I know it's been discussed here a lot already, but I want to get some specific advice on this.

I always play her top, and I know it's not the intended way of playing her, but I know several people here play her top as well. In pretty much all of my games, I go Trinity > Shojin, because it just seems to be the most rounded up option based on what I tried so far and seen here.

However last night I had a game against a Gwen where I got quite ahead but of course being Gwen still had some close fights. So I figured, I'm most of the time sidelaning against this Gwen, and Shojin isn't particularly the best item against her, so after Trinity I went Kraken Slayer, as I see it's one of her most popular items. Probably not as good with trinity as it could be with Dusk&Dawn, but I don't like it due to the lack of AD, specially for the early slots.

In any case, I noticed that at the end of the day I wasn't doing good damage with it anyways. It felt good when hitting camps or minions, reason for why it's bought in jg I'd assume, but the thing is that having low AH, as well with the lack of HP, I feel like I was just getting less Q casts (with the regular Trinity > Shojin build, you can often get two dragon Q rotations against bruisers). So I was doing way less damage than with Shojin, and all while being squishier regardless. Stacking attack speed also doesn't feel that much worth it. After the AS from Trinity, Kraken's slayer didn't feel like it did a lot of difference. MS felt good though.

This to say, I often find myself in situations where I'd like a good "dps" or dueling item for the second (or even first) slot in top, for matchups that I know I'm gonna have all ins (in this situation because it was a Gwen with ghost), but I don't feel like the stat profile of Kraken Slayer is all that good as a toplaner. I have my eyes on Bork first item against champions that build some health, and the lifesteal seems good for the laning phase itself, but I haven't been brave enough to try it out and risk inting my teammeates yet lol.

I've also seen Hullbreaker as a third option if I went attack speed items like this same game with Trinity - Kraken, but the times I bought it in games where I was spliting I was unable to infer if it was better than just the regular Shojin > situational build I go for, specially because with that one you have strong teamfighting as well.

So, any Shyvana top player that can give me a heads up on what's good on her top, it'll be appreciated.

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TL;DR: What are good builds for Shyvana top aside from Trinity > Shojin?

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I believe in Uzi!

Some of my recent games

The elo

I've been playing Shyvana for at least 10 years. I'm not really a one-trick, but she's definitely one of my most-played champions by a large margin.

Personally, I'm a supporter of the rework. While I do miss some aspects of old Shyvana, I think the new version has much more impact, especially in lane (I mainly play her top lane).

One thing I really like about current Shyvana is how flexible she is. I genuinely believe that maximizing the champion means adapting your setup constantly. I change my runes almost every game depending on the matchup and team compositions.

Difficult Matchups (Darius, Ambessa, certain ranged tops)

If my team has little AP:

• Arcane Comet + Teleport or Exhaust
• Liandry's → Riftmaker → Spear of Shojin / Cosmic Drive

If my team team has a lot of AP:

• Arcane Comet / Grasp / Fleet Footwork + Teleport or Exhaust
• Liandry's → Spear of Shojin → Experimental Hexplate or Riftmaker
• And you take Bloodletter curse

Tank Matchups (Sion, Mundo, Nasus)

• Lethal Tempo + Ignite
• Blade of the Ruined King → Trinity Force → Death's Dance / Experimental Hexplate

Bruiser Matchups (Aatrox, Irelia, Mordekaiser)

• Lethal Tempo + Ignite
• Kraken Slayer → Trinity Force → Death's Dance / Experimental Hexplate

Melee Matchups (Akali, Gangplank, Yone)

• Press the Attack + Ignite
• Kraken Slayer → Trinity Force or Duskblade → Death's Dance / Experimental Hexplate

These are the builds I've had the most success with, but honestly there are so many viable adaptations depending on the game. Don't be afraid to experiment.

As for Grasp, I'm personally not a fan. I feel like you end up lacking damage, and even on AP builds, the extra HP doesn't compensate for the amount of lane pressure you sacrifice.

For difficult lanes (where I usually go AP Shyvana), I rush the 900g Liandry component and spam E to poke constantly. The goal is to stop the enemy top laner from feeling comfortable enough to all-in me. I'm completely fine sacrificing some CS early if it means maintaining lane pressure. In my experience, lane pressure is much more important than a few minions because falling too far behind early often leads to an immediate snowball against you.

Another thing that I think many people underestimate is Shyvana's level 1. Her Q is incredibly strong. I often sit in the middle top lane bush before minions arrive and try to catch my opponent off guard. Best case scenario, I force their Flash. Sometimes I'll even commit Ignite to chunk them as hard as possible. Starting the lane with a significant HP advantage makes the pre-6 phase much easier and gives me a much smoother path toward my first dragon form. I also perma push when I have HP advantage so the toplaner won't recall until I'm level 6.

Also pray that your team don't perma fight and respect when you don't have your ult.

If anyone has questions or wants advice (especially for top lane Shyvana, since I barely play her jungle anymore) feel free to ask. AMA.