How Does One Counter Shaco?

Im The Jayce God·Aug 12, 2016·1 votes·631 views

Probably the stupidest game I had last game. I fight Panth at level 2, out trading him, he starts walking toward me so i head back to not take damage(top lane). Boom, as im heading toward my tower (literally were trading damage at first bush) an invisible Shaco appears with his box that stuns me and kills me for first blood. My bush was warded, there was no way to see him at all. Shaco went 15/0 in 21 minutes getting fed off bot, mid, and my lane. Literally nothing we could do. By the time we were level 9 for the Oracle or watever, it was gg. I tried Vision ward, didnt work because he comes from other areas.

11 Comments

AstôlfoAug 12, 20162 votes

You need pink wards. Don't put them in the usual areas. For him to gank toplane (where I'm assuming you were, given you were fighting Pantheon), there's only two entrances for him to come really (outside of just through the lane which really doesn't last long enough to work). One is the river entrance and the other is the main bush entrance. Unless he went all the way around through your top jungle, he'd have to come through his side still to go through either one. Placing a pink somewhere like a little behind the main river bush (to both check for jumps across that ledge on blue side) as well as him coming through the main alleyway is an easy way to do that.

I mean sure you can say he can destroy the pink ward, but they're only 75 gold and you can buy 2 at a time, and if he takes the time to destroy it, you know he's there and can safely back first.

420 gramsAug 12, 20161 votes

I hate having to create a 105 gold gap just to watch for a gank.

AstôlfoAug 12, 20161 votes

150* actually. But you don't necessarily have to buy 2 every time. Just even one (75) is enough in early phase usually as long as you play like you normally would. If you're pushed up and no one has seen the jungler for a while, you can assume that they'd want to target you whether or not they're near. A good rule to play by is, "if you think something bad's gonna happen, you should play as if it will". Respect Shaco's stealth and leap. If he places a box down, it immediately breaks his stealth, so there's that too. The boxes also don't immediately arm. Thus, if you can avoid getting aggro'd by the box in the case where you have to retreat, you can avoid a large part of the trouble there as well.

Shaco is a cheese champ who revolves around getting kills for his laners as much as possible in early game because he's practically just a splitpush bot after that. Sure, he can eliminate more or less any one squishy target if they wander off by themselves, but that applies to just about any assassin. Also, with how his kit requires him to go in, it's mostly useless in teamfights. He's amazing at splitpushing though thanks to being able to easily escape if need be and duo-aggroing towers with his ultimate clone.

420 gramsAug 12, 20161 votes

How is it 150? You spend 75 to buy ward, they only get 30 for destroying. 75 + 30 = 105

AstôlfoAug 12, 20161 votes

Oh, I was assuming the 75*2 for buying 2 pinks. My bad.

I mean, you can think about it this way. A kill (at a default base, before kills/bounties/death count affect it) is 300 gold. Would you rather lose 105 or 300 + multiple more from the CS that'll be lost?

420 gramsAug 12, 20161 votes

I get that, but it's not that simple. It's more like a gamble where you're giving 105 to give a better chance of them not getting 300. But if your opponent in lane destroys the pink before the jungler, there goes 105.

AstôlfoAug 12, 20161 votes

I mean that applies to anything really. By placing a pink in the bush instead for example, you can check for their wards and then pop them. Which means they have no wards and are susceptible to a gank.

Same thing here. If they just wander down to destroy it, you really should be trying to at least do something to discourage them. Pink wards regenerate health over time.

DREADN0UGHTAug 12, 20161 votes

I'll give you a hint. It costs 75g and is pink.

Im The Jayce GodAug 12, 20161 votes

Thanks because i didnt address that or anything

BronzoidAug 12, 20161 votes

Shaco is feast or famine. For every 15-0 Shaco there is a 0-5 one who turns the game into a 4v5. Shaco needs to be fed to be useful, otherwise he's worse than a minion.

L Psy KongrooAug 12, 20161 votes

Mechanically, there's almost nothing you can do. His boxes block your skillshots, his E is point-and-click, he dodges your cc with his ult, and escapes with his Q. The way you stop Shaco is to be smarter than him. It sounds condescending, but it's honestly the best way to keep Shaco from getting ahead.

For starters, never assume Shaco will take a predictable gank path. Ward as though you were warding against a Zac: deep into the river, over walls instead of in bushes, and always be wary of lane ganks if you're pushed.

As a Shaco main, one of the things I absolutely hate is laners who place pinks in the middle of their lane. It sounds unorthodox, but as long as you can protect it through proper minion wave management, Shaco can't touch you. A pink in the middle of your lane renders you all but immune to a Shaco gank from ANY direction. A pink in a river bush might protect you from one gank, but after that it will get destroyed by the jungler and Shaco will be back in about 30 seconds. Place your pink in the lane slightly behind your minions, then freeze the wave as best you can to prevent their top laner from getting to it. You can even place it in the middle lane bush to keep it safer (though this will require you to hug that bush closely for it to have an effect). This strategy has gotten a lot easier now that pinks have 5 HP and regenerate if not attacked.

Other than that, the main thing is just to stop him from snowballing. This means you MUST play safe during the first ~10 minutes of the game; don't trade with your laner as much, focus on farming, and adopt a passive stance in lane. Be extremely careful about pushing the lane. Freeze the wave near your tower if you can. Shaco cannot reliably tower dive pre-6.

And for the love of god, DON'T stay in lane when you're low HP. If you've just killed your laner and are at 100-200 HP, back the hell off instead of sticking around to get some farm. Those minions are not worth your life. There are so many times when I've been able to pick up free kills as Shaco simply by catching out careless laners who don't back when they should. This is what gets Shaco fed and snowballing. Ideally you would call your own jungler to collect the gold/XP while you retreat to safety, but if it comes down to it, just leave the lane. As long as Shaco isn't given anything easy, he won't be much of a threat later on.