Guide · Jungle

Shyvana Guide

the Half-Dragon

Fighter

Tank

Tier C Jungle

Shyvana, the Half-Dragon, is a fighter and tank champion of medium difficulty. Across our 549 analysed ranked games, Shyvana is mostly played in the Jungle (100% of its games), with a 47.0% win rate in that role: tier C among Jungle champions (#39 of 48, ranked by win rate). Shyvana's damage is mixed (45% physical, 37% magic): stacking a single type of resistance is less efficient against this champion. 18% of that damage is true damage and therefore ignores resistances. Win rate varies with game length: 51.4% in long games (over 35 min, 70 games) versus 44.3% in short games (under 25 min).

Updated Oct 10 2026 · Patch 26.21

Averages measured over 549 Jungle games played with Shyvana, from our ranked Solo/Duo data collection.

How to play and combo preview

Shyvana is a jungler who gains defense by taking down champions, large minions and large monsters (Scalemail). Her ultimate turns her into a dragon, which empowers her abilities: Emberstrike gains a recast, Inferno Aegis heals her, and Molten Burst passes through enemies leaving a trail of fire.

The trade

Q › AA AA › Q › W

When: An enemy is within range.

Emberstrike hits the target and the area, recast it; Inferno Aegis protects you and explodes after a short delay.

Dragon form

R › E › Q › Q

When: A fight begins.

Dragon's Descent turns you into a dragon and makes enemies flee in your path; Emberstrike gains a recast dealing huge damage to a single target, Molten Burst passes through leaving a trail of fire.

See all 3 Shyvana combos: key order, when to cast them, cooldowns →

Laning phase

Emberstrike hits the target and the area around it; recast it. Inferno Aegis gives you a shield and speed before exploding.

Common mistakes

• Using the ultimate too early: dragon form is your window.
• Forgetting Emberstrike's recast.
• Neglecting Scalemail: it improves your resistances on takedowns.

Riot's official tips for playing Shyvana

• Shyvana's abilities all benefit from attacking units. As a result, Attack Speed items are more valuable on her than most champions.
• Flame Breath is great to level-up against difficult lane opponents.
• Burnout is an ideal choice for jungling. Monsters will be hit by the full duration, and the speed boost improves her ganking potential.
• It can be valuable to purchase one of the items that can slow enemies: Frozen Mallet, Dead Man's Plate, or Entropy.

Build, runes and summoner spells

The most-played core build is Trinity Force, Spear of Shojin, and Death's Dance (145 games, 58.6% win rate).

Trinity Force+Spear of Shojin+Death's Dance

145 games · 58.6%

Dusk and Dawn+Death's Dance+Kraken Slayer

72 games · 59.7%

Trinity Force+Spear of Shojin+Jak'Sho, The Protean

43 games · 55.8%

Skill order

Max order : Q > W > E44.1% · 59 games

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15
Q	●			●	●		●		●
W			●					●		●		●	●
E		●												●	●
R						●					●

The order shows which abilities reach rank 5 first; the grid shows the most-played level-up sequence with that order (measured over 81 games).

Starting items

Scorchclaw Pup37.5% · 24 games

Scorchclaw PupHealth Potion60.9% · 23 games

First completed items, in order

Trinity Force›Spear of Shojin

24 games · 41.7%

Kraken Slayer›Dusk and Dawn

23 games · 34.8%

Laning phase (averages)

At 10 min: 3975 gold, 75 CS, 4089 XP. At 15 min: 6224 gold, 115 CS, 6879 XP.

Summoner spells

Flash + Smite46.9% · 540 games

Most-played runes

Press the Attack + Inspiration

45.2% · 363 games

Primary tree · Precision

Triumph100%

Legend: Haste89%

Last Stand60%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Magical Footwear93%

Cosmic Insight65%

Shards

Attack speed98%

Adaptive force99%

Health scaling87%

Conqueror + Inspiration

54.7% · 75 games

Primary tree · Precision

Triumph100%

Legend: Alacrity80%

Last Stand83%

Secondary tree · Inspiration

Magical Footwear95%

Cosmic Insight87%

Shards

Attack speed95%

Adaptive force100%

Health scaling87%

Press the Attack + Resolve

55.9% · 59 games

Primary tree · Precision

Triumph100%

Legend: Haste97%

Last Stand95%

Secondary tree · Resolve

Conditioning100%

Unflinching95%

Shards

Attack speed98%

Adaptive force100%

Health scaling98%

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 Shyvana'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 team45.2% · 157 games

At least 50% of their damage is magic

Trinity Force 47.1%

Spear of Shojin 51.8%

Death's Dance 61.0% ▲

Kraken Slayer 50.0%

Dusk and Dawn 49.0%

Jak'Sho, The Protean 66.7% ▲

The item that stands out most is Jak'Sho, The Protean: 66.7% win rate, +6 points versus its usual win rate.

Mostly physical-damage enemy team46.2% · 145 games

Less than 35% of their damage is magic

Death's Dance 53.3% ▼

Trinity Force 51.3%

Spear of Shojin 52.7%

Dusk and Dawn 48.1%

Kraken Slayer 44.2% ▼

Jak'Sho, The Protean 46.7%

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

Balanced enemy team48.6% · 247 games

Mixed physical and magic damage

Trinity Force 49.7%

Spear of Shojin 47.9%

Death's Dance 58.3%

Kraken Slayer 52.1%

Dusk and Dawn 51.6%

Jak'Sho, The Protean 61.1%

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

Counters and matchups

Who counters Shyvana in the Jungle

Sylas Shyvana: 23.5%17 games

Sylas has the edge in 76% of the 17 Jungle duels against Shyvana. See the Sylas guide.

Kayn Shyvana: 33.3%15 games

Kayn has the edge in 67% of the 15 Jungle duels against Shyvana. See the Kayn guide.

Graves Shyvana: 70.6%17 games

Graves has the edge in 29% of the 17 Jungle duels against Shyvana. See the Graves guide.

Who Shyvana is strong against

Graves70.6% · 17 games

Kayn33.3% · 15 games

Sylas23.5% · 17 games

How to play against Shyvana

• A significant portion of Shyvana's power is generated through aggression, making her weak against opponents who are able to keep their distance.
• All of Shyvana's basic abilities hit multiple enemies in dragon form. It's important for opposing champions to not cluster while fighting her.
• Shyvana's Fury Bar indicate her ultimate can be activated. Harassing her when she's low on Fury can be very effective.

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

Shyvana Jungle: what our games say

Laning phase against the Jungle average

Measured over 81 Shyvana games with a timeline; the average covers 69 champions played Jungle in our ranked games.

Win rate by game length

Best result: long (over 35 min). Only groups of at least 30 games are shown. A gap of several points shows the phase where the champion is the most reliable.

Abilities

PassiveScalemail

Takedowns on enemy champions, large minions, and large monsters grant Shyvana Scalemail stacks, improving her defenses.

QEmberstrike

Shyvana's next attack strikes both the target and the surrounding area. This Ability can be recast. While in Dragon Form, it gains an additional recast, dealing massive damage to a single target.

WInferno Aegis

Shyvana gains a shield, movement speed, and after a short delay, the area around her detonates. While in Dragon Form, the explosion will heal her if it strikes an enemy champion.

EMolten Burst

Shyvana launches a fireball that explodes upon striking a large target and slows them. In Dragon Form, it passes through and explodes upon striking large enemies, leaving behind a trail of fire.

RDragon's Descent

Shyvana transforms into a Dragon and leaps forward causing enemies along her path to flee. While in Dragon form she becomes larger and her basic abilities are empowered.

Other Jungle champions to know

Most played

Lee Sin50.1 %Graves49.2 %Qiyana51.4 %Viego47.2 %Jarvan IV50.4 %Hecarim49.2 %Talon51.2 %Sylas50.2 %

Strongest (at least 100 games)

Rek'Sai58.7 %Quinn56.9 %Briar55.4 %Kayn54.3 %Shaco53.4 %Nidalee53.3 %Vi53.0 %Rammus52.9 %

Frequently asked questions

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