So Riot, you actually are going to live with these Shen "changes?"

...or should I say nerfs?

I'm going to be fair and list them all.

Twilight Assault (Q): Empowered attacks now also deal 15 base damage. Empowered attacks bonus damage to non champions removed - 30/50/70/90/110. Empowered auto attacks for spirit blade colliding with enemy champion base damage increased from 15 to [15/20/25/30/35/40 at levels 1/4/7/10/13/16]

So you're completely removing Shen's ability to farm for a measly 15 damage. If this isn't a nerf, nothing is. Shen does not, and I repeat DOES NOT need more champion damage. He can half-health most top laners at level 1 if he gets three empowered Q autos off. His damage is fine against champions, he needs to be able to farm.

Shadow Dash (E): Energy cost lowered from 180 to 150 [Width increased slightly*]

The Shen playerbase has been asking for this for so long, so naturally we are ecstatic to see it. Except the fact that it's being shipped with a much bigger package of nerfs feels like Riot is trying to distract us by saying "hey, you wanted this, totally worth the other changes!" That being said, I've tried this on the PBE, and it feels smooth as hell to use. I've never had so much fun using his E since before the rework since it feels like it actually works like it should.

Stand United (R) : Base shield value lowered from 250/550/850 to 175/350/525 [new] Shield now scales up based on missing health of target, up to 160% of base Value (280/560/840). [Meddler noted this value is comparable to live at 40% allied health.] Cooldown increased from 180/150/120 to 200/180/160

Now, I don't understand these changes. Yes, we get less shield for more allied health, that I am ok with. What I am not fine with is the fact that we not only get the same shield for delaying our ultimate just to hit the sweet spot for a maximum shield (which in turn increases the chances of our ally dying before we arrive) but we even get a smaller shield at level 16 even at the maximum. The least Riot could have done is make the shield bigger to balance it out, but now the ability has become counter-intuitive.

And this:

Cooldown increased from 180/150/120 to 200/180/160

This was not needed. This was just wholly unnecessary and proof that there was not much thought put into balancing Shen. I won't argue that the ultimate needed changes, but nerfing the shield, the utility, and the cooldown all at once? You just destroyed the most iconic part of this champion and it makes me sad that you guys even considered this, much less implemented it.

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So, let's go over our little journey of Riot's "balancing" Shen:

V6.15 Base health regen reduced to 8.5 from 10.

Riot legitimately stated that Shen's Vorpal blade sustain was lost, but Riot G-Mang told us this: "He can proc shields a lot to avoid damage and his base HP regen was buffed a lot."

So they nerfed his base health regen, but he still had his shields and his Q for lane trading and jungling. Then this happened:

V6.18 Ki Barrier Shield health reduced to 50 - 101 (based on level) from 52 - 120 (based on level). Twilight Assault Maximum health damage reduced to 2 / 2.5 / 3 / 3.5 / 4% from 3 / 3.5 / 4 / 4.5 / 5%. Enhanced maximum health damage reduced to 4 / 4.5 / 5 / 5.5 / 6% from 5 / 5.5 / 6 / 6.5 / 7%.

So they nerfed his passive shield at early levels and nerfed his only damage ability. Because he was seeing play in the LCS. Not to mention at this point his stats were horrible (he had less scaling HP than Sona, and they've gotten better but not like it was pre-rework), so it was obvious why he was being played in the LCS: his ultimate. Of course, Riot decided to nerf everything else regardless. And now that they're tuning his ult for the LCS, they're also taking away its practicality, its power, its uptime, and Shen's waveclear.

##So, in retrospect, here's what we lost with the rework: -Sustain -Poke -Range -Taunt damage reduction -Shield reliability -Waveclear -Tankiness -Roaming power -Ultimate ability uptime

##And here's what we gained: -Minor and unreliable %HP magic damage -A 1.75 second dodge zone on a 16 second cooldown -Minor health scaling on E damage -Relatively low scaling HP shield passive (relative to tanks) -A minor 35% single-directional slow for pulling an anti-skillshot through someone

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I'm really getting tired of having to do this, Riot. Why can't you just do what you said you'll do? Why do you have to give compensation nerfs for already heavy nerfs? I honestly don't get it. I mean, how the hell did you manage to turn "balance his ult for pro play" into "take away the last few things going for him as a champion?"

Do you want to know the reason why I'm playing Shen mid these days? Because soon I'll be better off going mid lane and actually being near my allies because my ult isn't reliable, I don't have sustain to keep me against the lane bullies in top lane (but surprisingly against mages he's decent), any decent top can out-farm, out-damage, and out-sustain me, and last but not least you keep NERFING HIM FOR SOLO QUEUE.

I'm finished with my rant. Do whatever you want, it's your damn game. I've said my bit already time and again, and I hate to repeat myself. To all the Shen mains, out there, I'm sorry I couldn't do much to stop this stupidity from reaching live. I now await our impending gutting.

Signing off, #Melledoneus