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Recommended Items
Runes: Full AP
+10% Attack Speed
+9 Adaptive (5.4 AD or 9 AP)
+65 Base Health
Spells:
Flash
Unleashed Smite
Items
Threats & Synergies
Graves
Watch out for his early invades with wards at the entrance of your jungle. Graves likes to either level 1 late invade or level 2 invade after doing his red. Try to avoid fighting him in the jungle and you should be able to outscale him.
Galio
Great synergy since Galio can follow up on your engage with his own ultimate. Also sets up ganks really well.
Galio
Great synergy since Galio can follow up on your engage with his own ultimate. Also sets up ganks really well.
IGN: Citric Region: NA
Rank: Challenger
I've been playing since Season 2 and have played a handful of champions and roles throughout the years. Other than Shyvana, my favorite champions are Lee Sin, Elise, Gragas, Lucian, and Kai'Sa.
I picked up Shyvana in Season 10 and amassed over 2 million mastery points in Season 11 across multiple accounts, trying out many different builds and attempting to hit Challenger by one-tricking.
My skill level is Grandmaster; I can maintain this rank if I am playing the game consistently but have also peaked Challenger when I am luckier. The picture above shows an account that I used to test these builds.
Warning:
Mechanically easy
There are no flashy combos. This champion is easy to learn because her dueling is fairly one-dimensional.
Fast farmer
Her kit allows her to clear the jungle fast. Smart pathing allows her to consistently gain a sizable farm lead over her opponents.
Snowballs with lead
Snowballs easily as a result of being a fast farmer. Enemy jungler will have a hard time keeping up if they are put behind.
High damage
High base damage combined with high ratios allows her to hard carry games if played correctly.
Almost never banned
This allows for one-tricking and can be used to your advantage as most people don't know how to play against a Shyvana.
Difficult when behind
Due to being mechanically easy champion, she has less opportunities to make a comeback when behind.
Easily kited
This is especially true for early levels and AD builds. Being crowd controlled and fighting ranged champions can be quite frustrating.
Easily invaded
In the early game, she is vulnerable to aggressive invades. In particular, watch out for strong early game duelists.
Unpopular
Low pick rate means less content about the champion. People don't know how to play with a Shyvana.
Relies on ultimate
Has a very basic human form kit and heavily relies on playing around her ultimate. No cc means ganks are harder to pull off.
Warning:
Also, 3 of Shyvana's abilities deal magic damage. No matter what build you go, at least 30~40% will be magic damage. Keep this in mind when picking the champion.
Full AP vs AP Bruiser?
Example:
Below are examples of how strong each build can be. See for yourself!
Full AP
AD Shyvana
AP Bruiser
When I suggest options to certain runes, it just means that I think either is viable. Try them out yourself and see which is more fitting to your playstyle. Not everything is black and white and you should see test them out.
Press the Attack
This is the standard rune for AD Shyvana because it is easily proc'd with an AA + Twin Bite. It provides additional burst for single target focus. It greatly increases your 1v1 strength and is good even on AP builds with Nashor's Tooth.
Lethal Tempo
This is the alternative keystone in the Precision tree. To get full value, you would need items like Iceborn Gauntlet or Stridebreaker to slow your enemies to maintain your stacks. Any on-hit item will synergize well as you are landing many autos in a shot period of time.
First Strike
This is the alternative to Dark Harvest. Playing this rune requires you to get the jump on the enemy first and can be harder to pull off. The tradeoff is kill-chaining for higher initial burst and some gold value. It also opens up some good secondary runes in the tree.
Sorcery
Slot 1
Nimbus Cloak is the only consistent rune in this slot. It provides extra mobility for chases and escapes. The movement speed from using summoner spells is incredibly helpful.
Slot 2
Transcendence is my personal favorite rune in this particular tree. The ability haste is much needed on Shyvana and the level 11 passive will get you an additional fireball in tight timings. Celerity is another mobility rune, which is always good on Shyvana.
Slot 3
Waterwalking provides additional stats and movement speed when you are in the river. This can be a big surprise boost when you are in duels. Gathering Storm gives you better scaling into the mid and late game, the time where Shyvana shines.
Precision
Slot 1
Triumph is the only rune to take in this slot but it still provides great value. The heal will get your out of many close calls. The additional gold is just icing on the cake.
Slot 2
Legend: Alacrity gives attack speed that is always good and utilized on Shyvana. However, sometimes if you see the enemy with too much CC, you should definitely take Legend: Tenacity. Tenacity is a hard-to-buy stat and should not be undervalued.
Slot 3
Coup de Grace helps you burst down targets below a certain health threshold. It provides similar damage boost compared to Last Stand. This choice between the two is really up to your preference. Don't stress too much over the difference.
Domination
Slot 1
Sudden Impact provides similar damage compared to Cheap Shot but I prefer the extra penetration. Taste of Blood could work here as well but just keep in mind that it is more of a laning rune as the cooldown is 20 seconds.
Slot 2
Eyeball Collection will stack automatically as you get takedowns but I like to run Zombie Ward in higher ranks because the vision provides so much for your team. In lower ranks, players are more prone to not placing down wards.
Slot 3
Treasure Hunter has been my replacement since Ravenous Hunter was removed. The extra gold allows Shyvana to hit important early spikes more consistently. Ingenious Hunter is also an option here when building items with cooldowns.
Inspiration
Slot 1
Magical Footwear gives you free boots with an added bonus movement speed. Mobility is always good on Shyvana. Perfect Timing is great if you are looking to build it into a Zhonya's Hourglass. This rune can win you a fight if used correctly.
Slot 2
Future's Market is the only rune to consider from this slot. This rune allows you to borrow gold to make purchases, allowing you to hit your item spikes a little earlier if recalled at the right time. Note that it may be a really inconsistent rune.
Slot 3
Cosmic Insight is the standard rune to take from this tree. Shortened cooldown on smite and your other summoner can really boost your dueling. Approach Velocity can help you gap close (great with Iceborn Gauntlet.)
Resolve
Slot 2
Conditioning synergizes well with Shyvana's passive as it gives bonus percentage resistances. Additional tankiness is great on builds that force you to play in melee range. Bone Plating is a great rune for 1v1's against burst damage. With this rune, almost no one can win solo versus you.
Slot 3
Overgrowth synergizes well with Shyvana's ultimate as it gives bonus health. Tankiness is always good on melee builds. Unflinching is an underrated rune that can make you very slippery and hard to lock down. Another great rune for playing in melee range.
Another popular secondary page is Legend: Alacrity and Coup de Grace focusing on clear speed and earlier damage boost.
For the AD builds:
A common combo I personally like to run is Celerity and Waterwalking as it will help you stick onto targets. This is an important factor in running melee heavy builds.
For AP Bruiser:
You can take any combination of the suggested runes above. Try them all out and find your own favorites.
However, I tend to avoid Scorchclaw Pup because I just see more value in the other two.
Scorchclaw Pup
This item will give you a slow on any sort of damage you deal upon being charged at 100 stacks. It will also deal a burn damage of 4% of your target's maximum health. This smite item makes sure you will have enough stickiness and damage to finish off the target you initiated on. This idea plays nicely into what AP Shyvana and AD Shyvana looks for in fights.
Mosstomper Seedling
This item will give you a shield and some extra tenacity and slow resist when the shield is active or recently broken. This particular smite item synergizes well with AP Bruiser because it makes you tankier for engages and more slippery if you need to back out from said engage. It is very easy to get full value out of this rune and it is probably the most simple option of the three.
Gustwalker Hatchling
This item will give you a speed boost when you are in a bush and the boost decays once you exit the bush. This is my favorite smite item because of the extra mobility it gives. Not only will it allow you to rotate extremely fast if utilized correctly, it will also get you from camp to camp quicker, leaving little downtime in the jungle. This effect is very useful on all builds but takes more intention to maximize value.
Once again, a lot of this is up to player preference so try these summoners out yourself to optimize your setup.
Flash
When playing AP Shyvana, default to flash because it is too valuable as a defensive and offensive summoner. You are also squishier compared to other builds and require the additional strength in escaping. Flash can also be used to extend your Flame Breath range and hit your opponent unexpectedly.
Ghost
Ghost is a really underrated summoner on Shyvana and should probably be more popular. The movement speed will help you stay on top of your target and it even extends duration upon takedown which is great for long and drawnout fights. This summoner definitely shores up a big weakness in Shyvana's kit.
Treat your auto attack as an ability because it is the center piece of Shyvana's kit. Always remember to auto attack because it interacts with all of your abilities.
Notes:
Extends Burnout's duration
Extra damage on targets marked by Flame Breath
Gain 2 fury per auto attack
Description:
Notes:
Early dragons can snowball the game due to the tank stats gained
Passive does absolutely NOTHING if your team gets no dragons
Description:
In dragon form, Twin Bite hits the target and everyone in a small cone behind it. It is the same as human form but the additional attack does not apply crit nor on-attack effects.
Notes:
Cooldown doesn't start until the attack lands or until after 6 seconds
Description:
Additionally, auto attacking while the ability is active will deal extra damage onto targets in range. In dragon form, Burnout radius is increased.
Notes:
Hold the spell until you are in range of an auto attack within the next 3 seconds
Description:
In dragon form, upon colliding with an enemy champion or reaching the targeted spot, the fireball explodes and creates a circle of flame burning enemies every 0.5 seconds.
Notes:
Can use Flash to extend the range if you flash during the channel time
Description:
During flight, you become displacement immune. In human form, you passively generate fury per second but also 2 fury per auto attack.
Notes:
Use Dragon's Descent to avoid CC during flight
Auto attack minions and monsters to build up fury for ultimate
Once your auto attack has gone through, immediately press Q and auto attack again.
E + Flash
Flash during the channel of your Flame Breath to shoot out the fireball at the destination of your flash in the direction of the cursor.
R + AA + E + Q
A dragon combo to proc PTA and get damage off quickly.
Leveling up Burnout at level 4 is something I recommend regardless of build. This slight change of order can boost your clear speed and dueling power from level 4 to 8. It still allows maxing another ability at level 9.
The item priority in the two different builds are slightly different due to the fighting range of the builds. With a Nashor's Tooth, you are looking to weave in more auto attacks. Without Nashor's, you are only looking to weave in an occasional Twin Bite in between Flame Breaths.
Choose 1
Night Harvester
This is the standard mythic for AP Shyvana and you can't go wrong with this option. The identity of this mythic comes from the ability haste (from the mythic passive) and the additional burst from the passive. Note that this item gives 300 health which helps you play in melee range with Nashor's Tooth.
Hextech Rocketbelt
If you are playing against squishier targets and want the magic penetration to achieve higher burst then pick this mythic. The active on this item can be used to get in range for a Twin Bite or even an extended Flame Breath. This mythic can be bought with or without Nashor's Tooth.
Choose 4
🟨 = High Priority
Mejai's Soulstealer gives a lot of AP for how cheap it is. Always try to buy this item if you are not dying a lot. Works great with Shyvana's high AP ratios. 🟨
Cosmic Drive gives a lot of ability haste and helps a lot when playing in closer range. The passive is easily proc'd when jumping in. 🟨
Rabadon's Deathcap is the best damage item for AP Shyvana. Can be purchased early if snowballing but the expensive build path makes it difficult to buy early in most games. 🟨
Void Staff is a necessity if the enemies are building magic resistance items. Shyvana's high magic damage benefits a lot from this item. 🟨
Horizon Focus can provide a huge boost to damage but should be bought later on as other damage items are higher priority.
Zhonya's Hourglass is a great situational item if you are getting focused by unavoidable damage. This item's value scales with how well you use it so avoid buying it if you are not good at using it.
Shadowflame is a great situational item to get more magic penetration for targets with low magic resistance.
Morellonomicon should be avoided if possible. You provide way more by dealing damage than being utility. However, sometimes this is not a choice but a necessity.
Banshee's Veil is a very rare legendary on Shyvana. Only buy this if you need the MR and you need to prevent getting engaged on.
Choose 1
For boots, purchase Boots before completing your first item or right after. Complete your tier 2 boots as early as first recall and before finishing the third item.
If you need healing reduction, just sit on an Oblivion Orb and don't rush to finish the item.
Zhonya's Hourglass, Morellonomicon, Banshee's Veil should be avoided if possible as situations where these items outshine the others are infrequent. If you absolutely need one of these items then purchase only after your first item.
At full items, it is common to sell Nashor's Tooth for another legendary if you have no openings to fight in melee range.
1st
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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5th
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Nashor's
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Mythic
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Cosmic Drive & Rabadon's
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Mejai's
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Void & Horizon & Shadowflame
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Zhonya's & Morellonomicon & Banshee's
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Most AD builds will buy a Blade of the Ruined King as the first item in the build. Although this is the most popular choice, it is definitely not a necessity. Some players will choose to rely on their Flame Breath and auto attack + Twin Bite damage along with items that give AD and sturdiness. Other players enjoy playing on-hit, relying on Burnout to stick on to enemies and kill with auto attacks.
Choose 1
Divine Sunderer
If you are playing versus a team that is a little more tanky and your team requires you to do more damage then consider this mythic. Divine Sunderer gives a lot of health which makes you sturdy as well. It also gives % penetration for each legendary item, making this the tank killer.
Choose 4
🟨 = High Priority
Titanic Hydra is another great damage item due to its on-hit effect. It scales with health so it becomes stronger as you build more items. 🟨
Wit's End is the go-to magic resistance item. It greatly increases your combat power as it gives a lot of damage and movement speed upon attacking. 🟨
Sterak's Gage is a high value AD bruiser item on Shyvana. The shield that it provides will help you survive many fights granted that you are playing around the cooldown.
Dead Man's Plate is great at helping you reach slippery targets as it gives you movement speed and your next auto attack slows at full stacks.
Death's Dance gives incredible value when playing into heavy AD comps. Great at stopping AD burst from one shotting you.
Gargoyle Stoneplate is a great last item to round out builds. The shield it gives scales with how much bonus health you have so don't buy it too early.
Guardian Angel is for when you are forced to engage for your team. Can be really good paired with Ingenious Hunter.
Randuin's Omen is the go-to tank item versus heavy crit comps. Active is an additional source of crowd control.
Thornmail is the go-to tank item versus fast attack speed comps. Finish this item for the passive and not the healing reduction.
Spirit Visage is the best MR tank option if you have healing on your team. Also synergizes well with Sterak's Gage and Gargoyle Stoneplate as it will increase the shields.
Force of Nature is the go-to MR tank option if you are getting bursted vs spellcasters.
Anathema's Chains is a great cheap item if there is an enemy that is particularly fed. Gains maximum value if your team has good CC.
Choose 1
Mercury's Treads
Only buy these if you need the tenacity. Buying these with Legend: Tenacity will make your tenacity go from 30% to ~50%, which is a sizable increase.
AD Shyvana's boots are actually incredibly flexible. I've personally tried Berserker's Greaves, Ionian Boots of Lucidity, and Boots of Swiftness. They all seem to be decent but buying the tankier options is usually the way to go.
For boots, purchase Boots before completing your first item or right after. Complete your tier 2 boots as early as after the first item and as late as before 4th item is finished.
If you need healing reduction, just sit on an Bramble Vest or Executioner's Calling and don't rush to finish the item.
4th and 5th item are really dependent on the game and should vary almost every game. Knowing how to optimally itemize can win you many games.
1st
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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5th
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Mythic Item
| ||||
BoRK
| ||||
Frostfire & Divine
| ||||
Titanic & Wit's
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Sterak's & DMP
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Death's & GA & Randuin's
| ||||
Spirit & FoN
| ||||
Gargoyle
| ||||
Bramble & Thornmail & Anathema's
|
Radiant Virtue
This is the current best mythic item for AP Bruiser Shyvana. I currently take this over Iceborn Gauntlet because of how strong the effects of the item are. The heals will allow you to make aggressive engages and bait out crucial cooldowns while you survive with the heals and extra HP.
Iceborn Gauntlet is still a GREAT option because of the slow it offers. The item no longer gives magic resist and can feel less effective when built into high magic damage comps. The identity of the item remains and is still a good consideration for the AP Bruiser build.
Choose 4
🟨 = High Priority
Cosmic Drive is one of the best items in this build because of the ability haste and movement speed provided. Both stats are incredible on Shyvana. 🟨
Warmog's Armor is great for keeping you on the map without having to recall. If possible, during teamfights, play around the passive and benefit from the heal.
Anathema's Chains is bought when there is a particularly fed enemy or when enemy team has very uneven damage composition (something like 4 AD champions + 1 AP champion, so you don't have to waste gold buying MR for 1 person).
Thornmail is a great item versus auto attackers. Not only does it make you tankier but it also provides some healing reduction and damage.
Randuin's Omen is the go-to anti-crit tank item. Do not forget to use the active if bought. The slow will allow you to stick on to the enemy.
Abyssal Mask gains maximum value with building more HP and having magic damage on your team. The MR reduction is great for your high magic damage.
Force of Nature is the go-to item to counter high magic damage dps. You will feel invicible vs. mages with this item and it also provides some movespeed which is an important stat for Shyvana.
Gargoyle Stoneplate should be built last or second to last because of how it scales with your bonus HP. It provides great resistances and a gigantic shield that can make you a reliable engage and bait out enemy spells.
Zhonya's Hourglass is an item that scales with the player's skill. A lot of value can be derived if used correctly. Great at avoiding skills and allowing your own skills to come off cooldown.
Rabadon's Deathcap is always a good item on Shyvana because of the high AP scaling she has. If you have a big lead, Rabadon's will almost always snowball your way to victory.
Void Staff is a situational item for when the enemy team is buying lots of MR. Because AP Bruiser is completely reliant on magic damage usually, MR can be really effective vs Shyvana.
Blade of the Ruined King can sometimes be bought if you realize your team is lacking physical damage and the enemy team is stacking MR. If the enemy team is not high health then you can even opt for a Titanic Hydra.
Choose 1
Mercury's Treads
Only buy these if you need the tenacity. Buying these with Legend: Tenacity will make your tenacity go from 30% to ~50%.
Below is a chart of my personal item prioritization in the majority of my games. This chart is only just a generalization.
For boots, purchase Boots before completing your first item or right after. I tend to no longer rush tier 2 boots before my mythic item unless it is Ionian Boots of Lucidity. Try to delay tier 2 boots if you can get a better item spike.
Going a tank item second should only happen if enemy is heavy AD or AP. Otherwise, buy a damage item.
If you need healing reduction, just sit on an Bramble Vest and if the enemy team has auto attackers that heal then you can finish Thornmail as early as you want.
Zhonya's Hourglass can be bought throughout the build. This is a really high value item into the correct teams and if you know how to use it to its full potential.
1st
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2nd
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3rd
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4th
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5th
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Demonic
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Radiant
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Titanic
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Damage Options
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Tanky Options
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Gargoyle or Zhonya's
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Although jungling doesn't change from champion to champion, each champion has their own set of priorities when it comes to decision-making. The strengths and weaknesses of a champion define these priorities.
Shyvana's basic kit is not great at ganking and prefers enemies to walk into her instead of the other way around. To make fights work, she needs to stay one step ahead of the enemy jungler. She excels at quickly farming camps and objectives. With her ultimate, her ganks become a lot more potent. These pros and cons determine what we should prioritize when playing Shyvana.
Warning:
Know the lane states
Neutral objective timers
Enemy vision
There are two ideal paths I like to take. The second one can be extremely powerful if the circumstances line up.
This is the ideal start to a game where no invades happen and you are free to clear all 6 camps into a scuttle. This path allows you to full clear the jungle in the least amount of time. It also puts you very close to the scuttle at the end of the path. Depending on the jungle matchup and the rank of the enemy jungler, you might not get this start as often as you would like.
OUTDATED BUT A GOOD REFERENCE
If you do this path, start with Burnout and try to let your teammates know you won't need a leash. By starting at raptors, you allow your raptors camp to spawn earlier than in the previous path. This allows you to continue a second clear immediately after scuttle take. This can be an extremely powerful pathing and enables a stronger recall with more gold.
This path is slower by a few seconds, but you might want to do this in some games. Reasons include: preference for getting a leash, whether or not you want to fight the enemy jungler at scuttle, or that you want to path towards a particular lane to gank. This path also puts your further from the scuttle. Keep in mind, there is no gromp healing at the end of the path.
This path is not as efficient in terms of gold and experience but it opens up many options. After doing gromp, you have the opportunity to look for a fast early gank in a lane with good setups. If no such options exist then you continue with blue buff and wolves while reacting to the map. You are at the center of the map so it gives you better access to either sides.
In the early game, Shyvana aims to control the jungle camps and dragon objective while not giving up too much map presence. Remaining at least even with the enemy jungler in terms of experience and gold in this stage usually means that you have the advantage.
Utilize your trinket to prevent any early game disasters. There are a few ways I like to use my early trinkets. The most common one is to drop a Stealth Ward at 1:15 on the buff I am not starting at. Or placing a ward at ~1:20 at the entrance of the buff I am starting at to spot out late invades. You can also save the ward and choose to drop 2 wards for your team after full clearing your jungle. This can really prevent your team from dying to ganks. I always swap to a Oracle's Lens after the first recall.
Choose your pathing based on the jungle matchup and the lane matchups. You may do the same full clear every game but if you are looking to become a better jungler, you need to switch things up. In general, try to path towards lanes with good gank setups as Shyvana only provides damage. Also try to path away from junglers that win 1v1's against you.
Tracking the enemy jungler is an essential skill for Shyvana players. Being able to ping out potential ganks can help you secure a good early game and avoid losing the game outright. Try to ping at least 3 times to get your teammates' attention. The video below will give you a good idea what it means to track the enemy jungler.
Prioritize reaching level 6 as fast as possible because this is a big power spike for Shyvana. A lot of games are lost due to being stuck at level 5 for too long. Look for waves to hold/push to accelerate the hitting level 6. First dragon will give you about one camp's worth of experience. It is usually not worth to lose 2 camps over the first dragon.
Take a dragon aggressively to fully take advantage of your passive. Try to bring an Oracle's Lens or a Control Ward to make sure enemies are not in the know. Be careful losing camps on the other side of the map to counter-jungling as the enemy team is alerted once the dragon is killed. In the clip, I aggressively go for a dragon at spawn with the only risk of dying as no other camps are on the map. Let your team know if you want them to come help or stay away to not giveaway the play.
Punish enemy laners that are over-extended or have Flash on cooldown. This is usually a guaranteed kill if have taken enemy counter-play into account (look for potential counter-ganks or Teleports). Red buff or Chilling Smite almost always will turn these opportunities into easy reward.
Make sure you are doing all of the things suggested down below during ganks because of how weak Shyvana's ganks are. If we don't try our best to maximize our ganking success rate, it can greatly hurt our chances of winning the game. This section is about how to execute a gank after spotting it out.
Look at all the CC between you and your laners. On Shyvana, you may have a red buff, Exhaust, Chilling Smite, or slows from items such as Iceborn Gauntlet or Stridebreaker. If there are no crowd controls between you and the laner, then only consider a gank if the enemy is way over-extended or at very low health.
Communicate with pings
The general rule is to always ping at least three "on the way" pings. Laners are usually not even looking at the mini-map and if they don't know the gank is coming, there is a big chance of it failing. Try not to ping too early or too late. If you walk on top of vision and decide to back out, use your "area is warded" and "caution" pings to notify your team. This is a very important detail as it can become a disaster if your team engages when you've already decided to back off.
Be patient for ganks
Most ganks require the jungler to wait for the right moment outside of vision in order for the gank to be successful. Do not mindlessly walk into a lane when ganking. There are signals to watch out for. Enemies usually will walk up further in a lane when killing a cannon minion or returning a trade. Watch for abilities being used and spring out of vision as soon as it happens. Every single fraction of the second matters in a gank.
In the clip below, I knew LeBlanc wants to push out the wave and is going to use Distortion. I wait for her to use the ability before jumping out immediately.
How to use your spells
Once you are in the vision of the enemy, try to path towards their path of escape instead of directly to them. Once you are in Burnout range(meaning you are close enough to the enemy target to activate Burnout and walk to them and auto them to extend the duration), activate your W and lead with crowd control.
It is much easier to hit a human fireball in close range than it is from afar. If the enemy is immobilized then you may use Flame Breath as it is ensured to hit. DO NOT throw the fireball randomly as it is a big part of your damage for ganks. If you don't have any reliable crowd control and the enemy champion has decent mobility then simply don't use fireball and go for auto attack + Twin Bite and chase with auto attacks instead. There is a channel time on Flame Breath and sometimes this will lose you kills if you use it without having the movespeed from Burnout to chase afterwards. Sometimes it's better to save the fireball as a finisher once the target is outside of your auto range.
Example #1:
Example #2:
Counter-gank Example:
In the mid game, Shyvana aims to control vision around the map for easy objectives and picks onto the enemy team. In the meanwhile, taking camps off both sides of the map with her incredible clear speed. Also fully utilizing the ability to quickly charge up your ultimate after fights to outpace the enemies and completely depriving them of resources.
Shyvana's kit allows her to clear out multiple wards with just one usage of sweeper. This can provide extremely high value if you are able to track where the enemy support has put down wards. Try to not use your Oracle's Lens randomly and keep an eye on the enemy support's ward item as there is a number showing how many wards are available.
Learn the common ward spots and sweep them all out by using auto + Twin Bite to one shot wards and using Burnout to go from ward to ward. You can also do this with the support's sweeper by walking with them while they are establishing vision on the map.
Leave no camps nor waves behind
Continue to farm the map because Shyvana is heavily reliant on gold/items and is quite good at farming camps. Do not limit yourself to only your side of the map. If you control the vision well or time your skirmishes effectively, you can safely counter-jungle the enemy.
A lot of the times, players forget or fail to recognize minion waves they can clear. Don't let these opportunities slip by!
Skirmish in the sidelanes
By targeting one of the sidelanes, you are playing to Shyvana's strengths. She excels at smaller fights and can quickly recharge her ultimate afterwards if there are camps on the map to auto attack. Sometimes you may keep a Gromp camp alive before going for a fight. This is so you can quickly recharge (Gromp grants 20 fury upon killing it) to use ultimate again.
Be careful fighting right before an objective is spawning as you may be left without fury to use Dragon's Descent for the objective fight. Most kills are not worth losing an objective over.
Target the objectives
Do not take this point lightly. You can win many games if you simply focus on grabbing dragons and leading that into a dragon soul even if you are not jungling particularly well. Shyvana is able to do objectives quickly due to Flame Breath-marked auto attacks.
If you see enemies committed too hard to one side of the map, do not hesitate to ping your team to grab an objective even if it's a baron. However, learn when to give up an objective when you know a fight simply cannot be won. Try to set up a different play on the other side of the map.
Securing the objectives
If you can't secure objectives with your Smite then there is no point controlling the objectives. For AP Shyvana, the best way to secure an objective is usually through Flame Breath + Smite or Dragon's Descent + Smite. These high damaging abilities make it really easy to secure. For AD Shyvana, you usually want to combo Smite with a Flame Breath marked Twin Bite.
Destroy the turrets
Ultimately, the mid game is about cracking the enemy base open. Shyvana's kit makes her a strong turret killer and even more so if you build the items for it. Her auto attack + Twin Bite and reduced Q cooldown on each auto makes her a turret destroyer.
Items like Trinity Force, Elixir of Sorcery, and building AP in general can accelerate how fast you drop a turret. Do not underestimate this strength! Split pushing and backdooring are both in your playbook for the mid game.
Try to avoid teamfighting without your ultimate (especially if you are full AP). If you are close to 100 fury and the fight has already started, in most cases, it is better to auto attack camps and arrive late with ultimate than arrive on time without.
Manage your fury in dragon form
Usually during teamfights, you want to prolong dragon form for as long as possible. To accomplish this, look for whatever is available to auto attack around you. Remember that using Twin Bite on clumped up minions can regenerate a lot of fury at once.
Fully utilize your fireballs
Dragon form Flame Breath leaves behind a zone that burns and deals damage over 4 seconds. Regardless of build, it does about the same damage as the initial impact if they burn for the full duration. This is great if there are CC to lock people on this zone or if someone is trying to fight you in melee range and you force them to fight on this zone.
Aim for multiple targets
The aoe range on your fireball is quite big in dragon form. Hit multiple targets at once to fully utilize the damage it has. Think of hitting additional targets instead of one as multiplying your damage.
Burnout is not for damage
Ideally yes you want to land the land from your Burnout. However, you should view this ability as a tool to help you land more damage. The bonus movement speed can put you in range to land an important Flame Breath or an important auto attack with Iceborn Gauntlet slow. The speed can also help you dodge spells.
Twin Bite has a low cooldown
The ability's cooldown can get very low in the later stages of the game where you have it maxed out plus ability haste. Remember that the cooldown is also reduced on every auto attack. A common mistake people make is not realizing the ability is already off cooldown and they miss out on the damage.
Teamfighting is not just about using you abilities correctly but also who you target and how you target them.
Flanks are incredibly strong regardless of build. Shyvana is great at clearing vision for flanks and a successful one can help you land a lot more damage as enemies will not be able to instantly react to an engage from an unsuspecting angle. In a common flank, Shyvana is able to land her ultimate across multiple targets from behind and position safely as she ults into her own team.
Drop the ego and peel!
In some games, you may not be the win condition and need to play for another player. For example, if you have a good Vayne that is positioned to carry a game then simply peel instead of trying to kill the enemy carries. Target whoever is trying to get on to the carry of the game.
In the above clip, Nocturne starts an engage with Paranoia. I immediately jump back into my team to safety and avoid a Charm. Seeing that the enemy is desperate to follow up on the Nocturne's engage, I turn around around place a Flame Breath in the path to deter them. My team provides some safety as they are the ones being focused and I decide to land a Twin Bite and some auto attacks. The enemies become clumped up so I place another fireball in the choke point. I walk back to wait for my cooldowns and decide to auto attack the raptors to maintain my fury and then drop another fireball from the distance and out of vision. I see the enemy are low enough for me to finish it off with my Burnout movespeed and remaining fireballs.
For full AP builds, fights are usually led with an ultimate. Below are some tips focused on using ultimate.
This ability scales 1:1 with AP and can destroy an entire team if enemies are CC'd or if the ultimate is from out of vision.
Sometimes a gap closer
A common situation is when a fight starts and you are not close enough to the action. You may use ultimate to gap close (even to jump over walls) to get close and also transform at the same time.
Sometimes a disengage
Shyvana's ultimate puts her in an unstoppable status and can be very powerful if used effectively. You may play really aggressive to bait out an engage from the enemy team and use ultimate to position yourself to safety. Do this with caution as it requires good reaction time.
Sometimes just transform
Later into the game, this becomes more common as enemy gets more damage and you cannot afford to jump in. You may use ultimate simply to get into dragon form.
Using ultimate to hit even one person can be very worth it. Look for stragglers on the side for this opportunity.
Most of your damage is in your Flame Breath due to its high ratio and low cooldown.
Do not throw random fireballs just because you have them. It is usually better to hold this spell for a better opportunity. Be patient when using this spell as it is a lot of damage but can be missed or mistargeted very easily.
Deadly from fog
If possible, try to shoot this ability from fog of war so the enemies will not be alerted with the cast animation or sound effect. Hitting a carry from an unsuspecting angle can be game-winning.
In the above clip, I arrive to the fight a little late but I find Lux completely exposed. Knowing that the Lux was fed this game, I decided to fully commit on chasing her down. AD Shyvana is very good at 1v1 in this kind of situation. I lead with Dragon's Descent as I wanted to jump on her while she is trying to deal damage to my team. After ultimatek, I use auto attack + Twin Bite to proc Blade of the Ruined King and Press the Attack. I utilize my Flash to chase after her flash. Seeing Gangplank coming to help her, I save the fireball to hit both of them at once and finished off the Gangplank with auto attacks and a Twin Bite.
For AD Shyvana builds, the primary source of your damage is coming from auto attacks and Twin Bite.
Dragon's Descent on AD builds is rarely used for disengage and mostly to gap-close to get in range for auto attacks. Aside from that, it is also used to clump up enemies as it carries enemies in flight path to the land destination. This allows for great AOE damage from Flame Breath and Twin Bite.
Still not an engage champion
In the majority of the games, Shyvana will not be tanky enough to be the engage onto 3+ targets. Instead, try to play as the follow-up damage to the engage.
Be smarter with ultimate
Shyvana's damage here is not reliant on Dragon's Descent nor Flame Breath so most of the time we do not lead teamfights with ultimate. Rather, play the teamfight in human form until you need to gap-close or you see a good opportunity for AOE burst.
Sometimes you can get more damage off by not using Flame Breath. This is something that you will have to learn the hard way but shooting a fireball has a cast time and locks you at one location. This may allow the target to escape from your auto range where you could have landed 2~3 more auto attacks that would do more damage than your fireball.
In the below clip, I see Thresh and Ahri going for the engage so I decide to lead with Dragon's Descent to get into range. I quickly finish off a target with auto attack + Twin Bite and placed a fireball for some damage. As my spells are on cooldown, I walk back and wait a bit before committing fully to the fight. I spot out a good fireball onto two targets and kill Morgana with it. Chilling Smite and Nimbus Cloak gives me enough speed to chomp the Viktor. I continue to chase down Jinx as I have Burnout and red buff running. 1v1's are usually no problem for Shyvana.
In the above clip, I spot out a straggler in Fiora. I lead with Dragon's Descent and auto attack + Twin Bite. I hold the Flame Breath as I know Riposte can block it. The enemy team does not understand this build's tankiness and decides to jump in on me. I find a fireball onto three targets and realized that the Jinx needed to die first. As my fireball comes off cooldown, we land another multi-target fireball and finish the fight with our AOE damage.
For the AP Bruiser build, your value is derived from being able to tank a lot of damage while playing off multiple rotations of your high base damage.
Most of the time, you will want to zero in on the most important player on the enemy team. If you manage to land your ultimate and fireball, you almost always will have enough damage to kill a squishy while considering Press the Attack, Ignite, and Demonic Embrace. The primary concern is sticking on your target and at the very least trade 1 for 1.
You can now engage!
Radiant Virtue will make you much more tankier with the bonus health and the heals. With this tankier build, engage options really open up. If engage is lacking in your team composition then consider a Zhonya's Hourglass as it can multiply your engage strength. The capability to land your abilities before going into stasis and getting your cooldowns back is nothing to scoff at.
Remember to auto attack
Since this build sometimes utilizes Iceborn Gauntlet as its mythic, we always want to lead with an auto attack after ulting to ensure we stick on the target. If Lethal Tempo was chosen for this build, then also do not forget to auto attack to get the most out of the rune.
Breaking the nexus is obviously the ultimate objective in the game. How you get to that step may look very different from game to game. Continue with the ideas from the mid game section (maybe link) but with an added focus of deeper map control through vision and turret destruction.
There aren't specific tricks to ending the game as Shyvana but in this section we discuss what it looks like to end the game as Shyvana.
The typical end:
The normal way to ending the game is usually by overpowering the enemy in terms of gold/stats. With this, you gain more favorable fighting opportunities hence the ability to pressure vision and objective control. This opens up more picking opportunities, better fights, and faster rotations. As you break down turrets methodically, the enemy team will have to surrender map control and eventually the super minions will overwhelm them into a nexus-breaking push.
To get better opportunities such as picks and good teamfights, you will need deeper vision. Not only does this mean wards deeper in enemy jungle but also pushing back enemy vision. Luckily, Shyvana is great at eliminating vision! There is a limit to how many wards and sweepers we have so we try to only control the vision on the side we are play on. For example, if we are trying to fight for a baron buff, we would try to control the vision around this particular objective. Doing this successfully will severely limit what the enemy team can do.
Continue looking for picks
With the added vision control, picks should be easier and more common. Shyvana excels at picking with Dragon's Descent and her high damage burst. Once you pick off an enemy, pressure the enemy team with a play. While the death timer is ticking, you outnumber the enemy so pick a play from the playbook in the mid game section and pressure!
Objectives win games
With the vision control, highly prioritize these objectives!
Teamfighting involves multiple members from both teams and the below notes are assumming a fight larger than 3v3. This is actually rare until very late into the game as Shyvana wants to look for picks especially on the AD builds.
Baron
Teamfighting as Shyvana on different builds only start to become apparent in the later stages of the game. Every teamfight situation is different and therefore I cannot tell you exactly how to play each fight but below are some general tips to get you to teamfight correctly.
Elder Dragon
Teamfighting as Shyvana on different builds only start to become apparent in the later stages of the game. Every teamfight situation is different and therefore I cannot tell you exactly how to play each fight but below are some general tips to get you to teamfight correctly.
Outers to inners
Usually you want to destroy turrets layer by layer. This means that you should try to destroy turrets of the same tier before you go deeper. This is not always true but a good rule to help you end games most consistently as the turrets dictate where the enemies can walk to.
Sieging
In the above clip, a typical siege for AP Shyvana occurs. First, clear the vision around the turret you are sieging. Second, use Dragon's Descent to get into dragon form in fog of war. Drop a fireball onto the squishy targets and then run the enemy team down!
Splitpushing
Splitpushing is a strategy Shyvana can take advantage of. She is very good at destroying turrets and 1v1's. If coordinated correctly with your team, this is a reliable way to end the game.
SECTION IS WORK-IN-PROGRESS
Disclaimer:
The preferred items for each champion is simply a rough guideline. Item builds should revolve around not just the enemy composition but your own as well. The preferred items are simply good items to start with if you are looking to counter the champion.
Whether or not you can win a scuttle fight depends heavily on landing Flame Breath. If you miss this ability, most even and winning matchups will become losing ones.
Index:
Watch out for level 1 invade or late invade. Drop an early ward at jungle entrace.
[2]: This champion is a strong level 2 invader.
Watch out for enemy going from their own buff to one of yours.
Examples:
Enemy Red(lv.2) → Jump Pit Wall → Ally Blue
[3]: This champion is a strong level 3 invader.
Watch out for enemy doing 3 camps and then invading your remaining buff.
Examples:
Enemy Red(lv.2) → Krugs → Raptors(lv.3) → Invade Blue
Enemy Red(lv.2) → Enemy Blue → Gromp(lv.3) → Invade Red
[4]: This champion likes to full clear or 5 camps into scuttle.
This usually means the champion is vulnerable to an early invade during their full clear.
Examples:
Enemy Red(lv.2) → Krugs → Raptors(lv.3) → Wolves → Enemy Blue → Gromp(lv.4)
Enemy Blue(lv.2) → Krugs → Raptors(lv.3) → Wolves → Enemy Blue → Gromp(lv.4)
[5]: This champion is a strong level 2 ganker.
Watch out for enemy doing buff and then ganking immediately.
Examples:
Enemy Red(lv.2) → Gank Mid
Enemy Blue(lv.2) → Gank Bot
[6]: This champion is a strong level 3 ganker.
Watch out for enemy doing 3 camps and then ganking. Likely paths include Red, Blue, Gromp and Red, Raptor, Gromp or even clearing an entire side then ganking.
Examples:
Enemy Red(lv.2) → Krugs → Raptors(lv.3) → Gank Bot
Enemy Blue(lv.2) → Gromp → Enemy Red(lv.3) → Gank Top
[7]: This champion has flexible pathing.
Be on the alert at all times! This champion probably has a good clear speed and good dueling/ganking potential.
UNFINISHED SECTION
Also special thanks to...
Katasandra for the helpful guides on making guides.
jhoijhoi for the code examples.
The Chinese Booster that exclusively plays AD Shyvana for all the ideas and replays.
Nolan for knowledge and discussion about Shyvana in general.
and all the Shyvana players that contribute to the statistics that I obsess over.
If you read to this point, I would very much appreicate it if you came to my stream and checked me out!!!
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