A guide to Kha’Zix and Shaco’s mini-updates

One of these champions is really cool, the other is a horrible clown played only by nasty people - but I won’t tell you which is which. Kha’Zix and Shaco are both getting changes in the Season 7 pre-season and it turns out that Kha is even scarier than before and Shaco is still pretty bad. Onward to changes.

Kha’Zix

Passive now scales off of bonus AD instead of AP (wait, really?)

Q AD ratio and bonus damage to isolated targets increased

Q - Evolved now called Evolved Reaper Claws and refunds 60% of the cooldown if used on an isolated target.

W slow has been removed

W - Evolved now slows less on most targets, but slows isolated targets by 80%.

R invisibility duration up

R - Evolved no longer increases charges, instead Kha’Zix will activate R and gain a movement speed any time he enters a brush. There is a 10 second cooldown per brush.

Over the pre-season PBE cycle, Kha’Zix has been an absolute terror. This update adds so much strength to the void bug of death that there is currently no question over who is the better hunter. Giving strength to his evolutions actually allows Kha players to adapt as the game goes on. Smart, flexible players will be able to choose wisely for the game and see benefits game to game, where rigid Kha’Zix players will struggle more. Overall, they made Kha’Zix really interesting in this update and also, super scary. Grab your can of Raid, its gonna be a long pre-season.

THE GOAL: Find a target that is alone. Kill them.

Shaco

Passive now causes Shaco to crit his backstab target on a cooldown, instead of dealing bonus damage. Can now crit jungle monsters for 200%

Q cooldown reduced (sigh), cast time reduced (sigh), stealth duration reduced at lower levels (wait for it) and increased at later levels (sigh). No longer causes Shaco’s next basic attack to crit, instead causes Shaco’s next basic attack to deal bonus damage that scales off of AP (...). Dealing damage with Q lowers its cooldown even more. Shaco can now place his W while invisible, although he is briefly revealed while doing so.

W now gains up to 400 health based on Shaco’s level. That being said, it will still die to three basic attacks from any champion.

E now has an increased slow and does percent of health damage. No longer slows the attack speed of neutral monsters.

R now deals less damage to turrets and takes double damage from turrets. When Shaco’s clone dies, it will create a nest of three Jack in the Boxes that last for six seconds, fear enemies around them when they activate, and all share health.

As Riot has already stated in the pre-season, Shaco needs a full rework before he will be in a good place. That is an encouraging idea because this update seems to double down on the stuff that makes Shaco so horrible (ie. invisibility forever). That being said, they did solve his major problem, which was his early game invisibility ganks. Now that he has a much shorter time of invisibility in the early game, it should be harder to get into a endless murder loop with him. If you have problems with Shaco (and to be clear, you absolutely should), this update probably isn’t going to solve them for you, but it should make things a little better while we all wait. Better to play against and better for that one awful person in your life that likes to literally clown around in League of Legends.

THE GOAL: Gank the same lane over and over again in the early game, attempting to burn summoners, feed yourself, and tilt the enemy (a legitimate and important jungle strategy). Leave traps in key places, assassinate targets that are alone, and split push like you have nothing to offer your team late game (because you don’t).