Introduction

As the new season approaches, a new meta comes with it. The current preseason meta is extremely focused on the early-to-mid game phase. In an early game meta where games end sooner, Jhin is a strong ADC as he does a lot of damage early and scales well as the game goes on. With his high burst damage, Jhin is a top tier marksmen.

Jhin’s Pros

Jhin is known for his ability to burst down single targets. Jhin has great scaling as the game progresses and deals high damage. His passive gives a guaranteed crit with the 4th attack and movement speed, allowing him to kite very well.

Jhin’s Cons

Jhin has very low mobility early and doesn’t get much mobility til mid game. His passive requires you to reload after 4 autos and during this reload you can’t do anything besides using your abilities so always be wary. His low base movement speed makes it easy for him to get caught by gap closers. All of Jhin’s utility abilities are dependent on skillshots.

Before the Game Starts

Make sure you take the right summoner spells and runes before you exit champ select. Since runes were reforged at the beginning of Season 8, the go-to rune for Jhin has always been up for debate. Fleet Footwork and the Precision rune tree is always the safest option, as it provides you movement speed from charged up autos and gives you sustain through the healing it provides. The movement also allows you to force good trades and lets you play more aggressively. For this rune tree, you will do Fleet Footwork, Triumph, Legend: Alacrity and Coup De Grace. The secondary tree is going to be Sorcery and I’ll go into that later. The other rune that is strong on Jhin is Dark Harvest. The extra execute damage is just perfection for Jhin.

Despite being nerfed, I believe Dark Harvest is the best rune on Jhin in winning matchups. The extra damage early is good, and it scales into the late game nicely. This tree would go Dark Harvest, Taste of Blood, Eyeball Collection, and Ravenous Hunter. Both potential primary rune trees are paired with Sorcery. Absolute Focus and Gathering Storm give you extra AD as the game goes on and ensure that Jhin’s last bullets will kill.

Early Game

Jhin can go many different directions in starting items. All choices depend on the matchup or how you want to play your lane.

Doran’s Blade and a Potion: Doran’s Blade is always the safe bet on any bot laner. The 8 AD, 80 health, and 3% life steal guarantee you safe sustain in lane. Doran’s Blade is useful if you have all-in potential.

Long Sword and 3 Potions: Great option if you are going against a poke matchup, but they don’t have all-in potential. The 10 AD Long Sword provides is a decent chunk of AD and the potions are great for dealing with the poke the enemy bot lane throws at you.

Doran’s Ring and 2 Potions: Doran’s Ring is great if you have no kill potential in lane or you are facing a hard-shoving bot lane. This gives you an extra 60 health, 15 ability power and most importantly for playing a safe lane, the +5 mana regeneration per 5 seconds. The mana regeneration allows you to farm safely with your Q, and Bouncing Grenade has a 60% AP ratio so it scales with your Doran’s Ring.

Doran’s Shield and a Potion: Doran’s Shield is a must against Draven. Draven presents the highest risk to Jhin in lane. Draven’s high damage output in lane can win lane through hard pushing and trades. The Doran’s Shield provides you with extra health and passive healing after being attacked by an enemy. This gives Jhin more sustain and allows him to stay in lane longer and not have to back and lose farm.

How to Build

Stormrazor-Rapid Firecannon-Infinity Edge: This is the build you’ll have for almost every game. Stormrazor is the best item to buy first on Jhin. Stormrazor is a guaranteed crit and procs Jhin’s passive giving him more movement speed on top of Stormrazor's. Rapid Firecannon gives you 30% crit and an empowered, extended range auto. Once you finish Rapid Firecannon, you will build Infinity Edge and get your crit up to 60%. After this, the build is totally up to you. If they have a lot of armor, build Lord Dominik's Regard. If they have a lot of healing like a Soraka or Sona, then build a Mortal Reminder. Jhin is very squishy and immobile so safety items such as Guardian Angel and Mercurial Scimitar are almost necessary as your fourth or final item.

This is an example of the final build you will have almost every game. Lord Dominik's shreds through armor that tanks build, and Guardian Angel gives you armor and protection in fights, while also giving some AD.

Mid to Late Game

Jhin can put out a lot of damage very fast. His passive movement speed from crits allows him to kite and dodge skillshots. After the laning phase is over, look to group up with your team and siege towers. Jhin’s sieging ability is good thanks to his last bullet and empowered autos from Rapid Firecannon. Make sure to use your range. Being not as mobile as the other AD carries, Jhin relies on his range and kiting.

In teamfights, most of Jhin’s damage comes from his autos and his ult. You always want to focus the person closest to you. Trying to focus someone behind tanks can result in you get CC’d and burst down. For example, if an enemy Jinx is fed and staying behind a Maokai, Leona, and Rammus, then it is probably not the best idea to dive in for her. Let your team engage and you deal the damage. Jhin is a single target burst damage AD carry, meaning he’s known to taking down one target at a time. Jhin’s ult is best used from afar and away from fights. His ult can also be used as an engaging tool and zoning tool.

Conclusion

Jhin is one of the best early-to-mid game ADCs due to his guaranteed crit with the 4th auto, his high damage, and burst. His scaling allows him to stay relevant throughout the entire game as he only falls off slightly in the late game. Jhin is hard to master due to his skillshots and reloading, but his high damage and poke can win almost any lane matchup and any game.

Like our content? Support us by getting our merchandise in our shop