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Shyvana Top Lane Guide, And How To Dominate Low-Mid Elo
Build Guide By ShaharKarisi
46
2
68,867
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Comments
46
2
68,867
Views
1
Comments
Shyvana Build Guide By ShaharKarisi
68,867
Views
1
Comments
Shyvana Build Guide By ShaharKarisi
x
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Recommended Items
Runes: Main Tree
1
2
Precision
Domination
+8 ability haste
+6 Armor
+6 Armor
Spells:
1
2
Flash
Teleport
Items
Starting Items
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Against AP
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Against AD
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Possible Build Paths
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Optimal Early Build Path
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Alternative Early Build Path
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General Final Build
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Other Boots
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Situational Items
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Offensive Items
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Defensive Items
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Elixirs
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Ability Order
Fury of the Dragonborn (PASSIVE)
Shyvana Passive Ability
Threats & Synergies
Threats
Synergies
Extreme
Major
Even
Minor
Tiny
Show All
None
Low
Ok
Strong
Ideal
Extreme Threats
Ideal Synergies
Quinn
Quinn does everything Vayne does but better, her mobility with her ultimate lets her farm in other lanes easily and destroy you. I'd ban 10/10 times.
Jarvan IV
AMAZING ganks past-6. Being able to assure landing an E is incredible and Jarvan IV's consistent damage and Shyvana's burst work incredibly together. Probably the best pick with Shyvana.
Synergies
Ideal
Strong
Ok
Low
None
Jarvan IV
AMAZING ganks past-6. Being able to assure landing an E is incredible and Jarvan IV's consistent damage and Shyvana's burst work incredibly together. Probably the best pick with Shyvana.
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PROS
+ Very strong level 6 spike
+ Split pushing queen + Can't go oom + Very strong frontline with R + High burst damage Shyvana isn't considered a meta top laner currently, but I believe her kill potential and kit can compete with the meta top laners. Her role as a top laner is similar to Aatrox or Sett, being a strong frontliner with an engage ultimate. Shyvana doesn't do much pre-6 besides short trades with her Flame Breath>AA> Twin Bite>AA combo to burst enemies. After gaining Dragon's Descent you can go for strong all-ins and smash most enemies if you farmed correctly. |
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CONS
- No mobility pre-6
- No substantial CC - Weak passive - Can't fight ranged champions - Low sustain early on - Weak to ganks pre-6 Picking Shyvana into top can cause your teammates to flame you in champ select, but with a little bit of training you can prove them wrong. Shyvana's clear weakness is her lack of CC (Not including Dragon's Descent's knockback) and her lack of mobility without Dragon's Descent. Her game pre-6 is somewhat weak, but really gank prone. Try to play towards the top side of the lane to avoid her weaknesses. |
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SUMMONER SPELLS -
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PRECISION
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Conqueror works super well with Shyvana as her normal combo, Flame Breath > AA > Twin Bite > AA stacks Conqueror fully. The additional damage helps a ton with chewing down enemies and the slight sustain definitely won't hurt. Although the jungle Shyvana build takes Dark Harvest, I believe Conqueror is much better for this build. Instead of going for one-shots or last hits, this build is meant for tanking and bursting with a full combo, therefore Conqueror is the best keystone for Shyvana.
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Triumph is pretty straight forward. The additional gold per kill and the heals after each kill lets you carry team fights and keep chewing enemies down with the Triumph and Ravenous Hunter heals.
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Shyvana takes Legend: Tenacity 9/10 as her kit is countered easily with CC. Legend: Bloodline is also viable when the enemy team lacks substantial CC. Don't only consider the enemy laner when choosing, consider the team as a whole.
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Last Stand is a great rune on Shyvana as most of the time she is under 60% HP. Coup de Grace is much worse on Shyvana than Last Stand Because you're looking to tank damage and burst in return instead of just flat out burst from afar.
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Shyvana takes Domination as her secondary rune because the sustain from the Taste of Blood and Ravenous Hunter helps her a lot. Taste of Blood is a safe pick to stay healthy (Especially in lane), and Sudden Impact is a more offensive rune you take when you want to establish an early lead and dominate lane.
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Ravenous Hunter is the only viable rune as Ultimate Hunter is useless, Burnout can replace Relentless Hunter for roams and Ingenious Hunter only affects Blade of the Ruined King and the occasional Mercurial Scimitar. Ravenous Hunter also provides the sustain Shyvana needs.
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Shyvana's kit relays on CDR and going CDR in the runes helps a lot. As this build is meant for tanking and bursting back, taking 2 defensive stats will help you tank more (I recommend taking 1 stat for the top laner and 1 stat for the jungler as these runes will effect Shyvana the most early on).
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Dragonborn (Passive): I'm gonna be honest, Dragonborn is kinda iffy. The bonus damage to Drakes only matters early on because a little later into the game you can solo Drakes anyway, and since you won't help take objectives this early, it won't matter. The bonus Armor and Magic Resist from the Drakes is also bad as some champions with better passives have higher base Armor and Magic Resist.
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Twin Bite (Q): Twin Bite is possibly one of Shyvana's greatest abilities. The ability to clear wards level 1 with the animation cancel and double AA is amazing, so early on just sit in pixel bush until the minion wave reaches the inner turret. Twin Bite's cooldown is reduced by 0.5 seconds when you AA and it's an AA animation cancel, so bursting a marked target after landing Flame Breath is a piece of cake. This ability counts as an AA so don't use it under Jax's or Shen's block/dodge domes.
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Burnout (W): Burnout makes an area where you damage enemies and grants movement speed, the duration increases when you damage enemies, up to 4 seconds. You'll use Burnout for the movement speed rather than the damage simply because the tick speed is slow and the damage is barely noticeable. Note: Don't use Burnout to clear the wave. It's inefficient as the tick speed is low and you'll usually need it to chase someone/run away.
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Flame Breath (E): Flame Breath is Shyvana's key ability to win lane. Not only does Flame Breath pass through minions and lets you clear the wave incredibly fast level 1, the mark effect (When Flame Breath collides with an enemy champion it marks them and your AA deals more damage to them) lets you trade more efficiently. In lane look for pokes with Flame Breath while clearing the wave and past-3 follow up with an AA> Twin Bite>AA combo to chunk the enemy laner.
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Dragon's Descent (R): Dragon's Descent is Shyvana's strongest ability, especially as it empowers Shyvana's abilities. In lane you'll use Dragon's Descent as a gap closer or to escape risky 2v1s. Dragon's Descent is a strong engage ultimate late game and in the mid game you can use it to Teleport from behind and use Dragon's Descent to demolish the enemies. In Drake form, Twin Bite cleaves on hit instead of double AAing, Burnout's area becomes larger and Flame Breath explodes on impact.
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REFILLABLE POTION Refillable Potion is ESSENTIAL for the early game. The heals really matter for Shyvana's early game, as she gets poked easily. Even if you start with Doran's Shield and a Health Potion, get it as your first buy. Note: Try to stay under 60% HP for Last Stand so don't use it when you aren't low.
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DORAN'S SHIELD You'll usually start Doran's Shield against AP matchups and when you want to stay longer in lane without recalling. The health regen helps you stay healthy in lane without Refillable Potion.
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CLOTH ARMOR You'll start Cloth Armor when the enemy team is AD or there's both an early game top laner and an early gank jungler (For example: Kled & Xin Zhao).
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EARLY BUILD PATH You'll usually rush Bramble Vest for the early resistance and grievous wounds and then build Caulfield's Warhammer> Kindlegem> Ionian Boots of Lucidity for 30% CDR early on. Sell Refillable Potion in favor of Vampiric Scepter afterwards as Refillable Potion loses it's effectiveness around this time. Alternatively you'll start Spectre's Cowl instead of Bramble Vest against full AP teams, and if you need the grievious wounds get Executioner's Calling afterwards.
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MERCURY'S TREADS While buying boots that aren't Ionian Boots of Lucidity isn't optimal ( Shyvana really needs the CDR), sometimes when going against CC heavy teams Legend: Tenacity won't be enough, so taking Mercury's Treads is a viable option.
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NINJA TABI You'll usually take Ninja Tabi for its stats and not its passive (Usually against full AD teams) but you can also take it against AA heavy matchups like Fiora and destroy lane with the combined passives of Ninja Tabi & Bramble Vest.
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DEATH'S DANCE Death's Dance is OP for Shyvana as it's passive makes you tank for a longer time, and as all you do is tank and burst back, this is amazing. The 15% heal from all damage dealt lets you heal back more than you take with Death's Dance passive. The defensive stats, damage and CDR are a perfect combo for what Shyvana needs.
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SPIRIT VISAGE Spirit Visage is an item meant for sustain and sustain only. All the defensive stats and increased healing makes for a great combo with Death's Dance passive, and the 10% CDR doesn't hurt either.
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BLADE OF THE RUINED KING The extra damage helps Shyvana's burst and the active helps you chase enemies.Note: Don't take my word for it, but I think normal form Twin Bite activates Blade of the Ruined King's passive twice.
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STERAK'S GAGE As Shyvana is pretty tanky (Especally in Drake form), the bonus damage from Sterak's Gage is pretty nice. Lifeline will trigger a lot as you are the frontliner of the team, so picking this is a no brainer.
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THORNMAIL Thornmail is a better Bramble Vest so it's really good for you. If the enemy team isn't AA reliant you're better off with one of the replacements.
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WIT'S END I'd call Wit's End a semi-core item, as its a viable replacement for Blade of the Ruined King when going against AP heavy teams or when your mid-laner fed a burst mage like Zoe or Syndra.
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BLOODTHIRSTER On the rare, rare occasion that you're somehow on a 2000G+ lead from the enemy team's most fed player, taking Bloodthirster instead of Sterak's Gage is an option, as the extra sustain and amazing damage will help you dominate team fights easily and hyper-carry the game.
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MORTAL REMINDER When you're against a full AP team and you started with the alternate path, Mortal Reminder is a good replacement for Thornmail. You can also take it (Like Bloodthirster but way more often) when you have a big established lead on the enemy team for the armor penetration and grievous wounds.
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GUARDIAN ANGEL You'll take Guardian Angel when your team as a whole wins, and you know they won't die without you. Guardian Angel is a "get out of jail card" for when you aren't the hyper-carry, but you also can't really die.
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MERCURIAL SCIMITAR You'll take Mercurial Scimitar for the Cleanse against CC heavy teams, usually paired with Mercury's Treads and Legend: Tenacity. You'll usually take it instead of Thornmail. Although it IS the last item in your build, buying an early Quicksilver Sash when in need is optimal.
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MAW OF MALMORTIUS When paired against AP heavy teams or against fed burst mages (Once again, champions such as Zoe/ Syndra), taking Maw of Malmortius will help you stay longer in the fight cause of the shield and sustain. Maw of Malmortius is a replacement for Sterak's Gage.
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ADAPTIVE HELM Adaptive Helm (Just like Wit's End) is a semi-core item, as it's a replacement for Spirit Visage when the enemy team has damage over time champions like Teemo, Singed or Twitch.
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FROZEN MALLET Frozen Mallet can replace Sterak's Gage when you are further behind than your team, as the CC it provides can make you helpful in fights instead of weighing your team down.
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ELIXIR OF WRATH Buy elixirs only when you built every item in your set, or you can't buy anything substantial and the next team fight can define the game. Elixir of Wrath is great when you wanna output more damage and stay longer in the enemy line with the sustain it provides.
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ELIXIR OF IRON The buying circumstances for Elixir of Iron are the same as Elixir of Wrath, but you'll usually buy it when you're behind your team and you don't want to feed and cause the game to become in the enemy team's favor.
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Item Set|
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Baron Nashor
First of all, thanks for reading my guide! I hope you learned something new. I'd love to hear your feedback. To refresh your memory here's a TLDR:
1) Play safe till 3, trade after 3, and go for a fight after 6.
2) When using Teleport to roam, come from behind, and use Dragon's Descent.
3) Try to be the frontline of your team and be the one that engages.
4) Try to replace items constantly to keep up with the situation.
5) Try to take objectives as much as you can.
6) Avoid CC at all costs!
That's it (I think). Have a great day!
1) Play safe till 3, trade after 3, and go for a fight after 6.
2) When using
Teleport to roam, come from behind, and use Dragon's Descent.3) Try to be the frontline of your team and be the one that engages.
4) Try to replace items constantly to keep up with the situation.
5) Try to take objectives as much as you can.
6) Avoid CC at all costs!
That's it (I think). Have a great day!
ShaharKarisi
Shyvana Guide
Shyvana Top Lane Guide, And How To Dominate Low-Mid Elo
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