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SHACO

Shaco is a very versatile champions that can fill several practicly all roles, however he excels as an assasin or a mage type champion. You may also use Shaco as a bruiser or a support but this is not where he shines most.

You do need to be careful with him and learn how to pick you fights. As you have stealth you can easily get to a target it's always tempting to attack a squishy target but timing is extremely important. It's also easy to get greedy, so do not play overly aggressive or you will be punished for it. Since you can mostly choose when you want to fight, always do so when the ennemy is at a disadvantage.

I have been maining him in Seasons 1 2 and 3 at gold elo on EUW.
I started playing again this Season, currently PlatIII on SEA Garena server (Thailand).

Check ou my twitch channel for Shaco streams replays

SPELLS

Shaco has a unique and very versatile set of abilities.


Passive

Shaco's basic attacks deal an additional 10 - 25(Based on Level)(+15% bonus AD) bonus physical damage when striking an enemy from behind. This damage can critically strike.

This also applies to Q and E.


(unknown embed type)Q


TARGET RANGE: 400 CAST TIME: NONE COST: 60 MANACOOLDOWN: 12 / 11.5 / 11 / 10.5 / 10

ACTIVE: After a 0.125-second delay, Shaco Flash blinks to the target location, becoming Twilight Shroud old2 invisible for a few seconds.

INVISIBILITY DURATION:
2.5 / 2.75 / 3 / 3.25 / 3.5
After exiting invisibility, his next basic attack within 0.25 seconds deals bonus physical damage. This damage can Critical strike icon critically strike.

PHYSICAL DAMAGE:
25 / 35 / 45 / 55 / 65 (+ 25% bonus AD)

This probably the most infamous spell, giving you a flash with invisibility and increased damage on your next attack.
As AD you want to use it to get close to your target and attacking from behind to proc your passive. It's also a great way to escape and disengage a loosing fight.
As AP you will use it to get closer to the target to land E, jump inside the mayhem and R in teamfights, or finish off escaping tagets however dealing low damage compared to AD build.

W


TARGET RANGE: 425 CAST TIME: 0.25 COST: 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 MANACOOLDOWN: 16DETECTION RADIUS: 300

ACTIVE: Shaco summons a Jack in the Box at the target location, lasting for up to 40 (+ 5% AP) seconds. The box arms after 2 seconds, afterwards becoming Noxious Trap stealthed, during which it is Cosmic Radiance invulnerable and Playful untargetable to enemies.

Enemies that come or are near the box will cause it to trigger, causing them to turn and Flee icon flee for 2 seconds, reduced against champions, who are also Root icon rooted for 0.5 seconds. While fleeing, enemy Champion icon champions are set to a static 100 Movement speed icon movement speed, reduced to a static 60 for Minion icon minions and Monster icon monsters.

CHAMPION FLEE DURATION:
0.5 / 0.75 / 1 / 1.25 / 1.5
Once triggered, the box will also become targetable and automatically start firing every 0.5 seconds at all nearby Sight icon visible enemies, dealing Magic damage magic damage with each attack, reduced by 50% against Turret icon structures. If the box attacks only one unit, it deals increased damage.

[i]MAGIC DAMAGE:»[/i]
15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 (+ 10% AP)
The box stays active for 5 seconds or until destroyed, independently from its remaining inactive duration.

This is often overlooked by new players as it will provide map and crowd control allowing you to set traps, gain vision, secure your team's position in fights. It also helps a lot clearing the jungle.
Scales well with AP and will deal insane damage late game with AP build.


E


TARGET RANGE: 625 CAST TIME: 0.25 COST: 65 MANA COOLDOWN: 8

PASSIVE: Shaco's basic attacks Slow icon slow enemies for 2 seconds while Two-Shiv Poison is off cooldown.

SLOW:
20 / 22.5 / 25 / 27.5 / 30%
Two-Shiv Poison
ACTIVE: Shaco throws a dagger at the target enemy, Slow icon slowing them for 3 seconds and dealing magic damage, Critical magic strike icon increased by 50% against targets below 30% of their maximum health.

MAGIC DAMAGE:»
70 / 95 / 120 / 145 / 170 (+ 70% bonus AD) (+ 55% AP)
Backstab BACKSTAB: Deals an additional 15 − 50 (based on level) (+ 10% AP) bonus magic damage, increased to 22.5 − 75 (based on level) (+ 15% AP) when the target is below 30% of their maximum health.

E is a strong damage option usually used as a finisher if you are going AD, and also used for poking when you are going AP. Using it from behind increases damage is it procs passive so use it on fleeing enemies especially when they are low health.

R

EFFECT RADIUS: 250CAST TIME: 0.25COST: 100 MANACOOLDOWN: 100 / 90 / 80

ACTIVE: Shaco Hallucinate vanishes for 0.5 seconds and then Flash blinks in the target direction while creating a copy of himself that blinks in the opposite direction, remaining within control range of him as a controllable Command Hallucinate clone for up to 18 seconds.

Command Hallucinate
RECAST: While the Hallucination is active, Hallucinate can be used to move it to the target location or attack a enemy unit on the cursor.

When the Hallucination dies or expires, it explodes, dealing magic damage to enemy units around it and leaving three Jack in the Box mini-boxes behind which activate instantly, causing nearby enemies to Flee icon flee for 1 second.

MAGIC DAMAGE:
150 / 225 / 300 (+ 70% AP)
The three boxes possess Jack in the Box's effects, except they have a doubled, but shared Health icon health, and deal modified magic damage with each attack, increased if attacking a single unit.

MINI-BOX MAGIC DAMAGE:»
10 / 20 / 30 (+ 10% AP)

R is extremely stong, confusing your enemies, allowing you to dodge skills, make serious outplays and damage.
As AD the damage will come from the clone's auto-attacks, making you an insane dualist as the opponent will also not know who to hit.
As AP you will want to use your clone in teamfights making thim explode on as many ennemies as possible for great damage.

It is probably the hardest spell to master as you will have to control 2 champions at once and microing your clone will take practice.
You can also use R to dodge or cancel abilities - such as cait ultimate or ignite tick.

PROS AND CONS

Pros

- Strong and unpredictable Ganks even early
- Different playtyles available to fit your team comp
- Amazing counter-jungling
- Huge mid-game power spike
- Potential to Delete enemy carries as AD / Strong team-fights and aoe as AP
- Great splitpushing
- Very slippery and un-chasable


Cons

- Hard to master
- Squishy
- Easy to counter with pink wards, revealing effects, defensive items
- You will get crushed if you fall behind early
- Less strong late game in AD, item and snowball reliant in AP
- Cannot engage teamfights

You should always aim for a first blood as you probably have the strongest early game ganking power. I usually go for mid lane or enemy jungler for a lvl 3 first blood but this always depends on match-ups. It's important to determine your strategy before game start.

Weak enemy jungler? Go for the kill on him.
Mid-laner with no escape on his kit? Go for it.
Toplaner with strong early and cc? Gank there.
Strong cc on botlane? Go for it.
I don't gank botlane that often on early though, as it usually depends on the support landing a skillshot so riskier.

In general you always want to go into a game with a strategy, knowing which lane is easier to gank in order to give priority to this lane allowing them to get ahead and also to secure objectives with you like towers, dragons or heralds.

I recomend to start red with two boxes on the buff and placing on box near krugs.
Red > krugs > raptors, see clip bellow
Always watch the map at this stage to determine where the leach is hapening and where your enemy is starting


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I use this start in most games because after this you can gank mid or counter jungle usually contest and kill at enemy blue.

If you want to gank side lane early instead you can place 2 boxes at raptors and 1 in front of red.
Raptors > red > krugs

Alternative start at blue buff, 2 boxes at blue and 1 at gromp if you want to make a gank on the opposite side lane.
Blue > Gromp > Red
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On this map you can see where you want to deceive from. Basically you jump through the wall and go for your target. You want to avoid the obvious river routes which will probably be warded. After you deceive, get close to your target and place a box on the target's direct escape route to their turet - you can do this while invisible. Always attack behind to proc passive. Do not use E first as this will be your finishing spell.

Ganking is one of your greatest strenghts as you are usually not spoted before it's too late. You definitely want to abuse this strengh. Be careful you do not gank in a loosing scenario as you might end-up trading equally with the enemy or worst give them the advantage.

You want to abuse your ability to gain map vision and disapear in order to counter jungle. You should be able to get a first blood on the enemy jungler in many mach-ups especially since you have ignite. Be careful against strong early junglers that counter you like graves or lee sin though, only attack them if you know you can win.

Always watch the map carefully at game start to find out where the enemy jungler is starting and plan accordingly. It's usually best to attack them when they are doing their second buff, blue or red depending on where they started. Use your ward to gain vision in the enemy jungle. By control wards as much as possible, map vision is essential in any scenario but even more so when counter jungling.

You are not a farming jungler, so your goal against champs with a safe and fast clear is to deny them this farm be stealing camps/killing them in their jungle.
Against a strong enemy jungler proceed with more caution and make sure to attack with ignite up and lower health on their part.

In general always watch-out for lanes when counter jungling. If your team has pressure on the lane use this to your advantage to secure neutral objectives and counter jungle. If enemy lane has pressure they will easily be able to come assist their jungler, so be wary of that and use wards, get the kill fast and don't get greedy. It might be a better option to gank if your laner is at his turret, but be careful if they are weak or behind as you might end-up with an equal trade scenario or worst give the enemy a double kill.

AD ASSASIN

As an assasin, your goal in teamfights will be to sneak up on the enemy AD or AP carry. You will be able to deal tons of damage and in most cases finish them off, worst case making them run away from the fight. This negates a lot of damage for the enemy team as these targets are their main source of damage. Try to go for the most threatening one, and catch them off-guard when they have already engaged and positioned aggressively. DO NOT INITIATE, you will get focused and die.

Replay exemple
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AP CARRY

AS an AP carry your role will be to deal as much damage as possible to the enemy team, prioritising high value targets such as AP or AD carry. Always place boxes before the fights at choke points where your team will be able to run to in a loosing scenario - they will deal tons of damage and could give you an opportunity to turn the fight around. Use your Q to deceive in and R, your clone needs to explode on as many ennemies as possible as this will deal tons of damage and fear enemies. Use your E to poke first and later finish off low targets.

Replay exemple outplays and teamfights
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This section applies to pretty much any jungler.
Late game is when you want to go for the win and take objectives.

Baron is the most important one, so make sure you have vision of it or enemy team before going botlane for any reason at this stage.

You also want to take inhibitors / Dragons and towers.

If you are confident your team can win a 5 v 5 teamfight than you should group.

Otherwise it is a good idea to splitpush with shaco AD, using boxes and wards to watch out for the enemy team's reaction. You can take objectives very fast with AD build and R. Depending on how fed you are and who is sent to deal with the split you could porentially kill that enemy and take the tower or inhib.
If they all come to get you you will easily escape as you are shaco and your team will be able to push another lane / start baron / dragon.