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How to Win Riven vs Zed Counter MatchupRiven is in the s tier of champions

Riven vs Zed

How to Beat Zed as Riven in LoLRiven is in the b tier of champions
FighterAssassin
Assassin

How to Beat Zed as Riven

based on 4,434 Riven vs Zed matchups
Win Rate
52.4 %
K/D/A
1.95
Pick Rate
3.7 %

How We Analyze LoL Champion Counters

We at MOBA Champion analyze millions of ranked League of Legends rounds each and every week. In our data, Riven battled Zed 4434 times. Having so many games with Riven vs Zed provides us confidence in our capacity to provide useful data and a pro build to defeat Zed. This matchup is relatively rare. Riven has to counter Zed in only 3.7% of her matches.

Riven vs Zed Matchup Summary

Riven has done a good job of countering Zed. Normally, she wins a terrific 52.4% of the time the champs oppose each other in. In Riven vs Zed rounds, Riven’s team is 0.1% more likely to obtain first blood, implying that she probably will get first blood against Zed.

Best Riven vs Zed Counter Build

Items

Starter Items

Time Target
Long SwordHealth Potion

Early Items

~5 Mins
Ruby CrystalCaulfield's Warhammer

Core Riven Items

~22 Mins
Sterak's GageSpear of ShojinEclipse

Optional Items

Guardian AngelDeath's DanceSundered SkyRavenous Hydra

Summoner Spells

summonerflash summoner spell D
summonerdot summoner spell F

Skill Order

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

Runes

PrecisionConquerorTriumphLegend: AlacrityLast Stand
SorceryNimbus CloakTranscendence
Adaptive ForceAdaptive ForceArmor
Riven's passive ability p
Riven's q ability q
Riven's w ability w
Riven's e ability e
Riven's ultimate ability r
1
Q
2
W
3
E
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 Zed as Riven

Tips for Playing as Riven against Zed

Riven lacks a source of healing or strong defense and must compensate with burst combos. Lead into fights with Broken Wings and Ki Burst, while using Valor to escape and absorb counter-harass.

Riven's Broken Wings locks onto the champion your cursor is over at the time of cast. If you want to move past your opponent, make sure that your cursor is past your opponent as well.

Advice to Win Against Zed

Zed's Shadow Slash can only slow you if his shadow hits you with it.

Zed receives bonus effect from Attack Damage items he purchases, so Armor is super effective against him.

After Zed uses his Living Shadow, he is at his most vulnerable as his damage, slow, and mobility are both dependent upon it.

Riven vs Zed Counter Stats

Riven Image
Win Rate
52.4 %
VS
Win Rate
47.6 %
Zed Image
7.2
< Kills >
8.6
6.1
< Deaths >
6.6
4.7
< Assists >
5.3
1.64
< Killing Sprees >
1.97
182
< Minions Killed >
159
0.07
< Dragons Killed >
0.23
0.46
< Inhibitors >
0.35
19,521
< Physical Damage >
21,167
64
< Magic Damage >
1,151
1,154
< True Damage >
1,238
20,739
< Damage Dealt >
23,557
25,695
< Damage Taken >
22,941
12,463
< Gold Earned >
12,519
2.3
< Towers >
1.56
0.02
< Baron Takedowns >
0.04
5,582
< Total Healing >
3,635
15,371
< Experience >
14,688
16
< Vision Score >
18
8
< Wards Placed >
7
130
< Time Dealing CC >
145

How to Counter Zed with Riven in LoL

The stats provided here feature several important Riven vs. Zed matchup statistics that can help you figure out the differences between the pair. For instance, Riven’s KDA ratio ([kills + assists] / deaths) of NaN is better than Zed’s KDA ratio of NaN, showing that Riven may be more central to her team's team fighting effectiveness than Zed..

Riven often has a slightly smaller longest killing spree than her foe does. Commonly, she takes a similar amount of damage to Zed. This is usually reflective of differing health capacities; however, it can also show that the one champion has less agility and thus is unable to flee from further harm when engaged or poked.

Differences between Riven and Zed

Damage Types Compared

Riven
Zed
Physical Damage
Magic Damage
True Damage

Champion Playstyles Compared

Riven
Zed

Who is Better, Riven or Zed?

Both LoL champs are great. Both champs have their pros and cons. In League's current meta, Riven usually wins when facing off against Zed, with a 52.4% win rate. As a result, Riven makes a good counter to Zed.

While Riven does have a higher winrate than Zed, when they face off with one another, Riven also has a greater difficulty level that makes her a more time consuming character to pick up and master. You should be be fine when picking Riven into Zedas her relative depth means you may not be able to reach her full potential without a lot of practice beforehand.

Moreover, Riven also has some amount of utility and CC, a similar amount to Zed. This often makes her just as valuable during team fights, especially when facing champions with a ton of burst damage.

While there isn't one best champion overall in League of Legends, in Riven vs Zed matchups, Riven is the better champ with a noticably higher win rate, more champion depth, and a similar amount of utility to help out your allies during team fights.

Riven is a good counter to Zed. Focus your actions on maximizing your CS and clearing objectives. If you do that, you should hold your own as Riven against Zed.

Other Champion Matchups Against Riven

Riven Loses Against

UrgotUrgot45.9% winrateKledKled45.9% winrateQuinnQuinn46.2% winrateBriarBriar46.5% winrate

Riven Wins Against

NidaleeNidalee57.1% winrateYuumiYuumi56.9% winrateKarthusKarthus54.6% winrateGangplankGangplank54.2% winrate

Top Synergies by Role

TaricTaric+ 54.4% 1187 GamesLilliaLillia+ 54.5% 7586 GamesMordekaiserMordekaiser+ 54.7% 1690 GamesSingedSinged+ 57% 537 Games

Additional Information for Riven Players

How We Calculated Our Riven vs Zed Build and Stats

For this guide on countering Zed as Riven, we analyzed 4,434 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 Zed as Riven 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

Riven Build Zed Build

Further Insights to Win this Matchup

If you would like to truly master Riven to counter Zed during both the lane and mid / late game phases of League of Legends, you should keep reading to learn a few extra tricks and insights into this matchup. If you listen to the build and tips presented above, you should increase your win rate significantly and be that much closer to League of Legends pro players.

Riven often accumulates a similar amount of CS as Zed. Champs who typically don't acquire many minion kills typically don't need much CS to be effective, such as sup champs. These kinds of champions are capable of scaling well off of their skills, stats, and first items alone. Yet, champs with large amounts of CS, such as hyper-carries, often have to have several high cost items to be effective. In either situation, try to exceed the numbers displayed on this page to do well.

The ideal items to prioritize in your Riven versus Zed build include Sterak's Gage, Spear of Shojin, and Eclipse. When Riven used at least these three items in her build, she did a lot better when facing Zed than with most other typical item sets. In fact, Riven boasted an average win rate of 52.4% battling Zed with this counter build.

To have the highest probability of beating Zed as Riven, you should equip the Conqueror, Triumph, Legend: Alacrity, Last Stand, Nimbus Cloak, and Transcendence runes from the Precision and Sorcery rune sets. Of all the rune sets players used for Riven vs Zed clashes, this mixture of runes yielded the greatest win rate. Moreover, these runes averaged a 52.4% winrate overall.

By default, tips, statistics, and builds on how to beat Zed as Riven are given for all skill levels, merged. If you want to scope the statistics and builds to a particular player tier, you should use the selection menu located above.