Master the Demon Jester - Eagz's Ultimate Shaco Guide

Hello! I'm Eagz, some of you may know me as Coach Eagz, and welcome to my Shaco guide. I am a multi-season Challenger Shaco player from the infamous Oceanic region. When I played and streamed full time I used to be Rank 1 Shaco in the world and still play enough League to know how to tilt your enemies (I now coach and make content full time: https://www.youtube.com/eagzey).

I will teach you how to play both AD and AP Shaco in this guide so do not worry 😈

This is how your opponent's will feel after you apply what I teach you in this guide...

PASSIVE: Backstab

• Shaco deals more damage with his auto attacks when attacking an enemy (jungle camp, champion, minion) from behind
• You should always have your passive in mind when playing Shaco; Backstabbing as much as possible enhances your damage output and as a result, your clear speed and kills

Tip: Your passive procs on both your auto attack out of your Q (Deceive) and your E (Two-Shiv Poison)...so attack everything from behind!

Q: Deceive

• Shaco becomes invisible and blinks in the target direction (like a Flash)

• Shaco's next auto attack deals bonus physical damage, and if it's a Backstab (from behind) it will critically strike

• Shaco will break invisibility when auto attacking or using E (Two-Shiv Poison). Using W (Jack in the Box) or R (Hallucinate) does not break the invisibility. If you place a W (Jack in the Box) while in Q, enemy champions will see the W unless it is placed in fog/out of vision, or until it is fully stealthed

Tip: Because your Q's auto attack deals physical damage, it means less when playing AP Shaco...so your Q when playing AD Shaco is used to get in position to Backstab your opponents, and when playing AP Shaco is used to get in position to W (Jack in the Box) and annoy your opponents (you can of course still Backstab out of your Q playing AP Shaco, and you will have to in the early game to secure kills).

W: Jack in the Box

• Shaco places a box at the target location that becomes stealthed after 2 seconds. The box lasts for 40 seconds before dying

• If an enemy walks into the box's radius, that enemy and all surrounding enemies are feared and slowed, and will initially face away from the box after getting feared (allowing you to Backstab them!)

Shaco's W deals magic damage and scales off of AP (making it more important when playing AP Shaco!).

Tip 1: Your box before it is stealthed can be used to block single-target skillshots (like Elise E, Lee Sin Q, Ahri E etc).

Tip 2: You can place your box on blast cones and they will fly in the air like a champion would.

E: Two-Shiv Poison

• Shaco throws a dagger at an enemy that deals magic damage, but scales off both AD and AP

• If the target is below 30% HP, the damage is increased by 50%

• The target is also slowed

• The dagger deals more damage when hitting an enemy in the back

Tip: Your E will not go through if the enemy champion goes in fog mid-fight, so you probably want to E champions just before they run into brushes/posture to flash over terrain.

R: Hallucinate

Shaco disappears and reappears after 0.5 seconds in the target direction, or in other words where your cursor is...the clone will appear in the opposite direction.

You can control the clone by using your R key, or by using Left Alt + Right Click (you have to use this to attack inhibitors).

Your clone dies when it either runs out of HP, or when 18 seconds passes.

Upon dying or expiring the clone will explode dealing magic damage to nearby enemies and simultaenously summon 3 boxes that fear nearby enemies instantly for 1 second.

If the clone is too far away from Shaco it will instantly reattach.

Tip: When your clone is at least half a screen away you can push it away from yourself and reattach it when you go over terrain or when you try to nuke an enemy.

AD Shaco is about burst damage and one-shotting squishy enemy champions.

Your early game ganking is strong because of your quick damage output with Hail of Blades and Ignite.

When you have a lead you can snowball out of control because you can start nuking enemy champions with an item or two.

Please remember that your Backstab is everything when killing enemy champions.

Also, please remember that you want to be saving your E until the enemy champion is lower than 30% HP (also syngergizes with Coup De Grace).

And finally, please remember that you want to be using your R to either help you nuke an enemy out of stealth, or to dodge the abilities the enemy champions will throw at you after you kill their teammate.

I have linked an AD Shaco montage below this section to showcase this playstyle in action.

AD Shaco's setup revolves around three details (in order of importance)...

1. Damage
2. Ability Haste
3. (enough) Attack Speed

When you play AD Shaco you are Backstabbing enemies to death. Therefore, it is essential to have a good amount of Attack Damage and Lethality.

Ability Haste is important otherwise you are just a glass cannon...you will be trading your life for one enemy champion over and over.

Lots of Shaco players love Berserker's Greaves and attack speed items like Blade of the Ruined King, but I don't. I want to assassinate enemy champions. I still run a little bit of attack speed in my runes with Alacrity, but that's it. Be an alpha 💪

AP Shaco is about ability haste and kiting enemy champions into boxes.

Your early game is fairly weak because Dark Harvest doesn't do anything unless the enemy champion is already very low HP. Therefore, your Ignite will be needed a lot of the time to secure early kills.

As the game progresses and your ability haste and AP increases, you start to become AP Shaco. The best way for me to show you how to play AP Shaco is to show you it in action so I've linked a montage of mine below this section.

AP Shaco's setup revolves around two details (in order of importance)...

1. Ability Haste
2. Damage

When you play AP Shaco you want to use your abilities as many times as possible. You want to Q multiple times to dodge skillshots and reposition to W...you want to place boxes around the objective you want to do before the enemy champions get there...you want to come out of stealth and E an enemy champion to lure them into a box...once again, the montage I've linked down below should help you see the power of AP Shaco.

AD when you have...

• at least one AP in top/mid/adc

AP when you have...

• no AP in top/mid/adc

It's that simple.

Being able to play both playstyles is important because in some champ selects you will have a full AD comp if you go AD, or close to a full AP comp if you go AP.

NOTE: it does not matter if you are playing AD or AP Shaco, the clears are the same for both!

For each of these clears, put a box down in the positions shown below as soon as possible out of base. In lots of games the enemy team will invade your Red Buff/Raptors and this box discourages them from doing so.

If the enemy team is invading and triggers your box, immediately run to Wolves and set up your next two boxes on Wolves starting at 00:50, and the next box outside Gromp (shown below for both sides).

If they do not invade your Red Buff/Raptors, place your next two boxes on your Red Buff starting at 00:50, and the next box over the wall at Krugs (shown below for both sides).

These are your two clears!

• Red Buff > Krugs > Raptors

• Wolves > Gromp > Blue

It may seem like I'm trying to get you to start at Red Buff every game but you don't have to. In some games I like to start at Wolves:

• knowing I will get invaded on my Red Buff/Raptors by a strong Level 1 team and/or,
• knowing I want to path towards the other side of the map because I have a strong top/bot lane

The reason I like doing Red Buff first instead of Raptors is because it puts my Krugs on a 4:10 respawn timer, whereas if I start at Raptors then they respawn at 4:00 which comes around very quickly and they are sometimes hard to defend. I want to have time to recall after I get kills/clear my initial camps.

But you might be like, why do you not start at Blue Buff then when you do the Wolves start clear? That's because Wolves are a lot harder to take for the enemy jungler. They are deeper into my jungle/closer to my nexus than Raptors, so it takes a little less time to run there out of base and you can catch the enemy jungler trying to steal them.

Now, how do you actually clear these camps as quickly as possible?

• BACKSTAB! (Backstab every single camp as much as possible...for the multiple monster camps you want to be attacking the big one like big Krug, Murk Wolf, big Raptor/Chicken)
• Fadeaway box at Krugs for the Red Buff > Krugs > Raptors clear (when you have damaged the big Krug to 100 HP or less, and the medium Krug to 40% HP or less, put a box down leading towards Raptors and the box will finish off all the Krugs, this saves a lot of time)

I always hit Level 3 before making any plays. I don't do any Level 2 invades or anything like that because they are generally very risky...if the enemy team is smart they will ward and cover your invade, and then you just vertical jungle. Clearing until you're Level 3 also gives the enemy jungler time to hit Level 3 but this is when their wards will expire and you can catch them by surprise on their second quadrant.

Now speaking of Level 3...

When you hit Level 3 around 2:20, this is one of the most critical times in any game. This is because there are so many plays you can potentially make. I will cover each of the plays you can make and when/why you would want to make them - it's your job to be able to recognise these patterns in your own games and react accordingly.

1. Invading 2nd Quadrant

Invading the enemy jungler on their second quadrant/the side of the map they haven't cleared is deadly, but only do this when:

• you 100% know what buff they started at and,
• you know you can kill them

If you are invading them on their Blue Buff quadrant (because they started at their Red Buff) and you started on your Red Buff then invade them at their Wolves (shown below).

If you are invading them on their Blue Buff quadrant (because they started at their Red Buff) and you started on your Blue Buff then invade them at their Blue Buff/Gromp (shown below).

If you are invading them on their Red Buff quadrant (because they started at their Blue Buff) and you started on your Red Buff then invade them at their Raptors/Red Buff (shown below). Scout their Raptors first and if you see them doing it, you can either wait for them to start Red Buff and then Q over...or you can try to kill them on Raptors if they are really slow for whatever reason.

If you are invading them on their Red Buff quadrant (because they started at their Blue Buff) and you started on your Blue Buff then invade them at their Raptors/Red Buff (shown below, and same as the invade above).

Knowing where the enemy jungler starts relies on you looking at your minimap while you're clearing your first camp, and spotting which lanes show on the minimap first. If the enemy top laner shows first? Then the enemy jungler has probably started bot side. If the enemy bot lane shows first? Then the enemy jungler has probably started top side. But in some games both side lanes will show at the same time. Now you don't know. Most of the time they will solo-start on Red Buff/Raptors, but it's still risky to make that assumption and then invade their Blue Buff because what if they didn't do that? In these early games it's not worth to chance it.

Knowing if you can kill the enemy jungler is vague, I know...so let me expound. All you are trying to envision is your damage/combo covering the enemy jungler's HP bar (and this is the same for ganks as well). This might sound weird because how do you know how much HP the enemy jungler has when you're invading them? Well here's the thing...when you invade the enemy jungler on their 2nd quadrant, they will be tanking the camp they are clearing and using cooldowns to clear the camp. This makes them more vulnerable, and even if your initial combo won't kill them they will be so low that they are practically dead anyway and you can take their camps.

NOTE: if you are AP Shaco it is a lot harder to kill because you lack the damage AD Shaco has in the early game, so please take this into account (especially against strong duelers like Trundle, Lee Sin, Viego etc)

2. Ganking Any Lane

When you are Level 3 on Shaco, even as AP Shaco, you can kill enemy laners if...

• your damage will kill their HP

If not, then you are relying on your teammates to deal the damage you can't deal, so please take that into account. One rule I follow a lot even though it's quite flexible, is that I never really gank lanes unless the enemy champions are half HP or less...if they are above 50% HP then I will only gank that lane because they do not have Flash, and the numbers are in my favour (2v1, 3v2).

Below are all the ganking routes you can take after hitting Level 3 at 2.20.

3. Clearing to 4th Camp

If you don't think there are any kills available after you hit Level 3 at 2.20, then the only other option is to keep clearing towards Wolves/Raptors (depending on what quadrant you haven't cleared).

But let me say this...you are not full clearing because of any reason other than the fact that after you finish your 4th camp, there are no kills on your side of the map. The best way for me to explain this is to actually show you what I mean.

In the game below there are no kills for me after I finish my Raptors...the enemy champions have a lot of HP so I decide to go to Wolves. But as I finish Wolves I notice a fresh wave in the mid lane and I know that the Lux has been hugging the top side of mid the entire time (probably scared of me ganking her with Red Buff immediately). So instead of going to Blue Buff/Gromp I gank mid and eventually kill the Lux (I should save E a little bit longer here, but you catch my drift).

1. Backstabbing

BACKSTAB EVERYTHING. It's that simple. Clearing camps, killing enemy champions, if you do not get behind them you should play a different champion.

Tip: you don't actually have to be directly behind an enemy to Backstab them, you can still Backstab them as long as you're behind the center of their character model

The first video below shows you an Emerald student of mine who was auto attacking as soon as possible when ganking. What they should be doing is running behind the enemy champions (Xayah in this case) before auto attacking.

The second video below shows me taking that extra bit of time to sniff the back of my enemy...Shaco will be happy with you for doing this.

The third video below shows the same thing...shank them from behind at all costs.

2. Not Q'ing

You probably think I've lost the plot, but holding your Q when you are ganking is the most under-used mechanic. If you don't have to use Q to gank a lane because they are already so far pushed up/already fighting, then hold it for their escape (like a Flash, dash etc)!

3. Q Jumps

Get in a practice tool and practice these until you can do them with your eyes closed.

4. Q to Dodge

When you are not Level 6 and when you are not using your Q to Backstab an enemy, you can use it to dodge important skillshots.

5. Q Redirection

One of the deadliest weapons in a Shaco's arsenal is Q'ing in the direction you are not facing. This is very useful when escaping sticky situations, or looking to kill enemy champions who might be thinking you're trying to run away!

6. W Blocking

Blocking skillshots with W is an important mechanic, and it's all about anticipation. Because your W has a little cast time you can't react instantly, so you have to see it coming.

For example, when I am dueling this Lee Sin I know he is going to look to Q me before I hit the blast cone so he can jump to me afterwards. So I instinctively place a box inbetween us, and I continue to march march march.

7. Gank Boxing

Where you place your W when you gank is huge. You want to place your box towards your opponent's safety (their tower) to force them to walk around your box which takes longer, and means you and potentially your teammate(s) can deal more damage...just like I did with the Lux in the video in the Clearing to 4th Camp section.

If you are ganking bot/top lane from behind, you have brushes you can place your boxes in and unless they have those brushes behind them warded (unlikely), you can get easy kills (shown below).

HOWEVER, if the enemy champions are fighting to the death against your teammates, boxing their safety is pointless because they have no intention of running to their safety...their safety is killing your teammates, so box just behind them or even ahead of them if they are chasing your allies (no matter how much you want your teammates to die xd).

8. W for Vision

Because your W reveals a small area around it when it is placed, you can use your W to keep vision of enemies so you can E them (shown below), or just to scout them.

9. W to Ambush

When an enemy champion is pathing towards you or might path towards you, all you have to do is place a box in the brush you're in as close to them as possible without the box being seen (so in the furthest point of the brush).

10. Q and E'ing

Sounds simple but it has to be second nature. Buffering your E as soon as you Q is so important for securing kills.

11. E to Execute

HOLD YOUR E! It deals more damage the lower someone is.

The only times you can use your E early are...

• if you know the fight will last long enough for you to E again (shown below)
• if there is space between you and your enemy (the slow helps you gap close)

12. R to Bait Damage

Using your R to bait damage and buy yourself time to reposition (especially when you're AP Shaco) can be fight-winning. All you do is R while you are in your Q's stealth.

13. R to Reattach

When there is a lot of distance between the real Shaco and his clone, you can push the clone away so it returns to the Shac.

You can do this to try to assassinate enemy champions but you have to time it perfectly and it's very unreliable because the enemy champions will be moving (most of the time). Therefore it's much better to R out of your Q to one-shot someone.

14. Q and R to Nuke

Coming out of your Q's stealth with your clone auto attacking at the same time is double trouble for the opponent! This is the max damage combo and you should be using this when you need your clone's damage to nuke someone.

15. R to Dodge

That's all it is. Using your R to dodge skillshots/AoE is very important when you are fighting. Make sure you know what abilities you need to look out for!

16. R to Juke

When you want to make the enemy think your clone is the real Shaco, simply right click the enemy champion so the real Shaco looks like the clone, and quickly click in the other direction so your clone instantly moves away - this will make them think the real Shaco is trying to run off!

17. R to Pit Jump

You can R jump over Dragon and Baron pit as shown below, and you can also R over small walls around the map.

18. Q'ing out of R

Sometimes you will be in a pickle...and to get out of that pickle you have to R and then Q just like I do in the clip below, pre rare though.

19. Holding Ignite

Just like Holding E, you want to hold your Ignite as well. If you use this too early (when it will not finish off the enemy champion) then they will Flash away and survive. You want to use this so even if they do Flash they still die.

Below is an example of an early Ignite.

This is the end of the guide and it's time for Shaco and I to Q out of here.

We thank you for staying with us for this long and hope you are more in touch with your inner Demon Jester 😈

Much love,

Eagz