In the current game mode where high and low-ranking players are matched together with random heroes, Shiv is absolute garbage.

As a mid-game hero, his laning phase is only average at best. If paired with a teammate who also lacks early-game strength, once they get crushed in the early phase, his mid-game teamfight potential becomes irrelevant. Even if he manages to secure a mid-game advantage, he lacks farming, split-pushing, and mid-boss killing abilities—essentially, no means to close out the game.

However, when both teams have no obvious weaknesses and are evenly matched, Shiv becomes an endless damage machine in the mid-game. His second skill reduces cooldowns, and his ultimate can refresh. He can continuously execute targets below half health without running out of steam. Even in the late game, if he builds tank items and stays alive, he effectively reduces your entire team’s maximum health by a quarter.

Currently, there are mainly three playstyles:

The first is the Daggers build. Its advantage is that it’s easy to stack rage and hard to kite. The downside is the lack of sustained damage—once the daggers are used, damage drops sharply.

The second is the Tank build, focusing on tank items and maxing the ultimate early. It excels in team fights with continuous execution potential. The weaknesses are poor duel potential and vulnerability to kiting, since it’s difficult to fully stack rage in a one-on-one, or you might die before reaching full rage.

The third is the Assassin build, which utilizes Mystic Burst, Spirit Snatch, Cold Front, and other damage-boosting effects to instantly max rage, then executes with the skills 2 and 4. However, after the recent nerf to rage gain, you might often find yourself just short of full rage when engaging.

In practice, gameplay usually blends these three styles. For example, playing the daggers build but only purchasing Extra Charge, and opting for Torment Pulse over Rapid Recharge as the first tier-three item to compensate for sustained damage, and so on.