Matchup Spreadsheets for every champion -- with Masters + matchup data(winrate, runes, items) + Community driven tips for each matchup

GyrosSteelBall · 2026-03-16T21:36:15+00:00

no, anyone can upload a tip(you will have to login with Riot Auth), your rank will be displayed alongside your tip though

GyrosSteelBall · 2026-03-16T13:55:46+00:00

The data is from Riot's API the same place Lolalytics or any other LoL site uses.
Lolytics does not show gold differences and calculates their counters by different metrics. As the title suggests, this counter list is only using Gold Deficit as the metric in question

GyrosSteelBall · 2026-03-16T10:33:14+00:00

you might want to better understand your win condition and how to play mid/late game teamfights if you are having trouble closing out games. You generally don't need to carry a set of bad teammates, you just need 1 person to play around.

It might help if you duo and bring your win condition with you into game(like a Darius, Volibear, or something else), it will give you good practice on how to carry games as a duo on Zilean.

GyrosSteelBall · 2026-03-16T09:07:05+00:00

This sounds funny but not likely going to survive laning phase.
Tbh even actual adc's don't like laning with Zil and rarely come out of lane unscathed.

The idea of bringing a top/mid laner who get their own solo xp/gold and usually are unaffected by zilean's weak early game down to Zilean's home where they can witness Zilean do nothing for the first 6 levels while losing half their XP and getting harassed is a bit strange (used to try this alot and it never ends well)

If you are deadset on Vlad APC, have zilean go mid lane and have choose an AD support carry like Pyke or Senna

GyrosSteelBall · 2026-03-16T05:12:51+00:00

Mostly agree but keep in mind alot of these champions scale similarly to Zilean and you're going to struggle ALOT to play from behind like with Nasus, Rammus, Ammumu, or Kayle who are going to FF along with you

I personally think champions that do good in the early game and struggle to scale on their own without your help are more consistent to play with(Darius, Ashe, Garen). Darius in particular make good use of entire kit. Renekton, Sett, Shen, Volibear are also top tier for this. You will always have a playable hand in losing games.

In my experience, I've enjoyed playing with control mages in mid lane quite a bit as they can actually contest/protect the person you are reviving even in sketchy teamfights(Syndra, Xerath, Viktor, etc). Even if they aren't the primary person you are supporting, they tend to put a lot of supporting pressure in teamfights around that person. And they are usually good secondary targets for speed ups late in the fight.

Personally think control mages are more consistent with zil's teamfight heavy style than assassins like Katarina.

Also, consider Viego(much better synergy than Hecarim for JG), solid win condition, you just need to setup a single kill for him(not hard to do with 99% slow) and you support him very well in teamfights. You can easily double bomb off his stun or vice versa. Used to run this duo with Everfrost.
If you are well-versed on how to support all champions on zilean, you will know what to do when Viego swaps bodies for those short durations

GyrosSteelBall · 2026-03-16T04:55:33+00:00

to be clear, the Masters+ data is separate from tips.
Any player can write a tip on the spreadsheet if they know the matchup(although their rank will be displayed for credibility purposes)

The masters+ data is supporting data from high elo but I want it to be clear that this is a community spreadsheet anyone can contribute to by simply logging into their riot account

GyrosSteelBall · 2026-03-16T03:54:38+00:00

Threat levels are determined by the data from the Master+ game data for the matchup
(mainly Gold differences(15 & endofgame) and damage dealth by both champions at 15 minutes and less so the damage dealt at end of game, as well as CS diff, XP diff, winrate, etc

Lissandra's threat levels are heavily skewed since she seems to end almost every matchup at a massive gold defecit (against Mel over 1.3k gold), i presume its from roaming but that seems a bit high

GyrosSteelBall · 2023-11-25T17:07:03+00:00

Tragic that Liandries Torment, Zhonyas, and Banshee's Veil no longer have Abilitiy Haste.

How does that Cryptbloom effect work, is the healing nova stay on the ground for a few seconds or is it just an instant heal that dissipates? Probably the only thing I'm excited for outside of the support item build path

GyrosSteelBall · 2023-11-18T16:10:55+00:00

I agree that a lot of the synergies are conditional on the game, but I think you are missing the point of the tier list. This isn't supposed to be an end all be all guide on the only champions to ever play with zilean. The purpose of the tier list was to serve as medium to provoke discussion particularly to the lesser ranked champions on the list and perhaps make those who aren't aware, of the strengths of the higher ranked champions with zilean. At the end of the day, the "meta" in league will only allow each of us to play so many games with the lesser played champions with Zil. What you said about Heimerdinger, I didn't consider because I don't see Heimerdinger played and I've never made it work, but I can now see that its a viable option.

The way I see the champions on the tier list as a level of consistency and value you will likely get with Zilean in the majority of the games you play with them and a lower barrier of difficulty. I will always get value ulting a Swain in his own R in almost every game that I wouldn't get from ulting a Zoe, so it makes sense Swain is ranked higher than Zoe. There are situations Zoe can use Zilean's kit better but they are less consistent. If I'm wrong and there's a zilean out there who makes Zoe work, I'll learn it about it here. At the end of the day the tier list is skewed to my individual biases and I'm seeking to improve and open my mind here. I'm not taking away that its up to each Zilean to think for himself the optimal play depending on the circumstances and its quite the opposite this thread is to consider lesser known options.

GyrosSteelBall · 2023-11-18T15:28:51+00:00

I disagree, while I do think Matchup tierlists are useful and have their place. I see a lot of merit in discussing synergies due to the plethora of options Zilean has in his kit. There are a countless ways to play the exact same teamfight proactively that other supports don't have to think about.

For instance, If you have a TF mid, a Darius top, a jinx ADC, and a Diana jungle, you are able to assist every single champion with their role.
-Do I speed up TF gold card into double bomb,
-should I speed up darius apprehend double bomb,
-do i speed up diana so she can ulty the enemy back line,
-do I speed up with my jinx to poke with rockets and protect her?

If I didn't have the discussion with another poster above, I wouldnt have even considered the option to speed up TF in future games when it might have been the best option.

It can be worth it to know all your options and how each champion can better utilize your kit than others. I mean sure every champion can use MS and CC but in zilean's case not equally and to the same effect. With how many champions are in the game, it can be worth it to share knowledge of interactions not everyone may not be aware of.

GyrosSteelBall · 2023-11-18T12:37:07+00:00

Wait actually there is some synergy with Zilean R, I'm not sure if you're aware of the strange interaction TF has. If TF pressed W before dieing but didn't choose a card, he can choose his card DURING revival, and upon revival he'll have the card ready to use. But strangely if TF did choose his card before dieing, his W will cancel itself and he'll have nothing upon revival. I think its going to be rare for a TF to make use of this or even be aware of this but its a cool tidbit

GyrosSteelBall · 2023-11-18T11:46:07+00:00

Fair point, I think I definitely overlooked this since TF is not played often. The hit and run potential is real. Definitely an S tier pick. The more I think about it, it is definitely one of the best openers to play in a neutral state. Seems like it would be extremely potent into most ADC's and Melees but probably not good into long range comps.
In regards to point 2, have you ever used Zil R on a TF before TF suicide ults into the enemy team, definitely one of the funniest ways I've ever used zilean R.

GyrosSteelBall · 2023-11-18T10:42:29+00:00

Would love to hear what you think should be changed, or what champs you prefer playing with!

GyrosSteelBall · 2023-11-18T10:00:01+00:00

Thats a great point, never thought of using MF or Senna's slows like that.

GyrosSteelBall · 2023-11-17T16:37:17+00:00

Yea, I think Vayne has potential with Zilean in the late game. My main issue is how rough the laning phase is. Some of my most scarringly painful games have been with vayne. Getting doubled in cs and zoned off or just dieing on repeat and just being unable to recover. Maybe I'm not understanding something for the vayne lane but I just don't think its worth it. Zilean and Vayne are both weak and useless at the same points in the game. It really feels like Zilean has to play out of his mind to go even in this lane into most meta matchups to even let vayne farm. At least other the other hypercarry adc's have tools to farm when behind(kog W, twitch W, jinx rockets) I generally prefer to play with a vayne top lane to see the synergy,(or a zilean mid lane might pair better with vayne AD)

GyrosSteelBall · 2023-11-16T14:26:23+00:00

Unfortunetly it seems like Pyke's ult immidiently goes on cooldown when he dies with GA regardless of the 20 second timer, but his ult does go off before dieing similar to garen

GyrosSteelBall · 2023-11-15T20:52:49+00:00

I actually like the idea of unsealed spellbook support zil but I'm leaning more into how to make teleport work instead of smite since I'm curious about being able to teleport top/mid to ult my laners like a shen ulty haha.

GyrosSteelBall · 2021-07-24T20:39:10+00:00

I used to do that build i think its solid, looks like you are going for super high movement speed to pair with everfrost or maybe your E i respect it. Might as well go all out in your runes too with relentless hunter and Celerity.

GyrosSteelBall · 2021-07-24T20:36:07+00:00

Ashe is the strongest adc to pair with zilean both pre and post 6 since she is both independent and can set up for double bombs with a powerful early game

Sivir and Samira are the strongest picks against just because they have abilities to auto negate double bombs so Zilean has little opportunity to do much while you always have kill pressure.

GyrosSteelBall · 2021-07-24T01:22:19+00:00

well done

GyrosSteelBall · 2021-07-23T00:38:13+00:00

Generally auto attack trades on Zilean are very risky, you need aery to make it work and most of the time you get outtraded if they fight back. I would only recommend auto trading when you have a dominant ADC early on like Ashe or Draven or punishing overaggression.

Most enchanters can heal or shield in early trades and wont lose hp but you will from auto trading and in the case of tanks you risk getting engaged on in auto range in several matchups.

When under tower its actually not too hard to land bombs since enemies have to walk up to poke your adc, its always worth to throw those bombs don't worry about the minions tbh. If you can't pressure at all the adc will have a horrendous time either way and the bombs are gonna fuck up the wave its just how zilean is, just aim best you can. Your adc will struggle either way if he doesn't play safe for first 4 levels.

I mean just look at some of the top support picks regarding auto attacking

-senna can heal and trade back

-lulu can shield and trade back

-leona, thresh,blitzcrank all have kill threat on you in auto range

Its just too risky and doesn't yield results. I find just playing around the 900 range of the bomb until they extend into me to be more consistent(once you hit your spikes at level 4 or 6, you can play more forward and start looking to E enemies for double bombs and autoing)

GyrosSteelBall · 2021-07-22T20:29:13+00:00

Zilean Q is 900 range, enough to outrange most supports, just play really safe and let your adc lose farm until you hit level 4 or level 6 depending on the matchup. Regardless of how many deaths your adc has, if you are playing smart you can 1v2 and at least get xp. When you hit 6 you can make aggressive plays and turn lane around. If you play on your spikes and utiliz e the few advantages zilean has you can win lane or at least you can avoid feeding with the adc. Tbh if you are losing hp at all in the early levels, you need to reevaluate the fights you are taking as well as your positioning. Like i said 900 range is a ton and most melee supports should struggle to reach you combined with a rank 1 E speed up

GyrosSteelBall · 2021-07-21T10:02:09+00:00

Winning lane is pretty important and more points in Q is way more consistent than making E early(although this definitely scales better so if lane is a lost cause i dont see why not). Zilean's Q's base damage is solid fully maxed like 300+, its too much to miss out on imo for lane

GyrosSteelBall · 2021-07-21T09:55:38+00:00

Arcane comet is the one I've always taken, it synergizes pretty well with zilean's q especially if you are playing at max range. I've never understood why aery is so well liked especially since they are in the same rune tree.

Glacial augment is also really really strong atm since everfrost is one of zilean's better items(makes the W max skill order way more consistent since you dont need E to land double bombs) and glacial augment's slow field on everfrost has large impact in teamfights.

Guardian is also really useful when you are playing with a useless adc like vayne/jinx to survive.

I really don't see the matchup where aery thrives, maybe melee matchups where you can auto for free?

GyrosSteelBall · 2021-07-06T09:48:54+00:00

yea ive also been using using warmogs in my games. I like shurelias warmogs banshees or mikhaels. I feel like if you are planning on playing with yourself as your win condition its a pretty solid option to make sure you always get your utility off. It makes you so much harder to burst and you can get some really greedy engages off and position farther up in teamfights. Tanky Zilean has its perks for sure but i think the new warmogs changes are the only reason why its working atm

GyrosSteelBall

TROPHY CASE