Rammus is a scaling anti-AD tank jungler who must leverage his high gank threat and taunt to punish Zed's early jungle presence.
Focus on avoiding extended early fights due to slower clear speed and low invade resistance versus Zed's burst assassin style.
Jungle Plan
Path to camps near overextended lanes and use (Q) speed and (E) taunt to gank immobile carries before Zed can impact side lanes.
Prioritize river control and vision to deny Zed safe counter-jungling and to set up for dragon or Rift Herald when lanes have priority.
Use cross-map ganks and counter-ganks to exploit Zed's weaker dueling pre-scaling and prevent him from snowballing through picks.
Danger windows
Be cautious of early level 3 river skirmishes where Zed can burst with his combo and outmaneuver with high mobility.
Avoid low-health clears or forced smite fights early when Zed's burst and mobility can punish Rammus's lower dueling strength.
Respect lanes without priority that cannot assist in counter-ganks or objective fights, as Zed can exploit isolated river fights.
Early game
Start with a three-camp or four-camp clear aimed at lanes that show overextension to set up early ganks.
Avoid direct early invades against Zed before armor and taunt value ramp up; prioritize defensive wards to track his fast clears.
Contest first Scuttle only if nearby lanes have priority to support counter-ganks and objective control.
Power spikes
Rammus spikes with armor and taunt scaling, becoming a game-changing frontline against AD-heavy team comps.
Respect Zed's level 3 power spike when he unlocks (W)+(E)+(Q) combo, avoiding giving him space to engage cleanly.
Track Zed's level 6 (R) ultimate availability closely and avoid forced fights during its uptime; punish cooldown windows after it expires.
Win conditions
Convert gank pressure and taunt lockdown into early objective control by coordinating with lanes that have priority.
Deny Zed free farm and scaling by invading or counter-jungling when lanes can pressure or after successful ganks.
Use Rammus's late-game tankiness and crowd control to enable teamfights and lockdown high-priority carries, leveraging anti-AD scaling to win extended fights.
Tip: For Rammus vs Zed, read overview, trading pattern, and danger windows first for a fast Jungle lane check.
