All in Good Time
Summon Aery
Damaging enemy champions with basic attacks or abilities sends Aery to them, dealing 10 - 50 based on level (+
0.05 AP ) (+0.1 bonus AD ).
Empowering or protecting allies with abilities sends Aery to them, shielding them for 30 - 100 based on level (+0.05 AP ) (+0.1 bonus AD ).
Aery cannot be sent out again until she returns to you.Why?
Aery on Zilean allows you to proc the offensive damage with your bombs for more kill pressure as well as the shield on teammate when casting [E] on them.
Manaflow Band
Hitting an enemy champion with an ability permanently increases your maximum mana by 25, up to 250 mana.
After reaching 250 bonus mana, restore 1% of your missing mana every 5 seconds.
Cooldown: 15 secondsWhy?
Zilean's high mana cost abilities and wanting to spam them can make it difficult to keep up early lane pressure. Manaflow Band helps you overcome that issue with some mana sustain.
Transcendence
Gain bonuses upon reaching the following levels:
Level 5: +5Ability Haste
Level 8: +5Ability Haste
Level 11: On Champion takedown, reduce the remaining cooldown of basic abilities by 20%.Why?
Transcendence helps you get to that 40% CDR sooner with just an item or two for mid game teamfight utility.
Scorch
Your next damaging ability hit sets champions on fire dealing 20 - 40 bonus magic damage based on level after 1s.
Cooldown: 10sWhy?
Scorch's early game damage pressure pairs well with the high base damage of Zilean's [Q]. A few successful bombs in the laning phase can lead to an easy kill.
Cosmic Insight
+
18 Summoner Spell Haste
+10 Item HasteWhy?
Cosmic Insight is an all-around fantastic rune choice for Zilean as he can greatly make us of every stat.
Magical Footwear
You get free Slightly Magical Footwear at 12 min, but you cannot buy boots before then. For each takedown you acquire the boots 45s sooner.
Slightly Magical Footwear grants you an additional10 Move Speed .Why?
The free boots from Magical Footwear let you hit your mid-game item power-spikes just a bit quicker thanks to the high gold value.
I’ve Seen Their Death
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Summon Aery
Damaging enemy champions with basic attacks or abilities sends Aery to them, dealing 10 - 50 based on level (+
0.05 AP ) (+0.1 bonus AD ).
Empowering or protecting allies with abilities sends Aery to them, shielding them for 30 - 100 based on level (+0.05 AP ) (+0.1 bonus AD ).
Aery cannot be sent out again until she returns to you.Why?
Summon Aery is a great offensive as well as defensive tool on Zilean as casting [E] on a friendly target will grant them the shield.
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Manaflow Band
Hitting an enemy champion with an ability permanently increases your maximum mana by 25, up to 250 mana.
After reaching 250 bonus mana, restore 1% of your missing mana every 5 seconds.
Cooldown: 15 secondsWhy?
Zilean is a champion who relies heavily on casting his ability often, sometimes leaving you out of mana during important fights. Manaflow Band helps you to regen that mana when paired with ROA.
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Transcendence
Gain bonuses upon reaching the following levels:
Level 5: +5Ability Haste
Level 8: +5Ability Haste
Level 11: On Champion takedown, reduce the remaining cooldown of basic abilities by 20%.Why?
Transcendence allows you to build an early ROA while still hitting that important mid game CDR cap.
Gathering Storm
Every 10 min gain AP or AD,
adaptive .
10 min: + 8 AP or 5 AD
20 min: + 24 AP or 14 AD
30 min: + 48 AP or 29 AD
40 min: + 80 AP or 48 AD
50 min: + 120 AP or 72 AD
60 min: + 168 AP or 101 AD
etc...Why?
Gathering Storm is a fantastic rune on Zilean as it allows you ro safely scale into a deadly late game carry with high bomb potential while still retaining your teamfight utility.
Jack Of All Trades
For each different stat gained from items, gain one Jack stack. Each stack grants you
1 Ability Haste .
Gain 10 or 25 bonusAdaptive Force at 5 and 10 stacks, respectively.Why?
Minion Dematerialzer plays a key role in being able to keep the lane pressure/wave clear up so you're able to leave lane and find ganks or fights with your jungler. The bonus damage to minions allows you to clear waves in 2 bombs without stragglers being left behind to auto attack.
Cosmic Insight
+
18 Summoner Spell Haste
+10 Item HasteWhy?
Zilean's strongest stat is cooldown reduction as it allows him to get more of his high base-damage [Q] off as well as empoewring/slowing targets with [E].