s ability to know every bronze player’s objections to his arguments so he can explain further really takes this video to another level. And yes, I’m absolutely positive there’s an audience that not only wants to hear why control wards are useless, bu also wants to hear your opinions on other common low elo advice.

I think a lot of people can agree that we all have the mindset of beating Zed early. I also struggled with that mindset and it also how I throw games. This video really went in depth and really appreciate the content.

I died when he explained Ahri's thought process at 7:13, I honestly think exactly like this 🤣🤣

Normally, I feel like I only gain a little bit from guides either because I already have a base understanding of concepts or I'm not really engaged with the videos. This guide stood out a lot because it challenged my view of an existing concept and was much more entertaining than I'm used to from guides. Hector did really well this one and he had my full attention throughout the whole video.

11:14 the dmg on the 70 armor dummy is not accurate since you didn't hit it with passive at the end. so it should be around 2k dmg

Bro just turn shadows off, no need for all of this

we need more of these hector talk shows... i would pay for this

Yes, we do want hector to explain why control wards are useless

This video actually helped a lot because it literally addresses the problems I have that the past zed video did not touch on. Feeling constantly pressured to punish by damaging him when his W cooldown is not always the optimal and I'm glad you addressed other ways to punish him.

Best takes I've heard on this channel or anywhere for that matter. Listening to coaches and high elo players can be so tiring sometimes, like they're expecting me to be performing spatial mathematics while playing league or something. Totally feel the thing about not being able to play mechanically complex champs haha

Small note at 20:02 zed will spawn behind you and cannot R back for about half a second. BUT, if zed has used his W-shadow, he can instantly hop to that shadow after he R's and skip the half second jump back cooldown. He can also flash right away after using R so keep that in mind too.

1 important tip for ADCs.... When Zed Ults you please stand still when possible... It makes it way easyer for your Support to hit him after the Ult. When you Move like on LSD, your Support also needs to predict your Movement and will take way longer to CC him, so he get his combo of easy, before he get CCed.

Just turn off the lights while playing. His shadows should be useless then. As where there is light there is zeds shadow

I often buy double control wards if possible when there is leftover gold, mostly because I don't like having leftover gold. A guide on why it might be better not to do that, beyond that statement "150 gold each back adds up quick" will be useful for me personally.

This is the best Zed counter guide I have seen. Others usually talk about some very theoretical stuff and as a proof show how some challenger player beats degenerate Zed player, who clearly does not deserve to be on that level and got there by spamming this champ(or may be has a bad game idk).

As an Akali main with an engrained fear of zed to the point where in the 1000 games on Akali I've banned him in like 900+ of them This helps. Need to start trying to face my fears

First time I really feel connected to someone giving tips. Most High Elo players just don't understand our circumstances.

I think this is the first video i've ever seen that gave relevant advice for low elo players to deal with zed. it's actually a really good guide in that respect, thank you

I think a big difference of high elo and low elo player vs Zed is the concept of tempo since low elo player will f up their tempo all the time the Zed can always roam and get free kills in high elo people have a better understanding of it and use it to hold him in lane so he can't roam bot and get a double kill. But I agree that the biggest point is that you are not the one that is forced to win it is him so just don't die.

I don't comment that often on videos but this one deserves it. Loved the example of armor and MR on the practice tool. It feels like someone is teaching me but also is looking from my lowie perspective c:

Oh dropping the edge of Veigars cage right behind yourself when Zed ults you, and see how he likes it when you unload your burst on him is such a feels good.

I’m a long time zed one trick and honestly this guide is extremely accurate. Zed’s waveclear sucks he has to use his w e q combo to shove fast so If you just play for wave clear zed can’t do anything as he will be last hitting under tower all game. definitely build dmg instead of zhonya’s early so you can be useful in 2v2 skirmishes in the jungle and remember all zed’s damage comes from landing his q even when ulting. He’s not a talon that can just right click you and press r. If you dodge his skill shots he is useless. Stop banning zed so I can actually play him thanks XD

God tier takes, why are no other guides as good as these ones

As a zed player, and a zed hater, I just laugh at how easy it is to stat check him even with mages. Early levels yeah, poke him out like every other champion whenever possible, but just FORCE HIM to take the trade. What people don't understand about the matchup is that you have to wait for him to make a move. It's a reactionary play, most of the time. Make them feel safe for a moment, and let them feel anxious about it. "He's letting me farm, but trading every chance possible". Forcing to make a decision is key, because in that moment they will surely make mistakes, in the combo, wave or both.

Since turret damage is buffed a little...Malza tower afk farm is pretty nice. Get dived? Ult and melt.

The best hector video yet. Did he write it? It's a fucking banger holy shit

I always hated zed until I stopped playing adc and started maining yone and realised his R is a guaranteed hit for my R. Now I love Zed. :^) Jumps straight into my ult and even waits for me to channel it. Such a sweet guy. (Edit: Also, if it's a good Zed in lane whos hitting his combo, I just do cheater recall and buy one cloth armor and now his all in is practically useless unless I fuck up) SO to summarise, everything he says in this video works and you don't need weird maths or outplays to win against him.

Dude I'm so glad you joined skillcapped. Great video. Thanks

I used to ban zed all the time. But by banning him I was really never Learning how to play against zed. So I stopped banning him and learned the hard way. Yes I lost a lot, but I also watched a lot of videos. Eventually it got to the point where if the enemy pick zed I would rejoiced because I knew it would be an easy win

12:22 I would love to see Hector explain not only why buying wards are not important, but speacially how you should value your gold over mediocre stats/features like pots and wards. When should you buy potions? Or refill potions? Are refill potions always better than refil? (for ADCs, I don't think so, since you really need maximum sustain early on (pots give 3x150 = 450HP while refill gives 2x125=250). And by the end, you won't need refill since you are getting bursted either way. Getting comparisons like 4 pink wards is the same as 300 gold, so you could buy armor or boots or attackspeed with it (or complete an item sooner). Not only that, you are giving money to the oposing team (30g+10g if assist) so it is almost like making your team 100g behind, about the same as a canon minion. I love these comparisons like, what item could you buy, how many minions this means, etc... (Example:) I main WW, and the first noob trap we always talk about is buying refil potions. For warwick, not only you don't need because you have healing, but you MUST preserve the 150 to get your tiamat sooner.

Your video is appreciated and really helpful for "Low Elo" and other tips even for higher elos. However, many things to note down. good zed played would avoid most of what you said. - a good zed player will try to hit direct Q as he could - a good zed player will flash after he uses R if he knows you got counter CC ( Like ahri and etc..) because zed no longer has instant R back like before; Zed has 0.5 sec for his R to return back, unlike his W. - a good zed player will use his E well to get the W cooldown back in further games. The problem here Level 1 W will prevent zed of getting his cooldown faster on the w. - For zed not getting kills is really frustrating, so good zed player will roam as you explained in the video. - Another thing, you forgot to mention " The forgotten W' Let's say this video is like knowing more how to counter Zed, but not always work. It is skill match and game scenario in the end. Thanks for the Video

I personally think that the mindset of necessarily getting early leads is terrible not only against zed but anything. You just don't have to take leads early in any elo below diamond even if you play on early game champion. The leads will just naturally come to your hands

the background music is so calming im literaly focusing on it more than the voice over pls keep it

Another question: How do you go about punishing zed in that Post-Combo window if he wins an all-in with only autos? As in, you step up a bit, and try to fight him, but he can just flash on top of you and force an auto exchange that you lose if you have no cc?

Me as a zed main watching this. Now you know that how to counter me.I now know that you know how to counter me and I'll make sure to counter that counterplan.

Petition to have Hector take over every low elo guide 😁

As a rakan main I loved going mid vs zed, especially with a yi jungler i knew i was getting fed. Just stand at the edge of turret range and when they come at you w to the tower base.

Just want to point out but at 11:23, compare the damage Zed did with his own HP because that is how much most of his opponents will also have at that level. Notice something? The last dummy is the only one that survives and it survives with 9 HP...and ignite wasn't used. So Zed even with the armor literally kills them all if he uses ignites, or if you know a single minion auto attacks them.

that cannon miss at 17:56 game me anxiety

Never change Hector, truly an awesome guide

I would love to see a similar video about Irelia. I would perma ban her whenever I go top, but I feel like Darius is a better ban at the moment. Long story short, if I get filled top lane and I get matched vs an Irelia I just can't ever play the game. The moment she starts a freeze the game's just over for me, because with most matchups if you have a wave built up you can just force it to crash thanks to your minion advantage, but in the case of Irelia she actually becomes STRONGER if you have a wave built up. Like, I'm convinced Irelia is the most broken and unhealthy champion riot has ever created. I've looked up every Irelia counter guide I could find, but there are two problems: 1. there aren't very many, and 2. they all basically conclude that you have to beat her in draft, otherwise you just don't get to play the game. Like, how is that even fair? Why is it that my only two options against her are roaming or proxy farming???

I one trick Zed, and I can tell you with the upmost certainty that people over calculate when playing against Zed. Zhonya's can't even stop him, but GA is *really annoying.*

as someone who auto pilot bans zed, thank you for this. I mean I might still auto pilot ban him but thanks

Great video Hector but have you tried disabling shadows against Zed?

Jesus Christ Hector, i love it soo fucking much when you go savage, hogy imma buy a skilcapped subscription just for that scorch and timewarp tonic scene!

Vision is INCREDIBLY important since - Zed is not the only champ i need to worry about and i rather not put myself in the spot where i need the damage resistance in the first place, vision helps me make the right decisions in game. Early game i usually always have the room for both anyway since im not backing with 500g every chance i get but instead focus on gold goals and farming to buy the whole piece of item i need. Not to mention buying Zhonya's usually makes zed forget about me as a target all together, and even ahead i can kill him with it as ahri by the charm ult counter. i would still 100% buy the zhonyas 2nd item, its too good to not get or if im ahead mythic > Rab > Zhonyas - with buying the stop watch inbetween as needed since scaling is king atm. Great Video, i have learned sooo much i have never seen in other videos, with the exception of vision is not important this vid is 100% spot on and the Best Zed counter Guide i have ever seen.

man i love hector

17:56 I saw that cannon, but i wont tell dw ;)

About the control ward, it’s useless in low elo because your teammates are dummies who doesn’t play around vision. The only time which you’ll need it is probably right before a team fight.

this is some of the most accurate information ive ever seen in a league guide. I main zed, somewhat of an otp hanging around 170k mastery in d4/p1 elo, and preventing zed from getting kills early essentially makes the character useless. His combo alone can 1shot next to none of the champions in the game during this patch unless he's fed, and once you know his kill threshold its very easy to avoid dying. running a bit of armor is definitely underrated, but I think a stopwatch early can be an even better investment if you're winning your own lane. Zed's damage relies on a single burst combo thats on a long cooldown for most of the game. you pop stopwatch and you can avoid the entire thing. And you still have flash to avoid it again if he decides to pursue. I only pick zed in ranked anymore if i have a jungler whos willing to feed me kills early or if the enemy bot lane is highly one-shottable (very rarely in this patch). I love the champion and im glad that they are buffing energy soon, although I dont think its why most assassins are struggling right now. The problem is the fact that assassins are usually burst damage champions with squishy hp counts, while tanks do the same damage consistently, and take a lot more of it. Add on mobile champions like lillia, rammus, kaisa, aswell as running simple, cheap items and most assassins cant play the game. It sucks to see the game go from insane mechanics allowing you to execute someone from 75% hp if you perform perfectly mechanically, to the top champions in high elo being low skill ceiling simple champs like darius, aatrox, fiora, jinx, pantheon, etc

As a support main, I only buy 1 control ward per 20 minutes tops in soloQ unless I know I can use it to make more money with it. The only reason I do 1 per 20 is because of the algorithms count that purchase in for how well you are "carrying" your team. I know that later part is more about ego to see getting the MVP or the ACE tag next to my name on the game tracking websites, but that is why I try to maintain that 1 per 20 minutes purchase as a support main. Usually the purchase is just for a setup on dragon or baron/herald for the most part. Or if the jungler says they are coming to my lane to gank and want the vision cleared.

My struggle against Zed is getting smashed by his Q, and then getting so passive I get bullied out of lane and can't CS w/ another melee champ or a Melee-Mage like Fizz

Actually the most helpful video on this. Been so tired of the "zed is ez just be challenger" guides. Wasn't even trying to watch this, it autoplayed while I was scrolling and watched it to the end.

is anyone still struggling to beat zed?

the ending about the “shadow disabling” cracked me up 😂😂😂😂

Honestly this is the best info on a way to counter a champion without needing mechanics to help. Everyone always says dodge his combo but they forget that his combo has no signal to dodge lol. As an Ekko main my next Zed opponent will be screwed and I thank you for that Hector.

The only thing about Control Wards in my opinion is how people use them. I don't think using them during lane to have a permanent ward is worth it - you often just end up handing over the enemy team 30, 60, 90, or more gold if you keep placing them. Where they are useful is Dragon, Baron / Herald pits and in jungle fights. Putting down a Control Ward on those objectives is very helpful in maintaining or creating pressure, and can allow you to "control" an area. I feel that's how those wards should be used - offensively around fights at the pits and in jungle, not for a permanent ward off your lane that the enemy Jungler or Support is just going to come clear and get a half-camp worth of gold for.

1:00 Chapter 4 "When Zed takes your lunch money" Ahahaha

Shyvana usually builds Frostfire>Demonic, to make up for a lack of resistances while also increasing my damage, I will usually buy Zhonya's Third or Banshee's Veil depending on what I need. They give some ability haste, durability, and AP which just overall helps a lot. And because of Frostfire giving me 100 HP per legendary that also makes me even more tankier. So it's a really good 3rd option imo. From there I might build Void Staff to help with damage because at that point people start having a lot of resistance. Also I did not know Zed always spawns behind you when he ults. That's great info to know because I had NO IDEA how his ult works outside of him going poof

skill capped best channel ever, talk about thing's that realy happned! in low elows(until dimond's) and mybe a bit higher, thnx alot!

Super helpful. Ive been struggling to play against this champ recently and im diamond, so glad u made this ty.

wow skillcapped is releasing some bangers lately, another good vid

Hi I get confused when people say zed spawns behind you. Does this mean he will always spawn the opposite your character is moving or on the opposite side he pressed his ult on? Would love a clarification! :D

hector stays goated, definitely my favorite skillcapped video so far only problem is that you used clips of coach curtis but didn't cite his video

Droping this to appreciate the smoothest transition lol!

Veigar has an outplay button that you cant dodge that scales with his items and passive, zed has to full combo a tank with full build armor pen. One is obviously more broken lol

3:03 malphite? MALPHITE? Malphite WOOO LETS GO BABY!!!! MALPHITE! MALPHITE Malphite (:

Please do more videos like this!!!! Do more! Do more i beseech you as a skill capped subscriber 😁

I kinda disagree on the pink ward topic. In high elo, people make logical plays, junglers chose logical routes and thus you can often guess where they are without pinks. In low elo, barely anything makes sense. The goddamn Fiddle will try to lvl 2 gank you or they randomly walk down your lane despite their quadrant being completely empty. Buuuut that's why I also want that guide. I'm ready to feel wrong about this.

yeah this guy is great a realistic point of view for low elo players with actual logic for what will happen in low elo

btw on the 3d dummy u didn't auto with passive but on the 1st and 2nd did.

11:18 did he realize he dint aa the dummy?

To counter zed I use to pick orianna and by lvl 4 get my shield lvl 2 instead of the usual dump everything into q to max it first.

"He is landing his combo again and again and again. He can't miss" shows zed missing 3 weqs and dying.

11:17 you didn't proc your passive on the dummy. that dummy would've still taken around 2k damage

Best vid out there for vsing zed, explaining shit no one has the balls to say. Didn't explain how to vs Zeds that freeze lanes tho

When showing the training dummys you didnt even use e on the 70 armor one. Every point of armor give +1% EHP vs physical damage, its that simple.

Thanks for the video! Would it be possible to have a malzahar guide (maybe combos etc) as I've currently picked him up and find him quite strong atm. However, couldn't really find much guides that are recent :S

Greatly enjoyed this video. If possible, I'd like to see the same concept done with other notorious low-Elo lane stompers, such as Yasuo or LeBlanc (again from Hector of course XD).

I love the opinionated format its very good too see these opinions so please do more

Question from a low elo sup main whom you just roasted for control wards and lost chapter power spikes: how is vision worthless when my job is map control and utility? Especially when I have received a ban before because my Swain/ Liandry's was apparently kill stealing (somehow the mispositioned adc missing and sniping with W past their turret is a ks), meaning I have been punished by Rito for dealing damage...? My wards have allowed me to snipe drakes and Baron, as well as anyone my jg is chasing. How is vision and mana less favorable than damage when my prio is cc?

i realize that this video is a bit old now but on the zhonyas point i slightly disagree. If you play something like veigar orianna or lux, you can start with a tear and never really need mana. Veigar espically is good for this for passively farming stacks. as long as you call your missing thoroughly and your bot lane isnt brain dead every time he leaves you can widen your cs/xp lead. having an early zhonyas isnt just good for zed but a generally good tool for the entire game. That said it is match up dependant, if your team is behind early then going for the scaling build over early power is not always the play so build for the matchup. But generally speaking if zed leaves lane to look for kills elsewhere, gets nothing and you continue to build an xp/cs lead he will be to starved out to do much. i used to play ALOT of zed but his match ups are just to niche. Alot of low elo players early pick zed regaurdless of match up then you can just draft tanks/bulky champs and hes useless after about 20 minutes especially if he fails to get anything meaningful in the first 15 minutes

Yes hector, explain why I can’t look at my minimap and make inferences instead of having to have vision.

Awesome guide man, no bullshit, direct to the point!

Yo shots fired at my man curtis 💀

Him saying get a friend at the end hit a bit differently than it should have

Look at the lux with the fresh plater of int 4:30

me as a qiyana main : bait his w, dodge with w, throw one q repeat repeat bait ultimate, flash near wall, stun him and kill him easy But a nerf wouldn’t hurt since he has 55 ban rate and he is the only assassin who can trade with little to non risks.

6:40 I can't believe I got called out like that

11:03 am i missing something or did he just not e the last dummy

Please explain why control wards are useless in low elo solo queue

Well, in the end, you proved that Zed is weak by being so much counterable, from picks to items and laning correctly against him.

He didn't auto the last one at 11:15

Sometimes I play the early game correctly, punishing zed every time he goes to CS and then first drake spawn boom zed triple kill and the dive when ever he want without any counter play

I’ve perma banned zed for the last 4 years. Nothing is changing. I still permaban zed every game

Great Vid - Please do one on qiyana!!!

bloody hell perfect timing doing some off meta experimentations and first zed I faced won the game because I knew nothing. now I won't have to waste a ban on him by just applying the knowledge

11:20 didnt auto last target, it would be around 2070 DMG not 1700/1800 lmao