Forum talk:Neekerivittu/@comment-90.230.40.24-20121107144008

I have a theory about Zed, that he is in fact in a way an entirely new type of champion (or, at least one of a kind that have never or rarely seen top level use)

Let me start by bringing up the classical assasins - champions like Talon, Kassadin, LeBlanc etc. What these champions have in common is 1. A very strong and fast burst 2. some form of silence in order to keep their squishy targets from flashing away/using other disengagement abilities.

When you compare this to Zed, you realize he has neither; his burst is strong, but not AS fast as some others, and it relies on him standing about and autoattacking a bit to maximize the damage from his ultimate, something that is very sub-optimal for the previously mentioned assasins. What he does have, however, is the capacity to far outdo the damage of regular assasins when given some time to execute his attacks unhindered. Now, this is unthinkable against either an AP carry or the AD carry, as he have no cc to keep them in place, and is too slow for the supprts/tanks not to realize and stop him.

So, the theory i have, is that Zed is not an assasin focused on taking out the sqishiest targets, but rather carrying bruisers, such as Darius. Supporting this idea is 1.the fact that you are generally not considered as equally much of a threat when targeting Darius as when targeting a carry, meaning you are more likely to get those auto-attacks in. 2. That his passive deals % hp, meaining it is more effective on tankier targets 3. The fact that the upcoming armor penetration changes actually make this a somewhat viable role, since previously a Darius could simply get more armor and make the burst insufficient 4. That he is energy-based, and comes with good poke, meaning he can counter these melee bruisers kennen-style in lane. 5.That his burst is faster than that of most bruisers, whilst as a tradeof being entirely focused on a single target. Zed can never be a good bruiser, as he would provide almost zero utility, insufficient burst to take a target out completely and a single target ultimate, meaning once he's used his skills he's pretty much dead weight (unlike Darius, who can just keep chopping) Also, (again) he will allways be inferior to assasins such as Talon at taking out carries, since his burst is neither fast enough nor provide any flash-preventing cc. It is simply the only role left for him.

So, Zed as an Anti-Bruiser assasin - Obvious or idiotic?