Hi im moutenn, and i play Shaco top sometimes (please don't leave).
Im mastery 7 with Shaco, which i have gathered all by playing him top. I got started with him around season 5, when i watched Pink Ward play him. It looked like so much fun so i had to try it. It was awesome. I fed and fed, but it was ok because it was so much fun.
I have tryed all kind of builds, but i have settled with this one, because it provides me with mana cdr and ap.

Shaco is a mobile tricky assassin, who can escape, any situation with his blink stealth Deceive. Shaco top relies on the damage and fear-effect from his boxes. Since they are so important they are often maxed out first, and the CDR also helps gets down more boxes.
Prepare yourself, because it takes a lot of games to be good with Shaco. However i found that it was fun playing him no matter how good i was.

Now if you did not already know, the best AP Shaco top is of course Pink Ward

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DOMINATION:



Electrocute, is great on Shaco, since it gives you surprising burst early game. Since your E rework it does really no damage. Therefor you take the damage you can get. You can prop it early with a Jack In The Box a Two-Shiv Poison and your Deceive AA.
There are more keystones you can take, like Arcane Comet. I used this for the first period of season 8, since it gave your Two-Shiv Poison some damage. However Electrocute, is better in most ways. It allows you to also lategame semi instakill carries.




Sudden Impact, there is not much to say about. Ir props every time you Deceive, so its some nice damage. You could go Cheap Shot, for your boxes, but i usually go Sudden Impact.




Eyeball Collection, is great since you will get more damage. That's it. You could go the others, but you dont really need extra vision, since you can place boxes in chokepoints, as vision.




Ingenious Hunter, allows you to get more CDR on your active items. This is amazing, since you buy up to 3 items that have active effects. Also you need to use protobelt as much as possible. Therefor its a must.

SORCERY:



Gathering Storm, you use now when Manaflow Band has been changed. Gathering Storm gives you more AP the longer the game lasts. You really need heavy AP, since you dont buy it. You mostly buy utility items and actives.




Transcendence, is awesome on you since you buy so much CDR. If you buy more then you need it will just be turned to extra AP. And it gives you 40% CDR really fast. Around 2 items.

Why these core items

Hextech Rocketbelt, is a must on laning Shaco, since it gives a lot of good stats. The 10% CDR does wonders in laning. The AP is also great (obvious reasons), but stats like more HP are surprisingly nice. It makes you more durable in lane. But the reason you buy it is because of its active. You dash a short distance and shoot bolts in a cone in front of you. This active can clear minionwaves instantly. This is great for you.




Archangel's Staff is an item i love on Shaco. The early tear, and 20% CDR are great. You stack it quickly and noone expects the active effect. Also the more actives the better since you in your runes have Ingenious Hunter. Earlygame damage is not to important on Shaco. Your boxes will do damage no matter what. Therefor i like having that early tear, so i can surstain in lane for a long time.

Situational Items:

Lich Bane, is great for your burst. If you hit a Two-Shiv Poison and a Jack In The Box, you can engage with Q: Deceive, and by using Q getting Sudden Impact, Lich Bane, Crit, bonus damage and Electrocute. This and your protobelt will most likely oneshot most carries. (I would have put this as a core item, but i dont always buy it second, so i did not. Think of it and Hourglass as seconday core. They are the second most important.




Zhonya's Hourglass, gives you survivability. You would think that you dont need that on Shaco, but your playstyle will reword you for baiting with low HP, and playing risky so its great. It gives you great stats, and i almost always buy it at one point.




Rylai's Crystal Scepter, is also an item i rarely see Shaco's purchasing, since there are so many good items out there. But the slow it gives to your boxes is something that works great. If someone falls into an illuminati-trap with Rylai's they will most likely die.




Rabadon's Deathcap is the powerhause of the cell. Its SO much power it gives. It makes your Two-Shiv Poison do something that almost looks like damage (im really salty about the rework to his E). Still it gives you a lot of power, lategame. It with Gathering Storm gives you a lot of AP. Works great often buy it, but sometimes there are better items.




Void Staff, is awkward to say the least. It gives no more damage to your E, but it still makes your Jack In The Box do bad stuff to tanks. I rarely ever buy it, (unless riot give me back the old E then i would buy it every game). It also gives more damage you your Hallucinate do more damage when it pops.




Mortal Reminder you would never buy unless you really want your Two-Shiv Poison to tickle your enemy. Still duskblade is most likely still better, since it also gives more burst.




Morellonomicon, you would buy if you have problems with pesky healers. However this is rarely the case (as in them being such a problem you would ditch an important item). But it is still and option.




Abyssal Mask, is great against dangerous AP champions. Think of it as the Hexdrinker for AP Shaco. It does so you do more magic damage to them if they are close you you. Which they often are when you bait them into your boxes. It also gives CDR, so it like that gives you AP because of Transcendence.




Duskblade of Draktharr, is pretty good as a late item. It props on your Q and stacks iwht all the other effects we have been over. Also your abilities scale with both AD and AP.




Mejai's Soulstealer, you buy if you are fed and think you wont die. Also its a great bait since people want to kill you to get rid of your stacks.

Skill sequence for Shaco:




You Max out your boxes as soon as posible since they are most of your kit. You play around them, and leveling them up boost there overall strength, but it also lowers the CD which is huge in lane. Then you max out Q for the stealth duration, and extra damage on it. Also the CD gets lower. And. Then. Your E Two-Shiv Poison. Im so sad that you have to max it out last but you have to. Its simply not good enough to be maxed out early. However you could put 3 points in Q and then max E out if you want. But i dont. I just want RIOT to give me back the powerhouse that was Two-Shiv Poison.
Oh yeah and you put a point in R whenever you can, since it lowers the CD and boosts the damage on its explosion and the mini-boxes.

Summoner Spells:

Teleport allows you to help out your team, and get back to lane quicker. Its great and i always use it top. I usually use it when i have enough for tear, unless i can take some extra free CS. Also if you die early there is a change that you can TP back and kill them by cheese TP'ing to a box behind them (If your earlier fight left them on low HP).





Ignite, is super good and i always use it. Its so much extra damage that noone expects. Also it prevents people from escaping with low HP. If you are against a champion who heals to the point of it being a problem. Then ignite them in your stack of boxes and they cant heal.





Flash i dont go. Since your Q Deceive is a flash in it self. Since ignite and TP are so important, you dont have space for Flash.

Pros:

Lane dominant
FUN
Few know how to counter him
2 v 1 in lane easy
Tilting to play against
High damage-output
Really good CC if you can play around your Jack In The Box

Cons:

Falls of late (compared to others)
Hard to solocarry
Often rely on your team
Only one reliable ability
Mixed scalings with no mixed items
Your damage requires you to set up multiple boxes - they have to come to you

Abilities:


Backstab




Shaco's basic attack critically strikes for extra damage when striking a unit from behind. Units can't be Backstabbed more than once every few seconds, modified by Shaco's cooldown reduction.


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Deceive



Cost: 60 Mana
Range: 400

Shaco becomes Invisible and teleports to target location.

His first attack while Invisible is empowered, dealing bonus damage and reducing Deceive's cooldown

Shaco teleports nearby and becomes Invisible for 1.5/2.25/3/3.75/4.5 seconds. Shaco remains Invisible even if he uses Jack in the Box or Hallucinate. His next basic attack during Invisibility deals 10/20/30/40/50 (+40% bonus Attack Damage) (+30% Ability Power) bonus physical damage and reduces Deceive's cooldown by 0 seconds.
Stealth - Invisible: Shaco can only be revealed by nearby enemy Turrets or True Sight.


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Jack In The Box



Cost: 50/55/60/65/70 Mana
Range: 500

Shaco creates a hidden animated Jack-in-the-Box. When triggered, it will fear and attack nearby enemies.

Shaco creates a Jack in the Box that hides from view after 2 seconds. It pops out when an enemy comes near or when uncovered by a ward or trinket, making nearby enemies flee very slowly for 0.5/0.75/1/1.25/1.5 seconds.Its attacks deal 35/50/65/80/95 (+20% Ability Power) magic damage. It lasts for 60 (+5% Ability Power) seconds while hidden or 5 seconds while firing.


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Two-Shiv Poison



Cost: 50/55/60/65/70 Mana
Range: 625

Shaco's Shivs passively poison targets on hit, slowing their movement speed. He can throw his Shivs to deal damage and poison the target. The thrown Shiv deals bonus damage based on the target's missing Health.

Passive: While Two-Shiv Poison is ready to cast, Shaco's basic attacks reduce the target's movement speed by 20/22.5/25/27.5/30% for 2 seconds.
Active: Shaco throws a shiv that deals 55/80/105/130/155 (+100% bonus Attack Damage) (+75% Ability Power) physical damage and reduces the target's movement speed by 20/22.5/25/27.5/30% for 3 seconds. The shiv's damage is increased by up to 50% based on the target's missing health.


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Hallucinate



Cost: 100 Mana
Range: 25000

Shaco creates an illusion of himself near him, which can attack nearby enemies (Deals reduced damage to turrets). Upon death, it explodes, spawning three mini Jack in the Boxes and dealing damage to nearby enemies.

Shaco vanishes briefly and reappears with a clone. The clone lasts up to 18 seconds and detonates when it dies, dealing 200/300/400 (+100% Ability Power) magic damage to nearby enemies and spawning three mini Jack in the Boxes. Mini boxes deal 25/50/75 (+15% Ability Power) damage, make enemies flee for 0.75/1/1.25 second(s), and trigger together. Clone deals 75% of Shaco's damage and receives 50% increased damage.The clone can be controlled by holding the alt key and using the right mouse button or by reactivating this ability.


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Laning with Shaco is really interesting. I consider it the most fun part of the game, when you surprise kill the enemy with 3 boxes they never expected. Different match-ups need different playstyles, but mostly you want to bait the enemy in to your boxes. Thats the short version.
Against a champion with a simple engage, and no escape like Jax. In this case its really about baiting him into coming for you. This can of course be done in multiple ways. If you have 1 box behind you and 2 boxes in front of you, then you are set. When he jumps on you you walk to your front boxes. Unless the jump is enough to kill you, you have won. He will take a lot of damage, and think that those were your boxes. Maybe it was enough to kill him, and if not bait him into the last one. When that happens he will take more damage and walk back into the other 2 boxes.

In the case you are against a champion like Sion who is hard to deal with, you cant have the triangle finished. You should have a strait line of 3 boxes behind you. When he goes to kill you, and props two of the boxes in your line, you can place a box behind him. This should chain-fear him into staying inside them. If you can kill him here do so. If not and he pursuits you go to the last box in your line.

In case of a 2 v 1, you simply have to place as many boxes as you can. They will be a lot less carefull, when they are two because they dont think you will be able to kill them. Best case, is that you kill both.
Second best case, is that you kill one and get away.
Third best case, is that you get away.
Fourth best case, is that you kill one and die.
And the worst is that they just kill you :( - this is unlikely if you have at least 3 boxes.

Farming is not to bad. Unless its a real lanebully you are against, just backstap the minions. This will be enough to kill a casterminion under tower that has been hit once. If you need to push a wave just place a box. The enemy will most likely not go in to kill it. If they do they will tank the box, and you can shiv them. So they know who is in charge. Also, if you are in an absolutely terrible lane, just get the farm you can without dying. Loosing minions sucks, but dying sucks even worse.

Q:

You q can be used to jump over walls. This you should know, however the enemy also knows this, so its often better to act like you Q over a wall, when you actually Q's backwards somewhere.
You Q can be cast right before you B recall , so you will be invisible for some of the duration. This also works with teleport, so you can make some clean get-aways. Your maxed out Q can make you invisible long enough for TP to end.

Your enemies, can see your Q smoke, even if you are in a brush.

W:

Your W's cant be stacked. Also their smoke can also be seen by enemies. Enemies will always go away from the point they were feared. This is how you chain them in to other boxes.
If the enemy has abilities to *** over your boxes, place them behind you, or in minions. I mean like Sion's E or Nunu's Q.

E:
Not much about this guy, except remember that your AA's slow when it is OFF CD. Also it is an execute, so it does more damage the lower the targets HP is. You can use it to secure minions that you would not get otherwise. Also KS some kills with it.

R:
You can use you R to dodge mostly anything in the game. For a really brief period, its like you are in Playful / Trickster. You can dodge Karthus R's, and even Twisted Fate's vision he gets when to ults.
If you position correct, you can jump over some really short walls.
Using R does not stop you Q, so you can use R, while you are invisible. If you make the clone attack right away, it looks like it was you who just appeared from invisibility.
If you are really low, use your clone to bait people into you boxes. This way you are in no danger what so ever.

Leave your constructive feedback or questions down below!