Best Shen counters in LoL

LoL Esports

April 11, 2024

Davide Xu

Find out the best Shen counters in LoL and learn how to effectively utilize them to boost your win rate this season.

Image Credit: Riot Games

Shen counters in LoL – the top three picks

Shen might not be one of the most popular top lane champions but he’s one of the most useful picks when it comes to protecting carries and bringing good front-line potential. To win against him, it’s important to know which are the strongest champions that can take advantage of his weaknesses. With that in mind, we have created the list of the best Shen counters in this season.

If you’re fairly new to the game, check out our guide on how counter picks work in League of Legends. You will understand why counter picks are important, and how you need to take advantage of them to increase your win rate. Make sure to also understand how classes counter one another in LoL so you always know what to pick in each game.

Kayle – the scaling counter

Kayle’s incredible scaling potential is the main reason why she is a potent counter to Shen in the top lane. While Shen excels in short trades and engages, Kayle can safely farm and scale into the late game. She will unlock the ranged form at level six and become increasingly stronger as the game goes on, to the point where she will be unstoppable.

Gwen – the Kayle alternative

If Kayle might not be able to fit your team composition, then Gwen is the champion who can get the closest to her in the game for now. She has similar levels of DPS and damage output while also bringing sustain and true damage on her kit, countering all of Shen’s resistances. Once she gets a few items, she will become a split pushing machine, constantly exerting side lane pressure that Shen cannot match.

Image Credit: Riot Games

Mordekaiser – bringing him to another dimension

The main reason why you can pick Mordekaiser into Shen is his ability to isolate Shen in the Death Realm (R), completely neutralizing Shen’s map presence and ability to join fights across the map. Not to mention that Mordekaiser deals consistent damage and can count on sustain from his kit and item build.

Worst Shen counters

Udyr – too tanky

Shen and Udyr will not kill one another but the former will be able to stack up his Grasp of the Undying and Heartsteel every time the two enter a trade or small skirmish. As the game goes on, this will make Shen tankier and harder to deal with.

K’Sante – free stacks for him

Just like with Udyr, the same concept applies to K’Sante. Both champions will scale up fine but Shen should be able to bring more value as he can easily join most fights with his ultimate. Early-game trades are also in his favor since K’Sante deals less damage in the first levels.

How do you counter Shen with the items?

When going up against Shen, it’s recommended to build armor penetration. Below is a list of items to build you should consider, based on the class of champion you’re playing:

Bruisers: Black Cleaver
AD assassins: lethality items and Serylda’s Grudge
ADC champions: Lord Dominik’s Regard
AP champions: Zhonya’s Hourglass, Riftmaker
Tanks: Hollow radiance, Sunfire Cape

What Champion counters Shen?

The three best counters are Kayle, Gwen, and Mordekaiser. Other strong counters are Sett, Aatrox, and Vayne.

Does Darius counter Shen?

Darius can be considered a Shen counter thanks to the true damage on his ultimate. On top of that, Darius can easily punish Shen’s low mobility, applying his passive over and over during the laning phase. In a vacuum, Shen should never be able to win this matchup: he can only win by helping out his teammates and support other allies to carry the game.