A Quick Shen Guide To Help Understand Using His Spells In Lane

Here's a quick Shen tip guide from me, I've been spamming new Shen top since he's been released and while I'm not saying I'm "the best" or even "good" I just can't read any more of these posts complaining about his abilities not working well when they actually do.

For starters you can simply move your spirit blade to the opposing side of the lane before the first wave arrives. This sets up an easy lvl 1 trade against most match-ups. Auto a minion first to start the timer for grasp of undying so you can get a proc on the trade. After you get a good trade you want to push for first lvl 2 if you can do so without taking unfavorable trades. With this you can easily take E lvl 2 and get another easy trade with the e q combo plus your passive. Again now the spirit blade is on your opponents side of the lane so it's possible to open another trade by landing a Q. This strategy works really well for when you have a winning match-up, but regardless of the match-up, you will almost always win the lvl 1 trade if you land that cheese Q and the start of the lane.

In some cases it's best to take W at lvl 2. For example, against and other champs that are aggressive early and have abilities based on autos. For example, W blocks the damage and effects of, Garen's Q, Voli's Q, Renekton's W, and any other ability based off an auto attack like Tf's pick-a-card or Udyr's bear stance. Knowing what your W can and cannot block is crucial in many match-ups and can determine whether or not you win lane. Much like Fiora's riposte, if you block a key ability of your opponent you're set up to win the trade or deny/turn around an all-in or gank.

How you use your Q in lane greatly depends on whether or not you need your W on demand. If you're in a match-up where your W is crucial you'll wan't to keep you blade close by spamming Q often. SPAMMING Q ISN'T BAD, your attacks still do more damage and it increases your auto range, and you can still go for single autos with your Q for easy grasp of undying procs. I don't understand why some people sound adament that Q is useless unless you hit your opponent with it, that's simply not true at all. With your spirit blade close to you it's very easy to counter engage your laner. What I mean is, after you block whatever with your W, you simply walk behind them and Q, giving you the bonus attack speed and damage. Now you can follow with your E rather then engage with it if it works in the situation or immediately E through them into your minions causing them to walk into your creep wave. You could also E then Q, the order depends on where you want your spirit blade to end up after the trade.

If you're in a losing lane or just a bad match-up, PLAY AROUND THE PASSIVE. Go for cs when your shield is active and use your Q, W to last hit as safely as possible and look to make plays with your ult rather than in the lane. Sometimes, you just can't win the lane for whatever reason, but with Shen it's not a huge deal if you make good ult plays.

There are many of little things you can do differently with Shen's abilities. They feel almost like a sandbox set in my opinion and people saying they're too cookie cutter and one-dimensional clearly haven't played him enough. I hope I have enlightened some of you through this or at least inspired you to experiment and give Shen another look.