This was what I sent to shaco rework team during pbe testing, before the box damage being lowered before hitting the live server:
I am M7 Ap shaco Top w/ over 1mil exp. I really really don't like the new W interaction in lane (many laning shaco players that understand the minute aspects of his laning will agree with me. I have discussed this with my Shaco One for All Club as well as many social medias.) I also hate Not having AP scaling on passive (this ruins farming in lane for Ap shaco. The new W is great for Jg and I am really grateful for the attempt to buff him. but I now have to be lvl 9 before one box will actually kill 3 caster minions, compared to lvl 3( and will eventually be nerfed because it can kill all minons in range.) Instead W now puts CS low where you have to walk up and auto and you can't auto the whole wave without tiamat( which isnt ap, and to build one delays the ap powers spikes) and not doing so leads to missing a lot of farm. Also walking up after W the wave is not ideal because you just used your only cc and shaco is one of the squishiest champs in the game. I wish the W worked single target on minions, but prio Champions and monsters. The reduced damage for Aoe ruins Shacos ability to trade into waves at full damage. A good shaco player can put a box down in the right place to prio the enemy for trades but now his trades are actually much weaker into waves with the rework. It is actually a nerf to a skilled shaco player, it honestly feels like training wheels for the sake of less damage. I am afraid he will eventually recieve a W damage nerf to accommodate his anti siege ability,this will push his trades down even further in lane which were only good specifically into minion waves to begin with because the fear would mitigate some of the enemy creep damage for a very brief second. Otherwise is pretty much always bad, because most players won't walk up without minion wave. The new W and passive makes farming under tower really awful for Ap. I think a nice balance, would be to have the Box only attack one minons at a time (old way) but change to the rework for champions and monsters in range and have the aoe effect only trigger by multiple champions and monsters with the damage reductions and not attack minions during this unless the champion or monster walks out of range . Losing Ap ratios on the passive ruins his ability to farm in lane, it also discourages an Ap shaco player to play in front of the wave for passive proc, reducing counter play for the opponents. It also means his autos will always be bad opposed to having one or two strong autos as a reward for a possible position out play when your W and E is down ( which are pretty long cooldowns compared to most top laners (fighters). If i wanted to stack multiple boxes in front of my own tower just to farm I would just play GP. Also, only using boxes for farming makes the possibility of stacking boxes and predicting an enemys all in a minute in advanced out the window, destroying the fun and essence of AP shaco in lane. I personally found learn the combos, ranges, damages and cooldowns of all other champions as well as proper wave mgmt to prep my boxes in the right place about a minute prior to predict my enemy all ins and pulling of this unique ability to punish greedy laners the most rewarding and cerebral experience LOL has offered me. To see this changed and white washed for the sake of more reliable but less damage (not to mention awful wave control and farming) makes me more sad than I could express with words. I think the passive should have hybrid scaling 50/50. The passive Hybrid scaling seems like a fair split. Ad shaco gets: strong autos from shaco and clone, q damage. Ap shaco gets: box damage for shaco and clone, and an actual execute from E.
I love the new slow on boxes, the ult change, and the new E (which has been in such a sorry state) Q makes sense for Ad. Thank you for all your hard work. I have stuck with shaco as my main even through the worst but I can say I am personally not excited for the rework as a top laner but thank you for making ap jg shaco a viable option, but I really hope these suggestions are considered so I can enjoy him Top as well as Jg and not have his boxes nerfed into the ground. Thanks for your time, hardwork, and considerations.
up to date
not only was the damage of W nerfed before live servers, but the duration of the W boxes life span as of 9.21. This is to the lvl 3 powerspike gank that is 100% avoidable to a smart enemy that wards or plays passive, and after equalizes into an even jg match up.
Shaco has also indirectly received more champion counterplay options that were aimed at akaili in pro play. le blanc's chains, Karma's E and other true vision abilities. both these champion's kits completely counter Ap lane shaco, but are now even stronger.
I know it sucks to die to a group of boxes as you recklessly run into but this is a huge time, mana, and play consideration of the extremely squishy champion, that had to be open to set it up. This is such a narrow win condition compared to most champions, and should be a reward for the calculations of trade timings, wave and vision control. To play ap style with boxes you need so much mana, it isnt like you can put them out mindlessly.
Can we just have the old non aoe boxes back? these nerfs ruin what makes this champ fun to play. It is the nail in coffin and the uninstall on my computer. I don't think I am going to watch worlds now. It really breaks my heart.
