Overview
Have you ever dreamed of transforming into a dragon? No? Honestly, neither have I. But I have done it in League of Legends thanks to Shyvana -- she is a champion that has gone through multiple identity shifts throughout her tenure on the roster, but one thing that has remained consistent is her fast clear speed (and ability to transform into a dragon). These days, she functions more as a caster who can deal huge chunks of damage to unsuspecting enemies. Click here for the latest data on her best builds, including Runes, Items, Summoner Spells, and more.
Keys to Remember About Shyvana
She plays more like a poke champion (or like Nidalee specifically) in that the bulk of her damage comes from her Flame Breath [E] -- it's a huge nuke once you're in dragon form, and you should think of yourself more as a caster than a melee bruiser.
Her clear speed is excellent, and you should prioritize farming early -- this can involve invading the enemy jungler if your laners have priority, but be careful invading if your lanes are losing!
Strengths
She has an extremely fast clear speed, which should allow her to threaten to invade the enemy jungler consistently. She has a lot of damage in 1v1 situations if she’s able to get the jump on the enemy by sitting in a bush, for example. And once she’s able to level up to 6, she’ll have a ton of damage potential in her dragon form especially, where her Flame Breath will eat a huge chunk of enemy health bars from afar. Combined with being able to jump on enemies with Dragon’s Descent [R] and the speed on Burnout [W], she can find kills as long as she can land her E. Come end game, a single E landing can be enough to one-shot some squishy champions or at least force them back to their base.
Weaknesses
She doesn’t have much gank potential early before her dragon form, as she won’t have any form of CC. If your allies have CC, then she can provide the extra damage to secure kills, but in general, she’s better off power farming early to try to rush to her ultimate. She’s better off pressuring enemies by threatening their camps or neutral objectives, but both of those options open her up to being caught by enemies. As the game progresses, she’ll have a significant difference in power depending on whether she has her dragon form up or not -- she needs to secure kills in those windows, or she’ll feel rather useless.
Game Plan
Early Game: Look to power farm to get to level 6 as quickly as possible. Always invade the enemy jungler if they try to make plays on the opposite side of the map.
Mid Game: Whenever your ultimate is up, you should be looking to make plays to get kills. Otherwise, you’ll have a lot of power at neutral objectives and should look to force them.
Late Game: Late game you should play like a poke champion and play around your E cooldown with your ultimate up -- if you can land a couple, then your team will be in great position to win fights.
