Bored of losing games in soloQ, because your team keeps feeding the enemy team and you are the only one with a good score? Well.. then I have a simple solution to you: Start mastering Shaco, the evil jester of SoloQ!
You might wonder, how this could be possible? No problem: Just make sure to read and understand the whole Guide, because then you can make big things happen, trust me!
Shaco, the Evil Jester. He is my favorite character in LoL because he is challenging to play and even harder to master. But this guide will teach you the basics in order to become a real assasin and game changer, even in ranked games. There is this rumor going around that shaco is useless endgame. Well, for the most players this is true, but as soon as you are becoming really good with shaco, even the lategame can´t stop you from being legendary. This guide will teach you step by step what you should be aware of when playing Shaco and things you should and things you shouldn´t do. And never forget: The jokes on YOOOUU! :D

To get a little taste of what Shaco is able to do, I have made a little Shaco Montage for you:

My Epic Shaco Montage Diamond Solo Queue Ranked: Play Video H:

- for good early game
- for Jungling
- for good early game (box, knife, ult)
- for good ganks, faster Jungling

Shaco Jungling

is usefull because of jungling. (obvious)
is a good choice because it slows the enemy and can save you life as well as secure a kill whereas...
only secures a kill. But I have to admit that I used it for quite a while because for the extra damage, especially in early game. It also helps to kill Fiddlesticks or Dr. Mundo while they heal themselves up as it lowers their health regen by 50%. So it is definitly worth trying.
If you are better then most of the other players in your elo, I would chose Ignite over Exhaust. Why? Because you will need to take kills, so it is in your hands to carry the game. Taking Ignite instead of Exhaust will benifit you the most, when you know that you will have to carry a game. But then be 100% sure that you also know how to handle the key position in your team and then you have to know how to cope with Shaco's late game weaknesses.
is mostly not needed as for good Shaco players your skills provided will be enough to escape as they can all be used for the purpose of escaping. But you can definitely not ignore the fact, that Flash is a vialable option and especially for the less experienced Shaco players, as they might not know their limits yet and then can simply use it to escape.

Shaco Support

for map-control and in order to use your Jack In The Box as a tool to teleport on and do some sneaky tricks
is a common supporter spell and very usefull to catch enemies who are escaping as well as keeping people in your traps, so they can't escape from the fear of Jack In The Box
won't be needed as you have your Deceive to escape easily. But if you feel extremely insecure with playing Shaco and die too often without it, use it.
just no, don't use that. Ad-Carry can use it. There is no legit reason why a Support Shaco should pick this Summoner spell.
can be fun, but you first aim shouldn't be stealing kills from your lane-mate, but prepare them for him and save him from incoming Damage, so Exhaust is better

When you are going in for a gank you mostly want to Deceive first, then land one autoattack to slow him, throw a Jack In The Box in their escaping path and hit them with autoattacks until they are low enough to finish them off with a Two-Shiv Poison. Always remember to attack from the back in order to get 20% bonus damage.


Remember this Standart Ganking Combo:

1.) Deceive
↓

↓
2.) Jack in the Box
↓

↓
3.) Hallucinate(optional)
↓

↓
4.) Two-Shiv Poison

This section will need a rework

Jungler Shaco

Magic Resistance:

SPACE• Banshee's Veil is definitely a good choice because of the extra effect that absorbs one
SPACEnegative spell

SPACE• Quicksilver Sash is an underrated item, but the active effect is usefull in many ways. It doesn´t
SPACEonly stop you from being stunned or slowed, but it also can stop DoT (Damage over Time), which can
SPACEsave your life many times.

SPACE• Wit's End doesn´t only give you nice Attack Speed, but also Magic Resistance that even stacks
SPACEover time and dealing a nice amount of Damage to the enemy. It´s worth a try.

SPACE• Hexdrinker and Maw of Malmortius give you a good amount of Damage, but also creates a Magic
SPACEResistance Shield when you drop on low life.

SPACE• Maw of Malmortius is a great combination with Bloodthirster as when you drop on low
SPACElife, it gives you extra Damage and this results in more Lifesteal keeping you alive for a longer time.


Armor

SPACE• Randuin's Omen might sound a little crazy, but in combination with Youmuu's Ghostblade you
SPACEcan cause a huge impact on a teamfight with both effects combined. While everybody is slowed,
SPACEyour attack speed is higher as well as your movement speed.


SPACE• Sunfire Aegis is a vialable option, too, if you want to go offtank Shaco. You will
SPACEkind of lose the assasine style, but you will have more sustain in teamfights.


Attack Damage

SPACE• Frozen Mallet I can´t tell you how great this item is, because it gives you much life,
SPACEdescent amount of Attack Damage and a very strong slow. However, by buying this item, you will lose
SPACEthe very important part of being an assasine and do much Damage in short time. Plus, your passive
SPACEeffect of Two-Shiv Poison will also slow the enemy enough to chase them easily even without the
SPACEpassive slow of Frozen Mallet

SPACE• Last Whisper is good against an armor heavy team and will bring you back into the game due
SPACE to the 40% armor penetration. It's good against champions like Malphite, Shen, Rammus,
SPACE Dr. Mundo and other tanks, who tend to get Thornmail early game.


SPACE• Black Cleaver is also a very popular item amoung Shaco players for a good reason:
SPACE It has Attack Damage, Armor Penetration and Attack Speed. It is like the Last Whisper
SPACE just with an additional Attack Speed bonus and that's why it's definitely a good choice too,
SPACEeven if you are playing a critical Strike Shaco.

SPACE• Youmuu's Ghostblade. And if you are looking for a Cooldown-Reduction build, you should
SPACEdefinitely pick it up after buying a Zeal.

SPACE• Trinity Force gives you nice buff in all kind of attributes. This Item really excells if you
SPACEplay Shaco as ad/as. But for my Critical-Strike Shaco Build I prefer to get a Youmuu's Ghostblade,
SPACEbecause it gives you all the necessary attributes to a successful assasine, plus the
SPACEsuper strong active effect.

SPACE• Statikk Shiv is a nice item for split pushing and an upgrade for

Supporter Shaco

Ability Power

SPACE• Void Staff is a must-have choice, if you only want to build an AP- Shaco
SPACEwithoutany Cooldown-Reduction.

SPACE• Morello's Evil Tome is a really strong item, too due to the Cooldown-Reduction and the
SPACEactive effect. If you play against characters like Dr. Mundo, Fiddlesticks and Swain who
SPACEdepend on their heal of their ultimates and Bountiful Harvest, you should definitely pick up this item as
SPACEquickly as you can as it completely shuts down these enemies.

SPACE• Lich Bane will only be usefull late-game, because early game you only want to poke the
SPACEenemy instead of attacking them, so you always want to keep your Deceive as your last
SPACEescaping option. Therefore this item should be bought as the 5th or 6th item, because then
SPACEyou should already have 400+ ap, so the active effect will make a true difference.

SPACE• Mejai's Soulstealer should be bought early game when you notice that you are
SPACEdoing very well, so you will get quickly some stacks on your Ability Power.

SPACE• Rylai's Crystal Scepter is good because of the survivability and the slow that your
SPACEabilities like Jack In The Box and Two-Shiv Poison will do on the enemy. If you want to buy
SPACEthis item (for the less experienced Shaco players especially), you should buy it as your
SPACE2nd or 3rd real item.

SPACE• Archangel's Staff is a super powerful item, as it gives you Mana Regeneration and
SPACEAbility Power. The thing is that you don't spam your spells often enough in order
SPACEto make full profit of this item.

SPACE• Abyssal Mask is a good choice when either your own team or the enemy team is very
SPACEap heavy due to the Magic Resistance and the passive effect. Buy it as your 3rd or 4th item
SPACEas it is both aggressive with the AP but also defensive due to the Magic Resistance.

Boots of Swiftness + For faster Ganking + Longer Distance for Deceive + Better escaping + Can catch up with enemies

SPACE

SPACE

SPACE

SPACE

SPACE

Berserker's Greaves + Better in 1 vs 1 + Stronger in Teamfights + Faster in Jungling + More use of Wriggle's Lantern passive

Now you have several opportunities how to start your jungle route.
If your red buff is close to your bot lane, you should start out like it is shown in this video from Shaclone: Play Video
This works out most of the times, but if you want to have a save start, you should stack boxes at blue buff.

After you got your blue, you should skill E first and then go gromp. Put down a box, smite gromp and use E on him. Afterwards put down a box at wolves, use E on the big one and clear the camp in order to hit level three and skill Q. Then you can go for a gank at mid to maybe get a flash or a kill from the enemy's midlaner. Afterwards head over to your red buff and smite it at 400-450 health.
Then feel free to gank botlane or midlane.

The same route applies if your blue buff is close to your bot lane, except that you can gank top lane or mid lane at the end of your route.

Early Game

This is where Shaco really shines and can already decide the game to your advantage. Your main task is to get your carries fed, so they can easily snowball through the game. But still, even if you get fed, this can be a game-changing advantage for your team. But therefore you need to focus on your priorities. Here is a checklist on the priorities you need to pay attention to:

SPACE1. Does a lane need help, because they are behind/ getting ganked/ or being pushed to their turret?
SPACEThen go there as fast as you can, stop jungling and gank immediatly!
↓
SPACE2. Is there a good and save way to do dragon? If yes, then ask your teammates to ward and help you
SPACEand always have your Smite and Hallucinate up when you go for Dragon.
↓
SPACE3. Is your Blue and Red buff up? Always remember they spawn again after 5 minutes, so after your first
SPACERed-buff your next one should be up at 7:10, be there ahead of the time, so you can savely clear it.
SPACEAs soon as you see the icons popping up on you mini-map, go there as soon as possible.
↓
SPACE4. Is there a save way you can counter-jungle your enemy jungler? You should always know where the
SPACEenemy jungler is, what he plans to do next and always be one step ahead of him by either stealing his
SPACEbuffs or going to the lane he is about to gank. Then you will be easily ahead of him.
↓
SPACE5. Clear the other jungle camps.


Mid Game

If everything went well so far, you should have some kills, assists and as little deaths as possible. Also, you should be ahead to your enemy jungler, because you counter-jungled him well in early game and shut him down.
Now the key to success is, to play it save. The worst thing you can do right now is to go in teamfights and fight like a kamikaze. You should wait for the perfect time to engage and if possible, shut down the enemy AD-Carry (like Vayne, Ezreal, Corki, Miss Fortune ect.) as fast a possible without dying. Let your tank engage and don't become greedy, because this will mostly lead to your own death.

Another trick that I like with shaco is waiting in the bush of their blue buff or in the bush that is between their mid-lane and redbuff. Put down one or a few more Jack In The Box and wait for somebody to come. As soon as they get feared by the box, activate your ultimate Hallucinate, hit them once, throw a Two-Shiv Poison and then autoattack till they are dead. Save your Deceive just in case they use Flash or Exhaust.

At this moment, the Top and Bot Lane will gather in the Mid-lane and there will be also fights around Dragon. You should always remember, that your task is to put a Sight Ward in front of Dragon, that's the reason why you have a Wriggle's Lantern. There can be a fight breaking out any second, so you need to pay attention to the mini-map to always be ready for a fight and be close to your team-mates.


Late Game

The late game is the time that shows whether you are a decent Shaco or a super evil pro jester. The problem will be, that once you get caught, the enemy will kill you instantly! So you have to wait for a perfect moment to engage and I have to admit, that even I sometimes feel worthless late-game, because there is just no save moment to engage the fight without dying. On the other hand, when you attack from the back, taking all squishy carries out in seconds, you can win the fight and often grab a triple kill late game just by ***inating the enemy team. Thus, Shaco can really be a game changer.
Another good way to win lategame is to wait in the warded enemy jungle, steal their buff and build a trap. Ask your team to help you and wait for somebody to come alone, then kill him quickly.

With this list of do's and dont's you can decide whether you are rather a pro Shaco player or a Low Shaco player and therefor this check-list should help you to decide which guide you should take. So if you realize you do a lot of mistakes, which are listed in the "Low Shaco"-column, then you should use the Low- Shaco guide. Otherwise, if you are doing really well with Shaco, then you should use the "Pro Shaco" build, as this one focuses more on Damage.
So with this said, this will help you decide which build you should use:

Low Shaco •is slow in jungling •doesn´t know how to gank •dies alot by risking too much •has less than 600g on first recall •is very often on low life •taking every single blue buff •let´s first dragon go to enemy team •initiates teamfights •fights like a kamikaze •steals many kills from teammates •build too many traps with Jack In The Box and loses exp. •doesn´t ping/warn teammates for incoming ganks •doesn´t counter-jungle well •never knows where enemy jungler is •ends up with less gold than the supporter

SPACE

Pro Shaco •done with red+blue before 2:50 •first back with 1 kill •buys 2x Longsword on first recall •always has enough potions •gives 3rd blue to mid-laner •ganks often •does dragon before lv. 9 •wards important spots •is kind to team-mates •knows how to engage right •leaves kills to ad-carry •fools the enemy team with tricks •uses clone [Alt] combined with Deceive to irritate them and escape •always has a back-up plan •uses Deceive for the right purposes (sometimes needed for escape instead of chasing somebody.) •has more or as much gold as the ad-carry

Now before we just rush in and say: "support Shaco is the worst supporter ever!", we should lean back, relax, and take a closer look at it.
Fact is, that Shaco support is a vialabe choice and here I will explain why:


General Information

•his Jack In The Box do very much damage when used in the right way.
•Support Shaco doesn´t only mean to wait in brushes and wait for enemy´s to come and die to them.
•It means that his main source of damage comes from his Two-Shiv Poison. This is because you will hit the enemy for sure and don´t just speculate on somebody to come.
• Jack In The Box is a perfect skill to ward the lane -> perfect Supporter skill
•you will have a free flash every 10s with Deceive that even makes you stealthed for a short time. That´s why you won´t need Flash


Counter Jungling

•when the enemy jungler starts at blue, steal their red and when he starts at red, steal their blue buff and afterwards build a trap with Jack In The Box
•after counter-jungling depending on where you are you can Teleport to your lane
•once you are level 6 you can choose to gank mid or counter-jungle the enemy (with the help of your teammates)
•for example after you steal the blue buff you can build a trap with Jack In The Box in the bush nearby, because the enemy jungler will come for sure and you will get an easy kill


Tipps and Tricks

•Until you are Lv 6 you mostly want to stick to your lane and put some Jack In The Box
in your own brush or the enemy brush depending on how much the lane is pushed
•use Jack In The Box as a tool to counter-push the enemy and build traps
•when they push to much, they are used to check the brush and then the stacked Jack In The Box should instandly kill them with the help your lane-mate, Two-Shiv Poison & Exhaust
• Teleport for lane-control and Exhaust as supporter Summoner-spell.
•use your boxes in the bushes to Teleport on them.


So there you have it. A detailed description why and how to play Shaco support. I hope this will help you and might rethink your attitude to Shaco support, as it can be very usefull and maybe even game-changing.

You can take this literally like it stands there: "Just a little bit closer"... to my Jack In The Box that will kill you in combination with my Two-Shiv Poison, Hallucinate and Ignite.
Well guess what? Then every squishy Champion will be dead. The best thing is: You didn't even take any Damage! But in order to be able to do this i must warn you: It will take A LOT of practice to time everything right. But then you are a serious threat to the enemy team and will constantly kill them without them even realizing what just happened.

This is why I want to introduce you to my newest Build: Shaco Op Ap Dominion.

Better Choice than Ghost. Why? You spend more than 20 seconds less death; you get a
SPACEmovement speed- and (if you take the mastery point) a health buff.
To do more Damage. It is better than any other summoner spell as Ap Shaco. You also benifit
SPACE from the extra AP- Damage if you take the mastery point.

Here are the reasons and the pros and cons of Ap Shaco

• Extrodinary good in Defending • Hard to kill due to Deceive • Nice Burst Damage • Good CC: Jack In The Box, Two-Shiv Poison • Can escape from any situation • sends Hallucinate to tank turret • it's simple: master him, own with him!

SPACE

• CC can shut him down easily • Oracle reveals him • Lee Sin, Dr. Mundo are strong counters • squishy • needs team to take turret so he can defend it • requires much skill/practice to own with him

Diamond 1 Player Fred(erike) Frost, also known as "Perfects" shows how "simple" it can be with Shaco to win the game in the first 8 Minutes:
Play Video /league-of-legends/champion/shaco-41 [Bloodthirsty] and definitely worth checking out! This pro played a 2v5 with Karma and still won this game. Although the enemies were really bad, this guy showed some true skill. Play Video
Here is another video by [Hell Clown] showing some nice moves and skills with Shaco: Play Video /league-of-legends/champion/shaco-41 Play Video /league-of-legends/champion/shaco-41

If you want to see me playing Shaco on my live stream, feel free to tune in:

https://www.twitch.tv/stirninator

When you find the time to watch my stream, I am very glad when you do so! And if you enjoy the show, I appreciate it a lot when you follow me!

My Ranked Games History with Shaco


My Shaco Drawing:

My Ownage in Jungle (1400 elo):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZ7Kd_ZyguE

Well, I am in deep love with Shaco, but I don't want to mess around here and tell him how awesome he is. You will have to try him out by yourself and be prepared to fail 100% at the first time. But that´s the point of playing Shaco. In order to become a true master, you need to play him a lot. I bet i have had over 500 games with him or even more, so I know what I have to be aware of.

Of course, this guide should help you to become a good Shaco player, too, but you will have to encounter angry teammates and trolls, like every one of us already did. Even LoL wrote in their description of Shaco (yes, I read it. :)) :"Shaco is not a characer that is liked by the enemy team. But the own team doesn´t like him either."
And this is a 100% true. Many people will hate you for playing Shaco but eventually they will admit that you did a good job at the end of the game. When this happens, you are ready to rock some ranked games! :D

I apologize for some spelling and grammar mistakes in the texts. I tried my best to avoid them, but the more you go into detail with the explanations, the higher is the risk of getting some mistakes into the texts. If you find some, I will be glad if you could tell me where to find them!
So please rate this Guide positive if you liked it and I am extremely open-minded to critism and discussions in the comments, as we all are able to improve.

If you don't like it, feel free to dislike it, but then leave me a comment with constructive feedback, otherwise it will not help me at all. Also, always leave me time to improve my guide, so if I made the proper adjustments, I would be glad if you revote my guide and like it instead of downvoting it. Thank you for reading this far!
And never forget: The jokes on you! THIHIHI



Greetings, Stirninator!