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How to Win Zed vs Karthus Counter MatchupZed is in the b tier of champions

Zed vs Karthus

How to Beat Karthus as Zed in LoLZed is in the b tier of champions
Assassin
Mage

How to Beat Karthus as Zed

based on 1,735 Zed vs Karthus matchups
Win Rate
49.8 %
K/D/A
2.16
Pick Rate
1.3 %

How We Analyze LoL Champion Counters

We get our matchup stats from the millions of recently ranked League of Legends games that we analyze each week. Our guide on how to beat Karthus as Zed resulted from an evaluation of 1735 ranked games where both champs fought one another. This champion matchup is fairly rare. Zed fights Karthus in only 1.3% of his games.

Zed vs Karthus Matchup Summary

Zed has done a average job of beating Karthus. Typically, he wins a acceptable 49.8% of games the champions fight one another in. In Zed vs Karthus rounds, Zed’s team is 0.0% more expected to gain first blood. This implies that he probably will be able to get first blood against Karthus.

Best Zed vs Karthus Counter Build

Items

Starter Items

Time Target
Long SwordHealth Potion

Early Items

~5 Mins
Kircheis ShardThe Brutalizer

Core Zed Items

~22 Mins
Edge of NightAxiom ArcVoltaic Cyclosword

Optional Items

Maw of MalmortiusHubrisYoumuu's GhostbladeSerylda's Grudge

Summoner Spells

summonerflash summoner spell D
summonerdot summoner spell F

Skill Order

First skill for Zed to level upq
>
Second ability for Zed to level upe
>
Last skill for Zed to max outw

Runes

DominationElectrocuteTaste of BloodEyeball CollectionUltimate Hunter
SorceryTranscendenceScorch
Adaptive ForceAdaptive ForceMagic Resist
Zed's passive ability p
Zed's q ability q
Zed's w ability w
Zed's e ability e
Zed's ultimate ability r
1
Q
2
E
3
W
4
Q
5
Q
6
R
7
Q
8
E
9
Q
10
E
11
R
12
E
13
E
14
W
15
W
16
R

Guide to Countering Karthus as Zed

Tips for Playing as Zed against Karthus

Placing a Living Shadow before using Death Mark can give Zed a safe escape from combat.

Saving energy and spell cooldowns until you use your ultimate will maximize Death Mark's damage.

Quickly double tapping Living Shadow will teleport Zed to his shadow immediately for rapid escapes.

Advice to Win Against Karthus

Karthus can cast spells for a short duration after he is killed. Move away from his corpse to be safe.

Make sure you always have enough health to survive Requiem, even if you have to go back to the base more frequently to heal.

Zed vs Karthus Counter Stats

Zed Image
Win Rate
49.8 %
VS
Win Rate
50.2 %
Karthus Image
9.5
< Kills >
7.5
7
< Deaths >
7.8
5.6
< Assists >
9.6
2.21
< Killing Sprees >
1.81
164
< Minions Killed >
89
0.22
< Dragons Killed >
0.95
0.34
< Inhibitors >
0.29
23,456
< Physical Damage >
243
1,306
< Magic Damage >
29,803
1,303
< True Damage >
2,124
26,066
< Damage Dealt >
32,170
25,806
< Damage Taken >
30,822
13,146
< Gold Earned >
13,250
1.58
< Towers >
1.04
0.04
< Baron Takedowns >
0.24
4,314
< Total Healing >
9,589
15,736
< Experience >
15,448
18
< Vision Score >
20
7
< Wards Placed >
7
153
< Time Dealing CC >
220

How to Counter Karthus with Zed in LoL

The stats provided here clarify several critical Zed vs. Karthus matchup statistics that may help us grasp the distinctions between the two. As an example, Zed’s KDA ratio ([kills + assists] / deaths) of NaN is better than Karthus’s ratio of NaN, highlighting that Zed may be more central to his team's team fighting potential than Karthus..

Zed typically has a slightly larger longest killing spree than his foe does. On average, he takes less damage than Karthus. This often reflects different amounts of tankyness; however, it can also illustrate that the champion with increased health has less mobility and thus is not able to escape further harm when poked or engaged.

Differences between Zed and Karthus

Damage Types Compared

Zed
Karthus
Physical Damage
Magic Damage
True Damage

Champion Playstyles Compared

Zed
Karthus

Who is Better, Zed or Karthus?

Both LoL champs are great champions. Both have their strengths, weaknesses, and counters. In the game's current meta, Zed usually fairs equally well when trying to fight Karthus, with a 49.8% win rate. Therefore, Zed makes an ok counter for Karthus.

While Zed does have a lower winrate compared to Karthus, when they face off with one another, Zed also has a greater learning curve that makes him a more challenging champ to develop with. You should be careful when picking Zed into Karthusas his relative depth means you may not be able to unleash his full potential without a lot of practice beforehand.

Moreover, Zed has only a small amount of CC and other utility, a similar amount to Karthus. This makes her just as valuable during teamfights, especially when trying to counter champions with a ton of burst damage.

While there is not one best champion for every situation in League of Legends, in Zed vs Karthus matchups, Karthus is the better champion with a similar win rate, similar champion depth, and a similar amount of utility to help out your teammates during teamfights.

Zed is a somewhat poor counter to Karthus. Focus your play on maximizing your gold income and destroying objectives. If you do that, you should do very well as Zed against Karthus.

Other Champion Matchups Against Zed

Zed Loses Against

FizzFizz44.4% winrateLilliaLillia44.4% winrateMaokaiMaokai44.6% winrateTaricTaric44.8% winrate

Zed Wins Against

SejuaniSejuani55.1% winrateZeriZeri54.1% winrateTaliyahTaliyah53.7% winrateSyndraSyndra53.3% winrate

Top Synergies by Role

ZileanZilean+ 52.2% 1530 GamesSingedSinged+ 52.3% 3841 GamesLilliaLillia+ 53.5% 10540 GamesRyzeRyze+ 53.5% 550 Games

Additional Information for Zed Players

How We Calculated Our Zed vs Karthus Build and Stats

For this guide on countering Karthus as Zed, we analyzed 1,735 matchups from recent LoL games. We use rigorous data cleaning and processing methods to ensure that our counter stats are of the highest quality. You can rest assured that the recommended build to counter Karthus as Zed comes from real data and is not the fabrication of some random LoL player, as some other sites provide. You can use the filters at the top of the page to view the most relevant stats and items to your rank.

Other Useful Resources

Zed Build Karthus Build

Further Insights to Win this Matchup

To learn all of the intricacies of Zed to counter Karthus during both the early game and mid / late game phases of League of Legends, you should continue reading to pick up a few extra tricks and insights into this matchup. If you pay attention to the build and stats shown above, you will increase your win rate significantly and be closer to League of Legends pro players.

Zed most often racks up more CS relative to Karthus. Champions who typically don't take much CS usualy don't require much CS to be valuable teammates, such as supports. They are capable of scaling properly off of their abilities and first items alone. Yet, champs with large amounts of CS, such as hyper-carries, typically need a lot of items to be effective. In either case, try to surpass the numbers reported here to do well.

The ideal items to focus on in your Zed versus Karthus build include Edge of Night, Axiom Arc, and Voltaic Cyclosword. When Zed included at least these three items in his build, he did a lot better vs Karthus than with many other commonly used builds. In fact, Zed had an average win rate of 49.8% when playing against Karthus with this counter build.

To have the best chance of crushing Karthus as Zed, Zed players should use the Electrocute, Taste of Blood, Eyeball Collection, Ultimate Hunter, Transcendence, and Scorch runes from the Domination and Sorcery rune sets. Of all the runes players chose for Zed vs Karthus LoL games, this mixture of runes yielded the best win rate. Notably, these runes provided a 49.8% winrate overall.

By default, tips, statistics, and builds on how to beat Karthus as Zed are displayed for all skill levels combined. To filter the stats and builds to a particular division, you should use the selection menu located above.