Guide · Jungle

Shaco Guide

the Demon Jester

Assassin

Tier A Jungle

Shaco, the Demon Jester, is an assassin champion that is demanding to master. Across our 776 analysed ranked games, Shaco is mostly played in the Jungle (87% of its games), and more rarely as Support (13%), with a 53.4% win rate in that role: tier A among Jungle champions (#7 of 48, ranked by win rate). Shaco's damage is mixed (32% physical, 52% magic): stacking a single type of resistance is less efficient against this champion. 16% of that damage is true damage and therefore ignores resistances. Win rate varies with game length: 61.2% in long games (over 35 min, 147 games) versus 51.2% in short games (under 25 min).

Averages measured over 672 Jungle games played with Shaco, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

Combos and how to play

Shaco is a trickery assassin: Deceive makes him invisible and teleports him, and his first attack while invisible deals bonus damage, with a critical strike if he hits from behind. Jack In The Box terrifies, Two-Shiv Poison slows, and his ultimate creates a clone that explodes into mini boxes.

The backstab assassination

Q › AA AA › E › W

When: A carry is isolated.

Deceive makes you invisible and teleports you; the first attack is empowered, a critical strike from behind. Two-Shiv Poison slows and the thrown dagger deals bonus damage under 30% health.

The trap

W › E › AA AA

When: An enemy is chasing you.

Jack In The Box terrifies then attacks nearby enemies when triggered; Two-Shiv Poison slows their chase.

The duel with the clone

R › Q › AA AA

When: A close-quarters fight begins.

Hallucinate creates a clone that attacks (reduced damage to turrets); when it dies it explodes, spawning three mini boxes.

Laning phase

Strike from behind: your attacks and Two-Shiv Poison deal more damage. Place Jack In The Box in strategic spots: they terrify and then attack.

Common mistakes

• Attacking from the front: you lose your backstab bonuses.
• Placing boxes without thinking about their visibility.
• Using Deceive with no plan for what follows.

Riot's official tips for playing Shaco

• Using Deceive over terrain can help you make a clean escape.
• Try getting items with on-hit effects. These will also benefit your Hallucination clone.
• Backstab's damage can be increased with increased Critical Damage effects like Infinity Edge.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Blackfire Torch, Imperial Mandate, and Liandry's Torment (99 games, 59.6% win rate).

Blackfire Torch+Imperial Mandate+Liandry's Torment

99 games · 59.6%

Cryptbloom+Imperial Mandate+Liandry's Torment

51 games · 84.3%

Infinity Edge+The Collector+Voltaic Cyclosword

47 games · 46.8%

Summoner spells

Smite + Ignite54.3% · 632 games

Flash + Smite40.0% · 25 games

Most-played runes

Hail of Blades + Precision

50.7% · 211 games

Primary tree · Domination

Sudden Impact99%

Grisly Mementos55%

Relentless Hunter78%

Secondary tree · Precision

Legend: Alacrity97%

Coup de Grace70%

Shards

Attack speed97%

Adaptive force100%

Health scaling74%

Arcane Comet + Precision

57.3% · 157 games

Primary tree · Sorcery

Axiom Arcanist98%

Transcendence99%

Gathering Storm90%

Secondary tree · Precision

Legend: Haste100%

Cut Down92%

Shards

Ability haste88%

Adaptive force85%

Health scaling55%

Hail of Blades + Inspiration

50.5% · 99 games

Primary tree · Domination

Sudden Impact100%

Sixth Sense89%

Relentless Hunter60%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Cash Back66%

Approach Velocity60%

Shards

Attack speed92%

Adaptive force98%

Health scaling65%

For each row, the most picked rune among the games played with this page (share of games in brackets).

Which items to build against the enemy team?

We sort every game by the enemy team's damage. These are Shaco's completed items and their win rate in each situation; "▲" marks an item that does at least 3 points better than its usual win rate.

Mostly magic-damage enemy team60.9% · 189 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Liandry's Torment 69.3% ▲

Blackfire Torch 60.3% ▲

Voltaic Cyclosword 59.1% ▲

Imperial Mandate 67.2% ▲

Lord Dominik's Regards 57.1% ▲

Youmuu's Ghostblade 50.0%

The item that stands out most is Liandry's Torment: 69.3% win rate, +9 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team52.4% · 191 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Voltaic Cyclosword 51.4%

Liandry's Torment 51.5% ▼

Blackfire Torch 54.5%

Imperial Mandate 58.5% ▼

The Collector 51.1%

Youmuu's Ghostblade 54.3%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Balanced enemy team49.3% · 292 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Voltaic Cyclosword 49.2% ▼

Liandry's Torment 60.5%

Blackfire Torch 52.6% ▼

Imperial Mandate 60.3%

Youmuu's Ghostblade 51.7%

The Collector 46.7%

No item clearly stands out in this situation: the usual build remains the reference.

Counters and matchups

Who counters Shaco in the Jungle

Hecarim Shaco: 28.6%21 games

Hecarim has the edge in 71% of the 21 Jungle duels against Shaco. See the Hecarim guide.

Nocturne Shaco: 46.7%15 games

Nocturne has the edge in 53% of the 15 Jungle duels against Shaco. See the Nocturne guide.

Viego Shaco: 58.8%17 games

Viego has the edge in 41% of the 17 Jungle duels against Shaco. See the Viego guide.

Kayn Shaco: 58.8%17 games

Kayn has the edge in 41% of the 17 Jungle duels against Shaco. See the Kayn guide.

Vi Shaco: 60.0%15 games

Vi has the edge in 40% of the 15 Jungle duels against Shaco. See the Vi guide.

Who Shaco is strong against

Lee Sin69.7% · 33 games

Vi60.0% · 15 games

Master Yi60.0% · 15 games

Viego58.8% · 17 games

Kayn58.8% · 17 games

How to play against Shaco

• If Shaco is doing well early-game, it is worth the investment to place Stealth Wards near his Jungle camps.
• If Shaco uses Deceive to enter a fight he won't be able to quickly use it again to get away. Work with your team to quickly focus him down.

Win rates measured over direct same-role duels; only matchups with more than 15 games are listed. See all of Shaco's matchups.

Abilities

PassiveBackstab

Shaco's basic attacks and Two-Shiv Poison deal additional damage when striking from behind.

QDeceive

Shaco becomes Invisible and teleports to target location.

His first attack while Invisible is empowered, dealing bonus damage and critically striking if he attacks from behind.

WJack In The Box

Shaco creates a hidden animated Jack-in-the-Box. When triggered, it will fear and attack nearby enemies.

ETwo-Shiv Poison

Shaco's Shivs passively poison targets on hit, slowing their Move Speed. He can throw his Shivs to deal damage and poison the target. The thrown Shiv deals bonus damage if the target is below 30% health.

RHallucinate

Shaco creates an illusion of himself near him, which can attack nearby enemies (Deals reduced damage to turrets). Upon death, it explodes, spawning three mini Jack in the Boxes and dealing damage to nearby enemies.

Frequently asked questions

Full Shaco page · League of Legends tier list · All champion guides