Although i main jarvan in jungle shyvana is my second pick if j4 gets banned or the team doesn't fit j4. Im not a pro on her by any means, but here are some tips i learned about how you should play her! Enjoy!
Firstly I will tell you about what kind of champion Shyvana is:
Shyvana is a carry jungler that can play as three different classes depending on how you build her, Skirmisher, Mage and Juggernaut. She's a melee dps champion, with on-hits, has a decent melee burst combo and a ranged aoe burst if going ap. Regardless of the build, Shyvana is a champion who wants to be protagonist, she's a snowball carry. She's good at farming, teamfighting, rushing objectives and counterganking, but doesn't excel on ganks, she has no cc and only W ms and R's dash for mobility. She has also no defensive abilities other than her R and W's movement speed. Q, W and E are all damage oriented. And she's very R dependant.
These are her abilities and what each of them do:
Shyvana's Q is a double aa with aa reset, combined with the on-hits it allows her to burst enemies.
Shyvana's W damage has more impact in early game. Sometimes it's better to save it for when you need the movement speed more.
Shyvana's E on-hit is a really important source of dps. But it's not always necessary. Sometimes it's better to save it for a better target or for when it's easier to hit, when you are closer to the enemy or he's cced.
Fire balls have a great base damage in early game if you max E, but it isn't a decent source of damage in late game if you don't buy ap.
Shyvana's R is her only defensive ability and her only dash, sometimes it's better to keep it to put you out of danger or to close distances after the enemy flashes away, for example.
You need to attack to gain fury faster, having R for fights makes a big difference.
Her builds and why you should run them depending on matchup:
Carry ad Shyvana works as a skirmisher, a melee carry with a more aggressive and fierce style. Ad Shyv has high dps and a good burst power with the full combo (aa+Q with E mark), she can outdps most champions, but, unlike other skirmishers, Shyvana has no defensive abilities, you are glasscannon until buying defensive items, so you need to care about how and when to enter fights. Ad Shyv is more focused on winning the jungle matchup compared to the other builds. With this build, Shyvana has much better duels, and is faster at farming and rushing objectives. This build is also stronger pre lvl 6, with great dps after buying boots and early components.
Full ap Shyvana works as an artillery mage. This build has a more sudden, explosive and devastating style. Like Jayce, ap Shyvana needs to go melee to deal part of her damage (Q's aoe burst and on-hit's dps), to compensate that, she has W's movement speed boost. With this build you want to stay safe while making the enemy healthbars dissapear with fireballs and Qs. Full ap Shyv excels at teamfights. She is also a good splitpusher and better at destroying towers with this build. Ap Shyvana really cares about resources, you want to accumulate as much gold and experience as posible, and use it to deal more damage in dragon form and carry the game forcing high impact fights. With this build you are more R dependent, try to play safe without R.
Ap bruiser Shyvana works as a juggernaut, a tankier fighter who wants to fight near the enemies. This build has a more slow and relentless style in fights. It has less dps and burst than the other builds, but is more reliable due to the ability haste and the health from the items. Bruiser Shyv is great for forcing early fights, taking advantage of the tankiness from the items added to the base damage of Shyvana's abilities. And then maintaining the snowball and pressure. Like other juggernauts, she becomes a raid boss when snowballing. Burst champions can't kill you and you can kill them, unless they get fed.
Champions you should ban and why:
Hecarim:
Kayn:
Kayn can be a difficult matchup depending on his form (Rhaast or Shadow Assassin). Rhaast can out-sustain Shyvana in prolonged fights, while Shadow Assassin can burst her down quickly. It’s essential to gauge which form he is taking to adjust your strategy.
Strategies against him:
In team fights, pay attention to Kayn's form. If he’s Rhaast, consider peeling for your carries and letting them focus on him while you create space. If he's Shadow Assassin, you may need to be more proactive and engage before he can get to your squishies.
Use your speed to engage quickly before Kayn can capitalize on his abilities. If you can catch him off-guard, it may create an opportunity to remove him from the fight early.
Be mindful of Kayn’s mobility and try to limit his access to your carries. Coordinate with your team to keep track of his movements and cut him off when he tries to flank.
That's it from me if you need help with anything else ask in the comments and i will try and help you out!
Firstly I will tell you about what kind of champion Shyvana is:
Shyvana is a carry jungler that can play as three different classes depending on how you build her, Skirmisher, Mage and Juggernaut. She's a melee dps champion, with on-hits, has a decent melee burst combo and a ranged aoe burst if going ap. Regardless of the build, Shyvana is a champion who wants to be protagonist, she's a snowball carry. She's good at farming, teamfighting, rushing objectives and counterganking, but doesn't excel on ganks, she has no cc and only W ms and R's dash for mobility. She has also no defensive abilities other than her R and W's movement speed. Q, W and E are all damage oriented. And she's very R dependant.
These are her abilities and what each of them do:
Shyvana's Q is a double aa with aa reset, combined with the on-hits it allows her to burst enemies.
Shyvana's W damage has more impact in early game. Sometimes it's better to save it for when you need the movement speed more.
Shyvana's E on-hit is a really important source of dps. But it's not always necessary. Sometimes it's better to save it for a better target or for when it's easier to hit, when you are closer to the enemy or he's cced.
Fire balls have a great base damage in early game if you max E, but it isn't a decent source of damage in late game if you don't buy ap.
Shyvana's R is her only defensive ability and her only dash, sometimes it's better to keep it to put you out of danger or to close distances after the enemy flashes away, for example.
You need to attack to gain fury faster, having R for fights makes a big difference.
Her builds and why you should run them depending on matchup:
Carry ad Shyvana works as a skirmisher, a melee carry with a more aggressive and fierce style. Ad Shyv has high dps and a good burst power with the full combo (aa+Q with E mark), she can outdps most champions, but, unlike other skirmishers, Shyvana has no defensive abilities, you are glasscannon until buying defensive items, so you need to care about how and when to enter fights. Ad Shyv is more focused on winning the jungle matchup compared to the other builds. With this build, Shyvana has much better duels, and is faster at farming and rushing objectives. This build is also stronger pre lvl 6, with great dps after buying boots and early components.
Full ap Shyvana works as an artillery mage. This build has a more sudden, explosive and devastating style. Like Jayce, ap Shyvana needs to go melee to deal part of her damage (Q's aoe burst and on-hit's dps), to compensate that, she has W's movement speed boost. With this build you want to stay safe while making the enemy healthbars dissapear with fireballs and Qs. Full ap Shyv excels at teamfights. She is also a good splitpusher and better at destroying towers with this build. Ap Shyvana really cares about resources, you want to accumulate as much gold and experience as posible, and use it to deal more damage in dragon form and carry the game forcing high impact fights. With this build you are more R dependent, try to play safe without R.
Ap bruiser Shyvana works as a juggernaut, a tankier fighter who wants to fight near the enemies. This build has a more slow and relentless style in fights. It has less dps and burst than the other builds, but is more reliable due to the ability haste and the health from the items. Bruiser Shyv is great for forcing early fights, taking advantage of the tankiness from the items added to the base damage of Shyvana's abilities. And then maintaining the snowball and pressure. Like other juggernauts, she becomes a raid boss when snowballing. Burst champions can't kill you and you can kill them, unless they get fed.
Champions you should ban and why:
Hecarim:
| Hecarim can pose a significant threat due to his high mobility and sustain. His ramping damage from Spirit of Dread (W) can outlast Shyvana if he engages correctly. However, he can be kited if Shyvana manages to avoid his initial engage. |
| Strategies against him: In team fights, keep an eye on Hecarim's positioning. If he dives into your backline, it may leave him vulnerable to counter-attacks from your team. Coordinate to punish over-extensions. Hecarim's strength often comes from his speed and engage, so maintain vision around objectives to avoid being caught out. If you can track his movements, you can better position yourself to counter him or join your teammates in skirmishes. Focus on maximizing your damage output in trades, especially when Hecarim’s cooldowns are down. Using your ultimate strategically can also help in peeling for carries or securing kills on Hecarim when he's vulnerable. |
Kayn can be a difficult matchup depending on his form (Rhaast or Shadow Assassin). Rhaast can out-sustain Shyvana in prolonged fights, while Shadow Assassin can burst her down quickly. It’s essential to gauge which form he is taking to adjust your strategy.
Strategies against him:
In team fights, pay attention to Kayn's form. If he’s Rhaast, consider peeling for your carries and letting them focus on him while you create space. If he's Shadow Assassin, you may need to be more proactive and engage before he can get to your squishies.
Use your speed to engage quickly before Kayn can capitalize on his abilities. If you can catch him off-guard, it may create an opportunity to remove him from the fight early.
Be mindful of Kayn’s mobility and try to limit his access to your carries. Coordinate with your team to keep track of his movements and cut him off when he tries to flank.
That's it from me if you need help with anything else ask in the comments and i will try and help you out!
