Shaco is one of the most annoying champions you can play against. Under the right hands, he can tilt the entire enemy team into forfeiting the match. So, if you want to relish in your opponents’ despair, you came to the right place! In this guide, we’ll show you everything you need to know to get you started playing the Demon Jester.

Shaco is a champion that doesn’t just affect you on a physical level; the mental warfare he inflicts on the opponent is a big factor on why he is a strong champion.Similar to Teemo, Shaco has a lot of stealth and traps in his kit that make him a nightmare for people who like to face check brushes. He is mostly used in the Jungle but has seen success in other roles as well. Thanks to his incredible mobility, Shaco’s ganks are super strong and will often catch the enemy off guard. Once he snowballs, he is difficult to stop and will feel like there is little to no counterplay to his kit.

Abilities

Shaco’s whole kit is based around killing off high priority targets from the enemy team like their ADCs or Mages. He has good burst and strong sustained damage that make sure he can do his job as an assassin really well.

Passive – Backstab

Shaco’s basic attacks, Deceive and Two-Shiv Poison have bonus effects when striking an enemy from behind.

• Basic attacks deal bonus physical damage. Can critically strike.
• The next basic attack during Deceive crits for (+30% bonus) physical damage.
• Two-Shiv Poison deals extra bonus magic damage.

Enemies can’t be Backstabbed more than once every 3 seconds. This cooldown is modified by Cooldown Reduction.

Backstab is a great ability for Shaco since he can easily sneak behind an enemy to deal massive damage thanks to his mobility. You should always take into account what this passive can do for your other abilities to make the most out of it.

Q – Deceive

Shaco teleports nearby and becomes Invisible. Shaco remains Invisible even if he uses Jack In The Box or Hallucinate. His next basic attack during Invisibility deals bonus physical damage and reduces Deceive’s cooldown by 2.5 seconds.

This is Shaco’s gap closer and mobility spell. It has great range so you can use it to get through most walls and terrain. This is also where his stealth comes from. When used right, this ability has a lot of outplay potential that you can use to turn tides in your favor.

W – Jack in the Box

Shaco creates a Jack in the Box that hides from view after 2 seconds. It pops out when an enemy comes nearby or when uncovered by a ward or trinket, making nearby enemies flee very slowly. It attacks all nearby enemy units, dealing magic damage. Its attacks deal increased damage if it attacks only one enemy. It lasts for 40 (+5%) seconds while hidden and 5 seconds while firing.

Similar to Teemo’s ultimate, you use Jack in the Box like a trap. When an enemy goes near it, it will be feared and they’ll flee for a second which can actually buy you enough time to reposition or to be aggressive.

E – Two-Shiv Poison

Passive: While Two-Shiv Poison is ready to cast, Shaco’s basic attacks reduce the target’s Movement Speed for 2 seconds.

Active: Shaco throws a shiv that deals magic damage and reduces the target’s Movement Speed for 3 seconds. The shiv’s damage is increased by up to 50% to targets below [+30% max] health.

Two-Shiv Poison is your primary source of burst damage. It also has crowd control to help you stick to your targets better. If your target is low on health, the damage is increased as well. 

R – Hallucinate

Shaco vanishes briefly and reappears with a clone. The clone lasts up to 18 seconds and detonates upon death, dealing magic damage to nearby enemies and spawning three mini-Jack In The Boxes. Mini boxes deal magic damage (increased if they attack a single enemy), making enemies flee for 1 second, and trigger together. Clone deals (+60% Shaco’s) and receives 50% increased damage.

Shaco’s ultimate is very useful for setting up kills. While it won’t necessarily change the game, it does open up a lot of opportunities especially when you use your clone as bait. It can also be useful for pushing lanes as it deals damage to towers as well. When it dies, it sets off three mini Jack in the Boxes that deal a good chunk of damage.

Runes and Item Builds

When it comes to items, you should focus mostly on buying Attack Damage items to increase your damage. While a full AP build would work just as well, Shaco has more potential when built full AD.

Starting Items

For your starting items, you’ll be going with Hailblade and a Refillable Potion most of the time. Since Shaco is at his best when played as a Jungler, this is the ideal start for him. However, the current meta actually favors a support Shaco build. In that case, go for Spellthief’s Edge as your starting item instead of Hailblade.

Mythic Items

For your Mythic item, you can choose between Duskblade of Draktharr or Liandry’s Anguish. Both of them are pretty great on Shaco and which one you go with depends entirely on your preference and playstyle. If you want to play him as full AP then by all means go for Liandry’s Anguish. But since we’re focusing more on his AD build, we’ll be recommending Duskblade of Draktharr.

Full Build

After purchasing Duskblade of Draktharr, you should work on getting your tier 2 boots. In this case, Berserker’s Greaves is the best option. Next, go for Essence Reaver for the empowered basic attacks, ability haste, and critical strike chance. Afterwards, build Youmuu’s Ghostblade for its active, lethality, and bonus damage. At this point in the game, you’ll need The Collector to help you deal more damage and finish off low health targets. Finally, top off your build with a Serpent’s Fang to help you with target’s that stack shields.

Runes

For your runes, go with the Domination tree and take Hail of Blades as your keystone. This will increase your overall burst damage when you use your abilities. Next, take Sudden Impact for more lethality whenever you use Deceive, Eyeball Collection for more damage whenever you score a champion takedown, and Relentless Hunter to help you move faster around the map. For your secondaries, take Legend: Alacrity and Coup De Grace from the Precision tree. Legend: Alacrity will increase your attack speed while Coup De Grace will help you deal more damage to low health targets. For rune shards, take Attack Speed, Adaptive Force, and Armor.

Useful Tips

1. Shaco’s Jack in the Box can be placed in key areas like choke points in the Jungle or the usual entry points in brushes to catch enemies off guard.
2. Shaco is countered by Karthus, Talon, Diana, Graves, and Nocturne. If you’re matched up against these champions, try to play it safe instead of being aggressive.
3. For your summoner spells, take Smite and Ignite in the Jungle. This will allow you to snowball from an early lead. If you’re playing Support, change Smite to Flash for more utility.

So there you have it! That’s all you need to know about playing Shaco in League of Legends. Be sure to check back with us again for more awesome guides on your favorite games. Have fun and we’ll see you on the Rift!