I have gone through many guides during my play as Shen. I have tried many different builds and nearly every possible play style as Shen. I have tried jungling, DPS, and tanking. Jungling blows as Shen, DPS doesn't work in a ranked game but its fun vs. bots, tanking is the best way to play Shen.

Why do I like to play as Shen? Simple answer to that, I like to carry my team through a game without having to worry about doing any damage. I like to bark orders and tell other what they need to do and where they need to be. I also like to be the first one into a team fight and the last one to die in the middle of one. But the all time best part of Shen is his ulty. I can't tell you how many times I have kept a warry eye on my team mates and when one of them drops dangerously low on HP and I ult to him the two of us then turn around and kill his ganker. Believe me when you do this right it really demoralizes your opponenents and causes you to win the game if pulled off correctly every time.

If you decide to play Shen and ignore everything else I say in this guide then remeber this, "You are Shen, you must be there for your team! I don't care if you are going to do you MUST save your carry!! Taunt the enemy that is chasing your AD carry and eat the death for your partner. It is ALWAYS better for you to die then your Ezreal or your Gangplank. Do not steal kills from your lane partner, let them get the killing blow so that they get fed and you will win the game. Tanks don't need to be fed they need to charge into team fights and aid your team to victory."

Utiliteis tree
Good Hands - I only take two points because I prefer the extra little bit of energy.

Expanded Mind - A lot of people may flame me for taking this mastery, but I love having extra energy especially earlier in the game. More on this in the "Energy" section.

Swiftness - Wicked good for initiating fights. 'Nough said.

Defense tree
Resistance - Extra defense is always helpful.

Hardiness - Again, more defense makes the ninja live that much longer.

Durability - Awesome for more survivability

Veteran's Scars - This mastery can be avoided but I take it for extra laneing power earlier on.

Evasion - Filler point, but 1% less from area of effects isn't half bad. And it is probably your best option for a filler.

Initiator - Helpful to get into lanes and to get taunts off easier.

Honor Guard - 1.5% less damage need I say more?

Juggernaut - 3% more health and CC effects are 10% less effective on you. This is a MUST have.

These are my choices. Other possibilites exist but this is the best set up that I have some up with.

Greater Mark of Health - Amazing early on for laneing power. (+31.23 HP)

Greater Seal of Lucidity - Although this guide lists armor seals I don't use them. I prefer energy runes and I'll go into more detail about this in the the "Energy" section.

Greater Glyph of Sapience - More energy for the ninja! And yet again... more detail in the "Energy" section.

Some people will disagree and even rage at me for my choices but honestly how much more armor does a tank need? I can get over 200 armor/magic reseit depending on what the enemy team is heavy on that I dont need another little bit of armor or magic resist. Energy helps a lot more on Shen then other tanks. And actually I dare you to try Shen without energy runes, you will be out of energy and have no available taunt when your team needs it the most.

Items section now!

Doran's Shield - The only way to go as Shen for the start of the game. I have tried boots and 3 pots but that did not do as well as a Dorans shield. Dorans shield gives way too much early game survivability and it can't be overlooked.

Mercury's Treads or Ninja Tabi ??? Mercs for teams with champions like Ryze, Ashe, Fiddlesticks, and any other champ that has many stuns, fears, or other such disables. You should buy the Tabi against melee heavy teams otherwise Merc's is always better.

Randuin's Omen - Lots of health, armor, and health regen. This item also has an on-use-effect that will send a shock wave that slows surrounding enemies. I forget to use the sometimes and end up kicking myself for it, so in other words...USE IT, do not forget its there it will save your team or secure a kill.

Sunfire Aegis - 450 HP and an AoE to boot.

Force of Nature - Tons of magic resist, health regen, and a movement speed buff. This is a good item to build directly after your boots if the enemy team is magic heavy.

Warmog's Armor - Not even worth buying most games because 1) Its late in the game and its hard to farm up with Shen and 2)Its quite expensive anyway.

Good Spells for Shen


Teleport - After 4 seconds, teleports your champion to target friendly minion or turret. 3 minute cooldown if cancelled.
This spell is a must for Shen, it alows him to push two lanes at once in conjunction with his ultimate. Running without this spell makes you a worthless Shen.


Ghost - Your Champion ignores unit collision and moves 27% faster for 10 seconds.
Most Shen players don't use this spell but what I do with it is I will hide in the bushes pop ghost and do a zerg taunt. This a very handy trick and will be unexpected by most opponents. Ghost is also useful for running out of a doomed fight or getting away from a gank.


Exhaust - Reduces a target's Attack Damage by 70%, Ability/Item damage by 35% and slows its Movement Speed by 40% for 2.5 seconds.
Not the best spell for Shen but I suppose you could taunt/exhaust to secure a kill but I prefer ghost's utility.


Heal - Restores 140 + (lvl x 25) Health to your Champion and 50% of that to nearby allies. All targets healed will have a 50% reduction in heal amount from other summoner heal spells for 20 secs.
AoE range: 600
Not much to say here, use this spell if you are new to tanking.


Revive - Instantly revives your Champion at your team's Summoner Platform and increases your champion's maximum health by 200 + (lvl x 20). 9 minute cooldown.
Sort of usefull if you need to get up and get back into a fight but the cool down is way too high to make a great use out of this spell.


Cleanse - Removes all disables and summoner spell debuffs affecting your champion and lowers the duration of incoming disables by 65% for 3 seconds.
Awesome spell for getting out of nasty stuns and other CC effects.


Clairvoyance - Reveals an area of the map for 4 seconds.
This is other spell I have been considering using. Check the bushes or maybe catch the enemy's jungler trying to gank you. Just be smart about how you use it becaise it only lasts for 4 seconds.


Flash - Teleports your Champion to target nearby location under your mouse cursor.
Not the best spell for Shen but it has its uses. Flash -> Taunt is a good way to use this but ghost can also accomplish this means.

Absolutely DO NOT USE


Promote - Promotes the nearest allied super minion to an anti-Turret Cannon, healing it, granting bonus stats, and causing it to grant the caster gold for its kills.
Not worth the spell slot on Shen. if you were maybe Alistar then go for it.


Clarity - Restores 160 + (lvl x 30) Mana to your champion and 50% of that to nearby allies.
Why...just why... Shen can't even make use of this spell.


Surge - Empowers your champion, increasing ability power by 10-78 (depending on level) and attack speed by 35% for 12 seconds.
Your not a DPS carry. Do not use this.

Vorpal Blade - Empowers your champion, increasing ability power by 10-78 (depending on level) and attack speed by 35% for 12 seconds.

Cost: 70 / 65 / 60 / 55 / 50 energy
Magic Damage: 70 / 115 / 140 / 175 / 210 (+0.75 per ability power)
Heal: 18 / 26 / 34 / 42 / 50
Cool Down: 3 seconds

Awesome for pokeing at your enemies and for health regen during the lane phase of the game.


Feint - (Active): Shen enters a defensive stance, receiving a shield that lasts up to 2.5 seconds or until it is destroyed

Cost: 45 energy
Cooldown: 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 / 5 seconds
Shield Strength: 50 / 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 (+0.75 per ability power)

If used at the right time this spel can entirely block things like Karth's Requiem


Shadow Dash - Active): Shen rapidly dashes to a target location, taunting enemies he collides with. If Shen collides with at least one champion while dashing, he will restore 50 energy.

Cost: 120 / 115 / 110 / 105 / 100 energy
Taunt Duration: 1 / 1.25 / 1.5 / 1.75 / 2 second(s)
Cool Down: 10 seconds

This is a short range "skill shot" that will force the enemy that you hit to auto attack you. Note that they cannot use any spells while taunted, this spell also allows your teamates to whack away on the enemy you have taunted without fear of any sort of retaliation. And although this effect only lasts for 2 seconds at max rank this is enough to blow up any DPS or support enemy. However, do not taunt an enemy tank because even if all five of you collapse on the enemy Rammus he isn't going to die so it isn't worth your time or your energy.


Stand United - (Active): Places a shield on a target allied champion, which will absorb damage for 7.5 seconds. After channeling for 2.5 seconds, Shen teleports to the target's location.

Cooldown: 180 / 150 / 120 seconds
Shield Strength: 200 / 475 / 750 (+1.5 per ability power)

This spell is a global ability meaning you can use it on a teamate even if they are completely on the other side of the map! This spell can save someone from a gank or push another lane entirely. Just be carefule when you use this and who you use it on. There are two very bad situations that can happen with this ulty. 1) You use your ulty and your teamate dies just before you teleport to him/her this causes your ult to go on cooldown and you go all of no where. 2) The other is that you use your ultimate and you do save your ally BUT he keeps running to save his own hide and leaves you in the dust. The second situation is by far the worst because you used your ulty, ate a death, and fed the enemy and the worst part is that you could have killed the enemies who were chasing your buddy if all he would do is turn around and fight.

Shen is different from most tanks out there. Rammus, Alistar, and Maokai all use mana as their payment for abilities. Shen is different because he uses energy, energy has a very low cap (energy starts at 200 with no runes/masteries and will not increase as you level) and it also has a very fast recovery rate (much faster then mana) but you have to be careful how you use it as you might waste all your energy and not be able to taunt when you need it. I used to play Shen without energy runes but my brother (who lanes with me a lot) got irritated that I couldn't taunt when the enemy made a beautiful mistake by pushing to far. So after one too many experinces with this I now use the runes listed in my rune section because more energy means more spaming.

Sorry I don't have hard numbers for you guys, but you can either trust me that these runes help you more then you would ever think or you can the more "cookie-cutter" build and take armor and magic resit seals and glyphs.

Alright so heres a few tips and tricks I have learned over my time with Shen.

My favorite lane partner is anyone who I can directly talk to. Not joking here. Get a friend. Get a phone. Lane with him you have no idea who much easier this makes getting early kills.

Your ultimate is terribly useful, you can save teamates and win team fights with this but you have to be watching. You can use your F1-F5 keys to target your allys. Make sure when theres no acion in your lane your checking the other 2 lanes for a possible quick save. Trust me with some practice you will be a darn near demi-god to your team.

Get youself a solid lane partner and prep yourself for a gank by hiding in your bushes (closest to your tower) and get reay to eat the squishy that comes wandering too close (although more experianced players may not fall for this trick). Personally I have had best results when my brother plays Renekton but another champ like Xin Zhao With his INSAINE burst damage would be aweomse too. Just make sure you ping which one you want to kill first and make sure your partner is close enough to do something. Use your taunt when they try to run and that one second will create a world of hurt for your opponenent. Can't tell you how many first bloods I have gotten with this tactic.

Your a tank so make sure your the one initiating the fights... in other words: your the beefiest player on your team DO NOT be a pansy. Make sure you have an opening and your team is ready and behind you. Tell your team to kill the enemy team's carry (i.e Ezreal, Ashe, Gangplank, Brand etc, basically anything that can open up some major hurt on your team must die first.

For now thats all the tactics I can think of... its 12:00 AM right now and I wrote this guide in 2 hours. So I'll add more later

And to end my guide I want to thank everyone for looking it over and maybe guiving my build a go. Shen was hard for me to play at first but my friends love it when I do play Shen because we usually win every game. Just play Shen smart and feed your team not yourself. Remember that they need the gold a whole lot more then you do.