Shyvana is finally getting her well-deserved rework after it has been in design for years. In 2024, Riot confirmed that they were actively working on a VGU (visual and gameplay update) for her. While some of Shyvanna remains the same, this update has changed how Shyvanna performs in the game.
In this article, we will break down how to play the newly changed Shyvanna in Season 26, and go over her best build, the best runes to take and provide you with some tips and tricks to get started when she is launched in March 2026!
For more articles for Shyvana, make sure you head over to our new and improved guides page.
Recommended Runes for Shyvana
These are the recommended Runes for Shyvana. Depending on your build path, you might want to take different Runes. For instance, if you’re going AP, you may want to take Arcane Comet instead to increase your damage output.
Recommended Runes Coming Soon!
Please note that there are a variety of pages Shyvana can take in League of Legends, but this is currently the best one. If you want to see what other builds Shyvana can take, head over to Shyvana’s Champion Page for more!
Recommended Build for Shyvana
So there are multiple builds for Shyvana, but each depends on what Rune setup you take. Thankfully, by heading over to Shyvana’s Mobalytics Champion Page, you can see what build is best with each Rune page.
Best Build Coming Soon!
Shyvana Ability Max Order
This is the best skill order for Shyvana in the game.
Order Coming Soon!
Shyvana Kit Overview
Shyvana’s Passive is Scalemail
She generates Scalemail by getting kills and killing large monsters and minions. She gets 1 stack per champion and 3 per epic monster. Scalemail gives bonus armor and MR.
Shyvana’s Q is Emberstrike
Her Q Passive empowers her auto-attacks to deal additional damage. Her active empowers her next auto attack, dealing extra damage and increasing the range. She can recast this ability after a short delay.
Dragon Form: She empowers her next auto-attack, gaining range and letting her recast her Q several times.
Shyvana’s W is Inferno Aegis
Her W grants her a shield that is stronger the more champions you’re around. You will gain bonus movement speed as well. She can recast this spell to consume the shield and deal AOE damage to nearby enemies.
Dragon Form: The recast will heal Shyvana.
Shyvana’s E is Molten Burst
Shyvana launches a fireball in a target direction that explodes when it hits an enemy or reaches max range.
Dragon Form: Her E deals more damage and can pass through multiple enemies. When it hits an enemy champion, it triggers an explosion. It also scorces the ground, dealing damage over time to enemies who walk into it.
Shyvana’s Ultimate is Dragon's Descent
She passively gains stacks, and when she reaches 100 Dragon Fury stacks, she can activate her Ultimate. Once activated, she flies and fears nearby enemies. While in Dragon form, she gains bonus health, range and size. Her abilities become empowered.
How to Play Reworked Shyvana
So you’ve loaded into game and have picked the correct Runes and Build for her, and now it’s time to start to understand her kit. I will now break down each of her abilities.
Shyvana Jungle Path
This is the best jungle path for Shyvana right now. It is pretty typical for most Junglers in the game. There are alternative routes you could take if need be, but this is the ideal start for Shyvana in Season 26. If you’re the opposite team, just copy what we put here but start the other side!
Focus on Power Farming
Shyvana needs to unlock her Dragon form as quickly as possible, and Shyvana isn’t good without gold either. It is crucial that, as a Jungler, you prioritise getting farm and as much gold as you can. This will give you the edge over your opponents and help you get your core items quicker.
Don’t forget that Shyvana’s Passive also gets stronger with the more camps you have secured, so actively securing farm is extremely important for Shyvana. Try to find a balance between farming and ganking though, if you see good ganking opportunities, you should take them so you can get more gold and XP.
Focus Objectives
Objectives such as Dragons, the Grubs and the Rift Herald are extremely strong in Season 26. A good Jungler will be taking these frequently, and I can’t tell you how much getting early Drakes or Soul Point will benefit your team. Try to take the objectives whenever you can, ideally as they spawn (Grubs, Rift Herald, second Drake), as this will give you an advantage.
If you’re not in a position to take them yourself, you can communicate with your team or place a Control Ward on the pit itself to keep or deny vision of the objective.
Good times to take the objective are:
- When there are no camps alive for you to take
- The enemy Jungler is on the opposite side of the map
- You have priority in nearby lanes
- You’ve ganked bot, and they will help you take it
Fight in the Jungle
Shyvana’s kit makes her really good in team fights, especially in those team fights around objectives and the jungle as she can hit multiple enemies with her abilities. All of her abilities are AOE, and when you’re in the jungle or around an objective, you tend to be quite close to one another.
This gives Shyvana a great opportunity to hit multiple enemies at once with her abilities, which increases her team's chances of getting kills and winning the fight. While she might die for it, this will give her the best bet at winning the fight!
Be meaningful with your Ultimate; she isn’t like the old Shyvana, where you want to press R first and then poke with E. You should Ult into the enemy, and benefit from the ticking damage and AOE features of your kit to deal damage to them.
Play Around Your Fury
Shyvana needs to be at max or near max Fury before entering a fight. She will find it very difficult to gank her allies or team fight without her Ultimate, so it’s really important that you are looking to gank when you have max Fury.
Even with her W speed up, it can be quite difficult for Shyvana to close the gap between her and her allies she is trying to gank to auto-attack them and get the Fury stacks, and the enemy may disengage before you can do it. Also, when trying to gank your allies, try to get as close as possible to them before using your Ultimate to make it easier to close the gap between you and them.
Final Thoughts
It is great to see Riot finally changing Shyvana after all these years. This year, we should expect to see some other champions receiving a visual upgrade as they slowly update some of the older champions and bring them in line with the new champions in the game.
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