Hello and welcome to my guide, I am very new to guides so please give some feedback.

I have been playing Shaco for about 2 seasons now and am pretty confident in my ability to play him, however, I am still a lowly silver 2 player but I figured someone might like a guide built around a player level that isn't diamond or challenger. Something more relatable to the average player. I think the one thing that separates how I play Shaco from others is I really try to feed everyone on my team but me. Shaco is very good at getting your team buffs and gold which wins games. I'll have games where I'm 3/6/23 or something along those lines, and I couldn't be happier because generally I'll get every objective, first blood and first tower for my team and we win by a good amount because the vanye on my team went 20 and 3 after I camped bot lane. Shaco has many play styles so I’ll try to show mine here.

The big update is here and it is actually awesome for shaco! Ill explain why Im doing my runes different from everyone else so far but I have had great Success in the first ten games Ive played since the update.

Despite everyone going for the domination primary I think the precision is the best route. The Attack speed bonus you get just for using this tree is amazing for early clears and early ganks, and while press the attack doesn’t do the raw damage electrocute does, the 12% increase from all sources is a killer. You literally buff the person you ganking for and making your moves, including ignite, do 12% more. It’s amazing. I take Triumph to survive those risky ganks when the enemy jungle shows up and alacrity to gain more attack speed still. Finally coup de grace to really punish people with well-timed ganks. For the sub tree I’ve switched a few times but for now I have settled on domination. Cheap shot is great because everything Shaco does impairs people so its free damage every 4s and i feel it have more of an impact than the free lethality that sudden impact gives you. For the last rune I take Ravenous Hunter because it increases your sustain in the jungle a fair amount. Notice it won’t help as much in team fights but when using boxes and two shiv to clear jungle you’ll be getting a lot of health back.

I feel this is the "meta" build for Shaco now even though I have been building it since about 7.05. The combination makes for a fairly tanky Shaco while still doing pretty insane damage. The bonus from dead mans plus duskblade makes shacos backstab damage pretty unreal and lets you delete most people. Remember that the duskblade doesn't have cool down! It is very easy to run out of a bush (not Q!) Hit someone in the back, then Q wait 1 second and hit them again. At level 18 the duskblade alone does about 700 HP, that's not even counting your actual damage. Some other items to consider are blade of the ruin king, infinity edge or even the last whisper. I personally don't like infinity edge on Shaco even though I used to love it. Using the practice tool I've found that it is a great early game item but mid to late game it falls off on everyone but Squishies. The botrk, however, does incredible damage to squishies and tanks alike all game. The 8% health on hit is amazing, especially when used with your clone, with both shacos attacking with botrk you can wear down even the tankiest of champs. If I do plan on building botrk I'll generally drop the duskblade for it unless I'm ahead enough to not worry about getting the guardian angel. I will however always buy the poachers Dirk, this is because it forces me to invade the enemy jungle and play aggressively. Plus its bonuses are very nice for only 600 gold and to top it off after it transforms into serrated Dirk you can sell it if going botrk and make about 300 gold, not bad!

So AP Shaco is dead right? No not at all! While I will be the first to say AD is generally better I have had a lot of luck with AP Shaco though in niche roles. I generally go AP Shaco only if I will be the only AP champ on the team. Sometimes I will just go opposite of mid but if there is a strong AP top it is not worth it still. The goal here is to start building pretty similar to an AD Shaco so the enemy team gets confident with their armor and no one builds any MR. Early game you play the same as AD with the exact same routes. You even get Tiamat first because you still need it to wave clear, trust me ludens echo doesn’t cut it. After you get bilgewater though it’s time to change how you view things. You will be significantly less tanky with this build but still have decent survivability because of Zhonyas, you just have to play more assassin than bruiser and use your boxes for damage instead of distractions. Don't underestimate the damage your boxes do with this build. Thanks to all the AP boxes do crazy damage. Liandrys torment makes your two shiv do crazy damages well, notice it does double to any movement impaired enemies, Shacos basic attacks with his E passive slow enemies and his E active also slows for 3 seconds. This makes his knives really really hurt with this build. The 12% health on top of the dagger with all this AP plus the bonus on weak targets makes this a hell of an execute. Adding the gunblade active into this mix means you can burst pretty much anyone down quickly without even really having to auto attack. This build is definitely suited as an assassin build and can be very fun but you give up split pushing power until late game and you tend to lag a bit in mid game so its very team dependent. I comfortably play this in ranked often but would highly recommend trying it in normals as it is hard and you will get flamed.

In most games I start exactly the same, rushing top buff as fast as I can. I position myself so I can see the river as best I can and wait until 40 seconds on the clock to place first box. Remember you need to place your box at 40 so head back to buff a little early. I normally actually place the first one through the wall then walk around. Using this tactic you can get 3 boxes down before the 1:30 mark. I know you can start earlier and get 4 but hear me out. With 3 you can start the fight and make sure you stay behind buff getting you crits to go off. Remember buffs always attack the closest target too them. While you are fighting be sure to be watching your minimap close. You need to determine where the enemy jungle started, just watch to see whether you see champs in the top lane or bot lane
If their top lane is there then the jungle started bot and vice versa. You also need to be watching your boxes because just as your last box is about to disappear place your 4th box between you and the buff. This will fear it again and let you get another crit off. Generally you can kill the buff smitless and not take a single hit.

After first buff is down immediately bee line to whatever buff the enemy didn't start at. You can use your boxes and smite to kill it before most champs ever get there then use your Q and bomb flowers to make a quick getaway. Always watch the lanes when doing this. If they warded and their team has any teamwork in them mid will usually come to try and stop you. Remember the buff isn't worth giving up first blood but you should be able to take it and escape. The enemy jungle usually uses smite already so they can't steal it.

Following this I normally look for easy ganks and if there are none start cleaning out my jungle including my now third buff. Remember level 2 or 3 ganks with Shaco can be easy first blood, especially with ignite. Take advantage and try to get that first blood. Early game is when Shaco makes his money and with a little practice you can punish teams early.

Try to get 1200 gold before your first back so you can get tiamat and really increase your clear time. Normally I try to get back when my top buff has about 1 minute to respawn. I grab tiamat and run straight to that buff, again clearing it smitless. Clear it smitless because you can again run straight to the same enemy buff you stole before and steal it again. They usually expect it and have it warded but with a little practice it's an easy steal because they didn't know when it was spawning and you have the best escapes of any champ.

From here just continue clearing jungle and ganking whenever there's a chance. As soon as you reach level 6 go straight to dragon and take it solo. Use your clone to tank while you back stab and lay boxes. The boxes can be tricky though. I normally lay my first or at the entrance to dragon so if someone tries to interrupt they'll be feared giving me time to think and escape. After that you need to place them closer to dragon than you are but further than your clone is. This will make dragon keep attacking your clone and not killing off your box immediately.

After dragon your new goal is to finish off your Trinity force and get your team first tower. Shaco can take towers like a boss if you use your clone, plus you can almost always get away between your clone and Q. Remember to never use your Q near turrets though! They have true vision and can see you. Always run out of turret range then flash. I usually try to run in one direction while I have my clone run in a separate direction. Then flash as soon as you’re clear.

After completing your Titanic Hydra and tank item you become fairly tanky, even more so because there are two of you. Use this to your advantage. People don't expect a tanky Shaco generally and will focus you down. This can win you team fights if you make your self-known and distract the enemy team like crazy while your team breaks them down . When not team fighting or taking objectives you should always be split pushing. As Shaco I never am not doing something. You need to destroy your opponent’s confidence and make them hate you. You don't even have to accomplish anything. Start pushing towers, If they send someone to stop you run them to your team or wait till they leave and come right back to tower. If nothing else you are keeping them from grouping and helping g your team win fights.

In late game don't even push minions, if a tower is low enough your clone can tank and you can take towers. This gives the enemy team no time to react because they see the minion wave and think no one's coming. Another favorite trick of mine is destroying inhibs. Did your team push towers up to the inhib but not get it? Did the inhib just respawn? No problem! Make sure no enemy is about to respawn, ignore the minion wave completely and run through the jungle to the enemy base. Flash over the wall and hit the inhib fast to refund your Q cool down, then pop your clone take the inhib in record time and q out just as the whole team backed to base to stop you leaving all other objectives open for your team to grab. I do this every single game....

In the process of making videos to better explain this coming soon, till then check out white crow or pink ward videos. Both are extremely helpful and taught me a TON.

As Shaco you have unlimited potential to steal almost any objective. Using your clone and bomb flowers to get in and your Q to get out you can usually steal anything and live to tell the tale. The best trick I have found is placing a box at the enemy junglers feet right before it's time to smite. This stops him from smiting while he's feared! So if timed right (usually at like 2000hp for Baron) I will hit the bomb flowers and ult in midair. This is very confusing for the enemy team already, then ill ignite the enemy jungler and place a box by him. After this makes sure you and the clone focus Baron and smite as soon as you can. Remember to try to bust the baron down in one go if you can, meaning save your actives till he’s just a little more health than your smite does then hit titanic, your knife, and smite all at once so you have the best chance of getting it. If the enemy jungler is still alive focus him if you can but don't over stay, Q back through the closest wall and run like crazy. I have turned the tide of many a game like this. Though to be honest some games you’re going to get cc'd and blown up immediately....but hey high risk high reward right? And what's one death if you actually get it for your team?