He got stronger because of the new patch, beware of his passive. Punish him with taunt + Q when his E is down so he's not able to get away. Try not to let him get his 3rd stack with his Q.
Extended trades when his passive isn't up.
Aatrox
Strong agianst you, try to W his AA. Dodging his Q's are key in this matchup. Bramble vest early is a good choice in this lane. Play passive, he wins extended trades.
Ashe
I've seen her a lot more on top lately, It's because of new patch. Block her AA with Q, punish with E. You win extended trades. Ping when she ults.
Caitlyn
Play passively, let her push the lane.
Try to W her headshots. Beware because her range is big.
Camille
You can block her Q's, it deals a lot of damage. She cancels your E with the spider man move.
Cassiopeia
Tough matchup imo, she's strong late game. Punish her before 6, don't e in when she has ult up.
Cho'Gath
Dodge his Q, use W when he uses E. Look out for his R, don't fight him on low HP.
Darius
Very strong this patch, one of the best top laner. Always dodge his Q at any cost, you can E towards him to dodge the sweet spot. Don't let him get his passive stacks full on you. He cancels your taunt with his E.
Dr. Mundo
Easy matchup, dodge his Q's, W his E-passive. Ignite him when he ults.
Fiora
W her Q's, don't fight in her ult (Only if you're very ahead). Punish her with E when she uses parry. Bramble vest great option. Don't let her get all 4 sides of her ultimate.
Gangplank
I hate laning agianst him, when he places barrel taunt him but instead of attacking him attack the barrel. You'll have just enough time before he uses W. Play passively. Passive shield his Q poke's.
Garen
You can dodge his Q with W. Look out for his Q + E + R + Ignite combo when lower health. He will probably push lane after lvl 3. Punish him when he uses E. He can survive ignite with his W shield.
Gragas
He's a small threat, dodge him W with your W. Only taunt when he used his E, because that can cancel yours.
Gwen
A great Gwen can beat you bad. Play passively, never extend out too much. Her R slows you, don't fight her when her passive stacks are full.
Illaoi
Illaoi can be challenging to some people, make sure to dodge her E. If she has R up don't fight her even with your jungle. When she hits you with E just walk out of it don't try to fight her.
Irelia
Play passively, don't fight her when her passive is stacked. If you can dodge her stun and her passive isn't stacked just E + Q and W her AA's.
Jax
Punish him with your E when he uses E + Q. You can win the early game but he can outscale you.
Jayce
You can W his wierd long range AA's, don't fight close to his turret because he can like throw you under.
Jhin
ADC top man how annoying. Anyways W his 4th bullet, you can buy oracle lens to see his traps. You cancel his R with your taunt!!!!!
Kai'Sa
She's weak early game so punish her lvl 2-3-4-5. She scales hard after she gets 2-3 kills.
Kalista
Dodge her Q's, destroy her W's. She can dodge your E with those jumps between AA's. Don't be agressive, let her push and punish her with jg.
Kayle
She outscales you hard. punish her before 6, W her E's. Her Q slows you so use your passive shield there.
Kennen
Annoying lane, W blocks his W, passive shield his Q's.
Kled
W his W, when he isn't on his chicken passive shield and W his AA's. Dodge his Q's. His R cancels your E.
Lee Sin
Dodge his Q's, he can slow you with his 2nd E. When he jumps in on a minion/ward try to predict it with your E.
Lillia
Very strong top laner, U can't really W anything here. She's usually very agressive in lane. Dodge her W sweet spot, it deals a lot of damage. When she uses R in a teamfight use your Q+W so the AA's will miss.
Lucian
He can dodge your E with his E. W his passive double AA's after abilities.
Malphite
You can W his W and passive shield his Q. If you can E or Flash out of his R it's a free lane.
Maokai
He has strong CC's, look out for his R in teamfights. Passive shield his Q and E poke from bush. I haven't seen him on top in ages tho.
Ornn
Not a big threat, dodge his E and Q, punish him when he's on cooldown.
Don't E him when he E's because he's unstoppable.
Pantheon
Not as strong as he was before, attack him from behind when he E's. He has long cooldowns, punish him when his passive isn't stacked.
Mordekaiser
Strong laner in this patch, make sure to dodge his Q's. Don't fight him when his passive turns on. If he E's you in use your Q so u can passive shield his Q and use W after so he can't AA you either.
Nasus
Easy matchup, Don't let him stack, when he's just about to kill a big minion just taunt him, W his Q's.
Poppy
Dodge her Q when it blows up, and you can't E her when she uses W. Punish her lvl 1. Because lvl 2 she will upgrade her W.
Quinn
Annyoing lane as usual. Your E counters hers, when you farm passive shield her AA's.
Yasuo
Windstter's Q can be dodged with W. Your damage is greater than him in the early game.
Yorick
W his Q, don't let him split. E him when you're in his W. If his E hits you Q + W so you can dodge those little zombies AA's
Renekton
Block his stun with your W. Don't fight him when he's in his R. He can heal a lot from his Q.
Riven
Her 3rd Q cancels your E, W her AA's. The wave she does with her R deals a lot of damage so try to dodge it with E/Flash.
Tryndamere
Don't fight him when his fury is fully stacked. If he E's punish him with taunt and trade him. When he tower dives you, use your W at the last second and E + Ignite him.
Sett
Very strong early game, W his Q AA's. Don't fight him, he's usually an agressive laner so he'll push. Dodge his W sweet spot at any cost. He can get you from under turret with Flash + R so save your E for that times.
Shen
Strong laner early don't let him hit you with empowered Q... wait
Olaf
Olaf is pretty strong this patch, dodge his Q's or passive shield it, if it hits he slows you. W when he W's. Don't try to E him when he's in ult!!!
Singed
DON'T CHASE HIM. Wait for him to E you so you can counter that with your taunt. His W stops you R.
Sion
You can stop his Q with Taunt. He will have less cooldown on it tho but it's good to know. His passive counter is your W.
Vayne
Sorry that you have to play agianst her, W her 3rd W-AA. If she's good she can dodge your E with Q. Don't be close to walls or she'll E you.
Tahm Kench
Passive shield his Q, don't let him get a full stack on you. W his AA's.
Urgot
Passive shield his Q and use W when he W's. Don't fight him on low hp, or be very good at dodging.
Sylas
Weak early game, punish him, don't let him farm, push the wave. E in when he used his E.
Teemo
Little rat. W his Q and AA's. Buy oracle lens for the mushrooms.
Volibear
Don't fight in his E. W when he's about to stun you. Small trades work in early game.
Wukong
Wukong got STRONG, but you're stronger. Dodge his Q with your W. He can dodge your E with his W.
Shaco
You can ult him when he's invisible and the 2 of you can get behind an enemy team.
Kha'Zix
You can ult him when he ults so u can get into a tf without much people noticing.
Tryndamere
Rengar
Kayn
Hecarim
Synergies
IdealStrongOkLowNone
Shaco
You can ult him when he's invisible and the 2 of you can get behind an enemy team.
Kha'Zix
You can ult him when he ults so u can get into a tf without much people noticing.
I started playing 3-4 years ago, I always liked Shen but I never played him much. But 1 year ago I picked up top lane and started playing him. In 1-2 years I learned a lot about every champion and item but I always focused on Shen, I fell in love with his playstyle and the opportunities he gives. I like to experience a lot of new builds myself, even if they don't work the way I imagined It's still fun and I can learn from it.
And please excuse that sometimes there are some grammatical errors in this guide, I'm originally from Hungary and never learned english in school.
Now enjoy the guide!
Pros & Cons
Pros
→ Strong early game → Extremely enjoyable champion → Pllaying him expands skills → Lots of opportunities → Admirable and straightforward kit → Not difficult to climb in SoloQ
Cons
→ Needs map-awarness → High skill ceiling → Lots of concentration → Precise ultimate usage → Requires knowledge about matchups → No legendary skin??
The most important Shen ability is Stand United, because It's so powerful to save the adc in a teamfight, or a teammate is able to survive a towerdive. It's powerful but for beginner players It's hard the perfect timing with it, but if you keep playing the champion slowly you will get used to always watching the map and all the lanes in the game.
The second most important is of course the Twilight Assault, when it goes through an enemy champion it gets a buff, which means that your AA power and speed is increased. The position of your blade is very important in the laning phase. [Look at the picture below and read the trading chapter for easier understanding]. Shadow Dash plays a very important role in Shen's kit, if you dash through an enemy you taunt them for 1.5 second and deal physical damage to them. If you go through more than 1 enemy it taunts them too. Taunt means that the enemy you dashed through starts following you and slowy attacking. Spirit's Refugecreates a defensive zone around Shen's blade for 1.75 which blocks every auto attack that would hit Shen OR the allies that stand in the zone. In teamfights It's very important to cast the abilty at the right time so it blocks a lot of damage.
Example
"Offensive" blade positioning
"Defensive" blade positioning
Now I don't want you to get confused with the offensive and defensive blade positioning. If you scroll back a little bit and look at the Q + E + Flash combo, the blade is not at the back of the enemy, but that doesn't mean it's "defensive". The offensive/defensive spirit blade refers to the laning phase.
Extended and short trades
oooSo you want to learn trading fast? Okay, I can put it in 2 ways to you.
Extended trade
✦ So what's exactly is an extended trade? Of course it's a trade that's extended but what are the components? How do I do it with Shen?
Well I don't like to say that these are the "combos" for an extended trade, because there's no such a thing in LoL as "combos". We just say that so the players can understand it easier. But anyways here's the "combo" for the extended trade with Shen.
✦ With this strategy we can deal 6 AA's + E! That's a lot of damage in such a short time, almost no other toplaner can match up to it.
>>>>>
✦ Shen can also do an extended trade from a defensive blade position.
It's basically the same combo as the one before but without the first Q which means we lost out on 3 empowered AA's.
>>>
Short trade
✦ A short trade is basically dealing xy damage to an enemy champion quickly in the laning phase. Shen's short trade is the empowered Q.
>>>
Defensive and Offensive blade positions
Defensive
This happens when we're agianst a champion that counters us and we can't push in the lane, therefore we can't place the blade behind the enemy either. In this situation we're waiting for our jg to help and when he comes we taunt him and beat him up. BUT if the jungler isn't coming we can taunt the enemy under turret if he comes close where we can kill him/lower his health so he backs. This happens a lot of times because people get overconfident very quick.
Offensive
We have our blade in an offensive position, which is behind the enemy champion. We do this when we're dominant in the lane and we know can win short/extended trades. A lot of player undervalues Shen's empowered Q's damage.
Skin tier list
Final Thoughts
We finally came to an end, I'm quite happy of what I've made, but of course there's always room for improvement. This is the first guide I've ever done, BBCode got me a little confused at the start and I started writing in Python format. I worked on it for a day 24/7, at the end I got tired like a baby. Jhojhoi's Mobafire guide helped a lot honestly, there were a lot of stuff I just couldn't figure out. I'm thinking about some other guides to make, but for now I'm satisfied with this work.
Thank you for anyone who read this through!
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