So, who am I? To be fair, I'm not high elo. I'm currently Gold 5 on NA servers. Over multiple accounts I have around half a million mastery points on Zilean. I play him quite a lot and I've done Zilean Jg, ADC, Top, Mid, and Support in every manner of build you can think of. I'm certainly not challenger, and I'm sure they will beat me every time. However, I'd like to think I know a little about Zilean - enough to get you to understand him a bit better if you're looking for a new main.

This is, without a doubt, the most important section of this guide. Zilean can be built many different ways, but his combo will always be the most important part of his gameplay. Unlike point and click champions like Ryze, Leblanc, Talon, and ect, Zilean cannot just idly press one ability whenever it is up to poke. Every single bomb that Zilean throws must be thought out - especially in the early game. Zilean will go oom extremely fast if you spam your abilities whenever they are up.
In this section, I will cover two topics: mana partitioning and the actual combos.
Mana partitioning:
Zilean has two main stages in the game in regard to his mana - Earlygame and Midgame. This seems oversimplified, but it is quite straight forward. Until you pick up your catalyst, Zilean will always struggle to maintain a good balance between poke and mana. Early game, you should throw a bomb level 1 onto your enemy laner(s) as soon as you think it will hit. After this, continue tossing bombs whenever you feel they will hit until you are at around 60% mana. You should be around level 2-3 at this point, but remember that the ONLY skill you should be using is your Q. Once you reach level 3, stop casting any abilites and save up as much mana as possible. At level 4, you can start double bombing the enemy, but always keep your mana above 30% (the amount you need to E > W > Eyourself). Continue playing like this until you can afford your catalyst.
After you have the catalyst, mana won't be as much of a problem and you can pretty much spam your double bomb as long as you think you will hit it. Never arbitrarily through them out, as Zilean does not have infinite mana like xerath, and will still go oom after some time.

Combos:
As I mentioned earlier, do not use your Q much earlygame. The moment you hit level 4, all the combo opportunities open up. I will list them below, along with when you should use them.

Level 2 Combo:
(Not recommended) Standard Double Bomb - Press Q > W > Q with your mouse on the same spot in rapid succession. The chances of hitting this combo are pretty low, so only use it if you are getting ganked/your ADC steps up and gets caught.

Level 3 Combo:
(Best Standard Combo) Slow Double Bomb - Press E > Q > W > Q > E. This is your all in combo that you will continue to use throughout the entire game. The first E should be on the enemy champion that you are targetting, and the final one can be on either the same champion or one of your allies to get them closer.

Special Combos/Tricks:

Melee Opponent - This combo is hilarious when you are playing mid or top zilean into a melee enemy. Simply throw a single bomb onto cs that the enemy champ wants whenever it reaches low enough hp to be killed. They will be forced to either give up the minion or take poke damage. However, be careful not to overuse this as you will run oom and then get killed easily.

Delayed Double bomb - If you believe that the enemy champion will flash away from you, you can try to predict their flash. Do Q > Flash > E > Q where the E is on them. Only execute this combo if you land the first Q. I do not recommend Flashing and then doing the double bomb as, once they are running and have already flashed, landing the first bomb is a good bit harder. (If a champ already has 1 bomb on it, the range to hit the second one is just a little bit bigger. You can also toss it ahead of them to slow them down.)

Suicide Bomb - If someone is getting away and they have some backup near like a braum or tahm, the best way to catch them is what I call a suicide bomb. Do Q (on YOURSELF) > Flash > Q (on YOURSELF). When you q yourself and flash to them, the second Q will stun everyone in the area and will also bypass an ability like braum's e, which would normally block the bombs. It is important to get the first bomb on yourself, as this will make the second one unblockable by minions or some kind of ability. If you don't hit yourself with the first one and instead land it on the ground in front/next to them, the second bomb can be picked up by a creep or an enemy champion, allowing them to escape.
NOTE: NEVER USE THIS COMBO ON FIORA. Normally Fiora cannot parry your bombs as she will only make one of them disappear, stopping the stun but still taking 1 bomb of damage. If you do this combo, she will block the stun and stun you instead.

Zilean's kit looks like the most straightforward thing in the world. To be fair, it is extremely simple to learn, but much harder to master.
ZILEAN PASSIVE: Time in a bottle
Give a bit of EXP to a champion and yourself.
ZILEAN Q: Time Bomb
Throw a bomb. If you hit someone with 2 bombs, an AOE stun erupts around them.
ZILEAN W: Rewind
Reset the CDs of your basic skills by a few seconds.
ZILEAN R: CHRONO SHIFT
Portable Guardian Angel

Zilean passive usage: While this skill is quite simple, there are actually a few very important uses that come from it. First, you can't use it when in combat, but you can use it on someone who was just in combat. Occasionally a champion will run away from a fight with 100 hp and ignite ticking on them. Your passive, if it is stacked high enough, may be able to save them.
Aside from that, use it to get your ADC from level 2 > 3 and 5 > 6 early. This will give you large early game spikes.

Zilean Q usage: You have to pair Q W and E perfectly. I've seen so many Zilean players press Q and then wait a little before pressing w and q again. Get in the habit of pressing q w q as quickly as you can. This will make your double bombs land MUCH more often.
Zilean E usage: There are two ways you can use Zilean's E. On an enemy or on an ally. I usually use it to engage on the enemy by slowing them and getting a free stun. However, it is very useful for helping an ADC like vayne, xayah, or kog to kite the enemy team.
Zilean R usage: You probably shouldn't be ulting yourself if you can avoid it. Use it when your ADC or Mid get very low- somewhere just below 1/4. Of course, if you see a jinx ult heading down the lane and your AD is at 50 hp, you should ult them just in case. Zilean ulti has a very low CD at max level with 40$ cdr - 33 seconds. Do NOT be afraid to use it. It will be up in almost every teamfight as long as you don't ult your team's tank when he decides to solo baron.

For JG Zil, make sure to get a VERY good leash from your duo lane. After that, look mid to see if the enemy laner is either pushed or mid lane. Most laners don't expect a gank at level 1 or 2. If they are pushing, come up from behind them and double bomb. This will result in first blood about 50% of the time because nobody thinks you're stupid enough to actually try it.
If this strategy fails, go take a scuttle (if you're low) and the get wolves. It is VERY important to kite when playing jungle zilean. Start camps by standing slightly back and autoing. Then immediately double bomb before they can hit you and start hit-and-running. When your Q comes off cooldown, do NOT use it. Wait until your W is up as well to get the stun on the camp.
After you hit level 3, you won't be farming the jungle much. Focus on walking into a lane from behind them and landing the double bomb. Zilean ganks are really good if you can get close enough. Make sure not to waste your E getting close, because the enemy laner can easily run away and dodge your double bomb if you waste it.

For AD Zilean, you will be playing a very different way. You should get a point on q level 1 just for the harass, but after that you need to focus on using your E to kite the hell out of your enemies. In fact, you shouldn't use your q for poke past level 4, as it won't do any significant damage. Insead only use it for a guaranteed stun so you can shred them.

To do well as AD zilean, you have to master kiting with a very strange attack speed and animation. Your CDR will not be maxed out lategame, so you can't keep anyone CC locked. Instead, you need to use your e on them, then immediately W and E yourself. This will let you easily shred them while staying safe enough to escape quickly.

The guide definitely isn't done yet. I intend to add several other builds, both viable and stupid. I hope you got something out of this. Please leave any comments you have so that I can improve the guide, and through that, your understanding of the best champ in the game.

P. S. If you spam one of Zilean's emotes, he can clap sarcastically. Who else can do that?


"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like banana." - Zilean