A Point-by-Point analysis on why Shen feels much weaker now. (Rather lengthy post, you were warned)
Many people have been asking me why Shen is much weaker than before. I didn't know what they were talking about before I binge played him like I usually do, and I realized the issues he has with his kit that make him feel like he possesses much less strength than before. He's not underpowered, he actually has very good potential to be a god tier top laner with his new mechanics, but the actual execution of these tools is extremely awkward.
#1. Shen's spirit blade feels more like an anchor than a tool for battle.
This is because the positioning of the sword is impossible to control without using your Q or your ultimate. The tether distance is way too far to be smooth, and actually is counter-intuitive to its purpose of positioning it right. Shen players like to have the advantage of being able to utilize their E however they wish, because it's basic and easy to use. A linear skillshot that can move through units and walls. But the addition of another element makes it a bit foreign, and changes up the play style quite a bit.
Not only is the tether range too far, but the speed of the sword is too slow to be utilized efficiently. Opponents see that you used your Q the moment you press the button, but the sword itself can take up to 3 seconds just to get to you. Not to mention that the buff on your Q doesn't occur until your sword hits your model, opponents can easily back off and wait out your failed engage before retaliating and punishing you for trying.
#Possible solutions
It's a matter of utility and speed. **Either decrease the tether range dramatically, or sharply increase the missile speed of the spirit blade. ** This will decrease the arrival time of a distant spirit blade, making it a threat even from so far away. It also reduces the "delayed utility" feeling you get when playing Shen, as his blade will be more reliable in lane and during trades. There is currently no utility or counterplay associated with Shen having his blade be far away from himself. Your opponent would not know what is in the fog of war, how close your blade is, and there is no strategic value to have a blade be a Nocturne ult's worth of distance away from your lane. It's just a mechanic that makes spamming his Q all the more viable, which is not something a strategic dueling tank like Shen should do. He is meant to pick his fights carefully, positioning and pulling off risky engages in order to gain the upper hand on his opponents. Good players would counter this by relying on side stepping his E (which is relatively easy to do), and watching Shen's movements to watch for any behavioral cues.
Another possible solution, a rather radical one in itself, is to allow Shen to reposition his sword at will without utilizing his Q. This would clear up any inconsistencies and clunkiness associated with his sword's distance, but would come at the price of clarity and simplicity. This idea has been entertained by many, but while it seems logical it would make Shen feel too much like Orianna, in my opinion.
#2. Twilight Assault (Q) feels extremely clunky and unrewarding for a skirmishing and trading tool.
This is attributed to two things. First, Shen's Q auto attack buff doesn't start until the moment his blade reaches him. Second: the auto attacks themselves take too long to proc and are easy to retreat from. When playing Shen in the top lane, you usually don't have the tools to fight some of the more powerful top laners like 
or 
. Both can easily retreat should they suspect something, and can punish heavily for walking away from a failed engage. Shen theoretically has the tools to counter this, but they are not very reliable.
Many a time, Shen players have engaged while pulling in the blade through their opponent. However, by the time the blade has reached them, the opponent is already ahead of the Shen player and/or out of the taunt duration. While I do agree that Shen needs to be melee in order to give him ways to be countered, I feel like the slow on his Q isn't as punishing as it should, given the qualifications needed to actually pull it off. It takes careful positioning, planning, and outright reaction time in order to get a good engage with the Q, but it only takes a simple side step from your opponent or a 50 unit retreat in order to negate all that effort.
#Possible Solutions The best way to make Shen's Q feel less clunky and more rewarding lies in the reward for landing the Q on an opponent and the actual method of using it. Either increase the slow's duration and/or strength for pulling a spirit blade through an opponent or let the auto attack buffs prematurely activate. Increasing the duration of the slow could help deal with the slew of utility and escape tools top laners can have, inhibiting their movement further or for longer gives Shen a bigger window to force a fight to be in his favor, to reward good play and careful planning. This will separate the success rates between good Shens and great Shens. Should the latter be implemented, the actual blade's positioning could be used as a complimentary slow in exchange for the extra damage. For example, the tooltip could be read as follows:
Should the Spirit blade not reach Shen within .75 seconds, Shen's next three attacks are empowered anyway.
This would not only create some breathing room for Shen players, but give them options to actually think about. "Should I wait for my blade to pass through for extra damage or should I use my attacks now in order to avoid the risk of my opponent getting away unscathed?" This is the buff that could make Shen enter competitive play as a top laner again, as his versatility and strengths are exclusive against immobile, auto-attack oriented top laners. This could broaden the spectrum a bit, making Shen less of a super niche pick and more of a champion that can be played to complement his team's strengths while utilizing his own. Against champions like 
and 
, who can simply CC Shen and walk away once they realize he's going in, Shen can actually have the tools to hold his own against lanes with good disengage. Albeit they will be just as difficult as ever, but not impossible.
#3. Spirit's Refuge (W) is extremely powerful on its own, but nearly impossible to utilize correctly.
This ties back to Shen's spirit blade feeling more like an anchor than an actual pillar of strength. The positioning on Shen's W is extremely awkward, as the blade is almost always stationary when not being dragged around with Shen's Q. However, it also is attributed to the fact that using it punishes Shen very hard, even if he does use it at a very crucial moment. The massive cooldown of 18 seconds (12 when maxed out) is a good way to inhibit Shen's ability to spam it (inb4 URF mode Shen becoming Jax during the dodge era), but for a defensive tool it is extremely taxing to use. You lose 40 energy, which doesn't seem like much by itself, but when considering that the cooldown itself doesn't go down by much makes you think that the effect would last longer than 1.75 seconds when maxed out. The cooldown is too high, the energy cost isn't necessary because it's already inhibited by the cooldown, and for what it takes to position it right in the heat of battle, it doesn't offer much.
#Possible Solutions Shen's problems with his W lie in the lackluster reward for what is given in return. There is no reason to level up Spirit Refuge (W) at the moment because max level only gives you a cooldown reduction of 6 seconds. It doesn't feel like there is a reason to level it up even in the most defensive playstyle. Remove the unnecessary energy cost, lower its cooldown, or increase the protective zone duration per ability level. Removing the energy cost would only make sense, since as mentioned before, the cooldown is enough to gate it. An energy cost is a joke and serves no real purpose but to make awkward situations where you're 40 energy short for an ability. Should the energy cost stay, the cooldown of the actual ability should be reduced per level, perhaps at a decent 8 seconds when maxed out. This would make his W actually feel involved, and less like an ability to use then forget about. Additionally, the energy cost would actually make sense. The final of the three would be, in my opinion, the most logical. The protective zone, even at max rank, feels like a poor excuse of a defensive ability, since it doesn't feel like a tide-turning ability late game as it is. Increasing the duration to something reasonable late game, say to a decent 2.5-3 seconds (Ok, 3 seconds seems a bit excessive, but you get my point) would be better.)
Another solution that seems a bit more farfetched could be to add a health shield to the protective zone exclusively for allies. The original issue I found with this was that Shen would abuse the crap out of the extra health shield in lane, and be unkillable. The solution is to give it only to allies. This way, for the measly 1.75 second dodge zone, you can protect your team from AoE abilities and spells while inside the zone as well. It'd feel more like a "Spirit's Refuge" rather than a "Spirit's Bullet Time Zone." However, this change might actually break Shen, so we never know.
**Thank you for reading. I know this post was a little on the lengthy side, but I just wanted to express my views on the new Shen rework and possible suggestions that could be implemented to make his gameplay feel better. This is not a thread clamoring for Shen buffs. This is a subjective analysis. **
P.S: Don't start any comment wars. This is a place for discussion, not for a poor imitation of Comedy Central's roast sessions.
losing streak gets longer*[slayer-jinx-unamused]*
