Hey there:). This is my first guide, and it explains how I play shaco. This is a guide that is mostly usable for 3v3. THE ITEMS AND SUMMONER SPELLS IS ONLY OPTIONAL AND SHOULD BE INSPIRING. It's different from match to match, and player to player.

Shaco is a very funny champion, but he requires some training. Shaco is all about timing, and with this build you can clear the jungle in 1 minute and back to your lane or down to ganks. Shacos teleport Deceive, is an awesome way to get around on the map.

I play Shaco on top lane 99% of the games, because Shaco is a very effective map controller. With that I mean after a minion wave, he can deceive over the wall either to gank or jungle. With my item build you will have Wriggle's Lantern which is very good for map overview. Place the ward either in middle or at the top jungle (Place it at the dragon but central, so you can spot any enemies that goes for any of the monsters with buffs) Also I would suggest you to buy additional wards so you can keep both lanes safe not to mention the lizard.

Pros:
- Shaco is a very flexible champ, which means he can be anywhere on the map in no time.
- Tower ripper, you and your clone can take down a tower in few seconds.
- A good teamplayer in 3v3
- Very good single target dps output
- Generally funny champion

Cons:
- One of the harder champs to master
- Can be quite squishy
- Can't take Jax 1v1
- Can be hard to play late-game, especially with oracles.

is the skill that characterizes shaco. His ultimate chase, bait, escape mechanism which can be used in so many different situations. This ability gives shaco mobility over the map, and you can easily jump over walls, even the bigger ones.
Deceive can be used for chasing and dealing crucial damage to a single target. Deceive makes your next attack have 100% crit, and therefore its best to attack the enemy from the back to get the 25% increased damage from shaco's passive.
I pick deceive at level 1 for a few reasons; adding a critical strike at level 1 on the enemy is crucial and easily removes 1���½ bar from them. Also getting quickly on/off lane to assist your team if they are getting in trouble at level 1. However, good teams with a great lineup usually looks for gank at the early levels, so deceive is awesome to have at level 1.

Example of scenario: You stand in one of the two bushes at top lane, and you find tryndamere. He starts off with a few crits on you and Exhaust and your health is around 1/4 and hes is 3/4. You deceive and wait a few seconds till the exhaust is gone, blast the crit on him, Exhaust+ Ignite will ensure you the killing blow on him. Many players gets surprised when you turn a 1v1 fight like that at level 1. I usually advice to play very aggressively against tryndamere at the early levels, since he gets significantly stronger the longer the game is.

Here is a picture of the possible paths you can use deceive over walls:
is your only natural way of disabling the enemy. Many starts with this ability so they have some time to place them around the map, stacking it in 1 place, or even take neutral monsters (Lizard for example). The reason why i only take a skill in JitB at level 4 is because i play much more aggressively instead of placing boxes for defensive uses.
You can use JitB if you are getting chased and if your deceive is on cooldown to get away. Place the box infront of the direction you are running, and run around it till the enemy gets feared, start running again, and deceive whenever you can.


The passive effect on this ability makes you able to stay close to your enemy when you are hitting them. It also gives the enemy a chance to miss his autoattacks, which is pretty awesome in 1v1 fights.
However, I only use the active effect if im out of range of the enemy and need to slow them from distance. Two-Shiv Poison is also a great ability to finish the last bite of health on an enemy.


Awesome ultimate, usable in ALOT of situations. Use this ability to make them unsure about which is the right one to target, use it the right moment to stop a dangerous attack (You can for example dodge Karthus ulti with it, if used the right milisecond that it triggers). Be ware that if you have buffs (Lizard, dragon etc) they can see which is the right one, and most players know who you are after a few seconds by watching your moves. They can also see it by clicking on one of you and look at the inventory; If you have items then they know its you, if you dont then its the clone.
If you have low health you can use it to bait enemies into killing it for some fine splash damage.
The clone can also help you rip down towers quickly, or even killing the dragon very fast, its very good if you know enemies are on their way.

It shouldnt be a surprise that I choose offensive masteries. It gives you an awesome damage boost and I can't imagine playing shaco in any other mastery-trees. I use the last 9 points in utility for extra xp + buff duration.

Exhaust & Ignite is very useful for shaco. With these I get first blood in 70 % of the games I play. Exhaust is just awesome through the whole game and ignite gives you an extra burst and a nasty healing/reg. reduction.

Optional Summoner Spells:
Ghost Can be used, its good for escape, chase and much more.
Smite Good spell for a faster and more reliable lizard/dragon, and is often used by high elo teams. In the twisted treeline everything is about the jungle. If you own the jungle - you own the game. It is often seen that 2 players pick smite for a very great and strong early game for the bot players. 2 smites on the lizard is a really great way to start the match.
Flash Maybe the best escape spell in the game, you can basically get away from the whole enemy team with this spell. But I wouldn't go with it since Shaco already have a build-in flash - Deceive. But if you feel like you need another escape mechanism then sure take flash.
Rally Is often ignored by players, but you definately shouldn't. If you have a full AD team this spell can do a BIG difference in teamfights. It boost a huge amount of damage.
Cleanse Also another posibility, makes you able to flee where you usually wouldn't. Also i would recommend this spell over other spells like Heal.


Other spells (Not recommended)
Clarity You only need this spell if you spam your abilities, but in my guide you shouldn't have to. This spell is more for AP Shaco builds.
Teleport for me this is more like a 5v5 spell. Shaco can change lane faster than those 4 seconds you have to wait for it. But it can be awesome if you port to one of your jacks for surprise ganks.

I find ArP much more usefull than Crit/Crit damage
So for my quintessences i choose: Greater Quintessence of Desolation
Same goes for the marks: Greater Mark of Desolation
I pick the Greater Seal of Critical Chance for extra crit chance early game.
You have no idea how many times Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction has saved me because of the small cooldown reduction on Deceive!

First of all its rare that I play a game with the similar items. These items are the ones I usually go for.


I start off with the Boots 2 Health Potion and a Mana Potion. Boots are better than any other start for me, since it gives me that mobility that I need in the beginning. And if you start with a Doran's Blade etc. then you will have a rather slow start before you get your Wriggle's Lantern. The pots are simply to keep me in lane till I have gold enough for the next boots which should be either Berserker's Greaves or Mobility Boots. The choice is yours if you want the extra mobility or just want some attack speed. I usually go with Berserker's Greaves since it gives me that extra attack speed, and that Zeal later will give you enough movement speed that you need.

The next item after boots should be Wriggle's Lantern. Wriggle's Lantern is an OP item on Shaco, and if you are doing good you will have this item at level 7-9. Whenever you get this item, you can solo dragon/lizard and clear the whole jungle. Be wary to do this if its missing though. I always clear my lane with minions before I go jungle so the enemy laner will be busy clearing his minions. If you see that your opponent has placed a Sight Ward in middle, you should buy a vision ward to get rid of it. It doesnt matter if you will have a Who-Will-Buy-The-Most-Wards-War since you really need that map safety when you are doing your ganks. After you have gotten your Wriggle's Lantern you will be able to do ganks with ease.

Zeal is the next item. It gives you a nice runspeed increase +Crit/Attack speed. Later you will upgrade this item to Phantom Dancer, but not yet.

Sheen is in my build for the purpose of giving you abit boost on your deceive crit. Shaco is also pretty mana starved, and if youre not careful with how you spend your mana, you can easily get in a situation where you cant afford Deceive. Sheen changes that, and you will no longer have to be that mana conservative. Later this item can be upgraded to Trinity Force.

The next step is dependent on who I face really. If its a very squishy team you face you can buy Infinity Edge for the insane dps-output it gives. If not, I usually buy Phantom Dancer for the mobility/crit/AS which is an overall great item. The dodge has been removed on it though, but I still think its great for Shaco.

Next step is Trinity Force. Trinity Force combined with your current items will give you a sweet burst on any champion. At this point you should be able to take off 50 % of any squishies with your deceive hit.

As you may have noticed, I only have 5 items. If you have trouble staying alive or getting focused, I would suggest your 6th item to be a defensive item. If you are against a CC-team a Quicksilver Sash can save your life.

Optional Items:
- Pick this against tanky teams or teams with a big health pool ( Jax, Sion, Taric etc.) - You should pick this item after Zeal or sheen if you find it necessary.
- This would be a good choice against disable team such as Ryze, Sion, Amumu. This item can be more helpful than Banshee's Veil in occassions, if you face a team with alot of CC's, most decent people will just fire a spell and then their CC to get rid of the shield first. Although the shield isn't all on Banshee's Veil, also the magic resist and health can help you survive through late game. I just find Quicksilver Sash awesome to get out of a snare and then a quick Deceive
For those situations where you always get focused, where you want the enemy team to find you less attractive. The armor and magic resist is awesome, and if you happen to die, you can just Deceive away.
- The ultimate counter to Jax. Dodge is what makes Jax difficult for Shaco
can really be good aswell. Its your own choice if you want extra attack speed or superior runspeed, but i wouldnt go with any other boots than those 2.

Early game I poke the enemy as much as I can, unless its Jax. Jax is just really annoying and if you lane against him ask your team mates to help gank him. It is possible to kill Jax but I wont recommend you to go for him at this stage of the game.
I deceive and hit the opponent when I think hes weak enough for me to kill him. I recommend you to play passive until you see how your opponent plays. If hes very aggressive and hit you more than you hit him you should play defensively, and be sure to last-hit all the minions you can. But since you are Shaco it doesnt matter if you get harassed abit, since you can just Deceive over the wall to your base and recover quickly and then Deceive back.


Mid-game
At this point you got your Wriggle's Lantern and work on your Zeal. You clear all the jungle mobs whenever they are up (Dragon and lizard is the most important), and be sure you are one step ahead of your opponent. If you see your opponents are going for dragon, do anything to steal it! Dragon gives 280 gold to you and your teammates, and a very very good buff for a few minutes. If stealing the dragon costs you your life its still worth it. Wait till your opponents hit the dragon low, deceive through the wall and wait till you are sure you can hit the last of it.
It usually freaks out the opponent when Shaco is missing because they have to play very defensively. Use this for your own advantage, jungle a lot and when the enemies are tired of playing defensively you can get some free kills. Also keep an eye on how your teammates are doing and help them out if they need your help.

Late game
In team fights its very important that you take out the highest damagers first & the squishiest. Those things are usually goes along. Make your teammates initiate so you wont get focused. Keep your Hallucinate up and if they switch target to you deceive and wait till they have switched back. Shaco is also a good backdoor champ, since you and Hallucinate can rip down a tower apart in a few secs late-game.

I searched around the web and couldn't really find any respawn timers for the twisted treeline, so I thought I would write it here.

Lizard (Red buff - 60 gold) - Spawns at 2:10
Respawn every 4:00 minutes.

Dragon - Spawns at 4:30 (Global damage buff pr. level + global xp and 280gold)
Respawn every 5:00 minutes.

Small buff packs (Movementspeed buff or AS buff)
Respawn every 3:00 minutes

I would advice you to write the time you killed or next respawn time in the chat, so you and your teammates are aware of when they should place themselves on the map for eventually dragon or lizard buff.

Wards are very important, and honestly you cant get enough wards. If the other team has a stealth champ consider to get an Oracle's Elixir.
If your enemy got Oracle's Elixir then you want to sneak around more defensively. Stay at safe range from the Oracle's Elixir wearer and make your team initiate. Positioning yourself is important, and dont forget bushes can still be used.

Hope my build was helpful to you. Any comments are welcome, also critics.
My native language is Danish so I hope you can see between fingers with any spelling/grammar mistakes.
I also want to say thanks to Blutschaufel (EU) for inspiring me to play shaco.
I play on the EU server under the name RunningWontHelp, and you're welcome to contact me if you got any questions/suggestions.This is a picture of Lo0nex playing with my shaco build. If you wish to post the score of your best perfomance with my build, put it in the comments with direct link:) I might add it to my build then=)

*14-04 2011 - Added ability description.