Shyvana Build Guide by UsernameSayWha

Introduction

This video shows that the name "Shyvana" is just dragon for Rambo.

Hai. My name is Username. You can also call me Username. I main Mundo, Shyvana, Blitzcrank, Lee Sin, Shen, Soraka, and play a little bit of Maokai every now and then. I main top, jungle and support. I feel I am a very knowledgeable player, and would like to share my thoughts and opinions on how you should build and play Shyvana. I'm bad at writing guides. No motivation. This isn't going to be some in-depth guide to Shyvana. If you know what you're doing you'll do good. If you're some ****** who has no clue what he's doing, this build WILL NOT work.

Bulletin Board

This chapter will be here to notify you of what will be happening to mah guide.

• Early Game match-up section.
• Just wanted to get the build/base of the guide out. Please don't downvote for NOT ENOUGH MATCH-UPS FA;GNNGJKEGJRGKWNFJEFODHOGHUPHURGHPNCN
• Gonna work on the visual aspect of the guide too. I feel it's the weakest part of this guide.
• Adding more tips and tricks.

Masteries

I run 21/9. For offensive top lanez. The 9 in defense depends on if you're up against a double AP Comp, or a bruiser.

9/21 if you're up against a counter like Olaf. Utility is useless on Shyvana. The only thing I would get it movespeed.

Runes

Armor Pen for late when Shy destroys. Synergy with e.

Armor for bruisers, junglers, AD Carry's... ect.

Scaling MR for burst mages and AP Carry's who will rape mid game.

Flat AD for for early game domination.

You can swap the ArPen Marks with Flat AD but, I would swap AD Quints for ArPen Quints. It really doesn't matter. ArPen Quints give more late game powah. AD Quints give more early strength. Otherwise the runes aren't that flexible. Only thing I would recommend is Armor Quints for a tough lane like Olaf.

Summoner Spells

Ghost.

I really like this spell on bruisers. If they need to escape from fights, Flash isn't going to create the distance they need. Ghost on the other hand will let you run. Flash or Ghost is fine. Your choice, ghost is just preference.

Ignite.

Especially strong against sustained tops like Shen, Lee Sin, and Warwick. It can also be used for the DoT to finish the enemy off.

If you're against a hard lane, Ghost and Heal.

Flash is meh. I like running fast better. And if you really have to, ult over a wall.

Exhaust is something someone always brings up. My opinion? As I mentioned in the items section, (Under frozen mallet)If you pick Shyvana on a team with little hard CC, you deserve to lose.

Teleport. I dunno. I find this spell best for sitting top all early game and TP'ing bot for dragon fights, making it a 4v5. Sure. Shyvana is good for taking down drag, but as explained in the early game section, Shyvana wants to sit top and deny. SO, it is useable, just not that great.

The rest of the spells I didn't mention aren't viable.

heh. those noobs won't know what hit them when I use my clarity shyvana build...

Skill Sequence

R>W>Q>E. You can put a point in any spell first. I usually get E if I'm leashing so I can decrease armor. Otherwise W or Q. If you want to get some good damage in so your jungler can level 2 gank, get q. If not, W. We max W first as it gives the most DPS. The movespeed gives a lot of utility too. Q next because it functions as a nuke and an auto-attack reset. E is really only there for the armor shred. So we max that last. We put points in ult for obvious reasons.

Items

I build typical Atmog's on Shyvana. I will run through my 2 builds and what situation they should be used in.

BUILD 1
This build is best against AD Heavy teams. I rush Ninja Tabi because I like movespeed against bruisers. Then to Wriggle's Lantern which allows us to counter-jungle effectively, as well as giving us armor, damage, and lifesteal. Phage is picked up next to make us tanky and more powerful. [wit's end]] is picked up after that to buff our mid game damage and burst survivability. It gives us attack speed, magic resist and an on-hit magic damage effect to top it off. It also has very good synergy with Phage and Twin Bite. By now mages should start picking up but, with the Phage and Wits we should be able to tank them with ease. Next up we want to finish off the Frozen Mallet. We build Atma's Impaler after that to boost our damage. (If you don't like Atma's you can pick up a Maw of Malmortius, Trinity Force OR another defensive item like Guardian Angel.) We round off with Randuin's Omen to destroy the AD Carry's damage as he should have his core items farmed up by now. If you want you can replace Wriggles with The Bloodthirster but, I usually don't because I like to keep a ward on Baron for my team, and if I get lucky, I can proc it twice on Baron with Twin Bite. I also find the armor quite important late. I would only get Thirster if I am one of the other teams biggest threats.
BUILD 2
This build is meant for double AP Comps. We start boots and pots as usual. We then go for double Doran's Blade. It gives us 160 HP, 20 AD, and 6% lifesteal to make our dueling better. We then get Mercury's Treads for the MR and tenacity, the best stat in the game. Like our other build we get Phage next for the health which should help us survive the burst that you should expect from a double AP comp, and some more damage. Wit's End is our next pick-up. It gives Attack Speed, MR, and a nice 30 magic damage which procs on-hit to top it off. Also pairs very well with your Phage. Frozen Mallet is bought next, followed by Maw of Malmortius. (If you don't like Maw you can pick up an Atma's Impaler, Trinity Force OR another defensive item like Guardian Angel.) I still get Randuin's Omen as the AD Carry WILL still pick up. I round off with The Bloodthirster to give me sustain in fights and MORE damage.

Items-Offense

Maw of Malmortius: I find it outclassed by Wit's End on Shyvana. On a more bursty bruiser like Lee Sin, Maw of Malmortius is better.
Replace with: Atma's Impaler or Wit's End

Phantom Dancer: facewall.jpg
Replace with: Just don't get it. Please don't.

Last Whisper: If their whole team stacks Thornmail, then yes. What I mean by this is, only get this in extreme cases.
Replace with: Atma's Impaler

Tiamat: ahue
Replace with: This guy is the master of Tiamat stacking. Just listen to him.

Infinity Edge: If you're stomping them REALLY REALLY HARD, (Like 15 kills 30 minutes in hard) then consider this an option. WARNING: This will decrease your bulkiness by A TON but, increase your damage by a lot more. So I wouldn't take this if you're the only tank.
Replace with: Atma's Impaler

Trinity Force: ^See Infinity Edge^ It helps give a little bit of bulk, and a little bit of damage, and a little bit of utility.
Replace with: Atma's Impaler

yomumu's ghostblade: It's not bad, but it's not great. If they made a bruiser upgrade out of The Brutalizer, I would consider it.
Replace with: The Bloodthirster or Wriggle's Lantern

Items-Defense

Aegis of the Legion: Let your jungler/support pick it up. You can get this after your Wit's End but, doing that gets rid of a ton of damage.
Replace with: The Bloodthirster. But get this after your Wit's End.

Warmog's Armor: On bruisers, Frozen Mallet is preferred thanks to the slow, and AD, plus it has synergy with Wit's End, but Warmogs is still very useable.
Replace with: Frozen Mallet

Guardian Angel: It can replace Randuin's on the double AP Build. On the heavy AD Build? ARE YOU HIGH.
Replace with: Randuin's Omen

Frozen Heart: I ACTUALLY REALLY LIKE THIS ITEM ON EVERYBODY. IT GIVES MANA? PSH. PASSIVE IS WORTH 5K GOLD IMO. Pairs really well with Randuin's IMO.
Replace With: Atma's Impaler

Thornmail: C'mon. There are way better choices. -coughfrozenheartcough-
Replace with: It's outclassed. Don't get it.

Force of Nature: If they have an Annie and a Veigar with 10 kills each, then maybe. But even then Maw would be better.
Replace with: Randuin's Omen

Banshee's Veil: Hai. My name is Quiksilver Sash.
Replace with: Again, outclassed. If you want to dodge those spells like Fizz ult, Karth ult, or a Blitz grab, this probably isn't going to do it. It can be popped by a Graves smokescreen ffs.

Quicksilver Sash: Get this against a team with a ton of cc.
Replace with: Randuin's Omen or Atma's Impaler.

Heart of Gold: Get this if you're getting zoned super hard, or if you're in a 2v1 lane. Builds into Randuin's so it's pretty good.
Get this: After you double doran's/wriggle's.

BOOTZ

Boot Choices.

Tier 1 Boots:

Mercury's Treads: 2 great stats. Magic Resist for Rumble, Vladimir, Kennen, etc. And Tenacity, the best stat in the game.

Ninja Tabi: Against lanes like Tryndamere and Gangplank, these boots are essential. 10% auto-attack damage reduction AND 25 armor make trades easier.

Tier 2 Boots:

Boots of Swiftness: Haven't been a fan since day one but they're okay I guess.

Ionian Boots of Lucidity: CDR is always good, especially on a champ with an auto-attack reset, however I wouldn't recommend these.

Boots of Mobility: If you push down the turret like 2 minutes in, (which I don't recommend,) then you can get these for roaming?

Tier 3 Boots: (NEVER GET THESE)

Sorcerer's Shoes: Magic Pen. On Shyvana. Dafuq.

Berserker's Greaves: 25% Attack Speed meet Wit's end. Now that we met who do we think is better? 40% attack speed> 25%. 30 MR plus an on-hit effect> No defensive capabilities or on-hit effects.

Early Game

Shyvana's early game is the reason I don't jungle her. I find it really really good. The damage on Q is dumb. She has constant DPS, which wins her fights. She has sustain through Wriggles/Double Doran's and Q. And her escape mech is RUN SUPER FAST BWAH. She definantly has the 3 things a good top needs. Now onto the playstyle. Try to zone the enemy. Your level 1-4 damage is stupid. It`s enough to zone someone through out all of laning phase. Now you want to try to deny as much as possible as a top laner. Most tops needs a lot of CS to be effective late. Shyvana is very good at pushing to the tower, which denies the enemy of creeps. Another thing Shyvana accels at is counter-jungling. Usually after I push my lane out, I`ll go get the time on their blue, (Purple Side) or take golems and time/take thier red. (Blue Side) Another thing I like doing is taking the big wraith at the start of the game. (Again, Blue Side.) So for the first 20 minutes or so focus on these three things.

• ZONING
• FARMING
• COUNTER-JUNGLING

P.S WARDS. BUY AT LEAST ONE EVERY TIME YOU GO BACK.

And now some good and bad lane match-ups. I highly recommend -> THIS <- site as it's extremely useful for a top/mid player, as those positions are all about countering.

Olaf. Oh my god. This match-up. Is really, really, really, one sided. The way I look at it is, there are 2 meele fighters. Now who's gonna win? The one who uses a true damage nuke? Or the one who requires AD to do damage. And you can't beat Olaf with sustain damage, he'll out sustain you with his W until his Thor Power is back up. But Username, JUST RUN! Heh. You're funny. He just hits you in the face with an axe.
Recommended Build: Boots of Speed, Doran's Blade, Doran's Blade, Ninja Tabi,
VERDICT: Unless the Olaf doesn't ward, and your jungler camps your lane super hard, (Which he shouldn't IMO.) There's a good chance you will lose lane.

Teemo. Well. If he's smart, he MIGHT beat you. If he isn't, it's an easy win. The key to winning this lane is popping his blind. W up to him and make him panic. If he panic Q's, engage on him. If he doesn't, drop back and continue to last hit and push. Note: IF HE PANIC BLINDS, MAKE HIM PAY FOR IT. HE IS SO SQUISHY. Real Note: Your W and E still do damage when blinded.
Recommended Items: Boots of Speed, Ninja Tabi, Doran's Blade, Doran's Blade
VERDICT: I dunno. Shyvana should really beat him to a pulp, but the blind man. Shyvana wins this but, you would really win this harder if Teemo didn't have his blind.

Pantheon. He out damages you early. You can't zone him. He wins trades. Just play REALLY REALLY passive early. Let him have the minions, and push to your tower. If he can't get kills early, and you can pick up a Wriggle's, Ninja Tabi, and maybe a Chain Vest, you should be okay. But that won't happen till 20 minutes in, which is when mid game rolls around. So It's not a complete curbstomp like Olaf, but if you play even a little aggresive, you're gonna lose.
Recommended Build: Cloth Armor, Ninja Tabi, Wriggle's Lantern, Chain Vest
VERDICT: Pantheon wins either way. Try and deny him, you die. Play passive, you lose CS to tower.

Poppy: AHAHAHA. She does burst damage. And guess what beats that? Sustain. Which is exactly what you have. Once she Q's you TURN ON HER AND BEAT HER TO A PULP. Poppy also needs a ton of CS to get her Trinity Force. And guess what you're best at? Denying people of farm. You should really destroy her here. Easy win. Just watch out late. If you don't build a hybrid of armor and MR, she will beat your team single handedly.
Recommended Items: Boots of Speed, Wriggle's Lantern, Mercury's Treads
VERDICT: Shyvana. Sustain (Shyvana) beats burst damage (Poppy). You also deny poppy (someone who needs a ton of gold) really well.

Gangplank: I usually start cloth 5 against Gangplank because his early harass is stupid. Try and get rid of his pots ASAP. Pots combined with Remove Scurvy keep him super sustained in lane. After his uses his q on minions, (Or you) try and get some damage in. Try and make him pop his scurvy before your jungler ganks. His E, Raise Morale combined with his Scurvy, makes him almost un-gankable.This match up is more of a farm fest than anything else. But, if you can get an early advantage, (Like a first blood, or an early jungle gank...) force it.
Recommended Items: Cloth Armor, Boots of Speed, Wriggle's Lantern, Ninja Tabi
VERDICT: It's a farm fest. Make sure to build lots of armor. You and Gangplank are tied damage wise early, he's better mid game, but you're better late. Make sure to have a ton cs going into late game. So no one wins, or it's super close.

Lee Sin: As a Lee Sin main, I can say, Lee Sin has one of, if not the, best top lanes in the game. He can max out any spell first and be effective. If he maxes out q, ( sonic wave/[[resonating strike) he's gonna harass you when you try to last hit. By using his QQW combo, he can get rid of a chunk of your health, and get back to safety just as quick. If you get hit by numerous q's, they're gonna start adding up. Beware of his Q-R-Q combo. This will half your health really quickly. If he maxes his W first, he will try and farm as much as possible. You can't deny him of farm if he maxes this first. By level 7 he will have a ton of sustain. Try and harass him as much as possible pre-level 7. If you do not pick up ignite, and lee maxes Safeguard first, you're going to have a bad time. Remember, Safeguard/ Iron Will can be used offensively. If he W's onto a minion you're trying to last hit, DO NOT ENGAGE. He starts that trade with 21% life steal and spell and 20 armor and magic resist, plus the 200 health shield. If he maxes Tempest/ Cripple first, force trades by the minions. He'll push out the lane from there so you can safely farm. His Cripple will lower your attack speed and movement speed by a ton, effectively Cripple-ing you. -buhdumtss-
Recommended Items: Boots of Speed, Mercury's Treads, Doran's Blade, Doran's Blade
VERDICT: As much as it pains me to say this, I honestly don't know. Lee can be the most underpowered champ if played wrong, while being extremely OP if played correctly. He can max any spell first, and still be effective. He has 7 different spells, all with different uses. His passive, Flurry is extremely strong in trades, he has a natural wriggles, WHAT CAN YOU NOT LIKE ABOUT THIS GUY. Always pick up Ignite. If you trade, he's gonna use Iron Will to give him extreme sustain. If you're looking for another champion like Shyvana, (Can jungle and lane really well,) then pick up Lee. Really good champion. One of my mains is Lee Sin so I know how to counter me, just follow the tips I gave.

Warwick: Sustain and Farm is the name of the game for Warwick. His Q, Hungering Strike, gives him tons of health back. It does a fair amount of damage too, so be careful. He also has a attack speed steroid with his W, and his e, Blood Scent, reveals you if you're below 50% health. His ultimate, Infinite Duress, will supress you, stopping you from moving and using spells. As you can see, Warwick's kit is based upon slowly wearing you down, and then going in for the kill with Infinite Duress. It's going to be a farm fest. Push out he lane as per usual, and ward down the river to alert you of a gank before Warwick flash-ults you. Don't trade with him unless his Q is on cooldown and your ignite is up.
Recommended Items: Boots of Speed, Doran's Blade, Doran's Blade, Mercury's Treads
VERDICT: Farm fest. No one wins. Read the tips above.



I will work on expanding this section.

Warding

This is a very important section. As Shyvana, you try to deny by pushing the enemy under their tower, forcing them to last hit under it. But by pushing your lane, it makes you easier to gank. So, to counter their jungler, we ward. I'll show you some good warding spots and explain why they are good.


This is a good warding spot for the blue side. This is solely meant to prevent ganks.


This is a good warding spot for the Purple side. Again, it's meant solely to prevent ganks.


Great ward for the blue side. If you feel you have a good advantage over the enemy laner, and want to go for their red, by all means go for it. You should also take it if the enemy jungler is fighting down bottom. This buff will give you a great advantage in lane if you succeed in taking it.


Great ward for the purple side. Blue Buff will be a bit more protected than red, but again, if you feel you have a good advantage over the enemy laner, and their jungle is down bot, then go for it.


This is a great ward for both sides. It gives vision on your blue, provides you with better protection, (If you watch the map that is.) and also gives a little bit of vision on baron. This is a great ward for any phase of the game and you should constantly have wards here. Warning: This ward leaves you open to ganks from the tribush. Make sure to ward that if you decide to use this ward.

Mid-Late Game/Teamfight Section

This isn't he best example but, note what he does. He takes Xin Zhao out with W. He then JUMPS AND DESTROYS the AD Carry. Which is who you want to focus first. He took out Singed and Nid next, because they were low. He then took out the Veigar for the penta. Now what's so special? He initiated with his ult, because of great ult positioning picked of Xin, focused down Graves instead of a low Nidalee and Singed, went back to Singed and Nidalee, and then finished off the AP Carry. I'll run through who you should focus in different comps.
Ashe, Master Yi, Shen, Annie, Janna.

Now this is a typical set-up. Ashe is the AD Carry, Master Yi is the clean-up, Shen is the tank, Annie is the AP Carry, and Janna is the support.

PRIORITY LIST:

Ashe
Master Yi
Annie
Shen
Janna


We focus Ashe first because she's the AD Carry and does the most damage. We then move on to Yi because we don't need our AD Carry ripped to shreds and he's really squishy. Annie is next. Why not go Ashe>Annie? Because Annie is gonna take someone down when she uses her R>DFG>W>Q>Ignite wambo combo. But after that, the only thing she can do is use her Q. So she's third. We then hit Shen because Taunts are annoying. And finally janna.

Rammus, Shen, Alistar, Kog'Maw, Veigar

This is a PROTECT ALL THE CARRYS strategy. Rammus is jungling, Shen is top, Alistar is support, Veigar is the AP Carry, and Kog'Maw is the AD Carry.

PRIORITY LIST

Kog'Maw
Veigar
Shen
Rammus
Alistar


This is fairly easy to explain. 2 hyper-carries, 3 tanks. This team is gonna play a stay at home strategy. That means they are going to rely on your team to initiate. The tanks are going to try their best to not let anyone touch their carry. I guarantee you, if these 2 late game beasts last more than 5 seconds in a fight, you lost the fight. No matter what. SO. Basically, ULT IN LIKE RAMBO AND KILL KOG'MAW AND VEIGAR. If you succeed, congrats. You won the game. If you didn't, well, good luck.

Jungling Shyvana

I don't jungle Shyvana much, but if you want to learn, read this guide by tehGrizzly. This is probably the best jungle Shyvana guide on the site. I really recommend it. He explains all his item choices very well, and goes in-depth on his route and how to play jungle Shyvana. (Playstlye)

Tips and Tricks

• Shyvana's Q serves as an auto-attack reset. Time it well when trading and doing Baron and Dragon.
• Use your W before ganking, or to get somewhere. The movespeed it gives is underestimated.
• Make sure to ward your lane if you want to deny your enemy Poppy or Nasus. (Champs that generally require a lot of farm to be effective.)
• Don't push down their turret until about 16 minutes in.
• Try to catch who ever has Oracle's early-mid game.

Summary

This picture was made by ZurmLoL. Here's the link to the picture!

Thanks for reading! I didn't do Pros-Cons cuz I'm lazee. Nah. I usually don`t read Pros-Cons, because, if you know what you're doing in this game, you can pick out weaknesses in the first 5 minutes of playing someone. If I get enough requests I will do a a Pros-Cons section. Feel free to PM me about anything concerning this guide.

-UsernameSayWha