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Zed vs Smolder

Zed
vs
Not enough games
Smolder
Analyze a draft with Zed
Heavy AD damageHigh burstHeavy pokeSustained DPS

Build vs Smolder

The champion's reference build, for lack of enough games in this matchup

Recommended items for Zed: Voltaic Cyclosword, Bastionbreaker, Axiom Arc, Ionian Boots of Lucidity, Edge of Night, Serylda's Grudge, Lord Dominik's Regards, Guardian Angel.

Starting items

Scorchclaw Pup
Health Potion

Core build

Voltaic Cyclosword
1
Bastionbreaker
2
Axiom Arc
3

Standard

Ionian Boots of Lucidity
4CDR
Edge of Night
5

Anti CC

Mercury's Treads
4vs CC

Other options

Edge of Night
Serylda's Grudge
Lord Dominik's Regards
Guardian Angel
Endless Hunger
Youmuu's Ghostblade

Power Spikes

Strength by game phase

Smolder's abilities

Passive, spells and ultimate

Dragon Practice (P)

Hitting champions with Abilities and killing enemies with Super Scorcher Breath grants a stack of Dragon Practice. Stacks increase the damage of Smolders basic Abilities.

Cooldowns

Cooldowns by spell rank

LevelQWER
35.5s14s24s–
64.5s14s24s2m
93.5s13s24s2m
113.5s12s24s1m50
163.5s10s20s1m40
183.5s10s16s1m40

Playing as Zed

Tips to maximize your impact

  1. Combo with two shadows

    To kill, cast Death Mark (R), then Living Shadow (W), Shadow Slash (E) and Razor Shuriken (Q): with two shadows, you throw three shurikens.

  2. Dodge with Death Mark

    Cast Death Mark (R) just as the enemy casts their decisive spell: during the dash, you're untargetable.

  3. Save the swap back to your shadow

    After Death Mark (R), save the recast to get out: you swap places with the shadow left at your starting point, far from the fight.

  4. Save your energy

    Save enough energy for a full combo rather than casting your spells for nothing: Living Shadow (W) refunds energy when you and your shadow hit the same target.

  5. Flank to reach the carry

    In teamfights, go around the sides and save Death Mark (R) for an isolated target: going in from the front exposes you to the whole team's CC.

Playing against Smolder

How to counter and exploit weaknesses

  1. Trade early

    Take your trades early: his basic spells only gain damage with the Dragon Practice (passive) stacks he builds over the game.

  2. Save your CC for his flight

    If you have hard CC, save it for Flap, Flap, Flap (E): it's his only way to escape, and hard CC interrupts his flight.

  3. Don't stay grouped

    Don't stay grouped with your allies against him: empowered, Super Scorcher Breath (Q) also damages around its target and behind it.

  4. Leave the center of the breath

    Get out of the center of MMOOOMMMM! (R): that's where the breath hits hardest and slows.

Other Zed matchups

Patch 16.21.1