Before I begin, I'd like to thank everyone that helped make my guide the highest rated Shyvana guide on Mobafire! I know I intended it to be the best but I wasn't sure that it would actually make it. So again, thank you.

With Shyvana being one of my favorite champions, I came to Mobafire to see what other people had to say about her. And I unfortunately discovered that I disagreed with many guides on their choice of items, how they explained her strengths and weaknessses, and etc. So I decided to spend the many hours it took to make the guide that this amazing champ deserves. Please understand that this guide is not completely finished as I hope to add more content in the future, but what I have here is the major stuff you need to know in order to play Shyvana efficiently.

Most people's complaints against Shyvana jungle is mainly for one reason and one reason only. She lacks cc(Crowd Control: stuns, slows, snares, etc.). And that's kind of a problem for a jungler, but this can be roughly patched over with items and red buff. Yet where Shyvana lacks in cc, she makes up for in raw damage.

A melee champion with massive AoE(Area of Effect) damage potential once in Dragon Form, Shyvana is also one of the strongest duelists in the game. Her jungle clear speed is fast, she possesses great mobility with both her Burnout and Dragon's Descent, has no mana allowing you to spam her skills without worry and also means more blue buffs for your mid lane, and finally she is an amazing pusher allowing you to quickly pressure lanes and take towers. Because as we all know... its not about how many kills you or the other team has(although that helps), its about taking the nexus which means taking down towers and inhibitors.

I think that about sums up the introduction, please read on as I continue to go into detail about Shyvana's mechanics and how to effectively use her skills. Please read the comments as well since I regularly reply and provide answers that I don't address in this guide.

Pros :
Great jungle clear time
Excellent pusher
Strong duelist
Good mobility
Massive AoE damage potential when in Dragon Form
Strong throughout any phase of the game
No Mana

Cons :
No natural cc (counteracted by items and red buff)
Not a strong ganker (more of a farming jungler)
No natural sustain (counteracted by items and/or runes)
Can be kited pretty hard sometimes
Takes some getting used to

To really be great with any champion, you need to know their ins and outs first and then be able to exploit them. And where that all starts is knowing their abilities and how they work. Even players who have played this game for over a year can still learn things about a champion they thought they knew everything about. Below I will be explaining Shyvana's skills but also useful facts about them not mentioned in the skills themselves.


Passive : Shyvana gains 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 armor and magic resist. These bonuses are doubled in Dragon Form.

Useful Info - The earlier you use your ultimate in a fully committed team fight, the more this passive will benefit you in the end. Late game, a bonus 20 armor and magic resist on top of your passive is nothing to laugh about.


Q : Shyvana's next autoattack will strike twice in one swift movement. The second attack will deal 80 / 85 / 90 / 95 / 100% of her total attack damage as physical damage. Both attacks will trigger on-hit effects. Shyvana's autoattacks against non-structures reduce the cooldown of Twin Bite by 0.5 seconds.

Useful Info - We max Twin Bite second not so much for the slight extra damage it brings but for the reduced cooldown. Activating the skill also resets Shyvana's attack timer(meaning if you activate this right after you auto attack, you will immediately attack again). Where it says, “will apply on hit effects” means it will proc item passives such as Wit's End and Blade of the Ruined King twice. This also applies to her E, Flame Breath. This skill also affects towers so USE IT. However, as the description suggests auto attacking will not reduce the cooldown when attacking turrets, inhibitors, or the nexus.


W : Shyvana surrounds herself in flame for 3 seconds, dealing 20 / 35 / 50 / 65 / 80 (+ 20% Bonus AD) magic damage to enemies within 162.5 range each second and gaining 30 / 35 / 40 / 45 / 50% bonus movement speed. The bonus movement speed decreases by 15% of its original value per second. Shyvana's autoattacks extend the duration of Burnout by 1 second, to a maximum of 4 extra seconds.

Useful Info - We max out Burnout first because it allows for faster clearing, faster movement speed, and for the fact that at higher levels it acts as a continuously hitting, slightly weaker auto attack. Burnout also deals magic damage along with her E, Flame Breath, and her ultimate, Dragon's Descent. This makes it annoying trying to build against Shyvana since she is also a heavy auto attacker. In addition, if someone stands in the full duration of Burnout when its level 5, they will take 560 ( + 140% bonus AD) magic damage not mentioning the four auto attacks it takes to prolong the duration. Attacking turrets will also extend it's duration. So if an enemy champion based and you're attacking their turret, try to stand where you will hit the most enemy minions and activate Burnout to kill them and attack the turret at the same time! Also, when ganking, don't waste it just trying to get to the enemy champion. Use it about a second or two before you reach them to close the gap so that when you hit them you prolong its duration. Burnout is where a large amount of your damage comes from. Don't waste it.


E : Shyvana unleashes a fireball that travels in a line, dealing 60 / 100 / 140 / 180 / 220 (+ 60% AP) magic damage and marking enemies hit for 5 seconds. Shyvana's autoattacks against marked enemies deal bonus magic damage equal to 2% of their maximum health (max. 100 vs. monsters).
Range - 925

Useful Info - Since its buff(although some consider it a slight rework) in patch 3.9, I have loved playing Shyvana so much more. Now the 2% burn on their maximum health part may not sound like much but think about it. You run up to someone, mark them with Flame Breath, auto attack them and immediately activate Twin Bite to reset your attack timer. You just did all that damage and 6% of their maximum health. Hit them again. 8%. Again. 10%. Remember, it lasts for 5 seconds and you should have your Burnout running as well. Not only is this great against champions, both squishy and tanky, its great against the jungle monsters as well early game. Which is why I put a point in it second over Twin Bite since it will deal considerably more damage to a jungle camp overall in the beginning, whereas you MIGHT get to hit it a second time with Twin Bite before finishing the camp off. And for a jungler, early game is very important. Also, I notice some Shyvana's max this skill second instead of third since it provides more "burst" than maxing q second or for laning Shyvana's that use it to poke and push the wave faster. And in truth, it does by a little bit. But the higher level you become, the more the game is going to move towards teamfights making your Twin Bite more valuable since it will deal more damage in the long run than Flame Breath since its main use is for the proc.


R : Passive - Shyvana's basic attacks generate 2 fury, even when in Dragon Form or against structures. While in human form, Shyvana passively generates 1 / 2 / 3 fury every 1.5 seconds.

Active - Shyvana transforms into a dragon and dashes to a target location. Enemies along her path take 175 / 300 / 425 (+ 70% AP) magic damage and are pushed toward her target location. While in Dragon Form, Shyvana's fury decays at a rate of 5 per second. Once her fury is depleted, she will return to her normal state.
Range - 1000

Useful Info - Finally. Her ultimate. Basically, Shyvana turns into a dragon(Yeah, its pretty awesome). Depending on how far behind you plan on landing behind the champions you are launching towards depends on whether they will end up in front of you or behind you. Takes a little practice to figure it out. The fury that you generate naturally and through basic attacks only allows to you know when your ultimate is up and ready to use and how long you have until you're out of your Dragon Form. It has no other purpose.

As you might already know, when Shyvana is in her Dragon Form, each of her other abilities takes on an additional effect:


(Dragon Form) - Damages all units in front of Shyvana when she uses her next auto attack instead of just her target. Each unit hit will trigger on-hit effects and grant fury twice.

Useful Info - When you use Dragon's Descent and clump up some enemy champions together, Use this immediately after you Flame Breath them for some nasty damage. The synergy between this ability and the item Ravenous Hydra with its passive is so perfect its not even funny.


(Dragon Form) - Shyvana now scorches the earth where she walks, leaving a trail of fire for 5 seconds that will continually deal the same magic damage per second to enemies that pass over it.

Useful Info - Activating this right before you use your ult will leave behind a trail of scorched earth along the entire length you flew. So if you end up passing over them, they're now standing on some rather hot ground.


(Dragon Form) - Engulfs all units in a cone in front of Shyvana.

Useful Info – Well said, description, well said.

When to use Dragon's Descent : When ganking, I don't necessarily use Dragon's Descent unless I have to. As mentioned before, your dragon form, doesn't necessarily make you stronger by any means, it just makes you a great aoe damage threat. If anything I use it to help secure kills if the enemy champion tries to Flash away with low enough health to where I can quickly kill them with the damage from her ult or an additional basic attack or two before quickly retreating if they were under turret. But if you want to burn your ult every time you gank as a gap closer, be my guest. It may work sometimes, but I like to have my options open.

When team fighting, I usually do the reverse if the situation requires it. If the enemy team is clumped together and my team is close enough to engage if I initiate the fight, I will. Your aoe and tankiness will make you hit like a truck. Many Shyvana's(and Zac's for that matter) make the mistake of jumping into the enemy team when there is no immediate back up. Make sure your team is ready to follow up when you go to engage. Otherwise, you pretty much died for nothing. THINK BEFORE YOU JUMP. If the enemy team is spread out you can save your ultimate for when you can make use of the disruption of the knock back at a critical point, need to escape, secure a kill, or peel(help take out champions that are focusing your carries).

On an additional note, when trying to escape using your ultimate, try going over a wall if you can as it will cause them to burn Flash or most likely give up the chase. The same principle can be used when chasing and they Flash over a wall. Or you could surprise attack an enemy champion on the other side if you have vision of them. Even though Dragon's Descent is usually quick to be available again, be wise in how you use it, because you're not LeBlanc with her Distortion. You can't change your mind. Once you're in, you either commit or try to run away.

After reading over Shyvana's skills, you must be wondering what makes her such a good duelist. Here's why...

Where other champions blow their cooldowns and are just left basic attacking, Shyvana continues to plow through people's health with her auto attacks while procing Flame Breath and Burnout running full blast. And when they try to run away, Shyvana has her movement speed bonus from Burnout and Dragon's Descent that'll catch up to any Flash provided you were sticking to them. She may not be bursty without the right items, but she'll win most sustained fights provided she doesn't get kited heavily or cc locked for days.

Different champions benefit from different stats for different reasons. Lets take two ADC's for example: Vayne benefits mostly from attack speed which allows her to get more Silver Bolts off, whereas Graves requires more AD so his burst from Buckshot and Collateral Damage can really hurt. Not to mention he already has a rather nice attack speed steroid from Quickdraw. Usually it simply takes careful reading of a champion's abilities to understand what they need, but at other times it requires one to play the champ to fully understand what they need in order to excel. Which is why you're here so I can tell you so you don't have to go through all that trouble! =D

Attack Speed : As you might of already noticed, Shyvana is very auto attack reliant when it comes to her skills. Lowering the cooldown on Twin Bite, prolonging Burnout, maximizing the damage from the 2% maximum health burn from Flame Breath, and both quickly acquiring your ultimate as well as prolonging it. But by no means does this mean you should get loads of attack speed. Usually only one attack speed item will do.

Attack Damage : Shyvana is a champion that can deal a lot of damage as a tank, tons as a buiser, and an absurd amount as a flat out carry. However, being melee means you have to get in the middle of all the action. And unless the opposite team has literally no cc or damage, I highly don't recommend going full damage. If you get locked up with cc, which the opposite team should do if they are smart, and die before you can hit your first target, all that gold has then gone to waste. If your top is a Shen, Garen, Nasus or anyone else that tends to go tank(and make sure they are building tank), then feel free to throw some offensive items into the build. However, you still end up with a fair amount of damage already from the build above.

Health, Armor, Magic Resist : This is what makes you a dragon, and a scarier one then that pathetic excuse for a dragon in the river. The more health, armor, and magic resist that you acquire, the more the enemy isn't going to want to hit you which will be a grave mistake. And if they do, you have your team backing you up to help wipe the floor with them. But as any good player knows, when playing tank you build to counter. If the enemy team is all AD go for more armor and vice versa if they have more ap. Another excellent tip from both good and pro players alike is never follow the same build in every game. However, I've tried to give you all you need in the main build I have displayed. It will help you against most team compositions if they are following the meta which most nowadays do.

Tenacity : Just make sure you get it. Somehow. It really is an invaluable and hard to acquire stat. It just won't do if you jump into the enemy team and their cc makes it to where you can't do anything for few seconds seconds while they pound on you.

Lifesteal : My two favorite offensive items for Shyvana are Blade of the Ruined King and Ravenous Hydra. And Shyvana actually benefits from lifesteal quite a bit since it improves her awesome dueling potential even more.

(Optional)Mobility : Because Shyvana has no dash(not counting her ult), only the movement speed bonus from Burnout, the more mobility she has to jump on her target the more successful her ganks will become. Which typically means finishing yours boots before you would on most other champions. Buying items that give you bonus movement speed like Trinity Force or Mobility Boots are great as well, especially if going bruiser. Movement speed quints are not a bad choice either.

(Optional)Cooldown Reduction : Personally... I have never found Shyvana to be THAT cooldown reliant, but I have read that full cooldown reduction allows for an almost constant Burnout(granted that you are hitting something to keep it going), allows you to keep Flame Breath on them pretty much at all times, and provides VERY frequent Twin Bite's. And despite these being excellent, I don't believe you should let it be one of the core elements to her build. Besides, you can end up with 20% just from items if you get Spirit of the Ancient Golem(which is needed for jungling)and Spirit Visage(which is a great magic resist item in general).

Farming : I know what you're thinking, "Farming? I thought we were talking stats." True. But farming is very crucial to playing Shyvana and being a good jungler in the upcoming S4. Because you lack cc, you're not as cost efficient as other champs who don't necessarily need a lot of items to be useful(for example: Nautilus, Jarvan IV, Zac, and etc.). So if you're not ganking, you better be farming. And if you do gank and your successful in pushing the enemy out of lane or killing them, push to their turret and get as much damage off on it as you can if you and the laner(s) aren't in danger of getting killed. Shyvana is an excellent pusher, so make use of it. Just don't be stupid enough to push to their second or third bottom turret when the entire enemy team is mia.

Defensive :

/
Sunfire Aegis is cheaper, gives slightly lesser stats, and a passive that provides a damaging aura around you. Also helpful for pushing/jungling. Whereas Randuin's Omen costs 350 more gold, 50 more health and 25 more armor, both its passive and active can be considered quite useful against an ad heavy team or a fed adc in general. Both items are great on Shyvana and I don't find it redundant to get both if against a heavy ad team comp because their passives benefit her in different ways. I will state that Randuin's Omen will most likely be the superior choice of the two in most situations, but REMEMBER the active.

/
These two can honestly go hand in hand. Generally, I would go for Spirit Visage for the cooldown reduction and increased healing passive. Yet if you are going against a mage who is very reliant on their combo like Brand, LeBlanc or Lux then Banshee's Veil can just ruin their day.


Although many people consider this item a MUST on Shyvana, I have mixed feelings about it. The only reason I don't personally build it first or at all on her is by the time I acquire it(even if I get fed) laning phase is close to over or has already ended. Making the main cause for getting it(the slowing passive to help with ganks) a little void. But Frozen Mallet's passive is still useful at any stage in the game. Build it first if you like, just remember to get some armor or something soon. Having a lot of health doesn't necessarily make you harder to kill if you have no armor or magic resist.


Although this item has fallen out of favor as of late, its still a very strong, defensive item granted you have the armor and magic resist to back it up. People just aren't going to want to focus you if you have it.


For when the enemy team is completely AD and/or there is a really fed Master Yi/adc/anyone-else-that-auto-attacks-a-lot on the other team. I have actually 1v1 fed Master Yi's with this item on Shyvana and have come out on top multiple times. That's not to say he didn't almost kill me either but you get the point. BUILD TO COUNTER OP.


You're fed, eh? Not quite wanting to die anytime soon? Get yourself a Guardian Angel to watch over you and bring you back to life after you made what I'm sure was an "honest" mistake. >.> <.< *cough cough*


Not the greatest item in the world for Shyvana specifically. If going bruiser with Trinity Force(since it also has crit) and a high health item with no other defensive stats(like Frozen Mallet or Warmog's Armor) then this item might find a place in your build. Otherwise... eh.


The ONLY reason I am even putting this item on my guide is because people who play jungle like to buy it. Personally, I have never been convinced of it and don't like it. And many people who buy it forget about the active(which is not even that great until later levels). Since supports now have a means of acquiring a lot more gold now, let them get it. Get yourself the better tank items. Besides, the idea of "support Shyvana" makes me want to barf. You're a dragon for pete's sake. Geez.

Offensivve :


Probably the best offensive item for Shyvana in the game currently. It solves your attack speed need, gives you lifesteal, has a tank shredding passive that synergizes with Flame Breath, and an active that will both speed you up and slow down your opponent while stealing health from them to boot. Also increases your dueling power.


This item fits Shyvana so well its like they were made for each other. Not only does it give you a massive amount of AD and and some lifesteal, its passive gives you the pushing power of a god and causes your Twin Bite when in Dragon Form to wreck havoc on whatever poor souls are standing in front of you at the time.


Also an amazing item on Shyvana if you manage to acquire it. Its unique passive, spellblade, can cause your Twin Bite to deal around 3-4 times the damage of a basic attack instead of twice. Gives you health, attack speed, crit, AD, movement speed, AND a great speed up every time you hit something making your chasing potential sky rocket.


An excellent item for any jungler that benefits from attack speed and stealing magic resist away from their opponent like Udyr(phoenix udyr mainly), Cho'Gath, and Nautilus. You essentially make the magic damage you are dealing to do a little bit more while making yourself more tanky with every aa. Not to mention the additional 42 magic damage you deal on every hit.


An interesting item for rare occasions. This item grants both great AD and magic resist with a passive that gives you a shield against magic damage once you drop below 30% health. Would only recommend building when going against an AP heavy team composition and you're building bruiser.


Generally an item you find more on assassins since it grants cooldown, armor pen, and a fair amount of AD and health. Not the greatest choice for Shyvana since the only physical damage you deal is through basic attacks and Twin Bite.


Fixes your attack speed issue, gives you mobility and AD... everything BotRK gives you except lifesteal... hm. Better just get the blade.

NOTE!!!!
When purchasing any item that have an active, learn to use them. They are there for a reason and its what generally separates the good players from the great ones. The items in your inventory can be activated by hitting the corresponding number of whatever number slot the item is residing in. For instance, if you have Ravenous Hydra in the second slot in your inventory, hitting the number 2 on your keyboard will activate it. You can easily practice this in both custom and bot games. And trust me when I say an active can both help you get a kill and save you from dying if used correctly.

Generally runes are a personal choice since they tend to get really expensive. However, here I will discuss what runes I think will benefit Shyvana the most.

Marks :

greater mark of hybrid penetration
The best possible marks for Shyvana since her damage is almost half physical and magic. Very expensive though. If you don't have the extra rune page or the ip I have other types listed below.


Attack speed marks are my second favorite marks for Shyvana and a good general pick for junglers in my opinion. With these and your masteries you get 20% attack speed which I find to be awesome for Shyvana.


Attack damage marks are not a bad third choice if you're just starting out and only have a magic and physical rune page. What I ran for a long time before I managed to get more rune pages.

Seals :


Honestly, I don't know why you would get anything other then armor seals. If you feel differently, let me know and I'll be happy to discuss it with you.

Glyphs :


Pretty much the same reasons as I discussed concerning seals. I've heard of getting cooldown glyphs for some junglers but I don't see the point with Shyvana.

Quintessences :


Solves Shyvana's sustain issues early on allowing her to stay in the jungle longer and farm more at early levels. Just don't forget to back at some point to buy.


As I have discussed before, I feel movement speed on Shyvana is a great stat. A strong pick as it helps whenever you decide to gank, move across the map faster to farm quicker and help out lanes, and increases her chasing potential since she naturally already has a high base movement speed.


Never a bad stat on Shyvana but I feel she could benefit from the other two more.

Since we are going tank, I take the general 9/21/0 masteries with what I consider to be the only useful masteries in the defensive tree. You may disagree, but pick whatever you like. If laning, switch out Tough Skin and Bladed Armor for Block and Unyielding .

Anyhow, I chose to put my remaining 9 points in the offensive tree, but you may also put them in the utility tree as well. Just be sure to take Fleet of Foot, Phasewalker , Summoner's Insight , Alchemist , and Runic Affinity .

Recommended


I don't care if you are jungling Cho'Gath or freaking Nunu & Willump, TAKE SMITE PEOPLE!!! Smite has more uses than just getting your ble/red buff for the first time. It speeds up your camp clearing and secures your buffs, dragon, and baron. Having the summoner spell also allows you to Smite steal all of those objectives as well. I can't tell you how often a team will not have Smite, try to do baron nashor or dragon just to have the other team's jungler walk up, Smite it when its at the right amount of health, and walk away.


Easily the highest picked and most valued summoner spell in the game and for good reason. Allows you to escape, catch up, help smite steal dragon or baron, and many more possibilities. Just take it. Trust me.

Not Recommended for Jungling


Although it was the main secondary spell for many Shyvana's in S3, its not really now. Now in S4 farming is more important. And its what Shyvana does best. I once had it described to me as this: "exhaust for ganking, flash for counterjungling." And since Shyvana excels at the latter but falls short on the former when compared to other junglers, its better to go with what she's good at.


Gives you even more mobility options, but again not the best pick and some might even call it overkill with Burnout. Would only pick IF I were laning and even then I would still probably take Flash.


Used only to secure kills. Yet your mid and top laners should be carrying this already. If they aren't, I'd still recommend Flash over this.


Although one of my favorite summoner spells when I first starting playing LoL, you're not laning. But if you are, pick what you like.

Just... Just why?


You're not squishy.


If you need this you're doing something wrong.


Its called tenacity.


... Get out. If you freaking want it that bad then get the blue trinket.

Yellow Trinket:
Provides more vision on the map. Gives you vision of your enemies buffs, dragon, and baron. Can ward dragon for your bot lane or drop one down for one of your laners if they need it. A strong pick overall.

Red Trinket:
Allows you to see if a lane, or dragon, is warded and allows you to take it out if it is(by the way Twin Bite works on wards so hitting a Stealth Ward once then hitting it again with your q will take it out). Either way, lets you know you whether or not you can gank or take dragon at that moment.

Blue Trinket:
When I first saw the trinket system come out, I figured this one would be taken by junglers the most. It allows you to scout out the enemy's buffs, see if the other team is taking dragon or baron, or ruin a Shaco's chance of getting first blood on you at your red. I am curious to see if it finds a place in this season.

Jungling
Jungling can be one of the funnest and toughest jobs in the game. Some games you're the hero and getting all your laners fed and the next you get blamed for losing your team the game because you didn't gank the right lanes or gank as often as people liked.

What is probably one of the greatest skills as a jungler is map awareness. And map awareness goes beyond looking at your mini map occasionally. Its actually watching the lanes now and then and seeing how your teammates are doing, making note of when your buffs and dragon are up, knowing who is doing well and who isn't before the announcer starts saying "An ally has been slain!", or whether the other jungler got his blue buff at about 7:15 or is he holding top on purple side and unable to get it at the moment.

Another skill is knowing how or even IF you can help a lane out. Some people say being bot is the toughest position because you're not only having to read two opponents instead of one, you have to get to know your lane buddy. Well as a jungler, you have to do that, but for every lane whenever you go to gank. But this mainly comes down to estimating not only your damage but your allies and opponents along with what kind of abilities they have.

As I mentioned before, watching people play is one of the best ways to learn, especially on youtube since you generally get to hear commentary as well. I can only teach you so much and in this game, its takes a lot of practice to get good.

Here is my jungling path when I play Shyvana.

Blue side:

Level 1 - Take Burnout. Take Red buff first and smite it.
Level 2 - Take Flame Breath. Go to the wraith camp and E as many wraiths as you can including the big one before attacking and using your W. Then move onto to Blue buff and smite it as well.
level 3 - Gank top from the tri bush(or river if the lane is pushed that far) or continue farming.

Purple side:

Level 1 - Same as blue side but instead take Blue buff first.
Level 2 - Same as blue side but instead taking Red buff.
Level 3 - Gank top from the river bush or continue farming.

Basic farming combo:

Flame Breath --> Burnout --> AA --> Twin Bite --> continue AA'ing

Counter Jungling
Because of Shyvana's great clear speed, dueling power, and ult she can afford to counter jungle more so than others. Just be sure to keep an eye on where the other jungler is, who the enemy jungler is(meaning do you really want to counterjungle someone who is almost as good a duelist as you with as much or better chasing potential, like Udyr and Lee Sin for example), and where the enemy laners are so you don't end up getting caught in a bad situation.

Also, don't underestimate Shyvana's dueling power. I one time had a Shaco kill me at my red buff and then tried the same thing at my blue later in the game. If it weren't for his Deceive I would of killed him despite him having set me back at my red.

But don't feel you HAVE to counter-jungle as Shyvana. Yes, she can do it well but putting yourself in enemy territory when your team isn't doing so hot and when none of the enemy towers are down is risky. Just play smart.

Now we come to how to play as Shyvana. First off, ganking isn't going to be easy but its not impossible either. The only thing you have to help you get to the enemy is Burnout and your ult, but as I previously stated you don't want to waste Burnout as it is a big component of your damage. And using your ultimate as a gap closer when they still might have Flash or some other escape is well... kinda dumb. I mean you got their flash down but... that should be the least you want out of a gank, not the goal. Make sure to tell your team not to push if they want ganks. Unless they have some hardcore cc on their own. Then you can maybe make it work. Anyhow... lets begin.

Top Lane:
Probably the easiest lane you'll get to gank. Don't just run into the lane from the river. Try to get in a position where you'll end up cutting off the enemy champion's escape. And make sure a wave of minions isn't coming in while you try to run at them. The minions will get in your way and will often give the enemy vision of you sooner.

Mid Lane:
Perhaps the second hardest lane to try to gank because of its length. Remember who you are facing and know if they have any built in escapes or cc that can keep you from getting to them. Again, don't just run in from the river. Try to cut off their escape while also being close enough to get on top of them quickly. Remember, they can just run in the opposite direction you are coming from.

Bot Lane:
Personally, the one lane I hate trying to gank as Shyvana and you get *****ed at a lot for not trying to gank it most of the time. I hate ganking this lane for a couple of reasons. Firstly, The enemy support AND adc(now with the new trinket system) should be warding so they have an advanced warning that you are coming. Secondly, Shyvana is very kitable and its the support's job to keep their adc alive which most of the time means their kit is built to keep you from getting to them so you'll most likely have to burn your ult just to be able to get on top of them. Ganks in this lane can also end very badly if your bot lane doesn't know you are coming to gank or aren't ready for a gank. So here are some tips:

1) Always ping that you are coming to gank before you get to the lane.

2) Make sure your laner(s) wants a gank and make a note of how low their health is versus their opponent(s).

3) Try to have red buff on when you gank.

4) If you have a lane that is hopelessly feeding, don't try to gank for it since you'll mostly both die or give the enemy another kill. But don't completely abandon it. Help hold the lane if need be and see if you can possibly get help from another lane as well if you really want to shut down your opponent. Remember. TEAMWORK OP.

5) Try to cut off your opponents escape route when ganking if you can(meaning just come at them from behind).

6) Makes sure minions aren't coming into the lane when you gank so they don't get in your way and give early vision of you.

7)Using Flame Breath causes you to stop for a split second, so don't use it when chasing otherwise you're making yourself fall farther behind. Use it when you are right on top of them.

8) Try to keep tabs on the enemy jungler as best you can since your counter ganks are a lot better because of your aoe damage and the fact that the enemy has most likely blown a lot of their cooldowns already.

9) Try to watch some videos on jungling since seeing how it works is a lot more beneficial than trying to imagine what I'm saying.

I hope you enjoyed my first guide ever on Mobafire! If you liked it please vote it up so others might learn from it as well. I put a lot of work into it. If you have any comments about how to make the guide better or you have questions, please let me know. If you feel the need to downvote this guide, please let me know so I might have an opportunity to make it better.

Have fun playing Shyvana!

12/12/2013 - Improved Cheat Sheet and minor changes within guide accordingly.

1/15/2014 - 4.1 update adjustments.

2/1/2014 - Adjusted Cheat Sheet