Mastering Shen
By An Authentic Shen Main, Season 13
TA
March 20th, 2023 ⸱ 10 min read
Greetings and salutations, fellow Shen Enjoyer. It would seem that you are in need of a legendary Shen guide to tell you everything you need to know about Runes, Items, Match-ups and Technologies, and I am here to provide.
If you need a quick build tree, the one below will surfice, but do take time to read through the guide and try the different builds to suit your playstyle.
Quick Shen Tank Top Build
Matchups: Threats & Synergies
Runic Selection
The 99% Rune tree is my preference 99% of the time. I find it synergises with Shen's kit the best, almost like they were designed around him. The other 1% is something we will discuss later on.
Grasp of the Undying
is quite a sizable portion of your damage when trading. Utilizing it fully can take a while to learn, but when mastered, can change your laning phase drastically.Shield Bash
is another great synergy with Shen's kit. With his passive, Ki Barrier, you can squeeze out a little more damage in a short or extended trade. With proper passive management, you can activate it twice in a 6 second, medium sized trade.Second Wind
is a great rune to keep you healthy in the laning phase, either against ranged or melee. This comes in handy for damage that you can't quite use your passive or 
Spirit's Refuge
Vayne
TeemoRevitalize
Lastly,
. Another staple part of the basic rune system for Shen. Provides the extra bit of shielding that can mean the difference between life and death. This also has the added benefit of working with your 
Stand UnitedUnflinching
can sometimes be taken if there is a lot of Crowd Control effects, but not enough AP damage dealers to merit buying . By sacrificing a small bit of shielding power, you can gain a small bit of Tenacity. Very usefull in team fights, but don't over estimate the enemies, as they won't prioritise you for their CC.Overgrowth
can also be worked into Shen Shen Rune Shards
This comes down to personal preference. Personally, I always take
Attack Speed
Twilight Assault
Adaptive ForceTwilight Assault Attack Speed Adaptive Force Another point of interest is the choice between the
Scaling Bonus Health
Armor
Magic ResistArmor 
Darius
SettVayne Magic Resist 
Sylas
Tahm Kench
KennenArmor Magic Resist Scaling Bonus Health Scaling Bonus Health Starting Items & Summoner Spells
Starting Items
For my starting items, my choice in every ranked game is
along with the . If it aint broken, don't fix it. For the odd time I choose or am autofilled Support, I have found more success in rather than but either one would work on Shen, due to his 'Hybrid Damage.'Summoner Spells
When choosing summoner spells, always ask yourself 'Am I confident in my Champions ability to kill the enemy and am I confident in my ability to kill the enemy?' In Shen's case, I believe all champions are killable, when played right. For those that I have put in the Easy and Even catergories, I am confident in both Shen's ability and my own ability to have kill potential. In most of these match-ups, I will choose either
or else . When playing against the Hard catergory, I almost always play . Ignite
is a great Summoner Spell to get an added damage increase when playing into champions that you would otherwise be in a stalemate lane against, like 
Ornn
Dr. MundoDr. Mundo 
Aatrox
IreliaSylas Ghost
I think
is a great Summoner Spell that provides a massive amount of sticking power to less mobile champions or can allow more access to the enemies back line. I will take 100% of the time into 
Nasus
Kayle
Malphite
JaxOrnn 
GangplankTeemo The most effective way to utilise
against these champions is to wait for a slow push into your tower. Cast Twilight Assault 
Shadow DashTwilight Assault Twilight Assault Skill Path
Shen
Itemization
Shen's kit allows for him to be very versatile, and can suit many different Mythic choices. We will discuss a standard 'Safe and Tanky' build, a 'Build If Ahead' and 'Build If Behind' build path and something a little more spicy.
Safe And Tanky
For the average new Shen player or the seasoned Shen enjoyer, there stands one primary, cookie-cutter build path. This build plays on everything that Shen benefits from; Health, Resistance and Ability Haste. To start, we choose
along with a and , pretty standard for a lot of top laners. Our Summoner Spell is chosen based on the aspects discussed above. One thing that Shen lacks is innate wave clear. As of Preseason 13,
no longer builds into a mythic item, allowing for a more diverse mythic selection. This is a great item component for Shen, as it provides him with health and also the Immolate passive, giving him with the wave clear that he lacks. Along with , this item is great for a first back.Next, move onto building
, and completing your or . Your boot choice is completely reliant on the enemy team composition, but my most frequently bought is . Again, don't over estimate the enemy CC. You won't be their priority, so you may find the 12% basic damage reduction more effective. My build through
is as follows: > > . This may vary, though, as different lanes may require building first, like into Teemo 
RyzeSpirit's Refuge Into most Top laners,
is a good choice for not only champion damage, but can help when turret diving, as the passive Rock Solid will reduce turret and minion damage. gold efficiency isn't great, so I don't prioritise completing the item, only if the activatable slow is useful, or there is a high number of Critical Strike champions. I have added
in at this point. Personally, I think this is a fantastic item. I build this if I have gone to far behind in lane to be able to match my opponent. It allows me to help out my team more, by keeping them alive. If I can carry my team, my team will carry me. It can also be good in situations where you may be losing fights only by a small margin, but with the healing and true damage, it can be the difference in turning fights. I would rotate into this item second, or just after a , when I am behind in lane, or not able to farm as much gold as being a cheap item, I can purchase it sooner. Understand that sometimes you will have to surrender yourself to supporting your team entirely, rather than match side lanes and fight 1v1's.For heavy
Magic Resist To top of the build, I lean towards
for the faster wave clear along with the more damage output. It has great health stats and with the scaling health from , you will only gain more damage. You can push side lanes more aggressively, drawing enemies whilst you can easily R away. is also one to consider, as it not only gives more ability haste and health to increase damage, but also allows you to stay out on the rift longer with out recalling to regenerate. isn't something I build often or at all, but it does work well enough with Shen to merit a mention. It's great for damage soaking on the front line and also has a small bit of ability haste for more frequent W and E usage.
Currently, Build B is my favourite build path for playing ranked. It better suits my supportive playstyle and doesnt require me to get ahead to be effective. This is what Shending Help has been building recently. You can play this very similarly to Build A, except you lose a bit of dueling power, not having the damage from
.
Build If Ahead
If you are stomping lane without difficulty, theres no reason not to build really aggressively. This path allows for you to become an aggressive split pusher, drawing attention to side lanes, allowing for you to ult to team fights ctreating a 4v5 situation.
and are very good dueling items, as you will be healing from the DS and having that healing and your shielding amplified by the SV. What these do lack is wave clear, so fit in , or a if you're short on funds. If you need to be more durable, choose
over for the increased health. You can then continue to build identical items as the path.
is great for side pushing, and catching those pesky mobile champions like Kayle Nasus Malphite Gangplank Teemo Ryze
is my preffered MR item. You gain damage, attack speed and MR, with a synergizing passive for 's slow. I would reccomend a health item beofre or after this, as you will be lacking health from this purchase. The mythic passive will make up for it some bit, but a cheap item like would work well.
Build If Behind
