Why Lilly Loves LoL - Shyvana (Part 2)
Hi and welcome back to the dragon's den!
Today I want to share with you some tips and tricks on playimg the half-dragon lady of fierce fire, including my personal favourite item build! You may or may not agree with some of my item chioces and that's totally fine. But this is what I find the most useful for my play style and what I enjoy using the most. Hope you like it! :)
Like previously mentioned I play as a fighter in the top-lane. To be a decent Shyvana you will need a certain amount of tankyness or you will fail. For this reason I like to start off with a Doran's shield, a health pot and a Greater Vision Totem trinket to be used to avoid ganks. Shyvana is pretty strong early game depending on who you're facing. Other fighers like Riven are rather easy to keep control of while ranged top-laners like Teemo are really sneaky and you must wait for ganks most of the time if they're playing well. As in most other cases farming is key to prevail, especially in Shyvana's case since her ultimate charges with each basic attack and you can get A LOT by farming. I always start with her W, 'Burnout', since it deals plenty of damage to the enemy when you first face them and its speed buff enables you to chase them down with it. It is also great for farming - wearing down minions until you last-hit them one by one.
As the game proceeds into mid-game it is time for some shopping (fabulous!!) So, what do you get? Well that depends on the enemy team and how tanky and defensive I need to be to balance my own team. Either I start with a Giant's Belt (with matching shoes if affordable) or I aim to buy a Tiamat (or some of its components) to boost damage output and farming, or sometimes both (I try to use my best judgement or I simply go with my gut-feeling). Shyvana is one of those champions who are able to effectively dominate mid-game. My typical attack pattern goes:
By using my E first I tag them to receive additional damage from the following abilities. To win your lane as Shyvana you need one thing - patience. You need to keep up your farming and harassing to get them low, all the while knowing that your time will come. I tend to enjoy bold moves, facing the enemy and their minion wave alone, knowing they will try to scare me off but I won't be intimidated, striking them with full force and tankyness and eventually they are to ones to back down after my W and Tiamat finishes off the minions after a few blows. After fearlessly winning my lane I see what I can do to help the other lanes. If I find a Rengar in the jungle - all the better!
What I like about Shyvana the most is probably her ultimate when she leaps and turns into her dragon-form mid-air, damaging enemies in her way. During this her passive is strengthened (bonus armor and magic resist), as well as her other abilities that can hit multiple enemies at once and she leaves burning trails when using W. This ultimate can be used for tower-dives and smooth get-aways when being ganked. I like the thrill of leaping straight into the enemy team, tanking away for my team while creating devastation among them in dragon-form.
Nearing end-game it is time to complete the build, these are the items continuously built throughout the game (order of purchase is very flexible):
- Doran's Shield (if no time for replacement), Frozen Mallet, Ravenous Hydra, Zephyr, Mercury's Treads, Phantom Dancer, The Black Cleaver. Other items that can be useful depending on the game or if I want a fun twist: Infinity Edge, Rabadon's Deathcap, Warmog's Armor, Blade of The Ruined King, Rylai's Crystal Scepter, Sunfire Cape. -
There is no 'correct' way of building any champion and I really dislike build-bashers. As Shyvana I like tankyness, speed, and AD, as I want to be the hurricane that no one escapes from, if i get you, I want you to be dead. Therefore I also pick ghost and ignite for spells.
For runes I pick armor, magic resist, attack speed marks and health regeneration quints. For masteries I normally go for my AD page or sometimes a tanky one.
Lastly it must be remembered that Shyvana can also be used as an excellent jungler even with the above described basic build. It should however be slightly modified - but the hurricane concept still applies! Also when playing top-lane I simultaneously work as a part-time jungler with all my movement speed and force. Split-pushing is Shyvana at her best, sneaking up through the jungle, hitting the tower (Twin Bite can be used!!) and being gone before the enemy team catches you. After one or several raids you are good to go for the next under-pushed lane.
"By the blood of my father, I will end them." - Shyvana
Picture taken from: http://bit.ly/1jvfRju
This was all for today however brief it may have semed ;) But I'll be back to write about other amazing LOL-related things.
Thank you for reading my post and Happy Gaming! x