How come no one uses Shen support??

Gare Jordans·Sep 2, 2014·2 votes·1,287 views

He can peel because of his taunt. He has a heal off of his Q. He can also absorb quite a bit of damage. How come no one chooses to play him?? He seems like a niche pick anymore.

10 Comments

Firefox711Sep 2, 20142 votes

I like to play Shen support sometimes, but I usually play him just to have fun in normals-- the same goes for other unconventional supports LeeSin Anivia Xerath Orianna

Like you've mentioned he does have some things in his kit that allows him to support, especially his Q which gives so much sustain to your ADC and scales of HP which you naturally buy as a support with item 2049 item 3097 item 3067 . So, in lane he is great.

For me, its not the items that becomes a problem, since I often find myself transitioning well into the midgame with item 2045 item 3401 and i pretty much can afford to get item 3143 after. So, I am somewhat durable in teamfights for my ADC.

However his ult cooldown is very long. 200/180/160 for ranks 1,2, and 3 respectively. Even at %40 max CDR, his ult at rank 3 is at 96 seconds ( 1 min 36 seconds) which at least for my games, makes it unreliable to have it up for every team fight/objective.

So, that's one of the major limits that kinda hurts his teamfighting a bit, and for good reasons too x) Nonetheless, I like to play shen support to have fun and move around the map like a ninja :P

67chromeSep 3, 20142 votes

How come no one chooses to play him?

It's a matter of other champions doing his job better.

Actual supports like Tresh, Nami, Braum, and Leona are just in a different league than Shen. They're designed to be a massive play-maker with the least gold and experience on their team.

Shen is designed more to require the same gold and experience as the rest of his team to make plays, so support Shen is like AP Ezreal. It's not that he can't do it, there's just so many champions that are better at pulling it off.

HigeRSep 2, 20141 votes

I was thinking this the other day O.o he's got an awesome kit for a support but I've never seen it, guess it's time to try it ._.

Hyrum GraffSep 2, 20141 votes

He can also absorb quite a bit of damage.

This only happens once he gets items, though. Which he can't do, as a support.

Gare JordansSep 3, 20141 votes

Two of my last three games were Shen support. My goal isn't to completely argue his relevance, but I did absorb quite a bit of damage, and get enough gold to get items necessary to be a tank as a support.

Hyrum GraffSep 3, 20141 votes

To be fair, though, pretty much anyone can work anywhere at our elo. Heck, I play Kat and Jinx as supports and do well.

AliceInMadnessSep 2, 20141 votes

Why support with with Shen who scales so well with items and can ult uninterupted from the jungle or top lane, when Braum does all he does as support(apart from the heal) but with less item dependancy and better poke and peel(shens taunt has a long cd and high energy cost and is his only cc). Same goes for thresh. Not that he is bad, just others do It better in this position.

A2ZOMGSep 4, 20141 votes

Why support with with Shen who scales so well with items and can ult uninterupted from the jungle or top lane, when Braum does all he does as support(apart from the heal) but with less item dependancy and better poke and peel(shens taunt has a long cd and high energy cost and is his only cc). Same goes for thresh. Not that he is bad, just others do It better in this position.

Jungle and Top Shen both waste Shen's potential because he's awful at both and doesn't scale nearly hard enough to be a reliable split pusher. Shen's kit actually is quite ideal for supporting when he's able to outlane people like Braum, Leona, and Thresh pretty easily given he's super hard to engage on and has manaless poke/sustain.

AliceInMadnessSep 4, 20141 votes

Shen isnt awful at top nor jungle and scales of max hp in damage, sustain and tankability. He isnt a boss pick for everything but is great at those positions if not countrpicked. Tops arent necessary splitpushers, and Shen is actually pretty decent at it.

He can't outlane those supports given that he is hard to engage on, since the carry is not and there's a problem. And that disnengage spell is all the peel and offensive cc he has and loses if he jumps away with it.

He can only shield himself and doesent do enough damage to compensate in duo lanes where braum and leona have powerful burst and more reliable cc in active kit and passives.

None of those supports have mana issues.

His poke is his sustain too so he is boned if he chooses one for the other in a duo lane because that sustain makes him push the lane and suffer harass from the adc and support if he tries it.

Shens kit makes him a good solo laner but really not that good post-cheese bot since his kit supports him but not his carry and cant really provide much in 2v2's to protect his carry after his e which is expensive as hell. All of his support power lies in his taunt in engages, and his q is useful only after he gets some items for sustain.

A2ZOMGSep 4, 20141 votes

Shen's a garbage jungler who can't farm fast enough to be efficient. His ganking is also nowhere near reliable enough to compensate for it.

Top lane Shen loses basically 90% of the relevant matchups because he's garbage at pushing and he is useless if he doesn't get ganks to snowball, because then he just loses towers if he tries to ult. And top lane Shen NEEDS to be able to outbully his opponent to be a threat on the map. If you're getting solo farm, you BETTER be able to 1v1 people, which Shen can't do. Making him a huge liability when you put solo lane gold into a champion who is either a terrible bruiser or simply a support that farms and ults the carry.

Shen is a good bodyguard against Braum/Leona because if they try to engage, Shen can win he exchange by taunting the AD and disengaging, which he will get to do without a problem given if you've already presumably wasted spells attempting to engage on the AD. Then Shen just sustains himself and the AD, resumes poking, and comes out ahead. Furthermore Shen can simply bodyblock Braum's enage and never be at risk of dying, while still outpoking him.

Furthermore, Support Shen can force Dragons EXTREMELY early due to how powerful his sustain is. Doesn't matter if your team is half dead and level 4, you can do Dragon with Shen very easily if the other team doesn't contest.

Support Shen actually makes the best use of Shen's ultimate by being a bot lane support that is able to farm the jungle or unoccupied lanes on the side which gives him an EXP advantage midgame over other supports. And in the meantime, your top lane pick will likely be something that is far superior at actually split pushing which allows superior map pressure combined with the supplementary pressure that Shen exerts.