Everyone’s favorite killer clown could be receiving some substantial changes in the near future! League of Legends players may either rejoice or panic (depending on your playstyle). Riot has plans to test a Shaco rework on their Public Beta Environment (PBE) server patch 9.20!
A Rough Patch for Shaco
It’s no secret within the League of Legends community that Shaco hasn’t been seen much lately. Due to some changes made to the champion back in 2017, he lost a bit of his identity. The clown used to be known for his oppressive, early-game-oriented playstyle, but his offensive ambush capabilities early on have been rather gutted. The beloved (or dreaded) early-game psycho killer is no longer so great early and doesn’t even scale fantastically into the later stages of the game.
Additionally, prior to the 2017 changes, Shaco was rather infamous for his build flexibility. The champion used to be able to spec into a wide variety of items with terrifying efficiency, allowing him to fill multiple niches and playstyles. Unfortunately for the clown and his fanbase, the notorious AP Shaco was just nowhere near viable after these changes.
Much of what made Shaco players love him (and other players fear him) was taken from the poor clown. As stated above, he lost a lot of his identity. But Riot Games seems intent on fixing that and will be testing a new iteration of the killer clown soon.
A Killer Clown’s Hope
Planned for PBE patch 9.20 is a mini-rework. The aim of this Shaco rework is multi-faceted. For one, Riot intends to restore some of Shaco’s early-game snowball potential. They’ll be giving him back some early duration on his Q, “Deceive,” (his stealth ability). It’s also planned that Shaco’s W, “Jack-in-the-Box,” will now deal AoE damage and have an extended fear duration versus jungle monsters.
In addition to these, Shaco’s passive, “Backstab,” will be changed to influence his other abilities, not just his basic attacks. Most notably, an additional AP scaling will be added to his E, “Two-Shiv Poison,” when “Backstab,” is applied. The bonus damage of “Deceive,” will also be increased by “Backstab.”
There are other, less substantial changes planned, but these are the bigger ones. What it boils down to is that Shaco’s ability to clear the jungle quickly, stay healthy and gank lanes in the early game will be improved significantly. The plan is to pull some power away from Shaco’s current late-game scaling and place the pressure back onto his early-game presence.
But, perhaps, the greatest delight to Shaco players is the rejuvenated effectiveness of AP Shaco! If all of the changes go through, AP Shaco could become far more viable than on the current state of the live servers. Fingers crossed, and prayers to Daddy Riot!
