In League of Legend's Season 11, various item changes have pushed a new tank meta on to the Rift. Tanks are the ultimate team players, helping stabilize volatile laning phases and guaranteeing their carries can safely scale into the late game monsters they’re capable of becoming. They also provide engage tools so that those carries can solely focus on pouring damage onto their crowd controlled victims. Despite their supportive nature, tanks can be found in more places on the map than the support role. In a world formerly dominated by bruisers, Shen leads the charge as tanks look to return to their former glory on the Rift.

Shen's Abilities

Ki Barrier is Shen’s passive ability. It provides a shield when Shen uses another ability.

Twilight Assault (Q) is a tricky ability that is key to using Shen effectively. Shen always has his Spirit Blade on the map. When Twilight Assault is used, his sword flies to him. Upon arrival, Shen’s next three auto-attacks do a percentage of the target's maximum health. If the Spirit Blade makes contact with an enemy on the way to Shen, it slows them when running away from Shen and enhances his empowered autos' damage.

Spirit's Refuge (W) creates a small zone around Shen’s Spirit Blade. When allies stand in this zone, they cannot be hit by auto-attacks.

Shadow Dash (E) is a short dash available to Shen. It does a small amount of damage and taunts monsters and enemy champions that it passes through. It also has a passive effect that gives Shen energy when he deals damage with Shadow Dash (E) or Twilight Assault (Q).

Shen’s ultimate ability is Stand United. Shen briefly channels this ability giving a shield to an ally on the map. The more health the target ally is missing, the larger the shield. Once he completes the channel, Shen teleports to the target ally champion.

Why Pick Shen?

Global ultimates carry a lot of weight. Champions such as Gangplank, Karthus, or Soraka are valued highly due to their global abilities. Global ultimates come in numerous shapes and sizes, but Shen’s comes via a teleport that shields a low health ally. Teleports are especially helpful due to their ability to create a number advantage out of otherwise even situations. As a result of their power, they’re far and few between in the game. Stand United is especially powerful for a variety of reasons. While already creating a champion advantage, Stand United also gives a large shield to the target, creating an artificial health advantage. Unlike similar ultimates like Twisted Fate’s Destiny, Shen’s teleport is truly global, with no max range. This allows him to bail teammates out of trouble regardless of his position on the map. Finally, due to the standard summoner spell choices for the top lane, Shen can afford to Teleport back to his lane if needed. This lets him effectively make Teleport plays without paying the consequences on the opposite side of the map.

In addition to the ultimate ability, Shen’s Shadow Dash (E) allows him to taunt numerous enemies. While many other taunts in the game are single target, Shen’s is a skill shot that allows him to hit multiple targets. This capability enables him to turn entire teamfights with quality uses of his Shadow Dash (E). With the potential for a multi-target crowd control ability, Shen’s teamfight presence is enormous, allowing him to peel for his backline. Between his Shadow Dash’s crowd control and the protection of Spirit’s Refuge, Shen can deter any pesky diver or assassin that looks to eliminate his ADC.

Finally, Shen’s shield from Ki Barrier (P) allows him to dominate in short trades in lane. His Shadow Dash enables him to escape from most engage attempts while also making it a death sentence to tower dive him. Simultaneously, his Shadow Dash (E) and Spirit’s Refuge (W) combo allows him to take trades without losing hardly any health. As a result, he’s a very stable laner who has very few problematic lane matchups.

What Items Should I Build?

Sunfire Aegis has taken over the meta for tanks in Season 11, and Shen is no exception. Shen should start with Sunfire Aegis, but following that item, he has a host of options. Shen’s build primarily depends on the opposing carries. The most common second items for Shen are Titanic Hydra, Randuin’s Omen, or Thornmail. Each of these options serve specific purposes. If your goal is to use Shen’s split pushing prowess, Titanic Hydra allows Shen to shove waves faster and accelerate the game by allowing him to create more map pressure. Randuin’s Omen is phenomenal in games where the opposing team has a marksman that stacks critical strike chance (or Yasuo or Yone). Meanwhile, Thornmail is another option when the opposing team has a non-crit ADC or someone with copious amounts of healing. Thornmail is incredibly potent on Shen due to his Shadow Dash (E) because he can force targets to auto-attack him. All of these are acceptable options for a second item and are dependent on the game state. Other notable items for Shen include Abyssal Mask and Force of Nature when the opponent has a large amount of magic damage.

What Runes Should I Use?

Shen relies on his ability to win short trades when played in the top lane, and his rune page reflects that. Grasp of the Undying is both an excellent keystone for tanks and melee champions who prefer short trades. Shen checks both of these boxes. Due to Ki Barrier (P), Shen always gets a shield during a fight. As a result, Shield Bash is a necessity for Shen to maximize his damage. Second Wind further accentuates Shen’s capacity for short trades, and Overgrowth is simply the best rune in its row for tanks. Domination is the best secondary tree for Shen. Cheap Shot allows for Shen to gain more damage from the use of his Shadow Dash. Meanwhile, Ultimate Hunter allows for Shen to lower the cooldown on his defining ability, Stand United (R).

Tips for Shen

As mentioned previously, Shen’s Ki Barrier (P) allows him to dominate in short trades. Make sure this ability is off cooldown before you trade in lane.

Shen gives some of the best leashes in the game due to his ability to get six empowered auto attacks from Twilight Assault (Q). Use Twilight Assault (Q) at 1:22, auto attack the buff three times, and then use Twilight Assault (Q) to pull your sword through the buff and auto the buff three more times. This leash maximizes your damage, helping your jungler stay ahead in their clear.

Don’t be afraid to regularly use Twilight Assault, even if you can’t manage an angle to pull the sword through your target. Shen’s lack of mana allows him to sustain in the lane for a long time and thus encourages frequent trading.

When playing against champions with an ability that empowers their auto attacks, look to save Spirit’s Refuge (W) for those abilities. The cooldown will still be used despite the enemy not getting any damage out of their ability.

Because Twilight Assault (Q) slows the target from running from Shen if the sword collides with them, it can be very beneficial to set up ganks for your jungler. This slow also makes it slightly easier to guarantee Shadow Dash (E) doesn’t miss.

Watch your teammates' health bars above the minimap. These icons can help you watch for opportunities to use Stand United (R). Map awareness is vital; otherwise, Stand United gets no value. Look to create number advantages when they’re needed.

Summary

Shen is a phenomenal tank pick to survive lane and help support his teammates. His global presence allows for a massive spike in map pressure in the mid-game. Through that map pressure, he can snowball the game for his carries and enable them. Item changes have given Shen all the tools he needs to become a dominant force on the Rift. In Season 11, tanks are king, and the Eye of Twilight is a sure way to more LP.