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By GamGem ResearchLast updated 18 Oct 2026

Shaco Build — AP or AD? Runes and Counters · Patch 26.20

the Demon Jester

Patch 26.20 · Stats from the 26.18 Master+ sample (2,616 games).

Shaco, the Demon Jester, turns invisible and blinks with Deceive and plants fear-casting Jack In The Box traps. In our Master+ count the answer to AP or AD is AP: Blackfire Torch then Liandry's Torment was his most-bought path, with Arcane Comet and Hail of Blades nearly level. Nidalee, Hecarim and Rengar were his toughest jungle matchups. He did better against Graves and Vi.

Assassin

Patch 26.18 · Jungle · Ranked Solo/Duo · Master+ · EUW · KR · NA · 2,616 games · Preview sample

Role snapshot (Jungle)

STier
Win Rate
51.9%
Pick Rate
4.0%
Ban Rate
9.8%

2,616

Games

High

Confidence

Win rate by lane

  • Jungle52.9% · 2,122 games
  • Support47.4% · 344 games · small sample

Most common path

274 games

52.9%Win Rate

Start
IgniteSmite

Highest win rate path

43 games

67.4%Win Rate

Start
IgniteSmite

Other first item

75 games

58.7%Win Rate

Start
IgniteFlash

Runes

Patch 26.18

This exact page: taken in 21.8% of games·51.7% win rate over 569 games.

Primary

Sorcery

Arcane Comet

Damaging a champion with an ability hurls a damaging comet at their location.

Axiom Arcanist

Your Ultimate has increased damage, healing, and shielding. Scoring a takedown on an enemy champion reduces your Ultimate's current cooldown.

Transcendence

Gain bonuses upon reaching the following levels:Level 5: +5 Ability Haste Level 8: +5 Ability Haste Level 11: On Champion takedown, reduce the remaining cooldown of basic abilities by 20%.

Gathering Storm

Gain increasing amounts of AD or AP, adaptive over the course of the game.

Secondary

Precision

Legend: Haste

Takedowns on enemies grant permanent Basic Ability Haste.

Cut Down

Deal more damage to high health enemy champions.

Shards

  • Attack Speed
  • Adaptive Force
  • Health Scaling

Other keystones taken

  • Hail of Blades41.7% taken · 51.7% win1,090 games
  • Dark Harvest10.2% taken · 52.8% win267 games
  • First Strike2.1% taken · 51.8% win56 games

Tree pairs

  • Sorcery + Precision39.1% taken · 51.9% win1,023 games
  • Domination + Precision23.2% taken · 50.5% win608 games
  • Domination + Inspiration14.6% taken · 50.9% win383 games

Skill Order

Which ability to max first, and the level each point goes in — Shaco's most common path.

Q

Deceive

Shaco becomes Invisible and teleports to target location.

Cooldown 13/12.5/12/11.5/11s · 40 Mana
W

Jack In The Box

Shaco creates a hidden animated Jack-in-the-Box.

Cooldown 15s · 70/65/60/55/50 Mana
E

Two-Shiv Poison

Shaco's Shivs passively poison targets on hit, slowing their Move Speed.

Cooldown 8s · 75 Mana
R

Hallucinate

Shaco creates an illusion of himself near him, which can attack nearby enemies (Deals reduced damage to turrets).

Cooldown 100/90/80s · 100 Mana

Max Order

WEQ

Max W first, then E, then Q. Take R whenever available (6 / 11 / 16).

Level-up Order

  • Q
  • W
  • E
  • R
Ability123456789101112131415161718
QDeceiveQQQQQ
WJack In The BoxWWWWW
ETwo-Shiv PoisonEEEEE
RHallucinateRRR

Matchup map (Jungle)

How Shaco performs against enemy jungle laners

Levels 1 – 18 · Master+40%60%Shaco's win rate
≥ 60%Very favorable
55 – 60%Favorable
50 – 55%Even
45 – 50%Unfavorable
40 – 45%Hard
< 40%Very hard

Conditional build matrix

Recommended items by enemy team composition

Master+ · Patch 26.18
Mythic / CoreFirst major item
Core 2Second item
Core 3Third item
BootsBoot slot
SituationalPick as needed

Scaling — minute 10–30

ShacoJungle average

Gold

102030

Damage to champions

102030

CS

102030

Counter plan — how to beat Shaco

  • Deny the reset — it wants a kill to come back out; a warded exit removes it

  • Punish the cooldown — Shaco is exposed while its rotation is down

  • Ward the flank — vision is what turns its best opening into a worse one

  • Respect the spike — Riot rates the kit 9/10, so a practised player gets more out of it than the average

  • Trade on your terms — take the fight where its damage lands on nobody

Ability details

  • P

    Backstab

    Shaco's basic attacks and Two-Shiv Poison deal additional damage when striking from behind.

    Passive — never cast

  • Q

    Deceive

    Shaco becomes Invisible and teleports to target location.His first attack while Invisible is empowered, dealing bonus damage and critically striking if he attacks from behind.

    Cost 40 ManaCooldown 13/12.5/12/11.5/11sRange 400

  • W

    Jack In The Box

    Shaco creates a hidden animated Jack-in-the-Box. When triggered, it will fear and attack nearby enemies.

    Cost 70/65/60/55/50 ManaCooldown 15sRange 500

  • E

    Two-Shiv Poison

    Shaco's Shivs passively poison targets on hit, slowing their Move Speed. He can throw his Shivs to deal damage and poison the target. The thrown Shiv deals bonus damage if the target is below 30% health.

    Cost 75 ManaCooldown 8sRange 625

  • R

    Hallucinate

    Shaco creates an illusion of himself near him, which can attack nearby enemies (Deals reduced damage to turrets). Upon death, it explodes, spawning three mini Jack in the Boxes and dealing damage to nearby enemies.

    Cost 100 ManaCooldown 100/90/80sRange 200

Shaco balance history

Riot's notes from patch 25.S1.1 to 26.20 change Shaco in 3 patches. The latest is patch 26.1, published 2026-01-07.

  1. Patch 26.12026-01-07

    PBackstab

    • Damage20-35 (based on level) (+25% bonus AD)to20-35 (based on level)(+ 20% bonus AD)
    • Crit Modifier100% (1.75/2.15x)to100% (2.0/2.3x)

    QDeceive

    • Backstab Modifier1.55/1.95xto60% of bonus crit damage (1.6/1.78x)
    • Backstab on Crit100% (1.75/2.15x)to100% (2.0/2.3x)
    Why, in Riot's words

    When Shaco crits during a Backstab or a Deceive, everything crits along with it for his full crit damage, so his top end can be very, very high. We like that he builds for crit sometimes and want to let as many of these tools inherit the new higher base crit damage, but also want to modernize his other scalings to respect crit damage mods more consistently and generally preserve the total power level of Shaco builds that don't buy any critical strike chance.

  2. Patch 25.162025-08-12

    PBackstab

    • Bonus AD Ratio30%to25%

    QDeceive

    • Bonus AD Ratio65%to60%
    • Cooldown12 / 11.5 / 11 / 10.5 / 10 secondsto13 / 12.5 / 12 / 11.5 / 11 seconds
    Why, in Riot's words

    Shaco's ban rate has been creeping up, so we're going to tap him down in a few areas that should hopefully reduce the frustration of playing against him, like his repeated invisibility on Q. Right now his AP build is better than the AD alternative, but AD is still his primary build, so we’re going to adjust both.

  3. Patch 25.072025-04-01

    PBackstab

    • Damage20-35 (based on level) (+ 25% Bonus AD) Bonus Physical Damageto20-35 (based on level) (+ 30% Bonus AD) Bonus Physical Damage

    QDeceive

    • Damage25 / 35 / 45 / 55 / 65 (+ 60% Bonus AD)to25 / 35 / 45 / 55 / 65 (+ 65% Bonus AD)
    Why, in Riot's words

    AP Shaco is already pretty strong but AD Shaco has been lagging behind. Buffing up some of those short ranged higher commitment AD ratios to amplify that backstabbing assassin fantasy.

Shaco skins (17)

Riot's data lists 17 looks for Shaco with their own art, the base skin included and 56 chroma variants.

ARAM performance

EstimateB
Win Rate
50.1%
▲ 0.5%
Pick Rate
5.8%
▲ 1.1%
Ban Rate
1.5%
▼ 1.4%
Damage dealt
103.8%
Damage taken
97.9%
Healing
95.0%
Shielding
100.1%
Ability Haste
+12

Best ARAM build

Patch timeline

Riot’s notes

This champion’s win rate on each patch the preview sample spans, over its own games there. What actually changed each patch is in Riot’s own notes.

  1. 26.1950.6% over 808 games · small sample-0.6
  2. 26.1852.4% over 1,418 games0.0
  3. 26.1752.5% over 375 games · small sample—

Shaco's base stats against all 173 champions

  • Shaco's base attack speed of 0.694 is the 13th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20 (shared with 1 other).
StatShacoRankMedian
Base health630=61st620
Health per level99=126th104
Base armor30=82nd30
Armor per level4=157th4.6
Base magic resist32=32nd32
Magic resist per level2.05=4th1.55
Base attack damage63=41st59
Base attack speed0.694=13th0.656
Attack speed per level3%=42nd2.5%
Move speed345=9th335
Attack range125=129th175

Shaco at level 1 and level 18

  • Shaco reaches 2313 health at level 18 — 630 at level 1 plus 17 × 99, the 45th-lowest of 173 champions on patch 26.20, shared with 2.
  • Shaco reaches 977 mana at level 18 — 297 at level 1 plus 17 × 40, the 35th-lowest of 145 mana users on patch 26.20.
  • Shaco reaches 98 armor at level 18 — 30 at level 1 plus 17 × 4, the 35th-lowest of 173 champions on patch 26.20, shared with 3.
  • Shaco reaches 66.85 magic resist at level 18 — 32 at level 1 plus 17 × 2.05, the 5th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20, shared with 69.
StatLevel 1Per levelLevel 18Rank at 18
Health630+992313=127th of 173
Mana297+40977111th of 145
Armor30+498=136th of 173
Magic resist32+2.0566.85=5th of 173

Riot Data Dragon 16.20.1. Growth curve: League of Legends Wiki — Champion statistic.

Riot's tips for Shaco

Playing Shaco

  • Using Deceive over terrain can help you make a clean escape.
  • Try getting items with on-hit effects. These will also benefit your Hallucination clone.
  • Backstab's damage can be increased with increased Critical Damage effects like Infinity Edge.

Playing against Shaco

  • If Shaco is doing well early-game, it is worth the investment to place Stealth Wards near his Jungle camps.
  • If Shaco uses Deceive to enter a fight he won't be able to quickly use it again to get away. Work with your team to quickly focus him down.

Quick answers about Shaco

How does Shaco do against Nidalee?
Shaco won 38.6% of 70 counted Master+ games against Nidalee. Nidalee is one of the opponents that beat Shaco. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Shaco do against Hecarim?
Shaco won 46.2% of 119 counted Master+ games against Hecarim. Hecarim is one of the opponents that beat Shaco.
How does Shaco do against Rengar?
Shaco won 46.2% of 52 counted Master+ games against Rengar. Rengar is one of the opponents that beat Shaco. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Shaco do against Graves?
Shaco won 65.7% of 70 counted Master+ games against Graves. It is a matchup Shaco wins more often than not. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Shaco do against Vi?
Shaco won 62.5% of 32 counted Master+ games against Vi. It is a matchup Shaco wins more often than not. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Shaco do against Viego?
Shaco won 51.2% of 80 counted Master+ games against Viego. It is close to even. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Shaco do against Master Yi?
Shaco won 52.8% of 36 counted Master+ games against Master Yi. It is close to even. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
How does Shaco do against Nocturne?
Shaco won 52.8% of 36 counted Master+ games against Nocturne. It is close to even. A small sample — read it as a lean, not a rule.
What class is Shaco?
Riot classes Shaco as Assassin. This site files the champion under Jungle.
How hard is Shaco to play?
Riot rates Shaco's difficulty 9 out of 10.
What resource does Shaco use?
Shaco's abilities spend Mana.
What is Shaco's attack range?
125 units — the lowest of 173 champions on patch 26.20 (shared with 44 others).
What are Shaco's abilities?
Passive — Backstab, Q — Deceive, W — Jack In The Box, E — Two-Shiv Poison and R — Hallucinate.
How many skins does Shaco have?
Riot's data lists 17 skins with their own art, the base look included, plus 56 chroma variants.
How much health does Shaco have at level 18?
2313 — 630 at level 1 plus 17 × 99 per level, Riot's own values, before items and runes.
What is Shaco's ultimate cooldown?
Hallucinate (R): 100/90/80 seconds by rank, before ability haste, in Riot's Data Dragon 16.20.1.
When did Riot last change Shaco?
Patch 26.1, published 7 January 2026 — the latest of 3 patches that change Shaco in Riot's notes from 25.S1.1 to 26.20.

Shaco at a glance

Shaco, the Demon Jester, is a Assassin champion in League of Legends. Riot rates the kit 9/10 for difficulty, 8/10 for attack, 4/10 for defense and 6/10 for magic. Shaco spends Mana and has 17 skins with their own art. Shaco's base attack speed of 0.694 is the 13th-highest of 173 champions on patch 26.20 (shared with 1 other).

Attack8/10
Defense4/10
Magic6/10
Difficulty9/10

Shaco's story

Crafted long ago as a plaything for a lonely prince, the enchanted marionette Shaco now delights in murder and mayhem. Corrupted by dark magic and the loss of his beloved charge, the once-kind puppet finds pleasure only in the misery of the poor souls he torments. He uses toys and simple tricks to deadly effect, finding the results of his bloody “games” hilarious—and for those who hear a dark chuckle in the dead of night, the Demon Jester may have marked them as his next plaything.
— Riot Games, Data Dragon 16.20.1. League of Legends Universe

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Methodology

Data window
Preview sample — a one-time snapshot of 65,406 ranked games (Master+, EUW/KR/NA, patch 26.18), counted by GamGem while our Riot production key is under review. Figures will update daily once it is approved. Counted 26–27 Sept 2026; patches 26.18 (35,477) · 26.19 (18,580) · 26.17 (11,048) · 26.16 (293) · 26.15 (8); by server EUW 22,382 · KR 21,922 · NA 21,065 · EUNE 20 · TR 17. 642 games without a result — remakes ended by vote in their first minutes, and games recorded with no winner — were not counted.
Rank aggregation
Master, Grandmaster and Challenger, pooled — the three ladders the count read its players from. Splitting further leaves samples too small to separate a real effect from noise.
Role assignment
A champion is filed under every lane that holds at least a tenth of its counted games — the position the match itself reports, not the champion’s class. Its headline win rate is across all of them; each lane’s own win rate and games are counted too, and a lane’s tier list ranks by them.
Counters
The two champions in the same position on opposite teams, over that pairing’s own counted games — ranked on the edge pulled toward zero by its sample size, printed raw.
Minimum sample
None — no figure is hidden for being thin. Every rate prints its games, and the confidence band is its 95% margin: Very High within ±1.5 points, High ±2.5, Moderate ±3.1 (1,000 games), Low wider.
Why a build is not a cause
An item is counted when the match ENDS with it, so late items show long games and an item bought when already ahead shows games that were being won. Correlation is what a rate can show; it is not evidence that buying the item caused the win.
Where the numbers come from
Names, classes, abilities, items and runes are Riot Data Dragon. Win, pick and ban rates, builds, keystones, spells and matchups are counted by GamGem from Riot's ranked match records. An estimate, not a count: this panel is not in the preview sample, and is labelled so.

Shaco on video

Published by League of Legends on YouTube, 8 November 2011.

14 years old. League of Legends has been patched since, so watch it for how the kit plays, not for numbers — the rest of this page is written for the current patch.

It plays in YouTube’s own player once you press play. Nothing is downloaded or re-hosted here, and nothing loads from YouTube until then.