An argument of why not to revert Current Shen (and a defense of new Shen)

Warning: Very, Very Lengthy and In-Depth Reading from a Very Passionate Shen Player

Introductions I am Tennousu, a Platinum ranked and 400k+ Mastery Level 7 Shen player. I used to extensively play Shen before his rework, and after his rework at the start of season 6, quit him due to his new sword-dragging mechanic and wrote him off as another one of Riot's failures. Fast forward to mid Season-7, and my ADC friend suggests I pick him up again just for funsies in normals. To my surprise, I actually have fun on him, and maybe, just maybe, he isn't the hot piece of garbage I think he is. Now at the start of season 9, I have successfully used Shen to climb to Plat for the past two seasons.

Why am I making this post? Because I am very, very tired of the constant "Revert Shen" posts that frequently pop up on these boards. Most of the time, they're nothing more than "Hue Old Shen good, New Shen bad, Where my Y33T Throw Swords, Riot Why You Delete Shen, Revert Shen 111!11" and the like. Others completely write off Shen's current kit, and disparage how his current kit functions (Sword Drag sucks, W sucks, etc.) while asking Riot to bring back parts of old Shen's kit such as the (in)famous Vorpal Blade and Ki Strike. Thus, I'm going to go in-depth and explain just WHY Riot chose to rework Shen in the first place, while at the same time explaining why new Shen has his merits and is (arguably) far better than his original counterpart.

Part 1: Old Shen Before we discuss new Shen, we first have to discuss Old Shen. Just by glancing at New Shen, we can see that two parts of his current kit (His iconic taunt and global ult) were kept by Riot, while three others (Vorpal Blade - Q, Feint (Shield) -W, and Ki Strike - Passive) were changed/removed. But why exactly were they changed?

Vorpal Blade Cost: 60 Energy Cooldown: 6-4 Seconds Magic Damage: 60/100/140/180/220 (+ 60% AP) Healing Per Second: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 (+ 0.5% maximum health) Maximum Healing: 8 / 16 / 24 / 32 / 40 (+ 4% maximum health) Shen throws a blade at the target enemy, dealing them magic damage and marking them for 5 seconds. Shen and allied champions are healed over 3 seconds upon damaging a marked enemy, with the duration refreshing with subsequent damage. If Vorpal Blade kills its target, Shen instantly benefits from a second's worth of healing. " His old Q had some neat interactions with other champions, but ultimately it was basically a point-and-click damage ability with some bells and whistles attached. " - Riot Vorpal Blade was Shen's old main damage spell, and what he relied on to get through laning phase. In my honest opinion, Riot was spot on in their description. All you did in lane phase was either spam it on an opponent, or use it to secure last hits or slowly sustain up. It was highly un-interactive, both for Shen and his opponent, and basically existed as a stat-check: can you damage Shen more than his vorpal blade can poke you down while sustaining him? In fact, it was so stat-checking in nature that Riot had to repeatedly nerf the heal it provided, as that, combined with Doran's Shield and building tank items (Hello Sunfire) essentially made Shen a stone wall that couldn't be forced out of lane. It was only ever good for laning phase, and its damage literally fell off a cliff afterwards; Shen's current maxed ranked Q will always outdamage maxed rank Vorpal Blade once the enemy passes 1000 HP. Its only use in teamfights was to act as a better version of font of life when you marked opponents, essentially hidden and unappreciated power unseen by both team and enemy. When people say they miss old Shen, THIS is the ability they frequently point to. No, you don't miss old Shen. You miss having an unlimited, magic damage, shorter ranged version of Pantheon Q/Gangplank Q that could also heal you in lane and prevent you from ever dying, while leaving your opponent no way to play around it other than stay out of range of the point-and-click.

Feint Cost: 50 Energy Cooldown: 9-5 Seconds Shield Strength: 60 / 100 / 140 / 180 / 220 (+ 60% AP) Shen Shields himself up to 3 seconds. "Feint - his old W - had aged even worse, and was basically a pretty bland shield (because practically no-one built AP on Shen) that just interfered with his otherwise precious energy pool...... Shen’s new passive shield is a key part of the big man’s repertoire, particularly come late game. Past level 16, his shield literally has no cooldown when he lands his abilities on other champions" - Riot Not much to say here. Press W for a flat shield. Again, I believe Riot was spot in their description of how stupidly boring this ability was, and how it practically had no scaling or value, especially since it was maxed last. Hell, Shen's current passive is effectively this ability in all but name, except it comes up far more often, if you can use your abilities smartly enough. Riot's description also brings up another interesting problem that not many people tend to acknowledge (or to the contrary, too many people choose not to remember) about Old Shen: energy costs. We'll cover this a bit later.

Ki Strike Static Cooldown: 10/9/8 seconds Shen's basic attacks periodically deal 8 − 76 (based on level) (+ 10% bonus health) bonus magic damage and restore 10 / 20 / 30 energy. Every basic attack reduces Ki Strike's cooldown by 1 second (doubled while Feint Feint holds). This is the other ability that people often point towards. At its core, it was essentially a different version of Grasp of the Undying (that is now replaced by... Grasp of the Undying), that acted as Shen's only form of energy restoration outside of taunt. During laning phase, you would only ever use it sparingly, (often when going in for a full combo with taunt) as it would trigger too often while last hitting. The feint portion was usually only good for a single auto attack (2 seconds), as Feint's shield tended to get bursted through too quickly as well.

Energy Costs The elephant in the room no one wants to talk about when bringing up old Shen. Old Shen, for all his nostalgia, had some GOD AWFUL energy costs, partly due to the fact that he was Riot's first energy-based champion. Your full combo, Taunt E -> Vorpal Q -> Feint W costed a whopping 210 energy (at rank one taunt, 190 at level max ranked taunt) out of Shen's base 200 energy pool (10 energy regen/sec). The ONLY two ways you were getting that energy back as Shen was either: one, land your empowered Ki Strike (for 30 energy back at level 16) or two, land your taunt (40 energy back for every opponent hit). Did you land your full combo against a single opponent, preferably with your Ki Strike up? Congrats, you just expended 190 energy for 70 energy back. Do you want to continue damaging/dueling your opponent by spamming your Vorpal Blade, while also using your Feint Shield to protect yourself? Nope, you'll only regen just energy to use your Vorpal Q off its 4 second cooldown, which by the way, USES 60 energy against the 40 you'll naturally regen. Think you'll just skip one Vorpal Q to regain the energy to use your W (and suck up another 50 energy) when that's off its 5 second cooldown that also only allows enough time for 50 energy to come back? Congrats, now your taunt is back up BUT now you LACK the energy to use that too!

Part Two: New Shen Now that we covered the problems with Shen's old kit, I want to explain just how powerful Shen's current kit really is. Shen traded away two very generic, boring abilities in exchange for two more powerful active ones. Yes, Riot also did more than that and tweaked his base stats slightly. But there are reasons for that as well.

Base Stats A common criticism of new Shen, one that isn't exactly without merit. Shen does in fact have somewhat below average base stats, especially in comparison to other champions, including his fellow tanks. There are no shortage of posts pointing out this seemingly strange hypocrisy of Riot's. I won't argue against this. Instead, I will explain why: to balance around Shen's new kit, primarily his new passive.

Ki Barrier Static Cooldown: 10 seconds Innate: After completing an ability's effects, Shen Hybrid resistances icon shields himself from 50 − 101 (based on level) (+ 14% bonus health) damage for 2.5 seconds. If the triggering ability successfully affected at least one champion, Ki Barrier's Cooldown reduction icon cooldown is reduced by 4 − 7.5 (based on level) seconds. Shen's old W, in the form of his new passive. And with some actual form of scaling, to boot. The reason why Shen's base stats are so low is due to this one passive. But to explain why, its important to grasp just how exactly this passive works, and in the process, address another common criticism: that this passive "can't" be controlled. Every 10 seconds, Shen's passive will go off cooldown and become "active". Using any ability will cause Shen to gain a shield at the end of that ability. For Q, when the sword arrives at Shen's position. For W, when the taunt circle comes off. For E, at the end of the taunt. For Ult, when the channel finishes and Shen arrives at his target. Affecting any champion with one of Shen's abilities lowers the cooldown of his passive (e.g. taunting a target, dragging your Q through an opponent and hitting them with it, blocking an auto attack with W). You'll mainly notice this effect in laning phase and during teamfights, especially in regards to your full combo. Why? Because Shen can proc his shield twice, once at the beginning and end of a E-Q-W combo. Wait till the passive is off combo. Use your E to taunt in. The first shield proc occurs at the end of this E. At the same time, drag your Q through your opponent, either during or after you landed your taunt. Finally, WAIT for the taunt to wear off, along with the first shield, THEN pop W. This has two benefits: first, it maximizes the effect of your first shield, and prevents you from wasting your W while the shield is still active. Second, it allows the second shield to absorb any non auto-based retaliation from your opponent, while your W absorbs the damage you'll draw from the enemy minion wave and any auto-based damage they do have. As for controlling the shield, this is rather quite simple. Is your passive off cooldown? Use any ability (mainly Q) to gain a shield. Is it not off cooldown? Don't worry about it. During laning phase, the main trick is to resist using Q to always last hit minions, thus triggering your shield at inopportune moments and forcing you to wait till it comes back up again. Save it only for when the time counts, such as to safely last hit a siege minion, or waiting to use your full combo in a trade.

Twilight Assault Cost: 140 / 130 / 120 / 110 / 100 energy Cooldown: 8 / 7.25 / 6.5 / 5.75 / 5 seconds Bonus Magic Damage: 5 − 30 (based on level) (+ 2 / 2.5 / 3 / 3.5 / 4% (+ 1.5% per 100 AP) of target's maximum health) Increased Bonus Magic Damage: 5 − 30 (based on level) (+ 4 / 4.5 / 5 / 5.5 / 6% (+ 2% per 100 AP) of target's maximum health) Shen recalls his Spirit Blade to his location. Enemies the blade collides with are slowed for the next 2 seconds when moving away from Shen. Once it arrives, Shen empowers his next 3 basic attacks within 8 seconds to gain 75 bonus range and deal bonus magic damage. If the Spirit Blade collides with an enemy champion, the empowerment is enhanced, dealing increased bonus magic damage and gaining 50% bonus attack speed. New Shen's bread and butter. Your last hitting tool, the main way to activate your passive shield, and your main damage and dueling ability. In laning phase, you'll mainly be using this ability to secure last hits under tower. For mage minions, Doran's Shield, along with one adaptive force rune and a rank two Q at level 4 is enough to last hit after one tower shot. For Siege minions, be patient enough and towers will always leave them at sub 50 health, enough to last hit with any rank in Q. Yes, the sword dragging is somewhat clunky, and for some, a major turn off. Back when Riot reworked Shen, it was during a very strange phase where many reworks and champion kits focused around "minigames", forcing you to directly interact with your opponent for some (in theory) greater benefit than if you didn't. In Shen's case, dragging the sword through someone for higher damage than if you didn't. And we do get damage. Every sword drag you successfully pull off gives you an ability that deals 300% AD damage, along with 15 - 90 ( + 12 - 18% of target's maximum health) magic damage, on a 5 second cooldown. Not to mention effects procced by each auto attack (hello Titanic Hydra). This is what makes Shen a dueling tank. Respectable base damage for free, scaling along with your opponent, that lets you build for defense.

Spirit's Refuge Cost: 40 energy Cooldown: 18 / 16.5 / 15 / 13.5 / 12 seconds Shen primes his Spirit Blade, creating an area around it. If Shen or an allied champion enter the area, or after 2 seconds, the Spirit Blade creates a protective zone around it for 1.75 seconds, causing allies in the zone to dodge attacks. Shen's new W. An extremely powerful ability, one that many people seem to underestimate. An AOE auto-attack dodge zone, a free Jax W not just for you, but also your teammates. Effectively, a shield that can absorb infinite damage from auto attacks during its 1.75 duration. Block even a single auto attack, and you'll have mitigated more damage than your old W could ever have. And in the top lane, there are a myriad of empowered auto attacks to block from different opponents. Block Garen Q, Renekton empowered W, Nasus Q, Riven passive, Aatrox passive, Jax W. Block not just that, but also abilities that act like auto-attacks and proc on-hit effects: Irelia Q dash, Fiora Q (and E!), Gangplank Q, Ezreal's Q, Yasuo's tornado, Warwick's Q and his entire ult (lol). In a meta where adc crits and triforce empowered autos can reach 400, 500, 600+ damage pre-mitigation, and that's a massive amount of damage you can block with a single ability. Even better if you block more than one auto. And don't forget, your teammates can benefit from this as well. A single auto attack blocked can be the difference between your carry dying after being jumped on by an Irelia or Jax, or surviving by the skin of their teeth.

I'm going to end this here because I've literally spent the last two hours creating this post, but I do hope I've spread some more informaShen and help some prospective and former Shen players gain some better insight on this champion. If there's anything I missed, bring it up in the comments and I'll try to address you.

Edit: One last quick edit. For those who come in with the usual board arguments: Shen is currently in a weak state, or that he's nothing more than a boring ult-and-taunt bot, or that he can't carry and that it sucks to be reliant on teammates. This is just copy-paste from another post I made earlier, but:

Strictly numbers-wise, Shen is doing fine. NA op.gg has Shen at a 49.2% win rate overall, while lolalytics has him at a 50% win rate overall in the top lane. Remember that Shen is a champ balanced solely around professional and coordinated team play. That is a very respectable win rate for solo queue, especially if you compare Shen to his other professionally balanced counterparts (Kalista, Ryze, Azir, Sejuani, Galio.)

Yes, R into E-Q-W is 90% of what Shen does. Yes, it can be boring sometimes. But remember, that's literally why you pick Shen. Shen's kit is like what it currently is solely because of your ability to immediately grant someone on the other side of the map a shield and teleport to them. Your ult is a literal game changer. Games are won or lost based on a single use of your ult. Save your jungle from an invade, or help him invade the enemy's jungle. Save your carry from assassination, and maybe pick off an enemy at the same time to turn the game into a 4 v. 5. Get the snowball rolling down in botlane, and get your ADC a double kill, or save both your carry and support from a gank. The possibilities are endless.

Again to reiterate, Shen is balanced around team play (Hello LCS). Yes, it feels horrible to lose when you have incompetent teammates. But on the flip side, it also feels amazing to win when you do have good team members. The higher in elo you climb, the better Shen becomes, simply because your teammates are more likely to know what they're doing, and how to take advantage of having a Shen on their team.