Jax is a brawler with high damage-dealing abilities and a strong mid-to-end game. His scaling ability allows him to shred through armor, objectives, and squishy champions. Jax is a top-tier pocket pick, and this guide will show you how to dominate the jungle.

Abilities

Passive – Relentless Assault

Jax’s consecutive basic attacks continuously increase his attack speed.

This allows Jax to be one of the best champions for longer teamfights, as he will get more attack speed over time. This also allows Jax to destroy towers very fast, making for a great split pusher.

Q – Leap Strike

Cost: 65 Mana

Range: 700

Jax leaps toward a unit. If they are an enemy, he strikes them with his weapon, dealing 65/105/145/185/225 (+100% bonus Attack Damage) (+60% Ability Power) physical damage if it is an enemy.

This ability can be used in many ways. You can use this to jump to allies, wards, minions, dragons, and enemies. As the jungle role, you can use this is many strategic ways. If you are going to invade the enemy jungle camps, you can put a ward on the other side of the wall or a place you can use so if an enemy challenges you, you have an easy escape. Using this as a hop in and hop out if very useful, it also saves you from using Flash. You can use this as a gap closer to run down enemies and secure kills as well as use it to run away and escape unwanted fights.

W – Empower

Cost: 30 Mana

Range: 300

Jax charges his weapon with energy, causing his next basic attack or leap strike to deal with an additional 40/75/110/145/180 (+60% Ability Power) Magic Damage.

This ability is what allows Jax to do so much damage. Think of it as an empowered auto-attack. It is a single target attack that has no cast time. If Empower is used on a basic auto-attack, it will have a 50 bonus range. Using this in the jungle allows you to clear camps much faster. This is a great ability to bully the enemy jungler with and to secure dragons and scuttle crabs if your Smite is on cooldown.

E – Counter-Strike

Cost: 50/60/70/80/90

Range: 300

Jax enters a defensive stance spinning his weapon above his head, dodging all basic attacks and taking 25% less damage from area of effect abilities. After two seconds, or if you activate Counter-Strike again, Jax will stun all surrounding enemies for one second in his range of 300. This ability deals 55/80/105/130/155 (+50% bonus Attack Damage) damage. Counterstrike deals 20% more damage for each attack Jax dodges. This cannot dodge turret attacks.

This is what makes Jax such a powerful champion. Use this as your initiating ability when ganking a lane to stun the enemy. This ability will win you fights and turn the tides for the team. Using this to stun jungle camps and take no damage allows you to have more sustainability and stay out on the map longer without having to recall for health.

R – Grandmaster’s Might

Cost: 100 Mana

Range: 100

Every third consecutive attack deals additional magic damage, Jax can also activate this ability to strengthen his resolve, increasing his armor and magic resist for a short duration.

This makes Jax become even stronger in 1v1 fights. Being able to do additional magic damage along with your Counter-Strike and Empower allows Jax to do an enormous amount of damage. Jax is a great mix of attack damage and magic damage. Sometimes Building Guinsoo's Rageblade or heavy damage items for that extra attack speed and magic damage help you snowball the early game.

Build

Enchantment: Bloodrazor
Mercury’s Treads
Trinity Force
Spear of Shojin
Guardian Angel
Randuin’s Omen

Be experimental with Jax, don’t stick to a single build. This build won’t fit all game situations, but it will be a great start to learning him as an effective jungle champion. Some games you will find yourself going more damage heavy with a Guinsoo's Ragebalde and Essence Reaver. Other games you could go more tank-based with Sunfire Cape and Thornmail. Build what is most effective to the team you are playing against. Jax is very versatile and that is what makes him such a great champion.

Runes

Jungle Tips

Jax is a great early game champion, ganking lanes early and giving your allies lane pressure is very important. Jax clears his camps very quickly, so use this time to invade the enemy jungle, clear camps, and get vision. Wards are very important. Always be aware if you have one available to use as an escape if a gank goes wrong. Look to stun the carries on the enemy team. You can soak up a lot of damage, so don’t be afraid to jump into the middle of a fight to land a stun. Always think of your next move. With Jax having such a fast jungle clear, you need to always know what you will do next. Look for ganks, look for invades, look for objectives and most importantly get your team as much vision in the jungle and river as you can. Jax does not have a lot of poke, so positioning is very important. You want to get as close as possible when fighting. He is weak to AOE (Area of Effect). Some champions that counter Jax are Rammus, Udyr, Nidalee, Cassiopeia, and Kassadin

Jungle Pathing

Jax has a very strong jungle clear that allows him to be able to start at any buff or camp. This is is a huge advantage. There are many champions that must start at certain jungle camps. With Jax, never upgrade a ability as soon as you spawn in. Always wait until you are about to take down your first camp. This allows you to have an escape if need be. If you upgrade "E" first but you get invaded you won't have your Leap Strike to escape. It's best to start the bot side camp so your support and ADC can leash for you. Scuttle Crab spawns at 3:15 so most likely the Scuttle you want to secure is the one opposite of the camp you start. Always ask your top laner to place a ward on your top lane buff so you know if you are getting invaded top side. With Jax, you want to do a full bot side clear then head to the top side river.

Look to get a deep ward into the enemy jungle so you know if it is safe to secure the Scuttle Crab. Scuttle is very important, it gives you extra vision in the river, a speed boost when walking through it, EXP, and it restores mana when killed. If you successfully secure all camps, buffs, and Scuttle Crab, you want to look and see if mid or top is overextended. If you have the opportunity to gank or give one of your laners pressure, do it. Appearing in lanes to give pressure has its pros and cons. It gives your laner pressure and lets them farm more making the opponent back off. But it also gives the enemy jungler knowledge where you are. This allows him to know what he's safe to do and what not to do.

Jungle Tracking

It is important to know where the enemy jungler is at all times. This is why vision is so important. Being able to track the enemy jungler so you know if it is safe to gank a lane helps your team snowball so much. This also allows you to know if it is safe to clear out the enemy jungle camps. Taking camps from the enemy team put the jungle behind in gold. The more camps you take away the less gold the enemy team can get. Don't be afraid to ask the support to ward bot side jungle. Vision is such a small task but it is the most helpful.

Skill Combos

Jax is pretty basic when it comes to what combos you can do. What you always want to remember is only fight when your Counter-Strike is up. This is what makes Jax so strong, but without it Jax is extremely vulnerable. When ganking a lane you want to jump in using a Leap Strike followed by a Counter-Strike for your stun, then Empower and your ultimate if you have it to hit for high damage. You are able to take the enemies Flashes very easy with Jax. Most champions are scared of getting stunned by Jax, so they instantly Flash away.

This gives your team a huge advantage in lane. Jax's cooldowns are very forgiving, so don't be afraid to use an ability. Most Jax players max W (Empower) first, but I find myself maxing my E (Counter-Strike) first. This allows the cooldown to be minimal early game. There is no right or wrong way for builds, skill combos, or maxing abilities, Do what suits you and your playstyle best.

Strengths

Split pushing
Jungle clear
Big stun
Lee Sin, Kayn, Master Yi

Weaknesses

Expensive items to buy
Karma, Udyr, Rammus, Cassiopeia
Extremely vulnerable to AOE
Squishy in the early game

Conclusion

Jax is one of the strongest champions in the game, but he takes a lot of time to master. He is a great 1v1 champion so you need to play aggressive and help your team snowball. The Grandmaster at Arms is a great tool to have in your arsenal. Jax is a great team player with high damage, stuns, and the ability to soak lots of damage.

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