Jax Build Guide by EviLCorsaiR

Love this guide, how do you feel about Lich Bane in the overall build?

Update hexdrinker to Maw of Malmortius please :D

Okay guys, massive update, with a complete rework of the build as well. I now prefer not building Trinity Force at all, instead going with Frozen Mallet and Atma's Impaler. Damage goes down, but your defense is higher. With your ultimate in a fight, you're unstoppable, you just wreck their carries. I've still got the Trinity Force build in there as an alternative. Tell me what you guys think!

I've removed vamp quints from the alternatives. They aren't as good as the flat damage quints for jungling. Your sustain is more than enough right now with a vamp scepter alone, with my standard runeset and masteries the lowest I get is half health, with no pull and no damage at wolves. (Changed the route as well to start at wolves.)



The jungle route has been revised. Jax isn't the fastest jungler out there (you're no Shyvana) but I still find myself flying through the jungle. I prefer not to use Leap Strike because even with blue buff, that's a heavy draw on your mana along with the use of Counter Strike and Empower, but I might change that.



My new build takes a Frozen Mallet. I prefer that over a Warmog's Armor due to the extra offense (damage and slow), along with the extra damage of an Atma's Impaler. I find my new build does as much damage while providing more offense than the old build.

I'm wrong about Madred's Bloodrazor, I'll admit. They won't be able to do much past your MR. It's still extra damage, but not a huge threat.



If you were playing a more AP-oriented Jax, definitely. I don't, I prefer far more AD, so I don't consider it. If your AP is considerable, it's a huge damage boost with the frequent Empower use.

I just think that you need some HP items earlier, you will get resistances from ultimate but I think that you should build Frozen Mallet a little bit earlier.
Also do you have acc on NA? I really wanna play with ya.
And you are wrong about Leap Strike draining ur mana when you have blue. (O.O)

SPECIAL TACTICS: Setting 1 Glyph of Strenght will make you getting 7AD instead of 6(.80) from runes. Just try it ;)

Yeah, that Leap Strike comment was stupid. I was a little bit drunk at the time...;)

I meant in general, if you don't have blue buff, it's a huge draw on mana. By the time blue buff is over you should be able to jungle using Empower alone.

Also, I don't think it's worth setting in one Glyph of Strength just to get that 1 extra AD early game. It'll have no noticeable effect on jungling and is very unlikely to make the difference in a fight.

As for earlier health, like I said in my build, you build what you need, when you need it. I prefer to build Maw earlier as I generally find big teamfights don't break out that early, and your lifesteal/spellvamp is high enough for you to crush most enemies 1v1 (or 1v2 for some matchups). That's just the way I build it though. It's a flexible build.

NOTE: Updated the quick sheet to include Trinity-based builds as well as FrAtma-based builds.

hmmm things i really dont like:
i dont like the offensive tree, going for 0|29|1 is much more viable because of Jax´ ******ed bad earlygame vs most champs. He is realiant on much farm and getting to lv 6 fast, when u reach lv 6, your dmg is sooo high that u dont need the offens mastery.
Going for a fast Gunblade isnt that good for Jax in my opinion; a atmogs-rush is much stronger on the new Jax: when u teamfight u do much more dmg when u are alive longer cuz ur skillset is ******ed op but with a fast gunblade u die just too fast to either tank anything or do dmg.
I really dont like tha Mallet, your job in teamfights is to jump the carry and either kill him fast or take him too low to stay in the fight but then you have to go back right away to protect your carry from the other offtanks, dps them so the carry can finish.
Mallet is more a chasing item but your job is done when the enemy carry starts kiting/leaves fight. Chasing him would expose your carrys, so i really dont like it.
I also dont like building a Maw on Jax, it only gives you 36 MR and a little bit of DMG, but as said: force of nature would be much better, it gives much more MR and lifereg, so you can longer in the fights and deal more dmg with your skills.
The only thing i think is really bad, is the thornmail in your "against heavy ad". This item is just bad on Jax when u compaire it to a RANDUINS or FROZEN HEART. I really beg you to change that into 1 of them. Randuins gives everything that a Jaxplayer wants: CDR, HP, armor, lifereg (and gp10 item) and awesome active vs heavy ad team. Frozen Heart pretty muhc gives the same but is better when enemy team is full of AS type of champs (Yi,Tryn,Kogmaw in 1 team for example) And Randuins better vs Burstchamp cuz of extrahp and the lifereg (Poppy, Riven...)

I think most of your itemchoices are good/ok but the order to get them isnt taht great for a champion taht does so much dmg with his skills, even with defensice items (when played correct ofc). I suggest you getting wriggles (vs ad ofc [shouldnt pick Jax vs ap anyways])->atmog->bilgewater cutlass->phage->hextech gunblade->(sell wriggles get FoN)->trinity force.
Try it and compare your build with mine, when u play higher elo/vs good players, i think that mine gives a much stronger teamplayability (cuz of protecting carrys/tanking a bit stuff etc)

Things i missed:
The most important skillorder for new Jax players. When i was new to Jax i just jumped the enemy and autoattacked/w. But thats a HUGE mistake. For laneherrasment WAIT TO ****ING LV 6. Bevore lv 6 your champ sucks. After lv 6: 2 autoattacks on minion to get 2 ultstacks->jump AND DO NOT USE W!!!!11->then w him->****ing 400 dmg lol, do this 2-4 times then try the whole thing with e spell and summoner spells->kill
I know this seems sooo obvious, but when ppl are new to Jax they might not know that.
The 2. thing i missed is what u do/buy first vs an ap laner (like rumble/vlad). The best thing to do is not picking Jax cuz hes bad vs ap. But if you play blindpick or the enemy picks are confusing you need to buy a NULLMAGIC-MANTEL and pots. When you dont do this, ure ****ed unless the enemy sucks. Them immediatly get a Warmog->Negatron->Atmas-> then as said above
I miss the Dorans shield in the what-to-buy-at lv 1, its a really great item when your are new to Jax and play vs strong lv 1 AD. It really helps (mby get a 2. one if your lane gets snowballed from jungler) In earlygame u do enough dmg from lv 6 on, so wriggles is skippable when starting with dorans.


I really liked your explainations about lasthitting, wardjumping etc. I like that you tell the new players that lasthitting is the most important goal in lanephase. But maybe add taht you shouldnt trade bevore lv 6 ->good players know taht Jax is weak and just trade his low pre-6-dmg and force him out of lane.

Just wrote a freaking book into commentsection lol. Please try my buildorder and add some of my items when you agree with them, also please answer and correct me when u think whatever i said is total ******** ;P

ah and im German so sry if you find some mistakes in the text x)

I disagree. I actually find Jax's earlygame to be good. Very few champions can fight you 1v1, including in early. When they come to poke you, jump on them, and using your abilities you can knock off half their health while barely taking any, straight from level 3. Do that a few times and they'll be scared ****less of getting anywhere near you.

26/4/0 (or 21/9/0 if you feel you need that extra health or HP5) gives you optimal damage output throughout the game. Yes, you're less tanky, but I prefer the extra damage.



I can see your reasoning behind a lot of this. I still prefer it my way, though.

A fast Gunblade gives you crazy sustain. Combined with your Wriggle's and masteries, you have 30% lifesteal and 20% spellvamp, making you pretty much an unmovable object in lane. That sustain also works to your favour in fights when you're healing so quickly. Teamfights generally don't happen this early (not large ones anyway) and I believe gunblade is better in smaller fights. Atmogs would work if you can't get in the middle of it and keep hitting their squishies.

A good carry will try to reposition if you start hitting them, that mallet stops them from being able to run from you (particularly as a carry typically has high MS late due to boots and Phantom Dancer). It also gives a little extra damage, unlike Warmog's. But, that said, Warmog's is of course better if you need to be more tanky.

I believe Maw works really well on Jax. No, it's not a huge amount of MR, but it's there for both MR and damage. It also has the spellshield - 400 health might not be much but that keeps you in the fight for longer, and makes up for the lower MR. But the big thing about it is its damage - Jax will become more deadly as your health drops, and with your huge lifesteal, it works really well.

Overall, my build is more damage-oriented with a good amount of tankiness. But on your feedback, I'll throw in an additional build which covers a tankier itemset.



Again, I disagree. If you suddenly find that the enemy Tryndamere is fed and is wrecking you and your team, Thornmail is cheaper to get and is a more effective solution for yourself. That passive, combined with your high armor, and your high damage output, should make them afraid to fight you as you'll be able to take them down. Nevertheless, Randuin's and Frozen Heart are good alternatives, while more pricey, and do provide more than just armor as you said.

I won't change the 'heavy AD' build. It's unlikely you'll ever be faced with that situation - and if you are, it's even less likely to be in competitive play - and thornmail is a better solution in that situation. But I will add Randiun's and Frozen Heart to the 'recommended items'.



The problem with that build is the cost. You're unlikely to ever get to finish Trinity Force. In fact, in many games, you're unlikely to even get to FoN. I wouldn't sell Wriggle's because it provides good stats at a low price, and I think it deserves a spot to keep, particularly with its lifesteal (which still fits Jax perfectly). If I had to make it work, I'd get Ninja Tabi/Mercury Treads -> Wriggle's -> Warmog -> Atma's -> Gunblade -> Mallet/Randuin's/Frozen Heart.

I will experiment and see how well it works. I'll add an extra 'tanky' build as I said earlier.



When I have time I'll expand early game to include better skill usage. But, I disagree about waiting till level 6. After level 3 barely anyone can take you on 1v1, like I said earlier.





Good point, I so rarely see AP top that I neglected to add anything about going against them. I'll expand items when I have time to include starts against AP champions.

To be honest I don't think you should be starting with anything except boots 3. It gives you the ability to harass and last hit more easily, avoid harassment, avoid skillshots in particular, and the 450 health from the pots keeps you in lane. Using a Doran's item is all well and good, but they could trade with you early and force you to go back - that loses you farm and possibly an early turret. But I'll add Doran's Shield as an alternative for new Jax players.


Thanks for all the feedback, you did bring up some very good points. I'll credit you in my build, when I get around to correcting it.

WoW didnt think that you would actually read it x) (lol i acccedently report your post cuz i thought it means reply O-o :D)

ty for accepting other builds and crediting me ;P

Great info, 25 games with Jax, only lost 2.