Janna is much more than just a supporting shield bot!

Just like Taric, Janna has the potential to be an offensive harasser and initiater in the front line while still surviving and supporting effectively. She excels at being freaking annoying to the enemy team while granting lots of offensive support. She has a long ranged AoE CC, a fair good slow, a damage-increasing shield, and she can push enemies away while healing allies by her side - lots of effects that especially your AD carries will love you for. But remember; with great power comes great responsibility (go Batman!).

Janna and Taric are the best supporters in terms of increasing AD carry damage. Quite a lot of players think that Janna only has a shield to support with - they are so wrong. This is a thorough guide that will elaborate on every relevant aspect in order to get to know Janna and play her optimally for the sake of her team. Victory is close at hand.


Choosing Masteries + Runes from either Janna #1 or #2 doesn't mean that you have to go with the same respective item build. It is just to have both setups shown. Remember a guide like this is just easy, clear theory for you to read and learn from. It is not a walk-through about how to win all your future games.

Pros:

This is why you must play Janna for your team...

• Support with lots of potential both early, mid and late game.
• Lots of crowd control effects (CC) - knock-up, slow, push.
• Very speedy and overall agile.
• Difficult to gank. Can easily fend off most ganks consisting of 1 or 2 enemy champions.
• Good at defending turret in the laning phase (remember that you can shield your turret!).
• You can afford to roam a lot if your bottom lane mate can handle himself for some time and knows how to play defensively. For instance, help your jungler gank mid, get an early dragon, or simply ward for the other lanes as well.
• The enemy team is sure to get pissed off and hate you.
• She is fun to play

Cons:

Might as well list them all...

• Lacks early heal, making it harder to stay on lane against harassers (unless you are really good and fast at shielding and reading your enemies. With enough skill, healing is barely needed). Your only heal has a 72 second cooldown (with max cooldown reduction!), and it heals over time.
• Squishy and often targeted first, especially by assassins.
• Easy to play, but hard to master. Requires experience to know her limits and mechanics.
• Her Howling Gale can be difficult to hit with if the enemies are prepared for it or are not running in a straight line. Not fully reliable knock-up CC.
• Depends on a solid, good team for her support to function properly.
• Very vulnerable to stuns, taunts, immobilizes and silences.

It is required that you look at the map 50% of the time in order to help scout, warn (ping) and issue correct orders based on the amount of missing enemy champions on the map. You are your team's eyes, since they are focusing on their lane play most of the time for optimal farm. This is why it is very important to use Clairvoyance often and correct. You will need a good idea of the enemy jungler's rotation and play style.

Although your play can contribute very much to your team in terms of warding, Clairvoyance, shields, CC's and auras, your can never lift your team above their fundamental skill level. If the enemy team are simply better players than your team mates, not even the best Janna in the world will be able to win the game for you. Janna cannot carry. However, if the teams are somewhat evenly balanced skill-wise, your play can easily mean the difference between victory and defeat.

So why Flash and Clairvoyance? It almost seems mandatory for any support-ish champion.
To answer the question, let's go through every summoner spell one by one:

Arguable:

is underrated, mainly because people tend to forget about it while in-game. It is a powerful spell in the early laning phase, and due to its buff at the end of season 1, it now remains useful throughout the whole game. However, Flash for your guaranteed survival and Clairvoyance for you and your team are so core that you cannot really function without. If another support or semi support on your team picks Clairvoyance, by all means pick Heal for yourself instead. Janna has AoE heal already, and a nice supporting shield, so she can do just fine without this summoner spell.
In my opinion, it is wrong for a supporter to take a summoner spell that your lane partner needs instead of himself picking it. Heal will only heal for 50% on your team mates, and Flash is a much better survivability spell for yourself, so in either case, it is best for your lane partner to get the Heal spell. A ranged AD carry can easily manage with picking Heal himself, and if he really has that "omg supporter w/o heal? ffs" -attitude, getting that healing is his own responsibility, cus Janna is an amazing supporter as she is, and her offensive spells has both slowing and CC - effects almost equal to the Exhaust that your lane partner might give up to pick Heal.
is good on the right champion such as Singed, Tryndamere and Master Yi among others to successfully utilize their damage rotation and/or escape unhindered. If you're having a hard time with the enemy's CC, a Bansee's Veil, Elaisa's Miracle or even Quicksilver Sash should do the trick. No need for it to take a summoner spell slot on Janna.
could have been a good choice, but with mana regen seals, utility masteries and the early mana regen items, you really shouldn't have any mana issues unless you're spamming all of your spells in vain. Also, Soul Shroud is your way of granting mana regen to your team.

Not for Janna:

is not a bad choice, but Janna already has speed to outrun or catch up with enemy champions and she ignores unit collision. Upgraded boots and Zephyr rank 5 gives you enough movement speed to outrun 90% of all other champions. Master Yi, Nidalee, Vayne, etc. can, however, be a problem if they chase you.
is for champions who has the damage and abilities to turn the tables in a 1 on 1 fight by the use of Exhaust. Janna is not that type of champion. Besides, Janna already has the slow effect in her Zephyr.
is for the final burst/killing blow on champions, or to neutralize healer champions such as Dr. Mundo. As support you shouldn't get kills over any of your teammates, and reduced healing taken is not your kind of support. Also, most teams have Ignite already.
has many good uses. Ahri for instance would use it as a tool to cut the distance fast in order to make a fast, accurate gank on another lane or by ward. Top laners would use it to quickly reappear at their lane after having served another purpose elsewhere, and for late-game to make surprise pushes. Janna cannot push nor defend by herself (shielding a turret only extends its downfall by a second), and she certainly doesn't need the speed to arrive faster.
is not really useful. If any champion could use it, it would be a fed, tough Garen or a stealthy champion such as Evelynn and Twich who tend to die early in the teamfight and could potentially win it by reappearing shortly after, unexpected. For Janna, just no.
is for junglers only. Period.

So.... What's left?

is what Janna needs to complete her survivability. She has knock-up, slow, shield, push, heal, speed and can walk through units. She already has great survivability from her skills, but the final thing she is missing is a Flash. This is also your counter to Morgana and Fiddlesticks ulti and Nocturne fear, among others.
Flash can also be used when chasing to Flash over the enemy champion and push him into your team or even a turret. However, this trick can easily screw up and get you killed instead, so be careful.
is a must on pretty much any team. Unless you have the entire map well warded, you are practically blind without a Clairvoyance. Of all the roles on a team, the support is the one best suited for this team supportive summoner spell. Its use can be groundbreaking and game changing. Knowing where the enemy jungler is most of the time can give your team the upper hand in lane controling and give a warning whenever a gank is coming up. For the sake of harassment, Janna's long ranged Howling Gale is also good with Clairvoyance.

Note that you can only play with these two summoner spells from summoner level 12 and onwards.

It is a must for a supportive Janna to go down the Utility tree - there's so much to gain.
The additional mana and regen is really nice for pretty much any champion, and the 2 points in Wealth allows you to buy a health potion along with your mana regen + ward start-off build. Quite important for your sustain.
Sage is very useful on offensive Janna since she will get tons of assists and can therefore almost keep up with the other champions' levels.
Why no Transmutation ? Because you have so little spell damage that it can hardly be measured with this little spell vamp. It might just tempt you to spam spells on creeps, which is bad. With a Philosopher's Stone you already get a nice amount of health regen.
Summoner's Resolve in the Defense tree is only if you pick Heal for summoner spell. If not, simply go with +2 armor.

Marks:

9 x Greater Mark of Magic Penetration: Nothing to discuss here really. Since Janna can use these Marks, it is not worth picking any secondary stat ones.
An only defensive Janna might consider swapping to a secondary stat on Marks, but fortunately this is not me.

Seals:

9 x Greater Seal of Replenishment: Good mana regen for the early laning phase.
9 x Greater Seal of Scaling Mana Regeneration: From level 7 and up these will grant more mana regen than the flat ones above, so if you can handle the first few levels without having mana issues, these should be your priority.

Alternative, but not recommended Seals:
Greater Seal of Vitality: Gives quite a health pool for late game, which is good on squishy targets, especially dps.
Greater Seal of Armor: Armor is a must for junglers, tanks and melee AD, but can also work wonders in the early laning phase versus an opposing ranged AD/supporter setup. A matter of taste.

Keep in mind that as your cooldown reduction continually increases up to ~40% at mid-game, so does your mana usage - hence the Seals and the early mana regen items. Get a Tear of the Goddess if you are still having mana issues regardless (although I don't recommend) - it will solve all mana issues throughout the entire game, trust me.

Glyphs:

9 x Greater Glyph of Cooldown Reduction: A total of +5.89% cooldown reduction, which gives a fair head start and adds well to your end-game cooldown reduction on top of your items.
9 x Greater Glyph of Scaling Cooldown Reduction: Gives +8.1% cooldown reduction at level 18 for a better late game. But remember, a LoL game is not only about aiming for end-game domination. Getting and holding the lead from early or mid-game will win most games.

Alternative, but not recommended Glyphs:
Greater Glyph of Scaling Ability Power: ~28 AP at level 18, which is actually quite a lot. But does it outweigh cooldown reduction on Janna? I think not.
Greater Glyph of Magic Resist: Best for tanks and melee AD. If you are having a hard time with enemy spellcasters and need magic resist, get a Banshee's Veil, Aegis of the Legion or Quicksilver Sash.

Quintessences:

This is the open section - what do I feel for? I prefer flat health for an easier laning phase now that I am skipping Doran's Ring, and it also gives something to late-game, making you overall more nuke safe throughout the entire game:

3 x Greater Quintessence of Health: +78 health

I don't find additional movement speed necessary on Janna. I keep those for my Singed.
Also, in my opinion the +15 AP from Greater Quintessence of Ability Power are not as well spent as the flat health on Janna.

1 x (level 1)
5 x (level 2, 4, 5, 7, 9)
5 x (level 3, 8, 10, 12, 13)
3 x (level 6, 11, 16).
4 x (level 14, 15, 17, 18)


> Howling Gale first? WTF??
Yes, the "Janna Full Support" guide says shield first, but I don't quite agree with that.
Obviously, shield is to be maxed out first asap to feed your AD lane partner's damage output while keeping him alive and on lane the most by negating enemy harass. I mean, +50 damage and +240 hp for 5 seconds at level 9 on lane partner Tristana as she lands in their face hits ****ing hard! Your lane partner is your damage, not you.

But back to the Howling Gale. At level 1, you and your team will benefit MUCH more from a long ranged (1700), damaging CC than from a shield in terms of ganking, chasing and escaping. It's like picking heal over stun on Taric at level 1. And let's face it, there are quite a few games where there is team vs team action in forest before minion spawn.

Also, you can scout both the long bottom lane brushes with Clairvoyance (place it right between them), and often you will see 1 or 2 champions on the edge closest to your tower ready to gank or harass. A Howling Gale has further range than vision, so you can safely and with 95% chance of success throw a fully charged giant wind in their face (135 damage). The same trick can be used at enemy blue buff brush to make things harder for their jungler.
I only recall one time where I regretted not picking Eye of the Storm at level one, and that was because my lane partner simply sucked at not taking damage.


> Why max Zephyr over Howling Gale?
When ranking them up, Zephyr has better value gains than Howling Gale in terms of cooldown reduction (percentage) and it only costs about half the amount of mana. Also, it increases your own speed on every rank, which is quite important (and reduces the downtime of the speed buff after using Zephyr on an enemy), and increases the slow effect. The CC effect does not get any better on Howling Gale from ranking, only the damage increases.
For an overview:

Howling Gale:
Rank 1: 60-135 damage, 14 sec cd, 90 mana cost, short knock-up effect.
Rank 5: 160-340 damage, 10 sec cd, 150 mana cost, short knock-up effect (unchanged by rank).

Zephyr:
Rank 1: 60 damage, 12 sec cd, 40 mana cost, 24% slow for 4 seconds.
Rank 5: 280 damage, 8 sec cd, 80 mana cost, 48% slow for 4 seconds.

You will only have the chance to hit champions with a fully charged (max dmg.) Howling Gale on the laning phase, and that's if they're not very observant (or are not playing with sound on). When in a team fight or trying to gank an enemy or rescue an allied champion, you will NEVER get to charge it up more than 0.1 second. Therefore, not only does it improve your overall CC output by maxing Zephyr, it also increases your total damage output to enemy champions.

The only situation where there is only a tiny bit of a slight chance for it to perhaps be worth maxing Howling Gale over Zephyr would be if the enemies are extremely stupid and almost intentionally walk straight into every fully charged gale you throw at them (in this case you will win the game either way), or if it is absolutely crucial for your team's survival for more interrupting CC (but why would you go with such a team in the first place?).
The early Howling Gale CC is very important, but since its main functions - the range and CC duration - does not increase with rank, it becomes the last priority for ranking.

Howling Gale has the potential to destroy an entire minion wave at once. If you max it out early and build heavy AP, it will devastate minion waves and give you lots of gold, but there are several reasons why you should NOT do this on Janna. First of all, maxing Howling Gale early will give you a hard lack of support, and you should never prioritize yourself over your team mates. Secondly, building AP early means that you are skipping on cooldown reduction and auras. You are NOT a champion suited for spell damage/nuke. If you want AP burst damage, go play something else. And third - the only time where it is okay for you to get minion kills is when your lane partner(s) are dead, back or roaming, and this should hopefully not be very often. Janna has a better potential of roaming than a bottom lane ranged AD carry because of her speed and CC's, and the fact that a carry cannot afford to leave the XP from lane for roaming with a chance of coming back empty handed. But Janna can, if it means that the carry gets her share of the minion XP while she is gone. Keep in mind that not all carries can handle a duo lane without support. For instance, if your lane partner is Ashe, she will most likely be denied or get killed while you're absent, as she is extremely vulnerable without you.
It is NEVER okay to steal potential last hits over any other champion on your team, so only last hit if you are alone on the lane, or if your lane mate is doing something else than lasthitting.


> Eye Of The Storm on who?
In a situation where several of your team mates are eligible targets for a supportive shield, who should you prioritize?
ALWAYS choose to save an allied champion with the damage absorbing shield effect before even considering buffing an AD champion's damage output. Saving lives is more important than increasing damage. Absorb > Damage Output, period. The best target is one, where the target can gain from both effects at once. If you see your Xin Zhao or Pantheon about to engage for the team and no ally is in trouble, by all means shield him, because he will definitely benefit from the shield in both ways. He is sure to take quite some damage after having struck his target, and he will have a ~15-40% higher damage output in his burst, contributing very much to the nuke in general. In addition, the shield might actually prevent more damage than what the spell says, because...
The buff animation - and the fact that the first target that the enemies attack will not really lose hp at first - is very discouraging and will in many situations make the enemy team turn around and retreat instead of throwing their nuke combo. Overall, a well placed supportive shield boosts your team's morale while killing the enemy team's morale - and yes, it does have something to say.
When fleeing from the enemy team, always prioritize saving an ally over youself, and always choose the one that is in the most dire situation with the least chance of escaping by himself. For instance, Fiddlesticks > Nidalee (unless she is very fed and on a spree). Even if your target dies regardless of the shield, the enemy team has to spend more time killing him which gives the rest of you more time to escape.


> Monsoon, why and how?
Monsoon is mainly a unique panic button with a long cooldown used to save yourself or teammates. The only gain for ranking it up is the amount of AoE healing done over time, and most of the time you will not even get to channel the entire duration. However, the healing is very underestimated. If channeled for the full 4 seconds, it will give 280/440/600 (+4*35% AP) healing to everyone close to you. That is like Soraka ulti*1.5, and don't forget the push+slow effect on enemy champions. Monsoon can be used the following ways:

• It can be used offensively together with Flash, where you position yourself properly with Flash and make an instant Monsoon to kindly guide an enemy champion into the middle of your team for free cookies. But be careful, as it might place yourself in a very dangerous position, and if you are struck by a CC at that point, there's a good chance it will mean your death.
  
• It is the best way to create distance between you and enemies, so if you are getting ganked and it's an unwinable situation, you Monsoon their *** when they get close, only to instantly break it and run in order to push them about 2*Flash range away, unless they hit a wall. In this kind of situation you should NOT channel the Monsoon to heal yourself or your teammate, because the healing is nothing compared to the horrors you will face if the enemies catch up with you again. So push, break, run, and you should have a nice, safe distance unless they have Akali/ Nocturne-ish forever-jump champions.
  
• It can be used as a simple heal, if a nearby champion is about to die from DoT or Karthus ulti. If shield is on cooldown, Monsoon can be a nice alternative to save a mate in trouble.
  
• The best and proper use of Monsoon lies in a well positioned teamfight. Imagine that your team just took a Galio ulti head on while the rest of his team were beating you up pretty bad. You still have your cooldowns ready for a major comeback, but your team's health is critical. YOU MONSOON! and create just a bit of distance and hopefully spread out the enemy team, leaving a poor enemy champion in a tough spot up against a wall while the rest are blown away so you all have a common target to instantly nuke. As the enemy catches up with you again, you will be fighting inside the Monsoon, leaving the enemies slowed and your team healed. At this point you can either wait for the full duration or break it prematurely to CC, shield and do a bit of damage. If the location was perfect and the enemies were scattered in all directions (even over walls?) while your team could regroup, it would most likely make your team win the fight.

Item Build 1

Start-off:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sight Ward
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Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward

Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward

Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward

Mid-game CORE:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward

Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward

Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward

Late-game CORE:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

...and final items:

Item Build 2

Start-off:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sight Ward
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward

Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward

Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward

Mid-game CORE:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward

Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward

Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward

Late-game CORE:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sight Ward
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

...and final items:

Item Build 3

Start-off:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sight WardSight Ward
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward

Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward

Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward

Mid-game CORE:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward

Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward

Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward

Late-game CORE:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Philosopher's Stone Sight Ward
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

...and final items:

Item notes:

- If your lane partner needs additional mana regen asap, you can switch Philosopher's Stone and Mana Manipulator buying order: Sight Ward => => => Philosopher's Stone

- If your team is doing good and are not threatened much by enemy damage, you can skip Aegis of the Legion to get an early Soul Shroud followed by Will of the Ancients to top the offense.

- Depending on your economy and the game's development, you might want to start purchasing Oracle's Elixir earlier. It is mandatory for late-game. However, if your death count is high and you are having trouble staying alive, you might want to get your tank to grab it instead.

Why these items?

Your focus points as Janna:

1. Cooldown reduction - Your best way of supporting is by shielding, CC'ing and just spamming annoying spells as much as possible to harass the enemies and force them to retreat or do something reckless. To reach the 40% cd.red. cap is your superior priority as Janna.
2. Mana pool/regen - To keep up with the amount of spells, you will need the mana power to do so. Janna isn't worth much if she is depleted after a minute.
3. Survivability - A Janna is an easy first target for the enemy team, so if they can get to you, they definitely won't miss the opportunity. A dead Janna is a useless Janna, so you have to survive these encounters, and to do so you will need more health and defensive stats than the standard.
4. Team beneficial auras - As the supporter, you will have to provide your team with additional stats and effects in absence of your damage output.
5. Ability Power - Highly underrated stat on Janna. She is not spellcaster DPS, but she still has good AP ratios. 250 AP will grant her shield double effect and heal an additional 350 AoE from Monsoon. Also, extra damage from spells is also a support, as long as you don't get the killing blows.

Item Choices:

Boots
In my opinion the best boots for Janna by far. It is okay to skip it if you insist on getting Shurelya's Battlesong early.
The best alternative to survive hard CC. Especially good as a counter to Fiddlesticks, Galio and Veigar. You will have to compensate for the lost cooldown reduction by buying Shurelya's Battlesong for instance.
- Sorcerer's Shoes and Boots of Swiftness are not worth buying on Janna. Speed is not an issue, and damage is not worth buying compared to cooldown reduction or survivability on a supportive Janna.

Support, sustainability and survivablity
This item gives you ALL of the first 4 focus points: cooldown reduction, mana regen, survivability and team aura. It is a core item to make you that beefy support who can risk being in the front-line of the team to help the your teammates catch up with enemy champions and interrupt incoming initiates from the enemies. A lot of people frown upon this item - their loss. You can skip it and go with Boots of Lucidity and Shurelya's Battlesong instead if you really can't live with the thought of wearing such an awesome piece of armor. Every now and then I
Adds a bit of everything for you and your team for short money. It also provides some survivability for yourself.
If your survivability is fine and your team has strong AP, buffing them even more will make wonders happen. This will also heal your AP team mates quite a bit.
If your find yourself too squishy and focused, or if there is too much CC for you to move freely and support the way you need to. Probably the best defensive item for every non-tank.
Philosopher's Stone It is a good item to get early on most support champions, but is not always needed on Janna because of her offensive support, which can grant her lots of assists in good games, providing plenty of gold. The health regeneration is good for staying away from base, and for when you no longer have room for a Health Potion. The mana regeneration together with Mana Manipulator is just about the amount you need in order to keep your casting running. Also, as a good note for the head, carrying a "5gp10" item for 20 minutes will give you 600 gold. You should only pick a 5gp10 item if you really need the stats or are going to use its upgrade later in the game, hence Kage's Lucky Pick and Avarice Blade are out of the question. Beware that you don't prioritize 5gp10 so much that it delays your core, cus you're team will suffer from it throughout mid-game.
Provides a fair amount of regeneration and survivability, but the true potential lies with its active effect. It should only be picked if you haven't gone with Ionian Boots of Lucidity (to avoid wasting money beyond the cooldown reduction cap!). I only find this item ideal, if you're up against a strong enemy team with heavy CC which forces you to play defensively throughout most of the game. In this case you can grab Mercury's Treads with the early Philosopher's Stone for a defensive sustained play, and then as mid-game approaches you upgrade it. You should only use the item with team mates nearby to either escape from or catch up with enemy champions. It is not a sprint to get back to lane faster.
This gives you all the mana you need throughout the game for merely 1k gold. The longer you carry it, the better it gets, so be sure to get this early if you plan on grabbing it. Remember that Strength of Spirit from the defense tree will give you very much health regen through the mana pool that this item provides. In most cases, however, an early Mana Manipulator and Philosopher's Stone will also be enough mana regen to keep you going, and the additional gold per second really helps in those games where you don't steamroll the enemies and get tons of assists.
You should only aim for this if you have bought a Tear of the Goddess early. When you enter late-game and upgrade to Archangel's Staff, it will add around 100 AP and a lot additional mana regen for a short 1.8k coin. I previously had this in more core, but found that it was only a reliable purchase in games where your team are obviously winning from an early stage. In more tied games it is better to avoid this and go for more support.
In rare occasions where you just need those +3k hp to stay alive, you can either build this or Banshee's. Rod of Ages adds well to your spell efficiency, but don't pick this before having at least Soul Shroud and Aegis of the Legion to support with.
Actually, the stats are not stupid for Janna, but you will get them from other items. The damage burst is good, however, how does it fit a supporter? I need to see some very good Janna play with this item to be convinced of its usefulness in ranked games on a non-carry support champion.
This can be fun to have late game in normal games just to prove that your well farmed Janna can kill people in a 1on1. However, this doesn't belong on Janna anywhere near a ranked game.

Vision
Sight Ward It is your job to ward the map for your team, increasing the chances to successfully execute or avoid a gank. You should buy one or two wards the first time you go back from lane and place it in front of Dragon (if you are bottom team) or just below where the river forks into the bottom jungle, close to the brush (if you are top team). This will negate most incoming ganks from mid or jungle as well as providing great vision to secure lane control.
Counter warding can be very effective. These should mainly be placed at Dragon, Baron Nashor or elsewhere along the river where there is great chances of spotting an enemy ward while also granting you important vision information. It is not worth counter warding in your own jungle, because you don't gain much from the vision info. This is where an Oracle's Elixir comes in handy.
When your survivability is good and you don't die very often, Oracle's Elixir is often a very good purchase. It is the best way of counter warding, leaving the enemy team blind. For the sake of countering enemy stealth assassins such as Akali, Shaco and Talon, you should leave the Oracle's to your tank, as you do not want to stand on top of these guys. Keep in mind that a glowing pink eye above your Janna is like taunting the entire enemy team to focus you.

An in-depth warding guide coming up. So many screenshots -.-'

I will sort the champions mentioned in this chapter into 4 categories by colour. The descriptions below are written as
"Allied champion / Enemy champion":

1: You go great with this champion / This champion poses no threat to you
2: It can work pretty well / Usually no big deal
3: Not the best / Can often be hard to deal with
4: You have pretty much no synergy / This champion will **** you up

The reason some champions are not mentioned below is either because there is not much to say about them or their use can be compared to some of the other champions on the list.

Allied champions and the combo you make

• Ashe (1) gains much from your shield damage. The usual hit-Volley harass will deal tons of damage while shield is on, and if there is a lucky crit among, it can often lead to a kill. Ashe relies very much on the correct use of your abilities as she has no escape or initiation mechanics herself except for arrow at level 6. Your Howling Gales pretty much determine her death and kill count if you are laning with her.
• Caitlyn (2) will like your shield like any AD champ, and she has a few good tricks up her sleeve. However, I feel she has better synergy with Taric or Blitzcrank. This goes for some other ranged AD champions as well.
• Corki (2) likes the shield effect to be able to stand in people's faces with Gatling Gun on without taking damage. However, he would gain at least just as much if someone could tank the opposing fire while holding the enemy in place, such as with Taric, Xin Zhao and Sion.
• Ezreal (3) is better off with a healer such as Soraka and Sona to keep him up during the lane phase. He has lots of harass and damage by himself and really only needs to be put back to full health and mana every once in a while to keep up the damage and zone control. He can even escape by himself (in most cases). Of course he likes your effects, but he does well without them.
• Fiddlesticks (4) is not the best with Janna. Your ulties rarely work well together (as you will almost always stand on top of each other in team fight). However, Fiddle might like your passive speed buff, slow and knock-up for him to catch up with enemies to Terrify them, but both gain the most from champions with hard sustainable AD damage to utilize your CC effects. Of course, great play can make the combo work, but that doesn't mean the champions are suited for each other.
• Gangplank (2) with his Remove Scurvy and your abilities is an unstoppable train that can run away from pretty much anything. However, GP can do pretty much nothing to keep enemy champions away from you. In terms of offense, his Parrrrrrrrley also gains damage from your shield, and with your abilities the enemy champions will have a hard time getting out of GPs gun range, keeping his damage output sustained.
• Garen (2) and Janna have a little thing going on. You are both speedy and are great at chasing enemies, and at the same time people don't like getting too close to Garen, which gives you a safe zone. If enemy ranged champions try to kite/harass Garen, they will be in range of your knock-up and slow. This combo works better if Garen has a fair amount of farm to deal proper damage, and is only available in 2v1 or 2v2 situations.
• Graves (2) works somewhat the same as Ezreal in terms of dealing much damage by himself and he pretty much just needs the sustainability support from a healer (and perhaps mana). However, he will gain more from your shield and CC than Ezreal - his Buckshot will blast even more with shield on - so therefore the higher score.
• Kog'Maw (1) is a glass-canon like Ashe and really needs your abilities in order to stay alive. With that said, his attack speed with your shield on while you CC the enemy champion make a huge damage output together, and Kog'Maw will need your panic button more than once. Since Kog'Maw's harass range is shorter than Ashe's (before he gets ulti), your combo is very vulnerable to tough stunners. Enemies should never get close to you.
• Master Yi (1) LOVES your shield when he is chasing down enemies in ultra-fast mode, and he will probably outrun you and take the kill by himself. If you can position yourself well as Master Yi comes in to gank, your CC and damage buff boosts his damage output by over 9000! Also, if the gank doesn't succeed, your shield and ulti along with his speed and Meditation will allow your safe escape anyday.
• Pantheon (1) goes very well with Janna. If you go together and Pantheon gets the jump on a target without you having to use your CCs in the initiation, it will most likely grant a kill as they will not be able to escape Pantheon's low-range, high sustainable damage output with your helpful CC's. His Heartseeker Strike and Spear Shot gain tremendous damage from your shield. However, Pantheon is despite Aegis still very vulnerable to counterfire. He is by standard squishy versus more than 1 opponent unless he is built tanky. This is why he needs you in case he screws up or missjudges.
• Rammus (3) cannot die with you by his side, but the 2 of you won't be able to get a kill either unless the target is low (or the fight goes on for like 20+ seconds). Like with Fiddle, both you and Rammus need a partner with much sustainable damage output to utilize the CC properly.
• Soraka (4) and Janna at the same time is a waste. The support will be too high to be all useful and the combat efficiency will be crippled. Unless you have a fed Akali along with 2 good tough guys, you will not be able to keep up with the enemies' damage output and map control. Soraka and Janna have almost no damage output, so they can't kill anyone efficiently, and they don't even excel at escaping together. 2 semi supporters like Lux, Nidalee, Alistar and Kayle might be able to work it out, but not with full support champions like Soraka, Janna and Sona - it is simply too much to be good.
• Tristana (1) hits hardest when she lands on top of her enemies and bursts them off with her high attack speed, but she needs the survivability and damage to do so properly. This is exactly what Janna has to offer. A shield that prevents damage taken and boosts her nuke insanely much because of her attack speed, followed by a Howling Gale and Zephyr to make sure they don't get away anytime soon. In addition, both your ulties push away enemies, making your very hard to gank.
• Tryndamere (2) is a loner, but he will still appreciate your effects. He already has a slow himself, but when it is not up, a seconds slow effect from your Zephyr will be well received. No one will escape from a red buffed Tryndamere with Janna at his side. With his suicidal attack style, he will not gain much from the shield's damage prevention as it will most likely break almost instantly, but even then the +50 damage buff still remains the full 5 seconds for his pleasure. Also, you are probably the best champion for saving a dying Tryndamere. Even with enemy Mordekaiser ulti and Ignite on, and a Karthus ulti in the air, your shield, push and heal along with his own Bloodlust heal will almost definitely be enough to save him as his Undying Rage wears off.
• Udyr (2) has speed, shield and a CC by himself, so he will not gain nearly as much from your abilities compared to other AD champions. But in the situations where Udyr's abilities alone is not enough for him to escape, your support will almost guarantee his safe escape. Your Zephyr and Monsoon are what helps him the most, although, he does gain quite some damage from your shield for his initial Tiger Stance burst after having stunned his target.
• Xin Zhao (1) and Janna synergize very well! Xin Zhao is usually pretty agile but often needs help in order to catch up with enemy champions. His Three Talon Strikes will devastate his target when shield is up, and by keeping the targets slowed with Zephyr or even Monsoon he can continue bashing their skull forever at high speed for massive damage even while tanking. You become a great initiating frontline together on team.
  

Prefered Lane Partners:
You will always be paired up with a ranged AD champion at bottom lane in every ranked game, and with good reason. The usual "standard" setup in a ranked game, which you usually aim towards, is an AP carry mid, ranged AD carry bot with a supporter (you), melee AD/tank jungler and a farm dependant melee carry/tank top. Always 2 tough guys in the front to serve as a wall for the squishies. Champions you could end up on lane with:

• Ashe (1)
• Caitlyn (2)
• Corki (2)
• Ezreal (3)
• Graves (2)
• Kog'Maw (1)
• Miss Fortune (2)
• Sivir (2)
• Teemo (3)
• Tristana (1)
• Twitch (3)
• Vayne (2)

Enemy champions and the threat they pose

Akali
Cho'Gath
Dr. Mundo
Ezreal
Fiddlesticks
Garen
Heimerdinger
Kassadin
Le Blanc
Master Yi
Nidalee
Nocturne
Pantheon
Poppy
Rammus
Renekton
Shaco
Sion
Talon
Teemo
Tryndamere
Veigar
Warwick

Unfavorable Lane Opponents

Sion

Banshee's Veil

Remember that different builds are suited for different playstyles. If you want to play purely defensive and stay behind your team in order to aura buff and defend with your abilities, you are probably better off going with the Janna Full Support guide. This build aims more towards, as you might have gotten the impression of, playing offensively and harassing - but not at the cost of support. This fits my playstyle, and I am sure that a lot of you will see the potential of Janna after trying it out.


This concludes the guide. Hopefully you will not think of Janna as a useless support only capable of shielding. And if any of your friends say so - lead them here. Janna will blow them off for good ;)