Hi!

Not only is this my first time making a guide, but I'm also not reputable by any stretch of the imagination. I'm a bronze I summoner level <100 shaco OTP who rarely ever plays ranked. I'm godawful and can hardly salvage a 60% wr with this character in norms (maybe it would be higher if I stopped trying to play enchanter support shaco). I can only carry if the enemy team is sharing their 3 braincells and I can barely hold it together against competent junglers even when all of my lanes win. I have less than 100k mastery on Shaco, let alone any other character.

That said, I think I've played this character enough to warrant having an opinion. I play him mostly AD jungle, but I have played him AP in every role (and won at least one game in each :)).

Here are my impressions after playing Shaco for a bit. I've not played every matchup I've referred to and I made most of these builds off of memory, so take what I say here with a grain of salt. I don't generally play against people who are good, so I may be a bit overconfident about matchups against easy characters--the player pool of those characters is, for lack of a better description, not as good as playing around Shaco's kit. Most of this guide is also not original--see the last section for more information.

Read this guide if you want to A) be a bronze trash Shaco OTP like me or B) think it's funny to look inside the mind of a person with 1/8th the amount of hours wasted on the game as you.

As Shaco, your main goal is to create and abuse an information advantage. You want to know exactly the immediate potential impacts of any actions taken by any party; furthermore, YOU WANT TO WITHHOLD THIS ABILITY FROM YOUR OPPONENT. You do not want your opponent to know what can happen if they AA once more or if they chase you or if they take a certain escape path. You do not want your opponent to know if they are getting ganked. In an ideal world, a good Shaco player capitalizes off of the mistakes of bad enemies and forces good enemies to play extremely conservative, allowing the Shaco's team to operate more freely. Shaco also has the "Mei from Overwatch" appeal; that is, the character makes up for his low in-game damage with unparalleled brain damage IRL. Shaco thrives off of the counterjungle and the "holy **** I just went in and now I'm getting 3-manned" ganks. Use this to your advantage. Create a difficult atmosphere to play in for the enemy team. Punish mistakes until the enemy team refuses to take a single risk (or until you're 14/0) and let your lanes win.

Of course, accomplishing this info advantage isn't easy. From a macro perspective, I think the proper move is to buy oracle quite early and spam control wards to deward wherever possible. Track the enemy jungler well and spam ping "assist me" if they step out of line. On a micro scale, manage your playstyle to make it difficult to predict you. Your W, R, and Q all allow you to make "unseen" decisions. Play with outward-facing fixedness while all the while making extremely erratic decisions behind the scenes. "Wait, did Shaco just walk into our team to AA the ADC 3 times and then walk out unpunished? I thought that was clone!" Play like a moron while you have your Q up (or don't, up to you) to lower the amount of effort it takes to make Hallucinate convincing. Run clone away in lost 1v1s to get them off of you (only do this some of the time). Shaco is the only character in the game for which bad decisions are good decisions. The more your opponent over- or under- estimates you, the better.

I still don't have a ****ing clue what Shaco is.* He's like an AD assassin (except when he isn't) that plays suspiciously similarly to Teemo (except when he doesn't) that can force enemies to adapt (except when he can't) to a avoid almighty retribution (whenever possible) at the hands of one of the most infamously annoying kits in the game. He's got so much versatile utility that refuses to work when you want it to and absolutely disgusting outplay potential. He's not flashy but he's often one-tricked: good Shacos just make their opponents look bad. He's played as a tank, a support, a bruiser, an AP or AD assassin, you name it. Most of this guide focuses on AD Shaco Jungle, but some nods are made to the other playstyles throughout.

Now, Shaco's kit is interesting.

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Backstab (Passive)

Shaco's basic attacks and Two-Shiv Poison deal additional damage when striking from behind. Basic attacks deal an additional 10−25 (+0.15 per bonus attack damage) bonus physical damage (depending on level). This damage can critically strike. Two-Shiv Poison deals an additional 15−50 (+10% of ability power) bonus magic damage (depending on level).

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Deveive (Q) RANGE: 400 COST: 60 mana COOLDOWN: 12 / 11.5 / 11 / 10.5 / 10

After a 0.125 second delay, Shaco blinks to the target location, becoming invisible for 2.5 / 2.75 / 3 / 3.25 / 3.5 seconds. If Shaco attacks within 0.25 seconds of exiting stealth, the attack deals 25 / 35 / 45 / 55 / 65 (+0.25 per bonus attack damage) bonus physical damage. When striking from behind, Deceive is guaranteed to critically strike for 130% damage. Deceive's invisibility is not removed when Shaco casts Hallucinate, while casting Jack In The Box causes him to shimmer without removing it.

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Jack in the Box (W) RANGE: 425 COST: 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 mana COOLDOWN: 16

Shaco creates a Jack in the Box at the target location, which becomes stealthed after 2 seconds. When an enemy comes near (300 range), the box will trigger, fearing nearby enemy champions for 0.5 / 0.75 / 1 / 1.25 / 1.5 seconds and reducing their movement speed to 100, while fearing all other enemies for 2 seconds and reducing their movement speed to 60. The box will also start firing at nearby enemies, dealing 15 / 20 / 25 / 30 / 35 (+10% of ability power) magic damage to them with each attack (reduced by 50% against structures). If the box attacks only one unit, this damage is increased to 35 / 50 / 65 / 80 / 95 (+20% of ability power) per attack. A Jack in the Box lasts for up to 40 (+5% of ability power) seconds while stealthed, or up to 5 seconds once triggered.

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Two-Shiv Poison (E) RANGE: 625 COST: 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 / 70 mana COOLDOWN: 8

Passive: While Two-Shiv Poison is ready to cast, Shaco's basic attacks poison his target, reducing their movement speed by 20 / 22.5 / 25 / 27.5 / 30% for 2 seconds. Active: Shaco throws a dagger at the target enemy, slowing them by 20 / 22.5 / 25 / 27.5 / 30% for 3 seconds and dealing 70 / 95 / 120 / 145 / 170 (+0.7 per bonus attack damage) (+55% of ability power) magic damage. This damage is increased by 50% against targets below 30% of their maximum health.

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Hallucinate (R) RANGE: 250 COST: 100 mana COOLDOWN: 100 / 90 / 80

Shaco stealths for half a second and creates a clone of himself nearby, which deals 60% of Shaco's damage and receives 50% increased damage. The clone takes double damage from turrets and deals 35% damage to turrets and inhibitors. The clone lasts up to 18 seconds. On death, the clone deals 150 / 225 / 300 (+70% of ability power) magic damage to nearby enemies, while also leaving behind a nest of three Jack in the Boxes which activate instantly, fearing nearby enemies for 1 second. The nest lasts for up to 6 seconds, during which the boxes attack nearby enemies, dealing 10 / 20 / 30 (+10% of ability power) magic damage per attack. This damage is increased to 25 / 50 / 75 (+15% of ability power) magic damage per attack if the boxes attack a single unit.

*I'm talking about gameplay, but it's interesting to note that Shaco is technically not a demon. Apparently, Riot doesn't know what Shaco is either.

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