Janna has a very versatile kit, and packs a huge punch to the game. She can shield allies for around 700+ late game, and provides a huge heal and GIGANTIC disengage for her whole team , especially when building AP. While she isn't as bursty as other mages, her utility makes up for it big time. She does suprising amounts of damage, and is still capable of saving allies in battle.

In the current meta, so many people are going melee top laners like Shyvana, Renekton,Pantheon, Tryndamere, Jax, Xin Zhao and many more. Choosing Janna against them, she can harass and kite literally all day, and shut them down completely. On top of that, she negates their whole kill potential with her shield. If you don't believe me, go try it out in a normal and see what I mean.

pros

+ Provides so much utility for her team. ( massive shield, AoE 180% of ap Heal, etc)
+ Counter to most top laners, especially melee ones.
+ Amazing poke and harass in lane
+ Pretty much can escape any gank when her skills arent on CD
+ Can escape chases almost every time with her high mobility.

cons
- Very squishy
- Item dependent to do damage late game and still survive.
- Using your spells offensively, leaves you very vulnerable.
- Not considered a real APC, as her full combo isn't as deadly as other mages.
- You won't be good if you dont have a skin.

Because janna needs the infinite mana regen, Magic resistance against other burst mages, and the AP to do some damage herself. Great item on her which is Mandatory.

Should be used as an alternative to athenes, as they are both items that dont really give as much AP you would need to fill up a whole item slot, and you don't need too much mana regen. This used to be insane early game because of the price, but the extra +200 gold made this just balanced. Decent ap amount, passive can be useful against mundo or like vlad, and the mana regen is a bonus. Get it sometimes if you're not afraid of getting one shot by mages.


Provides high ap, CDR and movespeed which is basically ideal on Janna. The movespeed helps her stick to her targets or escape better, CDR for spamming better and ap is obviously an awesome bonus. The active is just even better!

High ap amount, and then you get more.. what could be better?

I wouldn't consider it absolutely mandatory on Janna, but it is pretty helpful against MR. If you wanted to be a little more mobile i would recommend boots of swiftness though.

It gives a lot of health, AP and a slow on abilities, which is teriffic for someone as squishy as Janna. The slow bonus is just even more amazing to stick to enemies.

Again, Zhonya's isn't mandatory at all but it does fit well into her build. The armor and ap are extremely helpful, but the active isn't AMAZING on Janna. This is because janna already has a lot of defense with her shield, CC, heal ETC and i don't think she would be close to ever dying by the time she even gets to buying zhonya's.

Items Not Recommended

The movespeed and AP may factor well, but the rest is useless. They nerfed the spellblade part of it so it now does less damage on mages, and the mana isn't needed at all.


Good when its fully charged, but its just not worth it for Janna. She doesnt have low cooldown early on, and would go OOM fast getting this to charge up instead of the tear.

I wouldn't really change this out for anything else. I take 9 so you have a greater burst late game when they enemies start building MR. Mandatory.

Nothing to say really, you NEED armor late game or you'll get shredded. Even if it only prolongs your life for a few seconds.

Helps a lot against other mages, wouldn't swap for anything else.

I get 3 for a higher burst and for a better shield or ult late game.
Alt: Getting more MS on Janna helps a ton, whether it be chasing someone down, or running across the whole map to escape. You'll be fast as helL!

Ideal Choices

Flash Pretty much a great choice on all champions, especially Janna. It provides an escape, a gap closer to a kill, easy setup for that your teamfight-changing ultimate, etc... Its amazing and a must have on Janna.

Ignite Most of the time in lane when you're just getting started, your damage wont be that much to finish off your target alone, which is where ignite comes in to secure it for you! Really good in most scenarios especially against innate sustain champions like Vladamir, Dr.Mundo, Irelia and so on.

Other Options

Teleport
Alright spell but not amazing on Janna top. She already is super fast coming to lane and she can also sustain well too so you wouldn't really need it that much unless in hard matchups. But on the other side, being able to TP into fights or into a gank bot/mid lane, is pretty nifty, and can setup for some kills. You're kind of isolated from your whole team in the top lane so teleport could be a good choice some times.

Barrier
Pretty simple explanation, you already have a shield in lane so this would only be a good choice in some cases, like against burst laners such as ryze, elise, etc. Could be good but there are better choices in the long run.

Cleanse
Good spell against teams with heavy cc, but its purpose is small. Plus, its no QSS so you cant be cleansing out of like a Malzahar or Warwick ult. Alright, but not ideal.

Really helpful on Janna which allows her to be superfast, and make her allies too.

Main farming,clearing, and poking tool. However, i wouldnt try to poke with it that much as it really doesnt do that much dmg, and when you want to charge it, its kind of obvious where it would be going so it would be dodged easily.

Bread and butter skill really. It can either make janna extremely mobile on CD, based off of her AP, or deal a fair amount of damage. I would only recommend using this in lane to poke, and not in teamfights, as it takes away much of her swiftness if you use it.

Again another important skill. Use it to negate another laner's damage on you, protect turrets, and most importantly, keep it on your Ad carry to give them massive AD and a gigantic shield!

Use it to heal yourself if you would die, change the tides of a teamfight, or just heal your whole team before the enemy re-engages.

In lane, keep harass actively on your opponent, and try to zone as best as possible. This means frequently ( but not every time its up) using your whirlwind in the direction your enemy laner is facing, and having it be charged fully before its released. If really confident about the lane and that the enemy laner has no kill opportunity on you, keep on harassing with your w. Keep harassing your laner until its actually possible to go in for a kill via ignite, w, and q.

MANA: However, a big mistakes I have made as Janna is harassing too much early in the game , for low reward. When playing against say a Dr.Mundo or like Shen in lane, they're just too tanky from the start, and i don't have that much ap too make a dent. I harassed way too much, even though abilities didnt even do that much damage overall for it to actually give an opening for me to kill him. Eventually, I went out of mana, and i couldn't really do anything. Moral of the story : ONLY HARASS CONSTANTLY EARLY IN THE GAME IF ITS WORTH IT.

Keep putting shields on your ADC while continuing to charge up your Q to damage and disrupt the enemy team. If possible, land some q's to poke down the enemy team before the battle erupts. If things get sticky, turn the tides of the battle by ulting enemies into your team for some free kills, or away in order to disengage. Your main focus as AP Janna in teamfights isn't really to do just tons of damage, its kind of to be a secondary support to your carries while still being capable of damaging the enemy team. Good Luck!!

Medium He probably will go super hard on you early game, maybe even dive you with his passive. Take your shield first, and get Dorans Shield too. Sit back and play defensively while still poking till your jungler can come help pop his passive. Kill potential: After 6.

Easy Build and play offensively. If you dodge most of his cleavers, he'll never have the opportunity to jump on you. Just keep poking him and being wary of ganks. He'll probably build Spirit Visage and tons of hp so you can't really kill him. Kill potential: Pre-6

Medium-Hard Her kit basically is meant to 2 shot you early, so I wouldn't try to go out of your way to poke at all Pre-6. This lane could be extremely easy for you, but one bad move and you're cocooned and killed. Until 6, you can't kill her but she can kill you. Keep farming and get to your Grail fast! Kill Potential:Mid-Late Game

Easy-Medium He relies on getting close to you for really all his damage, which your kit counters well. Keep harassing him in lane, and as soon as he takes enough and Q's onto you, just run away with your shield but come back into the fight to harass back. He'll soon become very OOM and will just leave you alone. If you can follow this strategy, you can kill him early on easily. Kill Potential: Pre-6

Medium-Hard Similar to you, she excels at poke and relies on mana to harass. She also has a heal and an ultimate while keeps her alive, like you. However, she wins in a straight 1v1, but after her Q nerf, you're fairly better at harassing. But, her Q is such a potent slow which leaves you so vulnerable to her oncoming damage, which is why this such a hard matchup. Keep farming and playing safe for your jungle to gank. If she tries to dive you under turret, or takes too many turret hits, you can easily abuse her q CD and just chase her down. Kill Potential: Pre-6/Teamfights

Easy Harass a lot before 6 AND I MEAN A LOT! This is a perfect example of a champion you can counter hard. If you can negate a lot of his stacks early, you can change basically the whole game. He is so vulnerable the first time in lane, and you can easily kill him before he gets too tanky. However, like always, Nasus becomes Un-Killable late game. Kil Potential: Early to Mid Game

Medium-Hard Get Dorans Shield and your E first. His LVL 3 combo is DEADLY on you, so you really wanna play passive till atleast lvl 4. Around then, keep harassing him with your Q or W but make sure to not get caught. If he tries to fight you, use the back technique ( Run away and jump back into the fight) since his W is down and he is very vulnerable. Kill Potential: Pre 6-Late Game

Easy-MediumThis lane could be easy or hard, depending on early game. If you manage to kill him when he is extremely weak (Pre-6) by harassing constantly and or getting a good gank from your jungler, you win the lane really. On top of this, your ult counters wukong's ult completely. Kill Potential: Early-Late Game

Easy/Medium Even though she was 'balanced' , her combo is still deadly, but not deadly enough. Your shield and bonus movespeed makes you pretty much invincible to her mobility and abilities. Juke your way around her stuns and q's all day, while keeping your harass on her, and you win the lane. Build offensive items unless you really are sucking in this lane. Kill Potential: Whole Game

Easy She literally has no CC so this lane is extremely easy. Your W counters her W ( Slow vs. Movespeed Buff), and you also have a shield against her little damage. Basically: Keep farming, and harassing till you have enough damage to go in for the kill. She starts getting tanky mid-game, and by then you really won't be able to kill her. Kill Potential: Very Early-Mid Game

Easy/Medium He doesnt have that much dmg until he gets a few items, so try to shut him down early and deny a lot of CS. You probably won't be able to kill him anytime in the game yourself, just because of his high sustain, so just mind your own business in lane.If a really open kill opportunity comes up, go for it. Have your jungler gank a lot, or he'll get strong. Kill Potential: Teamfights-Sometimes in lane

Medium/Hard I just played this lane and it wasn't too pleasant. Harassing him early isn't a good idea, as you will go OOM fast without your chalice, and it will only 'tickle' him. Most of the time, he constantly jumped on me if i went in for a cs. What i did to counter this was, putting my shield on right before he could stun me, and harass him as he ran away. He doesn't use mana.. so this tactic doesnt really hurt him more than he hurts me, buts its still worth it. Soon enough, he will just start farming and pushing the wave CONSTANTLY. Put your shield on the turret, and just try and defend! If he goes dmg, you're screwed, but if not you still have a chance. Be careful