Zed Scaling: Grade C
No, not reliably. Zed falls off in coordinated late-game fights. Grade C, Bad late, in The Scaling Codex.
Reviewed for League of Legends Season 16 (2026).
Verdict. Scales similarly to Talon. His assassination abilities are too slow to impact the game and he is susceptible to getting CC'd out and one-shotted.
Why Zed falls off
Death Mark is a promise with a delivery window, and the endgame lives inside that window. The mark detonates seconds after it lands, and he has to survive those seconds while dealing the damage that gets amplified during them. Full-build teams fill exactly that window with peel, shields, and the one stun they saved for him.
Being one-shottable finishes the argument. The champion whose plan requires standing next to the enemy carry is also the one who does not survive being touched.
The shadows are entry and exit sharing a budget
The playable version waits for their answers to be spent, ults the carry who kited away from peel, and always leaves one shadow behind as the way home.
One shadow forward is a combo. Two shadows forward is a funeral.
Common questions about Zed scaling
Does Zed scale well into the late game?
No, not reliably. Zed falls off in coordinated late-game fights. Grade C, Bad late, in The Scaling Codex.
Why does Zed fall off late?
The playable version waits for their answers to be spent, ults the carry who kited away from peel, and always leaves one shadow behind as the way home.
What is the late-game rule for Zed?
One shadow forward is a combo. Two shadows forward is a funeral.
How this grade was judged
The grade weighs range, target access, sustained and burst damage, crowd control, mobility, durability, healing and shielding, resets, cooldown structure, objective and formation control, split pressure, and how well the champion survives a long fight. Builds and forms that scale differently are graded separately. This is Vambient's gameplay evaluation of coordinated late-game fights, not a win-rate calculation. Full methodology.
Related champions
- Why Annie is also Grade C
- Why Braum is also Grade C
- Why Briar is also Grade C
- Why Cho'Gath is also Grade C
- See the full Grade C tier
The grade measures one thing: how much a champion can influence a coordinated late-game objective fight once both teams reach full builds. It does not measure early strength, snowballing, or win rate. A weak late-game champion still wins by ending the game first, which is what the rest of the library teaches. How the grades are decided.