Before I begin, I am by no means the best LoL player in the world, in fact I am only level 26 at the time of writing. Also, as Shen is primarily a tank, this build is very open to change. Tanks often have to adapt their builds in comparison with the proportion of AD/AP on the enemy team. For example, if the enemy team was composed of a Malphite, Tryndamere, Ashe, Xin Zhao and Annie, it would be beneficial to build Armour before Magic Resistance.

So, let's begin.

There exists an ancient order originating in the Ionian Isles dedicated to the preservation of balance. Order, chaos, light, darkness -- all things must exist in perfect harmony for such is the way of the universe. This order is known as the Kinkou and it employs a triumvirate of shadow warriors to uphold its causes in the world. Shen is one of these shadow warriors, entrusted with the sacred duty of Watching the Stars - exercising judgment untainted by prejudice.

Born to a clan whose members have decorated the ranks of the Kinkou for generations, Shen was trained his entire life to become the Eye of Twilight, and thereupon to dispassionately determine what must be done in the interests of equilibrium. As his final trial to ascend to this position, he was made to attend the Takanu, a ceremony in which his father was tortured before his eyes to test his resolve. Any reaction whatsoever would have resulted in his immediate disqualification, but he never averted his gaze and never blinked, not once. As the Eye of Twilight, Shen must make decisions that would buckle the wills of ordinary men, removing all emotion from the equation. He now works with his fellows Akali and Kennen to enforce the balance of Valoran. This hallowed pursuit has unsurprisingly led the triumvirate to the Fields of Justice.

The Eye of Twilight sees not the despair of its victims, only the elegance of equilibrium.


Shen is a Ninja, however he is primarily played as a tank, as this is when he is most effective.

His abilities are:

Q - Vorpal Blade
W - Feint
E - Shadow Dash
R - Stand United

Pros and Cons:

Pros:
If built correctly, Shen is an absolutely amazing tank, to the point where you yourself will believe you are invincible.
Shen's Vorpal Blade is an extremely useful tool for getting last hits and regenerating HP.
Shen's Taunt, Shadow Dash, is a skillshot with area of effect, and when executed correctly provides and exteremely effective fight initiator.
Shen ultimate, Stand United, is a great ganking tool, as it can deceptively turn a 1v1 battle into a 2v1 is a matter of seconds.

Cons:
Shen does not have much attack damage.
Shen is prone to harassment for characters such as Brand, Malzahar and Caitlyn.

For Shen I normally use (or am currently building to):
9x Magic Penetration Marks Greater Marks of Insight
6x Armour/level Seals Greater Seal of Defense and 3x Flat Armour Seals Greater Seal of Armor
6x Magic Resistance/level Glyphs Greater Glyph of Scaling Magic Resist and 3x Flat Magic Resistance Glyphs Greater Glyph of Magic Resist
3x Hp/level Quintessences Greater Quintessence of Vitality

Another possibility for Runes are Movement Speed Runes, as this can help chase and Shadow Dash to catch enemies.

As mentioned before, these items can be changed according to the enemy team's compostion of AD and AP.

You may change the Mercury's Treads for Ninja Tabi if the enemy does not have many disables.

Tanks must adapt to the enemy team, as there is no use building tons of Magic Resistance against a team of almost pure Physical Damage, for example.

Leveling Vorpal Blade early is very beneficial because it's a great laning tool and the HP regen really helps out you and your lane partner from harassment. However, if this harassment is too much, for example from Caitlyn, leveling Feint a few times can be beneficial.

You should try and also get Shadow Dash Maxed quickly as it's an amazing skill for Team Fights, ganks, chasing people down, and escaping. In my opinion, it's Shen's most useful ability.

I usually take Teleport, as it leaves Shen with not one but two teleports. Very useful for ganks and mobility.

Flash is useful on any champion, and is a real life saver.

Other possibilities are:
Ghost, for extra speed to catch or get away from enemies
Heal, if you are inexperienced with the game Heal can help you initially stay in lane for longer
Clairvoyance (Unless you have a support such as Janna or Sona),
Exhaust, for the same reasons as Ghost
Ignite, to finish off those enemies with very little hp left.

You should never take:
Clarity, as you don't have mana,
Revive, as in my opinion it's a useless summoner spell, after all, what's to stop you dying again? :P
Smite (Unless you are running Jungle Shen).

Thanks for reading and viewing, I am primarily doing this to hear from people and to improve my build as Shen. Thanks =D