Hey guys im Panoonez. Complete rookie at League but enjoy enforcing equilibrium with my friends.

Have set a goal to reach Rank #100 EUW before the end of February. Shouldn't be hard given that nobody plays Shen. Follow my progress here.

This guide is 100% based on entirely anecdotal evidence and my own struggles in Silver ELO SoloQ as well as occasional games with my higher-ranking friends in Flex.

Shen's bread and butter is his Q-empowered AA. Your Q will drag the sword from its current position to Shen's position. Your aim should always be to try and position your blade so it will be pulled through the enemy, prior to engaging. Q-drag will not only slow the enemy but your next 3 AAs will do enhanced damaged against the affected enemy. Using this together with a Grasp proc will do some biiiig damages early.

It may seem enticing to use your taunt (E) to initiate trades. Depending on the matchup, however, you may want to save your taunt for disengage.

If you end up pushed underneath your turret, do not fear, as you have a fantastic tool to turn the fight in your favor, a tool which opponents often seem to forget about (at least in my ELO). Using your taunt on an enemy as they are pushing your turret can be their death sentence. Remember that you need not always use the full range of the ability, also, try to position yourself so the taunt forces the enemy towards your turret rather than away from it. These minor changes can be the difference between one and two turret shots on the enemy.

If you, like me, lack the mechanical proficiency to dominate your lane and win the game, Shen has a fantastic toolkit to gain the psychological advantage against your lane opponent, and enemy team, as well as getting your teammates on your side. Please see below:

Many people will see you lock in Shen and think "man im gonna dumpster this guy, he does zero damage". You may also go into that game thinking, "im gonna be constantly pushed under turret and flamed by my teammates". Luckily, not only can Shen do a suprising amount of damage in a short time with the Q-empowered AA + Grasp (see above), but when you find yourself pushed under turret, and the enemy laner is filled with confidence... taunt. Suddenly he respects you, he starts typing to his jungler in CAPS about how the lane is so gankable "Shen is weak and bad", the jungler counters with "dont push so much then, etc etc.". Jungler comes and ganks, you taunt + flash away, the CD on your flash is 300 seconds, the CD on your opponents' irritation is lasts until their "DEFEAT". You lvl 6, save your botlane ADC from dying and instead get a double kill. You TP back to lane whilst your teammates send you <3 and the enemy botlane is flaming your lane opponent. Psychological advantage achieved!

Youre filled with confidence and love from your teammates. You suddenly have Bami's or maybe even a Tiamat, pushing is no longer a problem. Enemy jungler is crying about lack of Top prio, whilst your lane opponent has to live with the shame of being outduelled by a Shen.

Easy money.

A lot of people underestimate Shen's strength early. When you get to lane lvl 1, try to position your sword (using Q) so that it will be between you and the enemy once the minions meet. This allows you for a nice early trade with Q drag and Grasp proc. If you hit lvl 2 before opponent, spec E (taunt) and go in for a heavy trade -> taunt in, drag Q through enemy and get 2-3 AAs before backing out.

In laning phase, you will be doing short trades with your Q empowered AA. Taunt should in general be saved to disengage/flee, unless you have a clear HP + lane advantage.

One way to extend the distance of your taunt, as well as making sure it always hits is using E (Taunt) and Flash on the enemy when the taunt animation starts. If you, like me, dont have the mechanical proficency to Taunt -> Flash, then you can Flash -> Taunt instead. The Flash -> Taunt, however, is worse due to the risk of missing your taunt, which I do all the time.