Hey guys, Brokenshard here again this time bringing you a Jungle Shen Guide. I've been paying close attention to the competitive scene as well as being a 2k+ elo jungler myself, I see quite a bit of Jungle Shen nowadays. Shen as a jungler is slow at first, but slowly picks up speed like Nautilus. He boasts some pretty beast ganks both pre and post 6. On top of that, his amazing ult allows him to be a major threat all over the map. He is a manaless jungler and thus benefits from starting anywhere he wants. Jungle Shen is 100% viable and extremely powerful in the right hands.

Without further ado, here is my take on Jungle Shen


UPDATED: Shen in competitive play

We just witnessed the world championship a few weeks ago, and we saw much of Shen both in top lane and in jungle.

I'm not here to talk about top lane, but there are some interesting item choices I'd like to discuss.

• Korean and Asian teams putting a lot of emphasis on Shen, notably, Cloudtemplar from AF
• Kages + HoG combinations mostly used top lane
• HoG and Madreds combinations
• A lot of early camping

I'm going to put these points 1 by 1 and discuss them.

Korean and Asian teams putting a lot of emphasis on Shen, notably, Cloudtemplar from AF

We saw a lot of shen jungle come out from the Asian teams. I don't have the proper statistic but I can say it accounted for a lot of the jungle picks. This isn't something new, the Asian scene have been putting strong emphasis on jungle shen for a long time now. They realize his ganking pressure and spliting/global pressure gives them the edge in prolonged teamfights and in split comps. Cloudtemplar is the one jungler that comes to mind that used Shen both many times and very effectively. He favored the build that got a madreds razors in order to maintain jungle speed, but we also saw sometimes that he built a wriggles to be more like a melee bruiser (which is actually a really good choice in some of the games.)

Kages + HoG combinations mostly used top lane

While we saw Stanley pick it up a few times, we didn't really see any jungler pick this combination up. I'm not here to say that its a bad choice, it pretty much mirrors the double gp10 combination. If you'd like to pick this up in the jungle, you must keep in mind several things. Your jungle speed will suffer vs other shens who ran madreds, and you will get your FIRST core item a little late, but your next core items much faster. Its a good choice if you got really ahead early.

HoG and Madreds combinations

We saw the HoG + Madreds combo a lot on the jungle shens this past tournament. However, we also saw some unconventional builds. There was one which rushed an Aegis before anything else. Literally his first items were boots 1 and Aegis. Another one went straight into Randuins, so his items were Boots 2 and Randuins. There are many ways to alter the shen build, But i simply do not like these builds as they put you all into one item very early in the game. It gives you too much of a particular stat but not enough utility. Rushing an Aegis will make you very tanky, but then what? You lack a proper jungle clear, have no setup into any late game items. Its an all-in choice and thus should be looked at and considered very carefully.

A lot of early camping

The teams that picked Shen realize that jungle shen is NOT a farm jungle. Even with madreds and sunfire his clear is slow compared to other high power junglers. Therefore you saw a lot of early game camping like level 2 ganks, recurring level 3 ganks and early oracles. This goes well with the Korean and Asian aggression playstyle, it allows the Shen to go around and clear vision for his team, and then get into situations that allow for a very deadly gank.

For masteries we want to run 9/21/0.


21 In defense should be self explanatory, shen is a TANK first and foremost. You need to be able to take as much durability as possible, and the defense tree is currently, in my opinion, the most powerful tree for junglers to utilize.

9 In offense is to make up for a really pitiful early game as well as give you some Arpen in order to scale into late game. A majority of shens damage comes from his passive and his autoattacks, using his vorpal blade to supplement this damage. You can opt to go for the magic penetration and build items like Sunfire to amplify it, and this is all up to your personal preference!

Lets go over the runes i've layed out:

• Clear the jungle faster
• Utilize both feint and your passive as much as possible
• Ninja strike with speed of tiger!

15% attack speed are simply the best in slot. Shen doesn't scale with AD in any form, and his passive/feint benefit from hitting more often.

• Tank creeps better
• Cheap physical mitigation is always good
• You jungle, jungle take armor

I don't feel I need to explain this, as with all junglers they need some early armor in order to merit starting boots and to tank the creeps better.

• Passively scale your defensive stats into mid game, as you need to be able to eat burst
• Gives you some extra defense against mages
• As a tank you need to tank, more defense gives you that.

Mr/lvl is great on you since it starts to really take effect around levels 9-10 which is when you're expected to take the brunt of the damage. Other good options are 12 magic resistance against double AP sets or 5.4% attack speed if you wanna boost your jungle clear slightly.

• Better position yourself to taunt people
• Faster camp travel which in turn leads to a faster clear
• Chase people down easily, as well as catch up to them
• Make roaming swift and effective

I've tinkered with numerous different quint options and have fallen onto Movespeed as my favorite. the utility granted from the extra movespeed simply beats out any extra Armor, attackspeed or HP you might get from the runes.

Jungle Shen. Jungle. Junglers take smite. You need this to secure your early clear and objectives as the game goes on. Not taking smite puts you and your team at a HUGE disadvantage. Please don't be THAT guy.



Shen has the benefit of being very lenient about his 2nd summoner spell. Generally speaking there are 3 major options that you should consider:



: Flash is what I prefer to take on shen. The added gap closer makes initiating teamfights and escaping from ganks a breeze. It really makes avoiding shen difficult as you can traverse an incredible distance in a very short period of time.

: Ghost is another very good option. Since shen's taunt allows you to traverse obstacles, Ghost might seem very viable. It allows you to chase and escape for long periods of time. If you plan on taking ghost you should skill it in the OFFENSE TREE

: Exhaust is the final option for a second summoner spell. While you remove the added mobility of flash or ghost, you gain an immense CC that makes diving the enemy AD in the late game a breeze. You are able to shut down someone for a good period of time after they get out of your taunt. Not only this, your ganks early in the game become very fearful, as a good taunt into exhaust can secure even the most difficult of kills. If you plan on taking exhaust be sure to skill it in the OFFENSE TREE

Every 8 seconds, Shen's next attack will deal 8% of bonus health point as bonus magic damage (base damage of 10). Each time a champion hits Shen with an attack, Ki Strike activates 2 seconds quicker.



The reason we stack both attackspeed and HP. This passive not only increases your burst damage potential, but your jungle speed as well.




Deals 70/115/140/175/210 (+75% of ability power) magic damage to target unit. That unit becomes life tapped for 5 seconds, healing any champions who attack it for 18/26/34/42/50 health over 3 seconds.

Cost 70 / 65 / 60 / 55 / 50 energy

Range 475




Your sustain, poke, and burst combo ability. When you hit level 9 your taunt + ki burst + q is about 40% of a squishys HP, and the best part is you can do it all over again shortly.




Shen enters a defensive stance, shielding the next 50 / 100 / 150 / 200 / 250 (+75% of ability power) damage. Lasts up to 1.5 seconds.

Cost 45 energy

Range 20




Good ability to keep your hp up while jungling as well as during teamfights to proc your Ki Strike more




Shen rapidly dashes to a target location, Taunting enemies he collides with for 1/1.25/1.5/1.75/2 second(s).
Restores 50 Energy if you hit a champion.

Cost 120 / 115 / 110 / 105 / 100 energy

Range 25000




CC and dash. Self explanatory.




Places a shield on both a target allied champion and Shen, absorbing 200/475/750 (+150% of ability power) damage for 7.5 seconds. After channeling for 2.5 seconds, Shen teleports to the target's location.

Cost none

Range 25000




Makes shen a beast once he hits level 6. Once you're level 6 you can essentialy coordinate ganks all over the map no matter where you are.

get Q at level 1.

Only get E if you plan to gank at level 2, if not, go W

Get E at level 3 even if you wont gank since its nice to be able to move around quicker

then R > Q > W > E

To start:

+

Generally you'll never need to start anything else. The 3 pots should be sufficient for early jungle clears and the mobility is necessary to put yourself in ganking positions. After level 3/4 you won't need potions since your Q and W will keep your health up.

First back, try to get:

+

I almost ALWAYS buy HoG as a first item. You build randuins later in the game and it grants you early HP for your passive and survivability.

Core:

VS OTHER WRIGGLE JUNGLERS

or + + +

VS NON WRIGGLES JUNGLERS

or + + -->

Not a very strong choice unless vs. double AP

and is a great item for early jungle clear. It gives you armor and some AD, but it really helps your dragon control and farming ability. I generally only buy Madreds if I plan to farm a bit more, although for 50 more gold you can get a recurve. Its really a judgement call. Generally I buy this vs other WRiggle junglers

Follow up items:

is a great item to buy after (or even before) wits end. If I plan to get wits end over madreds, I will rush wits. If i get madreds, i delay the wits end until AFTER Aegis of the legion.

After building your mid game items, why not build a phage? It grants you HP, damage, passive slow, and builds into a great item like Frozen Mallet. It allows you to stick to targets well and the HP is godsend for your passive.

Great for you if you need to reach HELLA TANKY MODE.

Is a great pick up if you prefer to deal a bit more damage. I Highly recommend NOT rushing this item. EVER.

Great go to item for end game magic resist. HP regen and movespeed are very effective.

If you don't get wits end (thus you went with madreds) I usually pick this item up to help with split pushing and over all tankiness. Its a great item for shen.

Best End Game armor item for you. Must Buy late game built from HoG. Almost no reason to NOT pick this item up.

is an experimental item that has the benefit of being incredibly useful for clearing and for split pushing. This however is a bit more expensive than wits end, however it gives HP. Generally I wont be building both ionic and wits, its your call wether or not you want ionic over wits. Generally if they have little magic damage and you plan on split pushing, this is a great item to invest into. This item is very good to purchase if your priority is based on spit pushing

Jungle shen almost always starts with Q, generally its not favorable to engage in a level 1 fight (you have to take E) since you almost screw yourself over in your early jungle clear.


Being a manaless jungler, you can start anywhere and everywhere you want, be it wolves --> blue or wraiths --> red. Unless I plan to level 2 gank top through red buff (not something I do often, however its viable) I generally plan to aim to land myself with double buff at top lane at level 3.

How to do this

IF you are BLUE SIDE (bottom left) I would start red with a good leash from bot lane after finishing wraiths. If you CAN do NOT smite red. Work your way up stopping at wolves if you prefer to take them before blue, and then finally blue buff. If you saved smite this will go smoother and you'll have 1-2 potions left. IF you had to smite, you might find yourself with only 1 potion left. You then go ahead and gank top lane with your double buff and level 3 with all 3 abilities. You can also attempt to gank mid lane or just continue with your jungle period.

IF you are PURPLE SIDE (top right) You start blue buff with a great leash from bot and mid. There is almost no reason for you to save smite at this point. Since bot lane will always be there to assist you with the buff. Its the same situation as you make your way to the red buff, complete it with smite and then gank top. The added benefit of doing this is that you can get there at around 2:45/2:50 which is very early.

I do not include sustained jungling paths since shen is SLOW. He is much better off ganking or attempting to gank/pressure lanes than simply afk-farming the jungle.



Generally speaking Shen shouldnt attempt to invade alone in the early levels. He clears the camps way too slow for it to be reliable, and his dueling power isnt as strong as junglers like udyr and nocturne. There are some lesser junglers that can be fought, but its very unreliable to expect a 1v1 in higher up games where people have more map awareness. Your strength lies in your early ganks and counter ganks, rather than your invasion. If you ARE invaded, and your camp was stolen (For example you started blue and they took your red), you look to punish the enemy jungler. If they took your red and you see them emerge top lane with it, and you just finished blue (lets say without smite) You can go and take THEIR red before they have time to react. Its all about being right place right time. Even without red (or even blue) your ganks are deadly and efficient, so shen does not suffer as much from getting his buffs stolen.

Its now midgame and your item choice should have been chosen. With your boots 2, HoG and either Recurve bow/wits and Madreds, you are a very strong force in the mid game fights. Your taunt is disruptive, you are durable, and your ult is an effective ganking and defending tool.

With Madreds Razors, your damage on dragon is very high and you can attempt to take it very early.

With recurve bow, your dragon control is moderate with your dueling power greatly increased.

With Aegis (if you opted to rush it after HoG) your durability is very high and you are a major threat to squishy targets of the enemy team.



Your ult should be used for 2 things:

Setting up a kill (eg counter ganking)

Defending an ally.

Both of these scenarios are meant to turn around ganks that have not been in your favor. Shen's ult allows him to shield an ally and appear after a short delay. Get your enemy to over commit to something and then pop up, turning a 2v2 into a 2v3 fight, or a 1v1 into a 1v2 fight. Shens disruptive power, durability and moderately high damage are grea tools to posses in early fights.



Jungle Shen has something almost no other jungler has; FULL TOTAL GLOBAL PRESENCE. He has one of the FEW full global ultimates in the game, so how do we use this to our advantage? Shen can sit in a lane, auto attack the creeps, maybe throw a Q once or twice and push the lane. Alone. Using items like Ionic spark, sunfire cape, wits end or even madreds razors, you're able to greatly pressure other lanes while your team grabs objectives like drake or buffs/towers. By forcing someone (or more than 1 person!) to come stop you, you are essentially putting your team in the advantage, BECAUSE YOU CAN AID THEM IF THEY FIGHT. Have your team pressure drake while you push top lane happiy. If they get engaged on, ult them. The fight will then be a 5v5. IF they are NOT getting engaged on, keep pushing and have them keep pressuring. If the enemy sends 1 or two people top, HAVE THEM ENGAGE THE FIGHT and join them! The fight is in your favor greatly. This is why Shen is banned. His ultimate allows him to be a threat EVEN WHEN HE IS NOT AROUND. That is what a true ninja is!

Generally the tank has 2 roles to fulfill

INITIATE THE FIGHT and PROTECT THE CARRIES

Shen has to make himself a TARGET to the enemy team so that he has to get focused. Fortunately you can be a DIRECT threat or an INDIRECT threat in teamfights. Being a DIRECT threat is by taunting into the enemy team to their carries dealing quite incredible damage to them and being tanky as hell. Of course, the more items the carry has the more difficult this becomes. Being an INDIRECT threat is by split pushing a lane, then when a teamfight starts you ult into someone thats low and come fresh and disrupt the enemy engage.

Initiating the fight is quite simple. Taunt as many people as possible. Its not EASY to get into a position to do this, so sometimes its more efficient to LET THE ENEMY ENGAGE ON YOU! This is achieved by split pushing and have them be rushed to engage a fight, sometimes leading to a very poor engage. This is when you come to save the day and taunt the clustered enemy team.


Protecting the carry is much simpler. Peeling, as we call it. Items like randuins omen and frozen mallet aid you in this task, since you don't really damage enemy bruisers. Your ult can be used on your carry thats low, and your taunt can be used to draw people away. However, Shen is not as GREAT at peeling as say Skarner or Mundo, and sometimes its more valuable to engage on their carries since your taunt REDUCES DAMAGE DEALT BY HALF if you didn't know this.

Shen is a tank, play him like one. He's not always the first one in, but when he arrives he arrives with a bang.

Late game is all about Teamfights and Baron.


Baron is an objective, right? Lets make it more DIFFICULT for the enemy team. Ward baron, keep vision, and then go SPLIT PUSH bottom lane. The enemy will be very nervous now: do we LET shen split push or do we engage them/do baron. This is what you want them to feel. If they engage/do baron, simply ult in onto the weakened enemy team and engage them, you'll probably win. Otherwise, if they keep poking around, continue happily onto the split push, you'll probably get a tower or two putting your team ahead in gold.

In this video notice how i utilize split pushing and ulting onto weaker teammates to secure a gank. I get a turnaround quadra kill for our AD in bot lane because of over commited enemies, secure drake, THEN join my Lee sin top for a kill on kennen, effectively being part of 5 kill credits as well as a drake.

That about wraps up my guide for Shen.

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I hope you enjoyed the guide! Shen is a beast not only in the top lane, and beware of the lurking presence in the dark of the jungle.