Hi Friends!

So you wanna learn Janna, EH? Yes I'm a Canadian, hupplah! Anyway, welcome to my second Mobafire guide a year and a half later after my surprisingly hugely successful Corki guide found here: http://www.mobafire.com/league-of-legends/build/in-depth-corki-guide-speed-of-heat-251206 ... I'll be sure to update it after this guide or something IDK ALMOST 1 MILL VIEWS HOLY MOTHER OF CACTUS. Welcome to this "remastered" edition (hue inspired by the Last of Us "Remastered") for Janna. From the pits of Bronze to the struggles of Diamond 3, I've mained many champs in all the ******* positions in this game, and the one champion that I keep returning back to is Janna so KAWAIIII <3.

BUT Janna Looks SOO EZ Why You MAKE Guide?!?

Let me be clear straight off the bat: Janna is not "EZ". Why, you might ask? Answer: she has the INCREDIBLE potential to turn seemingly hopeless teamfights into TRULY OUTRAGEOUS victories (sorry I used to main Taric in season 2; RIP in pce Taric nerfs). You're going to be building 5-6 activatable items combined with your 4 abilities and summoner spells... phew I hope you've brought those madlife mechanics...

Don't Worry!

Hopefully, my guide will be in-depth enough for you to climb that wretched ELO/RANKED/RATING ladder or make the protatomonster worthy top 5 plays (credit me pls IGN Ididacactus). Unfortunately, Janna dropped in pick popularity since her global passive got nerfed to it's very local version now, but the recent buffs have made her one of the most rewarding suppports to play!

TL;DR THE SPECTACULAR Janna is KAWAIII!! and she's difficult to play but OP if played to her full potential!

PROS

• Provides bonus movement speed to nearby allies
• Provides a shield and additional bonus AD
• Can disrupt mid-air dashes/jumps with her Q Howling Gale so HAH TAKE THAT Jarvan IV, Jax, Lee Sin, Leona, Thresh
• Can reset a bad teamfight start if the team needs to reposition/recuperate with her Monsoon
• All around ultimate peel, CC madman late game

CONS

• Weak early game laning phase (AKA relies on ADC to trade effectively with Eye of the Storm on him
• Poor engage (you might want a jungler or top laner with good engage to compensate)
• Squishy so positioning is vital!
• Requires fast reaction time to quickly disengage a skirmish and proper judgement when to use Monsoon, so that you don't accidentally disrupt your allies' targeting

Defensive Mastery Tree

• Max this to mitigate their ADC + Support AA (autoattack) poke.
• Max for some sustain during laning phase.
• A point into this for more defense.
• Max this for the health so that you don't get bursted.
• More health FTW? Get this just because.

Utility Mastery Tree

• As Janna, you want to have a ton of MS to infuriate your slug-like enemies... WEEEEEEE! I'm so fast (fancy), you don't even know, I'm in the bot lane, to circle dem mofos! Who dat who dat. Who dat who dat. J-A-N-N-A. The parody is real...
• Meditate, young padawan and regain that precious, the precious, my precious mana regen. PrEcIoUs...
• CDR on summoners? Thanks, now I can make dem big plays more often!
• So you're an alchemist now too, eh? Using that witchcraft to regen more health/mana? Sounds fishy to me, I'm in. Go watch Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood 'cause I say so.
• OK, you're now a chef too WTF. Somehow, you managed to transform a Health Potion into a Biscuit, which makes zero sense at all.
• You greedy little son of a cactus. Money makes the world go round and you, my friend, are just like all the others. Get this if gold means that much to you. Sell yourself to the devil IDC just don't drag Janna <3 with you.
• I'm just a poor boy nobody loves me. He's just a poor boy from a poor family. Spare him his life from this monstrosity. The greed is real. Let's just hope your ADC knows how to last hit.
• Poke the enemy whenever possible when it's safe to do so for the extra gold you've been hording. Don't get too carried away since you might die attempting to "borrow" some gold.
• Get this because you want to be intelligent. CDR on abilities and items? Thanks Riot (officially known as Rito)!
• Is this real life? Why is Janna so fast? I 100% expect you to dodge everything in lane.

Offensive Mastery Tree

If you're going to put points here instead of the Defense Mastery Tree, then I suggest you put them in Sorcery, Mental Force , Arcane Mastery, Expose Weakness . GL!

Onwards to items! So many items, so little cash.

EARLY GAME

First, check who their bot lane champions are. Then, ask yourself what those bad boys can do. Do they have a much stronger pushing power compared to you and your ADC ( Caitlyn + Zyra or Sona)?



If you can't outpush them then sacrifice the ward for some sustain when you're likely under tower.



The Stealth Ward is not a guarantee that your lane won't be ganked/camped!

On Blue Side: The jungler might go through the usual river, past dragon, or he might enter through the entrance to wraiths to your tribrush, or he might straight up lane gank you from the second brush.

On Purple Side: The jungler might go through river from tribrush, go through river past dragon, or lane gank from second brush.

Just keep track whenever he pops up on the minimap so that you can save your ward(s) whenever he disappears heading in your direction. Rememeber: the mid laner can gank from the above mentioned paths as well!!! (except for troll TF OP ULT)



Rush Sightstone immediately because you need the hp and more importantly, VISION! At the same time, you can sell your Stealth Ward for Sweeping Lens! Getting rid of enemy wards lets you win the "vision" wars so that your jungler can gank and the enemy top laner will have less opportunities to Teleport gank behind you! However, don't be cheap and not want to delay purchasing Sightstone by buying no Stealth Ward in the meantime because spending that 75g or 150g can save you giving the other team a free kill or two and then maybe even dragon.

Get a Vision Ward and use that to clear wards when your team goes to clear Dragon . Alternatively, you can use it to gain huge vision control if you put it near dragon close to bot side or in a brush near the wraith entrance. OR... just buy one to troll the enemy Vayne when she ults... hue.

What to build next with your Forbidden Idol? Here are some choices:

1. RUSH IF YOUR ADC IS WAY AHEAD/IF YOU THINK YOU CAN CHASE:Talisman of Ascension
2. RUSH IF THE ENEMY TEAM HAS TONS OF "HARD" CC (Crowd Control):
3. RUSH IF ABOVE TWO CONDITIONS ARE NOT TRUE:

All the while getting some Mana Potions because you're going to find that mana is going to be a huge issue until you finish off your core items... speaking of which...

MID GAME/LATE GAME:

Welcome to MID game. Hopefully, your team didn't feed a ton of bananas to the enemy team ;)





Usually I just get Ionian Boots of Lucidity for the CD reduction mid-game ish when I finish two of my major core items. If you notice, the core items give CD reduction as well and you're Janna so you're inherently faster than everyone else (plus you have Talisman of Ascension) so I usually delay tier 2 boots for a while. You can rush Mobility Boots if you're cheap or if you're way ahead. IF you manage to finish this recommended build, you'll have 50% CDR which is over the max 40%. Don't forget Oracle's Lens can detect invisible champions like Talon or Wukong.



You can rush Locket of the Iron Solari if the enemy team is heavily AP. I get Randuin's Omen usually for the hp and for when their bruiser/assassin (if facing a heavily AD based team) jumps on my carries since I'm in the backline with them. Up to you whether you want to listen to me or not on this last item. I don't get Frozen Heart just because I have max CDR and insane mana regen already and it doesn't give HP so you can get it if you have a different build in mind.



All of these items are pretty much self-explanatory if you hover over the icons and read the descriptions. Be sure to keep buying Vision Wards whenever you can afford them for the vision!

OK the essential skills you need to know as support Janna.

POKING

What's poking? No, it's not like Facebook poking that you do with that special person who you happen to "coincidentally" like. Poking is when a champion deals damage to champion(s) without going all-in. Auto-attacking or using spells all count as "poke". By poking, you can slowly whittle down your enemies' health and then press that gradual built-up advantage by zoning them away from minions if you managed to come out way ahead in these trades (they'll poke too obviously). Usually, you poke when the enemy and his other laner are occupied doing something (ex. last hitting, focusing your ADC) or when they used/missed their abilities so that they can't retaliate against you


ZONING

When does zoning occur you might ask? It can occur as early as when one of the bot laner pairs both hit level 2. That level advantage is huge since it gives them an extra ability, more health and mana and all around higher base stats on everything. The level 2 pair might engage you immediately upon levelling to press that advantage, hoping to rush an early kill, or they might zone you away from the minions so that you miss minion CS and experience. This level advantage pressure can happen at all levels during laning phase, not only at the early level 2.

To avoid this, push the wave (auto-attack the minions) with your ADC early so that you will either gain this advantage or level up at the same time with them. Make sure to purchase a Stealth Ward to avoid jungler ganks!


WARDING

As a support, you should have wards on you to protect you and your ADC from ganks. You want to ward at an intersection (tribrush, dragon, entrance to wraiths, entrance to red/blue) in the nearby brush for maximum vision. I already mentioned some ganking scenarios in the "Items" section. Buy pinks for the vision control.

Be sure to ward objectives such as Dragon or Baron Nashor . Be sure to take note of their timers if they are down. Enable timestamps in chat and just say " Dragon in [Time + 6 min]" or " Baron Nashor in [Time + 7min]" if the objective was not warded at the time for the automatic timer found when you press TAB. USE SMART PINGS TO COORDINATE YOUR TEAM and don't be afraid to remind your team that Dragon or Baron Nashor spawns soon in [1/2/3 minute(s)].


ALSO, MAKE SURE YOU WARD WHATEVER BRUSH THE FIGHT IS HEADING TOWARDS SO THAT YOU DON'T GET OUTPLAYED BY THE LACK/LOSS OF VISION.


SMART PINGS

Rito added this for a reason and its incredibly useful to help coordinate your team. I usually keep an eye on the mini-map to look out for their junglers and ping TO BE CAREFUL whenever I spot him. This lets my team know where jungle pressure is being applied to and it might save the team from dying.


AWARENESS

This is probably something that you naturally already but I cannot stress enough how important it is. Keep track of of enemy positions and their potential to outplay you. Don't pointlessly wander around or stay somewhere unnecessary because you're giving the other team opportunities. Does Vi have ult Cease and Desist? Does Sona have Crescendo? Keep track of enemy ability and summoner cooldowns and time them if you can. "Bot no summs gank bot 2 mins" can signal to your team that there lies an opportunity to snowball bot lane.

As the kawaii Janna, you have to be careful of your positioning at all times.

EARLY GAME

This part of the game will be pretty painful for you. If you get caught out by Leona Zenith Blade + Shield of Daybreak combo or by Thresh Death Sentence followed by Flay combo or by Alistar Headbutt + Pulverize combo, you can expect to take in lots of damage and even die. You yourself can't really trade with the enemy support if they're Zyra, Sona, Lulu, Karma because they do tons of damage. Just shield your ADC and tornado the enemy ADC + Support if he gets caught by them.

Remember: Shield when your ADC is about to take damage, has the potential to outpoke, or needs the bonus AD to either last hit under tower or push the wave out to go back to base.


WARD PLS. Check who their jungler is and anticipate the camp if he's someone like Shaco. Check who their support is to see how well the enemy team can set up ganks to destroy you. Leona, Thresh, Sona all have good CC to stall you while Vi uses her Cease and Desist to SLAM DUNK YOU IN DA FACE MOFO. RIP IN PCE, MY FRIEND. As Jarvan IV always says, "It is a good day to die" (watch out for his ganks level 6 btw, especially if you have no dash to escape his Cataclysm.

Get Sweeping Lens to clear wards behind you so that you don't get Teleport ganked by their top/mid lane.

Here's a copy/paste from the "items" section (yea I didn't write this guide in the order that it's in now):

On Blue Side: The jungler might go through the usual river, past dragon, or he might enter through the entrance to wraiths to your tribrush, or he might straight up lane gank you from the second brush.

On Purple Side: The jungler might go through river from tribrush, go through river past dragon, or lane gank from second brush.

Just keep track whenever he pops up on the minimap so that you can save your ward(s) whenever he disappears heading in your direction. Rememeber: the mid laner can gank from the above mentioned paths as well!!! (except for troll TF OP ULT)


MID GAME

OK so you wanna make sure you have vision on Dragon and other intersection to keep track of what the enemy team is up to. Buy Vision Wards and place them in brushes to gain and deny vision of that area until the enemy team finally notices it (sometimes they don't pay attention to where they're walking and walk right through it). Shield whoever is taking damage, peel for your team through the skirmishes/teamfights, exhaust the enemy assassin (or whoever is doing tons of damage), Monsoon for the big plays. That pretty much sums up mid game and pretty much late game. Oh yeah, don't f*cking get caught!


LATE GAME

If you get caught during this part of the game, regardless if you are support or not, you deserve to lose. LoL is a team game and fighting 4v5 just because you make a dumb mistake is not fun at all. You spent the past 30-40+ mins farming and fighting to get up to this point and it took you a matter of seconds to throw all that away. GROUP AND PRESS YOUR GOLD LEAD ADVANTAGE if you're winning or GROUP AND GET PICKS (find stragglers out of position and kill them) if you're (1) even with them, (2) losing, then take objectives: Inihibitor, Dragon , Baron Nashor , tower, etc, if they're down at least a man. Buy Vision Wards or use Oracle's Lens to secure Baron Nashor . Use Talisman of Ascension to chase down an out of position enemy and then combo CC him with your abilities. Easy game, easy life.

Use Eye of the Storm on your ADC if no one else is taking damage for the extra AD damage and attack speed from Ardent Censer. Stay in the backline with him and the AP carry and let the Tanks/Bruisers stay in front. Remember you have a ton of activatible items and abilities to shut down a Katarina, Talon, Yasuo. Vision Ward or use Oracle's Lens on the area if they have a Wukong, Talon, Vayne. This is all about reaction time for you now. It's your time to shine, madlife. I BELIEVE IN YOU. I BELIEVE.

There is just one rule you need to remember when playing Janna: If they have CC and burst, don't get caught. Wow that pretty much sums up the entire game for every single role. Stand a bit behind your ADC, close enough to use Eye of the Storm but far enough so that you can't get easily focused. If your ADC gets CCed, you can save him. If you get CCed, your ADC can't do jack. Pretty much every support can out-trade you early... have fun!

I'll be covering the current meta support champions. These top tier picks are chosen for their high utility in teamfights.

SUPPORT MATCHUPS




Leona is known for her ultimate CC chain combo. Pre 6, her standard combo is Zenith Blade + Shield of Daybreak. Her passive Sunlight lets her ADC to dish out tons damage. Don't get caught out. If she uses Zenith Blade and lands it on your ADC, immediately use Howling Gale while she's mid-air to disrupt her combo. Then, punish her by auto-attacking FTW.

Post 6: she's gonna use her Solar Flare then easily follow that up with her standard combo. Just ult her away with Monsoon (here's hoping that you didn't get ulted).




A really stupid champion with her Dark Binding that scales up to a 3 duration. Getting hit by this really hurts in addition to her Tormented Shadow. If she misses Dark Binding, take advantage of this by harassing her. Get right into her face (when the enemy ADC isn't focusing you) Her cooldowns on all her skills are really really long. Stand behind minions to dodge Dark Binding.

Post 6: she's going to Flash + Soul Shackles to tag both you guys for the engage. If she's good, she'll have put Black Shield on herself so you can't Monsoon her away. Unfortunately, you might have to use Flash to avoid the impending stun.




Thank god for Thresh nerfs. This is guy still good though just because of his utility. Every single one of skills is so damn usefull its ridiculous. Be careful for the Death Sentence + Death Leap + Flay Combo. Also be careful for the Dark Passage for their enemy jungler. His The Box is so annoying post 6. Big plays can be made with this guy for sure.




Not hard of a matchup. Just keep vision on the brushes and auto-attack him if he tries to run up to you to Power Fist and then Rocket Grab. If he uses Overdrive, then he's going to go for a Rocket Grab. Be sure to dodge that early in laning phase or its pretty much GG.




Nami is one annoying MOFO. Her Aqua Prison is pretty good but it can be hard to land. She and her ADC can get bonus movement speed from her passive Surging Tides if she uses a spell on herself or her laner. In lane, she can out-trade you because of her spells ( Tidecaller's Blessing and Ebb and Flow. Just shield yourself and auto-attack her a few times in retaliation. Use your W Zephyr if you can spare the mana. She's going to proc her slow from her Tidecaller's Blessing and then follow that with Aqua Prison. Don't get bubbled! Post 6: she can cast Tidal Wave to engage on you.




Tough lane. She's going to harass you or your ADC with her Hymn of Valor and Power Chord combo. She can heal the ADC. However, she's really squishy like you. If she's caught out of position, shield your ADC and then auto-attack her with your ADC. Her Hymn of Valor might hit minions and that will push the lane. Call for jungler ganks. She has no dash/jumps so abuse that fact. Post 6, she can Flash + Crescendo for the engage.




Okay Rito. Why would you make such an OP champion? Early game, he's pretty weak due to the recent nerfs. Just don't get hit by his Q Winter's Bite that will activate his passive Concussive Blows. This is perhaps the most OPest aspect of Braum... that damn passive. His cooldowns are very very long. Poke him whenever you can. Be wary of trying to dunk the enemy ADC since Braum can just use Stand Behind Me, giving bonus MR and Armor, and then use Unbreakable to take in all the harass... damn shield is OP almost like Yasuo and his Windwall. Post 6, Braum can easily engage onto you and set up a gank with his Glacial Fissure. Just be careful then and Monsoon them away if you need to.



Another champion that can easily out-trade you early. You might be cautious when you're trying to poke her since the Rampant Growth + Deadly Bloom combo does a ton of damage. Don't get caught by her snare Grasping Roots or you'll face the aforementioned combo. Post 6: Her ult Stranglethorns is huge so hopefully your ADC has a dash/jump of some sort. If he doesn't, he better have a good reason for getting so close to Zyra.


ADC MATCHUPS

Lets be real here. I don't need to cover this part. Partly because I already covered it in my previous guide and partly because I'm too lazy. If the enemy ADC has burst, then dodge it or don't put yourself in a position to get bursted. Poke the enemy ADC whenever he's last-hitting or trading with your ADC.

Why should I support?

OK so I know some of you won't be playing Janna in ranked anytime soon. "Why play support when I can carry as mid/top/ADC/jungle." There's nothing wrong with wanting to play a role that can have a huge impact on the game. Mid can roam and snowball other lanes. Jungle can snowball a lane usually and secure Dragon . Top lane is an island that can snowball if you outplay their top laner and pressure top to alleviate some of the enemy focus down bottom. ADC can dish out tons of damage.

That being said, supporting is important regardless because how bot lane can do will dictate Dragon control and how relevant the ADC will be late-game. Plus knowing how to support can help you get a better understanding of the game. Having climbed the ladder to Diamond 3 times this season, I gained experience in every single role in this game and that makes a huge difference in how you play.


When You're Behind

When you lose (everyone loses, lets be real here), don't be too sour about it. There will be good games and there will be bad games. All that matters is that you maintain a positive attitude. Going into another game, saying "GG report mid" or "You're f*cking bad", won't help the situation. Don't be negative and don't hate on other people even if they did misplay a scenario. Frustrated? Take a break: watch some streams, read MOBAFIRE guides, go on Facebook, play another game.

Whenever you're in-game and the odds aren't looking too well, just say "I BELIEVE" and keep playing. If you don't even believe in a turnaround, why should your teammates? Anyway, I'm just rambling now and there are tons of videos/discussions that already thoroughly cover this topic. Good luck in Summoners Rift!

Well I hope you enjoyed reading my guide. Hopefully, playing Janna might seem a little bit more clearer to you now. But then again, I might be bad and you might have disagreed with everything I recommended. Report me please for intentionally assisting the enemy team...

GL summoners!

~Ididacactus