How to Fearlessly Pursue Shaco: Tips for Countering Him
Playing against Shaco jungle in the 2024 Season of League of Legends is one of the most difficult challenges for laners and junglers alike. Shaco has the fastest level 3 clear, enabling him to gank or invade much faster than your typical jungle champion. Additionally, his high chase capabilities make it tough to escape unless you are near an ally or a turret.
To counter Shaco’s game plan, you need to understand how he thinks:
- Shaco players typically start from either raptors or wolves—90% of the time, they choose raptors. After starting Raptors, Shaco reaches level 3 before minute 2:40 and often attempts to gank the same side he started on. If he doesn’t see a gankable position at the Mid Lane or his Red Camp Side Lane, he tends to go for an invade. Shaco players don’t full clear; their focus is always on hitting level 3 quickly to secure kills.
At the game start, it’s crucial to get a sweeper and encourage your allies to you in invading Shaco’s raptors—he needs to place his boxes (W) to achieve a fast clear. Moreover, having deep vision at enemy camps and behind walls often ensures success against a Shaco, as tracking him becomes more difficult otherwise.
Make sure to keep the Dragon warded at all times to spot him before he takes it. His dueling power is considerable in the early game—think twice before fighting him, especially if you’re spotted, as he may place a Box (W) behind him and chase you down.
If your team is grouped and you have no vision on Shaco, ensure you have a Sweeping Lens and sufficient vision around you; this way, you will be alerted if Shaco tries to jump in and assassinate a carry. Avoid chasing Shaco—he may be baiting you into running into his Boxes (W) or toward his team.
As the game progresses, Shaco can assassinate targets in the mid-game. Therefore, it’s vital to stay as a team so he cannot take anyone down. Once he reaches level 6, his ability to solo the Dragon or Rift Herald improves significantly due to his Ultimate (R). Consequently, keep these objectives warded to spot him before he can secure them.
Additionally, Shaco’s damage output dramatically increases once he completes his first item. At this point, dueling him may not favor you unless you have an advantage.
The key to beating Shaco as a jungler is to ignore him and focus on keeping up, counter-jungling as much as possible whenever you spot him on the map. If you chase him, he will use his Q to escape and utilize his boxes long enough to reduce your health, enabling him to ignite and one-shot you.
For Shaco , the best counters are Galio, Hwei, Pantheon, Janna, and Taric. Conversely, Shaco is countered by Zoe, Swain, Seraphine, Blitzcrank, and Zyra.
Shaco holds sub-50% win rates in platinum and above against Udyr, Shyvana, and Pantheon—these champions are prime picks against Shaco. Udyr and Shyvana excel due to their fast clear speeds and ability to avoid easy counter-jungling.
Lastly, the best counter to Shaco is to avoid overextending your lane; he may try to 2 v 1 you with an ally or attempt to last hit you if you are pushing waves or taking plates while at low HP.
Essential Strategies for Playing Against Shaco
Essential Strategies for Playing Against Shaco
To effectively counter Shaco, consider the following strategies:
- Best Picks vs Shaco: These champions are strong against Shaco at many stages of the game.
- Xin Zhao 54.68% WR, 909 games
- Zed 53.77% WR, 318 games
- Nunu & Willump 53.53% WR, 936 games
- Rek’Sai 53.31% WR, 484 games
- Jarvan IV 53.28% WR, 1,738 games
- Worst Picks vs Shaco: These champions are weak against Shaco at many stages of the game.
- Zyra 43.52% WR, 324 games
- Kindred 45.99% WR, 822 games
- Gragas 46.34% WR, 451 games
- Taliyah 46.56% WR, 262 games
- Best Lane Counters vs Shaco: These champions counter Shaco during the early game laning phase based on gold differential at 15 (GD@15).
- Hecarim +320 GD15, 1,580 games
- Karthus +263 GD15, 879 games
- Talon +253 GD15, 770 games
- Understanding and Avoiding Shaco’s Abilities:
- Against burst champions like Sylas, maintain distance and avoid direct 1v1s. Use your movement to dodge abilities, keep Q (Deceive) ready for a quick disengage, and poke with W and E from a distance. Use R to dodge critical abilities and let your clone continue the fight.
- Dodge Nocturne’s Q as it’s his main gap-closer; time your E after his shield activates to block your damage. Use your R to become untargetable during his fear, allowing you to re-engage once he’s distracted.
- Utilizing Shaco’s Mobility:
- Use Shaco’s mobility to kite, maintain distance, and avoid direct engagements against opponents with crowd control or gap-closers. Set up Jack in the Box (W) traps for space control.
- Your R ability can hasten objective takedowns and protect against enemy contests. Place W traps around the objective for additional zone control.
- Vision Control: To counter Shaco, invest in vision tools like Control Wards to reveal his stealth and carefully position yourself to avoid his traps. Champions with reliable crowd control can further disrupt his plans.
- Build Awareness: When facing Shaco, identify his build path (AD or AP). Recommended champions are Vi, Briar, and Karthus. Avoid playing weak early-game champions susceptible to invasion.
Can Shaco be Effective as a Champion?
Shaco is an unconventional but surprisingly effective pick in League of Legends. He offers a unique blend of disruption, vision control, and high early-game pressure. Unlike traditional s, Shaco leverages his stealth, traps, and deceptive playstyle to create chaos on the map.
His effectiveness can be seen in his win rates. Shaco has a 52.5% win rate in All Ranks on Patch 15.2, coming in at rank 6 out of 86 and graded as S Tier on the LoL Tierlist. In addition, a specific analysis of 6,412 games played by the top 379 Shaco players worldwide over the last 7 days shows that these players have a 57.13% win rate with an average rank of Diamond II.
When focusing specifically on his role:
- Shaco has a win rate of 53.2% based on 1,039 matches.
- The most popular build showcases an impressive 58.9% win rate across 302 matches.
- The best possible matchups for Shaco include champions like Twisted Fate (75.0% win rate) and Nami (73.7% win rate).
This indicates that Shaco can be a viable option when played correctly. For runes, a popular choice for Shaco is to take Arcane Comet as the keystone. This is complemented by:
- Manaflow Band, Transcendence, and Scorch in the primary tree
- Biscuit Delivery and Cosmic Insight in the secondary tree
This setup enhances his poke and sustain in lane, contributing to his potential effectiveness.
Moreover, Shaco counters champions such as Zilean, Nautilus, and Tahm Kench. Conversely, he is countered by Shen, Poppy, and Janna. In Patch 15.1, Shaco had a 51.48% win rate, ranked 11 out of 84, and was graded as A+ Tier. However, by Patch 15.1, Shaco had a win rate of 50.5% with a 1.3% pick rate in Emerald+ and was currently ranked C Tier.
Overall, Shaco’s current meta presence and effectiveness as a champion make him an appealing choice for players willing to explore unconventional strategies.
