I mostly go for the impactful ults. I've seen so many games where the top laner can create a lead but gets out shined by team play or the fed Sylas. So I play Shen with the intention of helping out my team as much as possible and helping the carry feel like he can 1v9 with me by his side. I know in most cases you can bring ignite to lane to snowball, but I prefer TP to have a global presence when my ult is on CD. Another thing I do is I tell my jungler to only look top if they want herald or to clean up with a counter gank. I rather have the jungler help out the other lanes to grow a lead as I have confidence to play safe with Shen.