Counter Guide

How to Beat Shyvana

Matchup Guide · Evergreen · 3 Counter Picks

When Shyvana's dragon lands on your team, everyone runs the wrong way for a moment, and a moment is all she needs.

She's tough to play against because she doesn't have to be clever. She clears fast and gets tankier with every takedown. Once her Fury bar fills, she'll fly over walls and fear everyone she breathes on. It's straightforward and it works. Her weak point is how little else she brings: outside that one fear she's got no hard crowd control, and the dragon only lasts while she has Fury to spend. Before you ban her, see where she lands on our solo queue tier list this patch.

Matchup Snapshot Shyvana, the Half-Dragon

Where You Meet HerJungle

Damage TypeMixed, with some true damage

Why She Is FrustratingA flying fear on engage

MobilitySpeed shield, flying ultimate

Biggest ThreatDragon's Descent [R]

Hardest CounterSylas

What a Counter Needs

An answer to the fear, or a way to use her ultimate against her
Enough sustain or crowd control to win the brawl that follows

Patch 26.18 Matchup Data

Who Beats Shyvana on Patch 26.18

Best Picks Into Shyvana

Sylas3,294 games54.0%
Udyr1,236 games52.9%
Briar3,224 games50.8%

Picks Shyvana Beats

Rengar1,339 games42.7%
Diana1,279 games44.1%
Zac1,093 games44.2%
Hecarim1,911 games45.3%

Win rates are for the champion listed, in the jungle against Shyvana. They come from Nerfplz's own ranked solo queue games on Patch 26.18, Silver and above, 83,050 Shyvana games in all. Only matchups that show up in at least 1% of those games are listed.

Shyvana Overview

Strengths: What Makes Her Dangerous

Her ultimate starts the fight for her. Dragon's Descent [R] flies up to 1050 units with displacement immunity, fearing and slowing everyone in the breath for 0.75 seconds.
She gets tankier as the game goes. Scalemail [Passive] adds armor and magic resist for every takedown, and champions and epic monsters count triple.
She's quick when she wants to be. Inferno Aegis [W] shields her and adds up to 43.75% movement speed while she's facing an enemy champion.
Her attacks keep her spells coming. Every hit takes half a second off Emberstrike [Q], and in Dragon Form its third cast is a bite that deals true damage.

Weaknesses: Where You Get In

One fear is all the control she has. Molten Burst [E] slows you, but once the fear's done she's got nothing to stop you walking away.
The dragon runs on a meter. Dragon's Descent [R] needs 100 Dragon Fury to cast, and Dragon Form ends when the Fury drains.
She's melee in human form. Until she's used her ultimate, she's got to walk up to you.
The fear is short. Tenacity and crowd control immunity take a big share of her engage away.

Countering Shyvana

Any one of these will do:

Ignore or copy the fear. Crowd control immunity walks straight through it, and a stolen ultimate turns it back on her team.
Win the long fight. Past the engage she's a brawler, and a champion who's healing more than she is will come out ahead.

If you're in the matchup without either, there's still a way to play it.

Playing Into Shyvana Without a Counter

Watch her Fury. She can't fly in until it's full, so if she just used her ultimate you've got time before the next one.

Stay spread out near walls. Dragon's Descent [R] breathes along the path she flies, and a team bunched up in a narrow spot gets feared together.

Take fights early. Every takedown adds to Scalemail [Passive], so a Shyvana who's had a quiet game is a much easier target at 20 minutes than one who's been feeding off skirmishes.

Best Shyvana Counters

Three picks, and each one beats her a different way.

Sylas Steals the Dragon

Hijack [R] copies an enemy's ultimate, and shape-shifting ultimates come with the shape. Sylas gets Dragon's Descent [R] and turns into a dragon himself, so the fear that was meant for his team lands on hers.

The rest of his kit suits the fight after that. His damage is magic, Kingslayer [W] heals him for more the lower he is, and Abduct [E] stuns and knocks up whoever it catches first (it's a 950-unit chain, long enough to reach her before she's on top of you).

Udyr Walks Through the Fear

Blazing Stampede [E] has an awakened version that gives Udyr immunity to crowd control for 1.5 seconds, twice as long as Shyvana's fear. Time it for the flight and he'll keep running at her while his team scatters.

Then he stuns her. In Stampede stance his attacks pounce on the target and stun for 0.75 seconds (once per target every few seconds), which is exactly the crowd control she doesn't have.

Briar Out-Heals the Brawl

Shyvana's the kind of jungler who wins by trading hits, and Briar heals off every one. Crimson Curse [Passive] bleeds whoever she damages and gives part of it back to her, and Snack Attack [W], the bite she gets inside Blood Frenzy [W], heals her for 5% of her maximum health plus a share of the damage it deals. Head Rush [Q] stuns for 0.85 seconds and shaves her armor and magic resist too, which chips away at what Scalemail [Passive] builds up.

Itemizing Against Shyvana

Mercury's Treads give 30% tenacity, which shortens the fear. Her ultimate and fireballs deal magic damage (so does the bonus on each of her attacks), so Kaenic Rookern's shield soaks the opening of a fight and Force of Nature ramps up after eight magic hits (she lands those quickly). Frozen Heart takes 20% off her attack speed, and her attacks are what bring Emberstrike [Q] back.