Pyke who? The original assassin support has always been... Jarvan IV.

Jarvan is one of the classic champions of League. In Season 12 he is rarely seen because he is undertuned due to his presence in pro play. When he does show up, he is usually played as jungler. He can be played mid and top as well, but suffers against many matchups. How about bot lane instead?

This will be a quick guide to playing Jarvan as an assassin support. His gameplay is straightforward and easy to pick up, so you can focus on game fundamentals such as laning, vision control, and roaming. Most importantly, he is fun. There is nothing more fun than using a mini Malphite ult every 10 seconds.

So let's get into it...

Being one of the oldest champions in the game, Jarvan's kit is well-known.



Passive - Martial Cadence

Auto attacks do a large chunk of extra damage, but only once every few seconds. It's advantageous to do a quick trade and quickly back off. However, you're at a disadvantage in extended fights, especially on a support budget.

Q - Dragon Strike

Bread and butter damage ability, and part of his E-Q combo. Max Q first. The armor reduction keeps Jarvan relevant. Its range is decent so you can poke in lane or finish off a fleeing target (harder than it looks).

W - Golden Aegis

The shield is rather weak compared to Riven or Sett. But the slow is not to be underestimated. For the assassin support playstyle, having a bigger slow is more impactful than the increase in attack speed from leveling up E. Use it to chase down any enemy that is not a melee bruiser or tank and slowly whack them to death. Also remember that W counts as a spell cast that can proc Electrocute.

E - Demacian Standard

The other part of Jarvan's E-Q combo. Allies love a free 20% attack speed buff for towers and objectives. It also gives vision for a solid 8 seconds compared to only 5 seconds for Lux.

This guide suggests maxing W before E. Why? Jarvan's E is a very impactful ability with just one point. Going from 20% to 30% attack speed is not going to make much difference compared to going from 0% to 20%.

R - Cataclysm

Jarvan's ultimate is very powerful as a damage ability all on its own. It is primarily used as an engage, trapping the enemy and allowing marksmen to shoot them. This will usually result in a kill or a Flash. Jarvan is also unstoppable during his leap, which means he can dodge things like Malphite's ultimate.

Unfortunately this is Season 12, and there are like a million dashes, so think about holding on to this ability for the right opportunity. It can also be a double-edged sword for your allies, so be careful.

Now before we move on, let's talk about Jarvan's E-Q combo. This is what gives Jarvan his identity and what makes him so timeless.



When Jarvan's Q hits the flag from his E, he dashes to the flag and knocks up enemies in his path. Become familiar with it. Practice it. I won't go into specific details, because there are many people who know a lot more than I do. Instead I will list a few things you should be mindful of:

• Jarvan can dash while immobilized. This is used to avoid CC durations or ignore CC entirely.
• Later on in the game, by ranking up your Q and building Ability Haste, you can Q twice with one E.
• You can use it to escape from your own ultimate.
• You use two abilities for this combo, so watch your mana.
• You might not reach your flag at max range if your flag is cast partially inside terrain.
• Be careful not to whiff your combo by casting Q before E!

The best way to learn is to play Jarvan. As well as watching the master himself, King Nidhogg.

Play Video
There are many hidden mechanics involved with Jarvan's E-Q combo as well as his ultimate, so I encourage you to explore and test things out yourself.

Here are the pros & cons of the assassin support playstyle to help you figure out if it's suitable for you.

Pros

• Fast, long-range engage
• Burst damage
• Vision control
• Mobility
• Cheap build path
• Good blind pick

Cons

• Telegraphed engage
• Falls off late game
• Lack of durability
• Mana issues
• Ultimate is a double-edged sword

Other setups exist, such as Guardian for a more tanky build, or Aery for a pseudo-enchanter, or Lethal Tempo for a generalist approach. The rune setup described here is used for the assassin support playstyle.



Electrocute - You can proc it by landing E-Q-auto. Hail of Blades isn't great because Jarvan's burst damage comes from his first auto, not subsequent ones.

Sudden Impact - Roughly equal to Cheap Shot, but Sudden Impact increases the damage of your ultimate after you engage.

Zombie Ward - Bread and butter for Umbral Glaive users.

Relentless Hunter - Saves you from having to buy Boots of Mobility or Ghostblade. And Ultimate Hunter will not be necessary because your ultimate should be up at least once every teamfight.

Bone Plating - Great for quick trades, which is what Jarvan excels at. Second Wind is an option if the enemy is heavily poke-oriented.

Unflinching - Jarvan is a high priority target for being CC-ed in a teamfight.

An alternative is to go with Triumph and Legend: Tenacity if you have easier early-game matchups.

Now on to the playstyle.

First few levels (1-3)

Start with Q. Hide in the bushes and use it to poke if the enemy walks too close.

Getting to level 2 before the enemy gives you a great opportunity. Once you level both Q and E, you can look for an engage, taking a chunk of their health, their potions, or a summoner spell. If you do push the enemy towards their tower, keep up the pressure and zone them away from minions, but keep the river warded to watch for the enemy jungler.

On the other hand, if you are being pushed in, your abilities provide good gank setup. This has the potential to surprise the enemy from afar because of how long your E-Q combo is.

Next few levels (4-6)

Your first powerspike will be Serrated Dirk. If all goes well you can buy this on your first back with a Control Ward. Get the sweeper as well. If you can't afford that, buy boots and Long Swords instead.

Jarvan gets a lot of value out of staying in bot lane and absorbing XP until he reaches level 6. However, if your laner is farming close to tower or the enemy jungler is elsewhere, you can look to gank mid or work with your jungler to invade.

Warding, roaming, and objectives

Once you get your support wards, take advantage of your mobility to place deep wards, destroy enemy wards, and hit jungle plants. When you hit level 6, you can look to assassinate the enemy with your ultimate. Trading it for a kill, a Flash, or an enemy ultimate is usually worthwhile.

Objective control is mostly centered around vision control, as well as zoning the enemy away with your threat. Your flag helps allies take down dragons. You can attack the dragon at least once to take advantage of your passive.

Skirmishes and teamfights

Jarvan's abilities can be used for initiating combat. With his E-Q combo he can often be the first to reach the enemy. However, he is not very durable on a support budget. You should only initiate if you're certain you can survive, or you can take some enemies down with you. Instead you should be looking for assassination opportunities. Think of your survivability like Master Yi; it depends on proper use of abilities rather than building tank items.

Following up after an ally initiates is an excellent alternative to initiating yourself. The aim is for your ally to tie up the enemy so that they can't react to Jarvan's E-Q knockup, or misposition and be hit by Jarvan's ultimate. Once again, your range allows you to surprise from afar.

You can always stay back and be ready to react to enemy engages with your E-Q combo as well. This can result in a kill because the enemy used up their engage abilities and has now overextended.

Mythics

Duskblade and Eclipse are the two most viable choices for assassin support Jarvan. Duskblade gives you burst damage as well as invisibility after a takedown, which allows you to escape or reposition. Eclipse allows you to do more damage over time. Choose one based on your preference.

You can consider other options like Turbo Chemtank and Sunfire Aegis. However, your engage can make the Chemtank active obsolete. And Sunfire is too expensive for an item that gives no bonus AD.

Boots choices

Ionian Boots of Lucidity is never a bad choice because you can use your combo more often, thus CC-ing the enemy more often. As a bonus it makes Flash and Ignite come up more often.

If you are being focused a lot, buy defensive boots depending on what kind of damage you're taking. It's usually obvious when to choose Plated Steelcaps versus Mercury's Treads, but if it's not obvious then go for Mercs for the extra tenacity.

Final items

You're looking to end quickly because Jarvan falls off hard, just like Pantheon. If the game does end up dragging for long enough, we'll have to think about what items to build. You will need to adapt to the situation.

Black Cleaver - After Umbral Glaive and your mythic of choice, the next item is usually Black Cleaver. Jarvan appreciates all the raw stats. The armor reduction stacks with his Q armor reduction. Don't expect to complete Black Cleaver in most games, though.

Chempunk Chainsword - If your team needs healing reduction (often they do) get this cheap and cost-efficient item. But if you're fed enough to buy a different item or you simply don't like Chempunk Chainsword, you can hold on to Executioner's Calling.

Divine Sunderer build

This one is unusual, but worth trying out if you somehow become fed (it's expensive). The early-game assassination potential is still there with Sheen, but it will make you harder to kill late game. You will need to weave autos between abilities to maximize Sunderer procs. Prefer tank items with Ability Haste, but react to the enemy team comp accordingly.

Alternative choices

Some good alternative choices for your last two slots. These are situational, and games rarely go to this point. And since you're support, two slots is all you get. Use them wisely.

Frozen Heart - Jarvan's engage often puts him in the middle of the action, so you can apply the passive to the entire enemy team with this. Thornmail and Randuin's Omen are the contenders for this slot depending on the situation.

Death's Dance - A stat stick item, not much to say. If you don't need more utility this is a solid pick.

Essence Reaver - Even more burst damage when you're ahead. Procs at least twice in quick succession with E-Q-auto-(auto)-W-auto.

Edge of Night - Good option if there is a particular target you want to assassinate.

This guide has been about one specific way to play Jarvan IV, which is assassin support. It's also the most fun way. Don't take my word for it, try it yourself. Hope you found this useful. GL & HF!