Hello everyone! My name is VanguardX27, and this is my build guide for Top FIGHTER Shyvana!

About me: I started off being a mid player and slowly expanded to support, jungle, adc, and then top. When I was looking for top champions to try out, I came across Shyvanna. I had NEVER seen one in the time that I had been playing LoL, so I decided to go ahead and buy her and see what she was like. At first, I had a TERRIBLE time with her. I would get slaughtered with ease by anyone who went against me in lane, but that was only because I had no clue how to build her (yet)! So I decided to sit down one day and write an idea for a build guide, and when I put that build to the test, my Shyvana HISTORY changed. I started to do a lot better in lane and discovered I had the upper hand in fights against my opponents early on, and later in game. So I started to fine tune the build and test it against friends and against strangers, and I finally came up with a build that I feel is a strong and versatile build for Shyvana.

Okay, to start off, Summoner spells:

I typically run the standard Flash and Ignite combo simply because it gives a solid escape/chase, and a strong (and sometimes deadly) DoT. However, I will occasionally switch out Ignite for Teleport if I can see a fight starting up across map, or if a lane is in MAJOR trouble.

Next, Runes:

Now when it comes to runes, the idea of Hybrid Penetration runes may seem a little weird, but lets break this down for a minute:

-Shyvana's W (even though it scales off of Attack Damage) it deals Magic Damage.

-Shyvana's E deals Magic Damage.

-Shyvana's R deals Magic Damage.

That is THREE different sources of damage on Shyvana that deal damage in the form of Magic Damage, and the Magic Penetration will come in handy for early game potency, and even for a little late-game edge when confronted with a 1v1 or a team-fight.

And then to put it quite simply, the Attack Damage helps out with Shyvana's Q and basic attacks, and with the attack speed you will be building on her, that comes in handy early game and late game.

Then everything else Rune wise is pretty self-explanatory.


Finally, Masteries:

All of the masteries were carefully selected to ensure that Shyvana retains the Attack Damage focus, but still gets the major benefit of the Ability Power bonuses as well. These masteries give Shyvana bonus attack speed, Attack Damage, and Armor Pen. And at the same time giving her Magic Damage boosting abilities. The 7 in defense are STRICTLY there to preserve (and slightly buff) Shyvana's over-all tankiness early-game.

I usually start off with my W for extra damage to minions when farming early, an escape in case of a gank, or to help deal additional damage to the enemy top laner. W is a strong damage dealer that can help out tremendously with how much damage it deals and how long it lasts.

Q is next because the double-strike of it helps spread out extra damage and double apply on-hit effects which means more damage output and better odds of winning any fights.

R (obvious why that is maxed out next)

E Is last not because you dont build any AP to have major use, but because the damage output does not compare to that of the damage output of the Q.

ALWAYS start off with a Doran's Blade, Health Potion, and a Warding Totem. No questions asked.

1st Back: Depending on what happened (got a kill, battled hard until you both decided to back, opponent went back so you went back, or you got killed) ensure you pick up boots, either cloth armor or a null-magic mantle, health pots (as many as necessary), and 1 stealth ward (or a vision ward, depending on if there is a Shaco or Evelynn involved).

2nd Back: Regardless of winning or losing lane, pick up the (appropriate) boots (Mercury's Treads or Ninja Tabi) and homeguard, this will ensure you get back to lane quickly to ensure your tower does not get destroyed while you are away. And yet again, pick up some health potions (as many as necessary), and 1 stealth ward (or vision ward like I said before).

CHOOSE: Offensive? Or Defensive?: Okay, regardless of which you choose, you will still come around to the same build, so the main decision is to start getting defense NOW or LATER. I make this decision by how my lane is going. If I am winning lane, and not struggling much, I'll go offensive. If I am winning lane, but struggling, I will build defensive and switch to offensive when I am strong ehough to handle lane easily. But if I am straight up LOSING lane, then obviously build ONLY the defensive items (Wit's End, and the Sun-fire Cape) first.

Offensive Items: Blade Of The Runed King is an EXCELLENT item on Shyvana with the Life-steal, attack speed to lower the cooldown on Q, and the active slow. I typically rush this if I am going offensive. Frozen Heart is strong on Shyvana with the MASSIVE health bonus, the little bit of damage, but most importantly the slow on basic attacks, which make chases easier and protecting team-mates easier. Ravenous Hydra is more of a "I need extra damage to push harder" type of item. It is very strong with the active damage boost, the passive cleave, the life-steal, and the health regeneration. I typically pick this up last just in-case I decide to switch it out for something else (For example: Trinity Force, Guardian Angel, etc.).

Defensive Items: I generally don't need too much on Shyvana to get her to be pretty tanky. The Wit's End provides a great supply of magic resistance while boosting her attack speed, and dealing bonus magic damage on hits. The Sun-Fire Cape boosts Shyvana's health and Armor while also emitting an AoE, the boots (depends on who you are fighting top), and the Frozen mallet which boosts Shyvana's health up greatly. Usually this is all of the defense you would need, but there are special circumstances where adding an additional defensive item (typically in place of the Ravenous Hydra mentioned earlier).

Final Build: The final build will give Shyvanna a high amount of health, a good amount of Armor and Magic Resistance, damage, and slows to ensure Shyvana can take a beating, while still diving in for the kill on her prey.

Focus on farming minons first. Utilize your W to spread out the damage amongst the enemy minions to help secure any "loose" minions. If the enemy is next to while doing this, the W also makes for a good poke/damage dealer against the enemy. Ensure you keep the bottom bush warded whenever you push hard and are far from your turret, even though Shyvana has some good escapability, she can still be subdued by any champion (such as Amumu, Vi, Elise, or Lee) and brought down by the sudden gank. When you want to engage the enemy, lead in with your E, charge in with your W, and get to them as quickly as possible and land a solid Q. This is your typical fight pattern against your foe (before reaching level 6). When you DO achieve level 6, you have a choice, you can instead lead in with an E, W, and then R into them to immediately begin laying into them OR lead in the normal E,W,Q way and save your R in-case they either flash away, or their jungle comes out to defend their team-mate. When you begin team fighting, this is usually when (if you are the main initiator) to charge in E,W,R,Q and focus their ADC or other High-Priority target. If you are not the main initiator, you can save your ult to either pick off those trying to escape, or if the initiation goes bad you can use it as an escape.

Thank you very much for reading my strategy guide on Shyvana, and I wish you the best of luck in the fields of justice with Shyvana! Be sure to provide feed-back on what you thought of this build plan and how it worked for you. Thank you!