Am I going to be able to rank as a Shadow Priest without the legendary?

[Flaaffy]

You can easily rank but don't expect any top 30s.
The staff does not equal skill i have seen so many people with it do terrible even in almost bis gear so it is definitely possible to get a ranking parse

[Vampiroth]

You should be able to rank without the staff.

What will help ranking: Staff, Cunning of the Cruel, Dark Intent, Tricks of the Trade, Power Infusion, Focus Magic. Be sure to pre-pot and pot during bloodlust as well. Having shadow fiend out prelust is a good dps boost too.

[Reojr]

You cannot easily rank without a legendary, especially if you are in 10-mans.

Your best chance is to cheese the fight and pad the meter, while also getting DI, tricks, focus magic, etc. Even then, not likely.

[Deleted]

With DI it is definitely possible. If you play 10mans the comp you are playing is much more important than having legendary. Also, the legendary was much more gamebreaking in tier 4.2 where it was impossible to rank better than 50+ unless you were solo aoeing on beth or Rhyolith. In tier 4.3 you can easily get ranked 30 or better without legendary if you have a 410 substitute and DI.

I didn't have legendary in start of 4.3 but I still managed to get ranked around 30-50 on Ragnaros heroic 25man and some DS encounters. After I got my legendary I did get top 1-5 rankings on every boss (either lfr/normal/heroic) though. If you didn't get a lot of rankings in tier 11 and start of tier 12 you probably shouldn't aim towards any current ones seeing as you probably aren't good enough and don't have the right mentality.

[Deleted]

If you want to pull 'decent' ranks, then you'll need some supply of buffs.
Dark intent is nearly essential
Power infusion is MASSIVE
tricks of the trade can be really useful if you can practise with it regularly
You're also at the mercy of your guild. Kill it quickly and have good hero + pot uptime, or hope you can get an extra set of CDs in. Fight length makes a big difference.