Zed ARAM Mayhem Build

The Master of Shadows. A middle-of-the-pack pick in ARAM Mayhem on patch 26.21: #83 of 173 champions.

BPatch 26.21AssassinNo runes in Mayhem

Tier: B
Win rate: 49.5%
Pick rate: 9.3%
Rank: #83 of 173
Games: 2,148,805
Patch: 26.21

How to play Zed in ARAM Mayhem

Zed is a solid, middle-of-the-pack pick in ARAM Mayhem on patch 26.21: tier B, #83 of 173 champions, with a 49.5% win rate over 2,148,805 games. It is also one of the most picked champions, showing up in 9% of games, so expect to see it on both sides.

84% of Zed's damage to champions is physical, so enemy armor is what slows it down. It deals 45,614 damage to champions in an average game, more than most champions, so play to stay alive and keep hitting. It brings almost no crowd control, so it relies on teammates to set up kills.

The Lethality build, lethality items for burst, is both the most played and the top-ranked path: Hubris, Voltaic Cyclosword and Axiom Arc, with a 49.8% win rate over 1,603,768 games. On this build 57% of players skip boots and spend the slot on another item.

The cards that do best on Zed are Weapon of Destiny, Hand of Baron and The Boom and the Bass. Cards built around ability power fill most of the top of its list, followed by attack damage. Most of its S-tier cards are prismatic, so a prismatic offer is often the pick that shapes the game. Skip Bread and Cheese and Upgrade Sheen when you can: they do worst on Zed. A pair to look for: Earthwake with Weapon of Destiny.

Take Flash and Mark (95% of players). Max Q (Razor Shuriken) first, then E, then W.

Zed ARAM Mayhem build

ARAMKit groups every Zed game by build path. The top-ranked path comes first, with the items most players start with, buy first and add later.

Lethality build · top ranked

49.8% win rate · 83% of Zed games · 1,603,768 games

Start

Long Sword
Guardian's Blade

Core items, in buying order

Hubris
Voltaic Cyclosword
Axiom Arc

Boots on the Lethality build for Zed, top ranked first, with the share of players who buy them
Boots, best first	Players
Gluttonous Greaves	22%
No boots	57%
Mercury's Treads	5%

Situational, after the core

Endless Hunger22% buy it
Maw of Malmortius3% buy it
Death's Dance16% buy it
Profane Hydra6% buy it
Lord Dominik's Regards20% buy it
Serylda's Grudge29% buy it

Other build paths

Other Zed build paths with share of games, win rate and core items
Path	Core items	Games	Win rate
BruiserHubris, Death's Dance, Endless Hunger		0.9%	54.5%
CritHubris, The Collector, Infinity Edge		5.5%	48.5%

Games: the share of all Zed games that went this way.

Most bought items

Hubris90% of games
Axiom Arc74% of games
The Collector59% of games
Voltaic Cyclosword48% of games
Serylda's Grudge29% of games
Lord Dominik's Regards21% of games
Endless Hunger19% of games
Gluttonous Greaves18% of games
Ionian Boots of Lucidity18% of games
Death's Dance18% of games

Best augments for Zed

Every card with enough Zed games, by tier and best first within each tier. Tiers are Zed's own: a card can be S tier here and C tier on another champion. As Riot's policy asks, cards are shown by tier and order only, never with a win rate. Click a card for its own page; the augment tier list ranks them over all champions.

PrismaticBest prismatic cards

GoldBest gold cards

SilverBest silver cards

S- and A-tier cards for Zed

8 S tier and 25 A tier, best first.

The S- and A-tier augments for Zed in ARAM Mayhem, best first, with their rarity and what they do
Augment	Rarity	Tier	What it does
Weapon of Destiny	Gold	Tier S	Your first Legendary Item becomes the Weapon of Destiny. When a champion you damaged within the last 3 seconds dies, increase the Weapon of…
Hand of Baron	Prismatic	Tier S	Gain 25% Adaptive Force. Nearby allied minions are greatly empowered.
The Boom and the Bass	Gold	Tier S	After casting an Ability, your next Attack within 6 seconds is faster, deals Melee (50–200 (by level) +50% Bonus Attack Damage+30% Ability…
Earthwake	Prismatic	Tier S	Your dash, leap, blink, or teleport Abilities leave behind a trail that detonates after 1 second, dealing (90–250 (by level) +60% Ability…
Take'em Down Down Down	Gold	Tier S	Attacks and Abilities apply a stack to enemy champions for 5 seconds and deal Melee (5–30 (by level) +35% Bonus Attack Damage+15% Ability…
Mad Scientist	Prismatic	Tier S	On each Revive, you grow large (gaining 30% Adaptive Force and 20% Health) or tiny (gaining 70 Ability Haste and 40% Movement Speed).
Ultra Hydra	Prismatic	Tier S	Gain a Tiamat when completing a Hydra Item. QUEST: Possess Titanic Hydra, Ravenous Hydra and Profane Hydra. REWARD: Get Ultra Hydra.
Final Form	Prismatic	Tier S	After casting your Ultimate, gain a 50% max Health Shield, 20% Omnivamp and 30% bonus Movement Speed for 10 seconds. (20 seconds Cooldown).
Clown College	Prismatic	Tier A	Backstab: You deal (20–35 (by level) +35% Ability Power +50% Bonus Attack Damage) bonus physical damage when striking from behind. Deceive…
From Beginning To End	Gold	Tier A	Gain the First Strike and Dark Harvest Keystone Runes. First Strike: When you initiate champion combat, deal 10% extra damage for 3 seconds…
BEES!!!	Gold	Tier A	Every 15–10 (by level) seconds, your next Ability hit against an enemy champion throws a beehive at the target. Upon arriving, the hive…
Escape Plan	Silver	Tier A	Gain a massive (65% Max Health) decaying Shield, decaying 150% Movement Speed, and a decaying shrink effect upon reaching 35% Health (75…
Tooth Fairy	Gold	Tier A	When you deal more than 25% of an enemy champion's Health in less than 2.5 seconds, they drop a Tooth. 4 seconds cooldown per target
Goldrend	Prismatic	Tier A	Damaging a champion with Attacks or Abilities deals an additional (50–150 (by level) +20% Ability Power +40% Bonus Attack Damage) magic…
Omni Soul	Prismatic	Tier A	Gain 3 random Dragon Souls.
Swift and Safe	Silver	Tier A	Gain a (65–290 (by level) +26% Ability Power +65% Bonus Attack Damage) Shield for 2 seconds after a Dash or Blink (5 seconds Cooldown).
Giant Slayer	Prismatic	Tier A	Become tiny, gain 20% Movement Speed, and deal between 10% and 30% bonus damage to champions based on how much larger they are than you.
Blunt Force	Silver	Tier A	–
Stay Resolute	Silver	Tier A	Damaging enemy champions with selected ability grants you 1–3 (by level) Armor or Magic Resistance based on their Adaptive Force Damage…
Goliath	Prismatic	Tier A	Become large, gaining 35% Health and 15% Adaptive Force.
En Passant	Prismatic	Tier A	Periodically identify Vitals on enemy champions. Hitting Vitals with Attacks or Abilities deals an additional 6% + 1.5% per stack max Health…
Goredrink	Silver	Tier A	Gain 15% Omnivamp.
Donation	Gold	Tier A	Receive 1750 Gold. Thanks chat!:)
Stats on Stats!	Gold	Tier A	Gain 3 Stat Anvils, with a higher chance of Gold and Prismatic Anvils!
Get Jinxed	Gold	Tier A	Replace a Summoner Spell with Get Jinxed! Get Jinxed!: Ride a rocket that explodes upon hitting an enemy champion, structure, or terrain…
Transmute: Prismatic	Gold	Tier A	Gain a random Augment Tier Prismatic Augment.
Upgrade Ravenous Hydra	Gold	Tier A	Your spell hits trigger Cleave against enemies. Increase Ravenous Hydra's Life Steal to 20% Gain 500 Gold.
Transmute: Chaos	Prismatic	Tier A	Gain 2 random Augment Tier Augments.
Infinite Recursion	Prismatic	Tier A	Gain 60 Ability Haste, plus 3 Ability Haste per takedown.
Blade Waltz	Prismatic	Tier A	Makes you untargetable while you dash at and deal (30–150 (by level) +10% Bonus Attack Damage+6% Ability Power) damage to enemies 8 times…
Urf's Champion	Prismatic	Tier A	QUEST: Score 18 takedowns. REWARD: Gain The Golden Spatula.
Jeweled Gauntlet	Prismatic	Tier A	Your Abilities can Critically Strike for 45% increased damage. Gain Critical Strike Chance (25%+4.5% Ability Power) Crit Chance.
Twin Fire	Silver	Tier A	On ability damage, fire 1 plus (3% Critical Strike Chance) missiles that deal (10–30 (by level) +7% Bonus Attack Damage+7% Ability Power)…

Average on Zed
37 cards, best first

Below average on Zed
27 cards, best first

Weakest on Zed
13 cards, best first

Best first augment for Zed

Your first card decides the early fights, and a card that is great as a first pick can be a weak fourth. ARAMKit ranks Zed's cards for each pick on its own; these are the top five per pick, with their tier in that pick. For the first pick, Weapon of Destiny, Take'em Down Down Down and Ultra Hydra come out on top.

The best augments for Zed in each pick of an ARAM Mayhem game, best first, with their tier in that pick
#	First pick	Second pick	Third pick	Fourth pick
1	Weapon of DestinyTier S	Take'em Down Down DownTier S	Hand of BaronTier S	Hand of BaronTier S
2	Take'em Down Down DownTier S	Mad ScientistTier S	The Boom and the BassTier S	The Boom and the BassTier S
3	Ultra HydraTier S	The Boom and the BassTier S	EarthwakeTier S	EarthwakeTier S
4	Mad ScientistTier S	Weapon of DestinyTier S	Mad ScientistTier S	Mad ScientistTier S
5	The Boom and the BassTier S	Bread And JamTier S	Take'em Down Down DownTier S	Take'em Down Down DownTier S

Strong card pairs

Two cards that do especially well together on Zed, best pair first.

Summoner spells and skill order

Summoner spells

Flash + Mark95% of players · 49.7% win rate
Flash + Ghost4% of players · 47.6% win rate
Flash + Ignite1% of players · 46.8% win rate

Skill order

QRazor Shuriken
EShadow Slash
WLiving Shadow

Max Q first. 88% of players use this order (50.3% win rate); put points in R whenever you can.

Zed in an average Mayhem game

Averages per game over every game on this patch.

K / D / A: 16.3 / 12.4 / 19.9
KDA: 3.17
Damage to champions: 45,614
Damage taken: 33,383
Self-mitigated: 28,720
Healing on allies: 0
Shielding on allies: 0
Crowd control: 7 s
Kill participation: 64%
Game length: 16:58

Damage type

Physical 84%Magic 9%True 7%

Questions and answers

What is the best Zed build in ARAM Mayhem?

On patch 26.21 ARAMKit ranks the Lethality build first for Zed: Hubris, Voltaic Cyclosword and Axiom Arc. It is also the most played build.

What are the best augments for Zed in ARAM Mayhem?

The S-tier cards for Zed, best first: Weapon of Destiny, Hand of Baron, The Boom and the Bass, Earthwake and Take'em Down Down Down. The full list by tier is on this page.

Is Zed good in ARAM Mayhem?

Zed is tier B on patch 26.21, #83 of 173 champions, with a 49.5% win rate over 2.1 million games. That makes it a solid, middle-of-the-pack pick in ARAM Mayhem right now.

What is the best first augment for Zed in ARAM Mayhem?

For Zed's first pick on patch 26.21: Weapon of Destiny, Take'em Down Down Down, Ultra Hydra, Mad Scientist and The Boom and the Bass, best first. Cards rank differently in later picks; the table on this page has all four.

Other Assassins in ARAM Mayhem

Get Zed's build and card tiers in your game

LazyElo is a free Windows app that sits next to the League client. In the Mayhem lobby it shows which champion on your bench is strongest; in the game you type the three cards you're offered and see their tier for Zed side by side, with this build in the overlay.

Download LazyElo for Windows

Free plan, no ads. For Windows 10 and 11.

Plans and pricing The ARAM Mayhem overlay

ARAM Mayhem tier list
Every champion by tier on patch 26.21.
ARAM Mayhem augment tier list
Every card from S to D over all champions.
All Mayhem builds
Pick a champion from the full list.
ARAM Mayhem rules
Augment levels, rerolls and why there are no runes.
ARAM Mayhem guide
How the mode, the cards and the picks work.
Zed counters
Its lane matchups on Summoner's Rift.
ARAM Mayhem overlay
The card picker and build in the app.

Source: ARAMKit, used with permission. Patch 26.21, 23,177,263 ARAM Mayhem games, data of October 28, 2026. Riot keeps Mayhem games out of its public match API, so these aggregates come from ARAMKit. Card tiers are shown without win rates, as Riot's developer policy asks.