Atm Shen is OP, because of the lane sustainability and global ultimate which makes it possible to easily split push and to save the key players in teamfights. If you manage to get Shen in a competitive/ranked scenario you should most likely go Top lane with him because then you can make sick four people ganks and dives. However, Shen is still viable in the jungle if needed.

For masteries I go 9 points offense 21 defense.
21 in defense because you are probably the team's tank and it will give you good defensive stats. Then i go 9 in attack so that you still can do much damage.

I take hp per level on yellow runes because you will not need early armor on Shen becouse the base stats and sustain are so high. I use magic pen on red because your abilities are magic based.

I use attack damage on my Quintessence because it gives you quite a lot of attack damage which is needed, you are already tanky enough.

I use magic resist per level on my glyphs (the blue runes),it will feel good later on when you will meet their ap-carry.

alternatively:



I use exhaust because it will help you in lane and to secure the kill when your jungler ganks, It also helps you in team fights to turn the fight around.

I use ghost because it will help you chase down runners and taunt them. Ghost is realy good Combined with your E.

I can imagine using teleport because you can teleport away from your lane with your ultimate and then you can teleport back to save your tower. Teleport can also be used to save teammates when your ult is on cooldown.

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.



This passive is really good becouse it will help you win every exchange in the laning phase




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



This is your ability to harass, spam this on the enemy champion and then autoattack them with your passive.





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



your shield is really strong in the laning phase because it will help you survive and win the trades.




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



In my opinion one of the most effective ability in the game because it help You get closer and/or taunt them.





Places a shield on a target allied champion, 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



Global ultimate, helps you to save a friend and killing enemies around the map. It is important to have control of the mini-map especially in soloq. Remember that when you ultimate away from your lane you will be losing lane pressure so if you ulti away it should result in a kill/assist, towers or dragon for the team.

''Knowing when to ult can be the difference between a good and bad Shen player.''

Max your Q first because it gives you the ability to harass and substain, it is also good when you are at objectives like baron and dragon.

After that I often max out my W because it will help you to survive and win the trades in your lane. However, sometimes you have to level up W before Q if your opponent has a lot of poke and is very dominant.

At last I level up my E because after 1 rank it wont help you as much as Q or W

Max out R when you can (lv: 6/11/16).

Starting items: Starting Items: OR vs ad top OR vs ap top

- are good items to start with. Because that will give you the ability to quickly move in your lane and still have a couple of pots that will allow you to farm as long as possible, although i don't think it is necessary to have boots at lv 1.
- Now in Season 3 boots are not as important to begin with so it may be good to start with some extra armor and pots or magic resist and pots instead because that will allow you to stay and farm alot more. If they don't counter you top and you think you can push your lane then i recommend bying 1 ward and some less pots at lv 1 just because of the lv 2 gank from their jungler.


Boot Options: OR
- depends on whether you meet a bruiser or an ap top.


Core Item: OR
- I prefer buying statikk-shiv because it gives you the ability to quickly and easily farm and clear a creepwave, if you choose to buy a statikk-shiv you should save up to 800 gold before you go home for the first time. Then buy an avarice-blade (this is part a of your statikk-shiv) i prefer getting it as fast as possible becouse it will give you a good amount of extra gold.



Final Items:
- sunfire-cape is a good item because it makes you very tanky and it gives you a good aoe damage.
- Randuin's-omen is overall a very good item and it has a very good active in teamfights.
- Runi-bulwark, I only get this item if my support doesn't get it, because it is a very good item with your ultimate. It also gives you a lot of magic resistance (60 MR) which is the item that gives the most magic resitens in the game atm.


Possible 6th item: OR OR OR
- Warmog's-armor: I rarely get this item but it is still a good item if you need to be more tanky than you already are.
- Mercurial-scimitar can be a good item if they have much cc or a feeded ap-carry (it can also be bought earlier if needed).
- Guardian-angel is the item I often choose as my last item because it gives me a bit of everything and has a very nice active.
- Trinity-force is an item that I rarely buy but it can still be a good if your team lacks damage.

Just farm and get cs, use wards and know when to trade.

the first thing you should know is how many hits the creeps can take from the tower before they die.
Melee minions take Three hits.
Caster minions take two hits.
Because early game you can quite easily get outpushed by your opponent.
What you want to do for melee minions is wait for the tower to hit them twice and then go in for the last hit.
For caster minions you should hit them once before the tower hits them and then go in for the last hit.

keep an eye on the mini-map for opportunities to use a good ulti to win or to turn the game around. However Do not spend too much time looking at the mini-map as you will need to focus on getting last hits and winning your lane.
Use your time to roam and split-push.

Late game you can either split push or fight with the team. remember to keep up the farm with the others and that you can save the key players with a good ulti and taunt in teamfihts.
keep an eye out for objectives, especially Baron and remember to keep up with the farm.

In teamfights you should focus on either taunt and kill their ad-carry/ap-carry, or you should focusera to protect your ad-carry/ap carry or possibly protect the feeded player.
To protect your key player you can taunt enemies that are focusing them and also you can use your ultimate on them, So they can get your shield and therefor can survive.

Shen is really weak against theese champs, you can find them at: http://www.championselect.net/champ/Shen
To much poke, life steal and tanky. Just wait for help.
To much poke, he will probably zone you. Try to farm by tower, level W first and wait for ganks
To much poke, he will probably zone you. Try to farm by tower, level W first and wait for ganks.
To much life steal, you can still farm just don't engage him without your jungler.

Shen is really strong against theese champs:
Easy to outlane, just poke him and keep and eye out for their jungler.
Easy to outlane, you should poke him, push out and then either gank or take gollums
Easy to outlane, you should poke him, push out and then either gank or take gollums
Hard to kill but easy to outfarm him, push out and then help the other lanes win.

Always try to take Shen even though you may not feel secure with him. You are always better by practicing and then he's better than you think in teamfights, just try to save the key players in your team and taunt their ad-carry and ap-carry.

Shen is one of the most viable and op champs top lane as he can taunt enemys, he has a global ultimate and he is extremely tanky.




I've only had time to play 12 ranked games in season 3, which I played shen 4 times and managed to turn the game into my team's advantage with his extreme split pushing abilities.