ProBuilds
Champion Select
LoLCounter
solid first item because you have built in sustain (with your Q) and you have a move that negates damage (your W). The early health also synergizes with your passive. 
early against a bruiser, 
early against a caster. 
I RARELY choose this item on any champion, but shen is an exception. The reason is that he will not need early early items because his base tankiness is so high, and his sustain will not be hurting as it is nearly impossible for any champions to trade with shen as of now. 
Another item I rarely choose, but because you have magic pen reds and magic pen masteries as well as no need for bruiser items like atmogs because your damage will be insanely high anyways, I think sunfire is nice not only in teamfights but in the laning phase as well. The earlier you can grab this item the easier it will be to push waves when needed. 
Building this item will allow your teleports with your ult to be that much more effective as you will be providing an aoe stat boost. Not to mention it also synergizes with your abilities.
Never a bad item on any tank/bruiser. Works so well with shen because of his synergy with health through his passive. 
+ Taunt is a great combination, especially against an extremely fed AD with last whisper. Randuins is one of the few items that works really well for a tank versus 6 item AD carry. 
Not a great choice on shen imo, simply because you will be kited a lot in teamfights and I don't think that you will be getting tons of autoattacks off. I would rather build towards more tanky item. Not to mention I think the %crit is wasted because you are not building like a standard bruiser. 
Is a great item choice versus a heavily AP composed team, but it will leave you vulnerable to things like ignite and raw AD damage because it offers no base health bonuses or armor of any kind. 
Not a bad choice on any tank, especially in this case because you already have 10% spell pen and magic pen reds, which will make this item even more effective. The attack speed will also reset your passive faster. 
Honestly I haven't really considered this item as a viable item on any champion, but I might make an exception for shen. I think this item would be HIGHLY situational, but you will usually end up netting tons of kills and assists with your global. I would probably not recommend this in competitive play, but maybe in a normal or even solo queue setting where people are making tons of mistakes. 
Not a great choice, simply because I think there are better item choices like Randuins. It does not give you any max health, and is only good against AD champions without lifesteal. Also, your taunt will reduce the damage done to you which will reduce the damage done by thornmail.
Introduction
Basically Shen has been a confused champion by Riot. He has seen times where he is banned in solo queue, and he has seen times where if you pick shen you will be accused of trolling. Right now, however, Shen is OP OP OP OP. Why? He has a flipping global ultimate, INSANE lane sustainability, INSANE base stats, INSANE harassment damage. WTF RIOT? 
But I digress... I am not here to tell you what Riot should do in terms of buffing or nerfing champions, I am just here to tell you how to CAPITALIZE on their mistakes.
Shen will most definately be nerfed in the next few weeks if not hotfixed, but until then SHEN AWAY MY FRIENDS!
Masteries
For masteries I go 9 points offense 21 defense. I grab standard magical tank stats like 10% spell pen + 4% cdr in the offensive tree, while grabbing the CDR in the defensive tree as well. There is really not much more you can choose on shen except perhaps a utility based build that would give you extra gold. I have been theorycrafting that a bit and I might add in a section of how to play utility gold/10 shen.
Runes
For runes I take magic pen reds because your abilities are magic based.I take hp/level yellows as you will not need early armor because Shen's sustain and base stats are so high.
I take flat mr blues against a hybrid laner like shyvana or an AP laner. I take MR/Level blues if I am against a weak bruiser that will allow me to farm. I take armor blues if I am against a heavy AD bruiser like trynd who can RNG you to death early. You can also grab a cloth armor + 5 health potions if you would rather go mr/level blues instead of armor blues.
I take flat health quints because there is not much to choose from, and the health synergizes with ki strike.
Summoner Spells
There are an IMMENSE combination of summoners for Shen. First off I am going to recommend these 2 summoners:
![[summoners/ghost.png]](guide/summoners/ghost.png "summoners/ghost.png")
Combined with your dash, ghost will allow you to chase runners down and taunt them. ![[summoners/exhaust.png]](guide/summoners/exhaust.png "summoners/exhaust.png")
This ability will allow you to land kills in the laning phase. Exhaust is a very powerful combination with a jungle gank. Exhaust will also give you extra power when you teleport on a teammate and turn the fight around. Finally, exhaust will allow you to shut down a target in a teamfight. ![[summoners/teleport.png]](guide/summoners/teleport.png "summoners/teleport.png")
Great summoner because you can teleport away from your lane with your ultimate if your teammates are being retarded, then you can teleport back to your tower and save it. Teleport can also save teammates when your ult is cooling down. ![[summoners/revive.png]](guide/summoners/revive.png "summoners/revive.png")
The problem I see with revive is that with shen I have a really hard time dying. That being said, you can be super retardedly aggressive and save your ultimate, then revive at the opportune time and teleport in which will catch people off-guard. ![[summoners/flash.png]](guide/summoners/flash.png "summoners/flash.png")
Allows you to catch somebody and then taunt them, something you wouldn't be able to do without flash.![[summoners/heal.png]](guide/summoners/heal.png "summoners/heal.png")
Can save a teammate or yourself, and is very good for baiting newbs. Good through all stages of the game as well.
Skills Changelog
This is the change-log for Shen in the last patch from http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=1818718:Ki Strike
Damage increased to 10-112 (+10% bonus Health) from 10-95 (+8% bonus Health)
Cooldown is now reduced by 1.5 seconds whenever Shen attacks instead of 2 seconds when being attacked
Now grants Shen 10/20/30 energy when he Ki Strikes
Damage now scale correctly with all sources of bonus Health (% health runes, Juggernaut mastery)
Added a buff timer for Ki Strike's cooldown (like Ziggs' Short Fuse)
This passive allows you to trade hits with enemy champions in the laning phase and win every exchange if done correctly. Basically now the passive is super strong, not to mention it synergizes with items like wits end.
Vorpal Blade
Energy cost adjusted to 60 from 70/65/60/55/50
Damage adjusted to 60/105/150/195/240 (+0.6 ability power) from 70/105/140/175/210 (+0.75 ability power)
Heal effect changed to 6/10/14/18/22 (+2% of Shen's maximum Health) from 18/26/34/42/50
If Vorpal Blade deals the killing blow, it will now trigger 33% of the heal effect for Shen
Allied damaging spells can now trigger the heal effect, in addition to attacks (Vorpal Blade cannot trigger itself)
Your harssment ability, which also provides you with sustain in lane. Throw this on the enemy champion then autoattack them with Ki strike, rinse and repeat.
Feint
Feint duration increased to 3 seconds from 2.5
Energy cost reduced to 40 from 45
Shield amount adjusted to 70/120/170/220/270 (+0.6 ability power) from 50/100/150/200/250 (+0.75 ability power)
While Feint is active, Ki Strike’s cooldown reduction on hit is increased to 3 seconds from 1.5
I like maxing this ability second as it is insanely strong in the laning phase. The AP ratio was nerfed but the absorption amount was buffed, which is a buff unless you are running AP shen and in which case you are a retard or you have discovered some hidden meta. In all honesty though I could actually see a hybrid AP shen working simply because you can build almost anything on Shen and still do well, but I don't think its optimal /end rant.
Shadow Dash
Cooldown reduced to 10/9.5/9/8.5/8 seconds from 10
Energy cost increased to 120 from 120/115/110/105/100
Restores 40 energy per champion affected (rather than a flat 50 energy if you affect one)
Now deals 50/85/120/155/190 damage (+0.5 ability power) to Champions
Taunt duration adjusted to 1.5 seconds from 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2
Shadow Dash now grants Shen 50% physical damage reduction from taunted targets
Your gap closer/taunt, which is now OP because it effectively cuts the enemy ranged carry's damage down hard if you land it on them.
Stand United
Channel time increased to 3 seconds from 2.5
Shield duration reduced to 5 seconds from 7.5
Shield amount increased to 250/550/850 from 200/475/750
Your GLOBAL ULTIMATE! YES! Basically watch your mini map, and every time you see enemy champions near allied champions watch the fight. Use your ultimate when you see careless behavior by the enemy team, and don't use it just because your teammate is being retarded. Knowing when to ult can be the difference between a good and bad Shen player. Remember that when you ultimate away from your lane you will be losing lane pressure, and you should have a good reason for doing so. It should result in you getting a few assists/kills, or perhaps a dragon or a tower or it probably wasn't worth it to leave your enemy laner for an extended period of time.
Skill Order
Max ![[skills/shen/q.png]](guide/skills/shen/q.png "skills/shen/q.png")
for harassment and sustain, not only for yourself but for your allies on objectives like dragon or baron. Max
![[skills/shen/w.png]](guide/skills/shen/w.png "skills/shen/w.png")
situationally, I sometimes opt to mix it with Q depending on the lane opponent. Getting a few extra ranks of this early may really help you in the laning phase if you are having a difficult time, which shouldn't be the case. Only grab 1 rank of
![[skills/shen/e.png]](guide/skills/shen/e.png "skills/shen/e.png")
as leveling it does not help you nearly as much as Q or W. Max
![[skills/shen/r.png]](guide/skills/shen/r.png "skills/shen/r.png")
when possible at 6/11/16.
Early Game
Farm like a boss. Ward for yourself. Know when to exchange hits with the enemy champion, and know when you will win trades. Know when to keep your distance because you are being ganked. But mainly get tons of CS.
Mid Game
I define mid game as anywhere around 11, but mid game can be entered as early as 6. I think the mid game starts when kills start occuring and happens on a game by game basis. Nevertheless, from 6 on be watching for save opportunities as one good ultimate can turn a game around. Don't spend too much time eye wandering as you will need to put most of your focus into last hitting and winning your lane.
Late Game
Late game you will be wanting to either split push or fight as a team. Your ultimate becomes less useful as people will be able to nuke through your shield, especially once an AD carry gets 6 items. Just remember to keep farming and to not spend too much time assisting your team while forgetting to keep up in cs.
Final Comments
While Shen will undoubtedly be nerfed soon, I can see from his current state that he will probably still be viable. The fact that he has a built in global is something that few champions have, and this opens up immense possibilities for doing this that you wouldn't be able to do with a normal champion.
Shen top in a tournament
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7 months ago
7 months ago
8 months ago
8 months ago
It's kinda easy to do good when there's no jungle in the enemy team.
8 months ago
Great build.
9 months ago
11 months ago
a) if you want health + damage, get mallet instead. More health, and also lets you actually stick to your opponent until their dead.
b) Shen should always be attacking. More AS = more ki strikes = more harass. With AS marks your harass is vorpal + ki strike, instead of just vorpal.
11 months ago
11 months ago
a) He explains why thornmail isn't as good. Sunfire cape is for the damage and health more than for the armor.
b) AS Marks are good for when Shen is attacking. But more often than not, Shen's harass is spamming vorpal blade in lane. Mpen makes him deal more damage to the enemy solo top with his vorpal blades.
12 months ago
Shen scales very well with heal both offensively and defensively, so the prevent you from getting health stacks the enemy needs to focus you; but as the tank you want the enemy to attack you.
you so leave them with: Attack the tank and keep him under control, or attack his team but risk him getting stacks and snowballing out of control.
You got to think of the mind games not just the numbers in-game.