*** This guide doesn't go too in depth like some other ones. I'm simply offering some of my advanced Shaco knowledge to already Shaco players that are looking to up their game. Hope you enjoy! :D ***

Many people consider Shaco a weak champion because they see someone do well on him, try it and fail, and say "wow this champ sucks." On the surface, he appears to be an easy to play, one-dimentional champion. In reality, he is a ton more complex than you'd think and takes quite a few games to master. He is one of the most feast or famine type champions in the entire game. So like playing any assassin, doing well on him is about maximizing how many times you get fed and minimizing your mistakes.

Pros:
-Strongest early game ganks
-Strong invades with ignite/exhaust and stealth
-Melts turrets
-Can avoid stealth wards when ganking
-Fast and healthy first clear

Cons:
-Naturally squishy
-Feast or famine
-Difficult to teamfight
-Needs many games to master

Early-Game

The early game is where Shaco truy shines. Please take advantage of your insane ganks- if you want to farm till lvl 6 you might as well play a different champion. Ignite and exhaust both give you very high kill pressure on the enemy jungler early game. Don't try too hard to force things though. You don't want to fall behind in levels so farm between ganks but keep an eye out for an opportunity.

Mid-Game

When your team tries to contest an objective, use your upgraded sweeper to deny vision and try to flank. When a team fight breaks out, deceive into the back line and one shot their squishies. Use hallucinate to cause more chaos in the fight.

Late-Game

By this point in the game there are 3 things you can do: Split-push, Make a pick, or group. If you are most of your team's kills split pushing may not be a good idea because your team will probably get caught and all die. Instead, tag close behind your team, farming camps and looking for someone out of position to pick off. You can completely avoid team fights by one-shotting anyone that over-extends. If you are behind, get vision in their bot or top jungle and split push. It should draw the attention of at least one of their team members that is stronger than you. If your team then engages in a 4v4 they have a higher chance of winning. Remember to protect yourself with boxes.

Blue/Red: Box behind buff. (Smite for HP)
Wolves: Box in front of big wolf, backstab (Smite if you need ward)
Gromp: Box behind, backstab.
Raptors: Box behind big raptor, backstab (Smite)
Golems: Smite if you are full clearing your jungle.
Dragon: Box behind, auto attack, ult to dodge the knock back, move clone to front when box dies, switch aggro back and forth.
Baron: Do not stand behind baron. You will take more damage from the spikes and are in danger of getting killed from over the wall.

Yellow= Your gank pathing
Red= Invade pathing when starting from red buff
Blue= Invade pathing when starting from blue buff
Pink= Good places to pink. The one in the bush on your own red buff paired with the wolf spirit on your blue side will give you full knowledge of any counter-jungle attempts.

Remember to get the best value out of your deceive! don't gank from bushes where defensive wards are most commonly placed. Be careful though- pink wards in the bushes will still spot you out.

Shaco doesn't have a mandatory build path. You must adapt your build to each game environment. Before the game even starts, take a look at the enemy team and consider what items you will build.
- Do they have a team of mostly tanks? Consider a DPS build with blade and cleaver to shred them with the help of your ult.
- Do they have at least 2 squishies? (Usually applies to ADC and Mid) Go for a burstier AD route so you can pick someone off 1 or 2 targets and retreat.
- Are they nearly all squishies? Take the crit build so you can kill one squishy and keep up the DPS for the rest.

Ravenous Hydra

Once a must-buy item before the price was increased and Tiamat was nerfed but still very strong. Gives burst, wave clear, and eliminates the need to farm with boxes.

Statikk Shiv

The passive synchronizes insanely well with Shaco's kit since it can crit with deceive. Despite this, shiv is trash when you are low on AD so get at least a Tiamat first.

Infinity Edge

Amazing item on Shaco but expensive. You buy it for the AD and crit damage.

Duskblade of Draktharr

Good stats. Amazing passive that also activates with the clone, procing it twice.

Mercurial Scimitar

Since your ultimate is basically a QSS already and the stats it gives can already be found in better items, only build this if the enemy team has insane amounts of CC.

Guardian Angel

Guardian Angel is a late-game only item works best in full damage builds. It's pretty useless without the passive so only buy it for that important, game-deciding baron fight.

Youmuu's Ghostblade

Since this item gives more flat AD and no crit, it is better on him but not the best option.

Maw of Malmortius

Solid item. Buy it if they have multiple, relevant AP threats.

[Q]

Deceive


- Yes, this ability's crit modifier stacks with that of Infinity Edge. With max rank deceive and an infinity edge, your crits will deal 370%

- An orange puff of smoke is visible from the fog of war whenever Shaco uses deceive. The "Masked Shaco" skin is the only one that changes the particles, making it a bit less noticeable.

- Deceive works essentially just like flash. You can blink over the same walls that you can with flash as well as projectiles.

- To cancel deceive's stealth time, forcing the cooldown to start a few seconds earlier, press B and immediately cancel the channel.

-If you press Q and then B instantly you can channel your recall in 3.5 seconds of stealth. Probably the best juke Shaco can do.

[W]

Jack In The Box


- When ganking, place a box behind the enemy right before you crit them. If they try to run or flash away, the fear will trigger. This is also useful when you are being chased- put a box down in front of you and it will fear whoever is trying to catch you.

[E]

Two-Shiv Poison


- Mini-red buff if you hold the active.

- Active applies your passive.

-You can auto attack immediately after using the active making AA,E,AA,Hydra,AA a fairly quick and effective nuke combo.

-Another good burst combo is E and then Q,AA immediately.

[R]

Hallucinate


- Shaco is actually removed from the game for .5 seconds before reappearing, allowing him to dodge any damage or cc ability in the game when timed correctly.

- Hallucinate displace Shaco by a small amount when spawning his clone, allowing him to jump over some thin walls with it.