Hello folks. I have had and used Janna for a while and I can honestly say she is not just my favorite support champion; she is the BEST support champion. Even after the nerf to her shield, which isn't that bad to be honest. I am making this build because I see a lot of people struggling when using Janna and most builds on here I find are highly innacurate (no offense to those of you who have posted Janna builds). I believe this may be mostly because people tend to greatly underestimate how well AP can scale with some of her abilities (primarily her shield).

Pros:
-best support in the game (controversial, I know, but her shield and ult are far more useful than Sona's auras, or anything in Soraka's arsenal)
-with enough CDR, pushes are everlasting
-fantastic harassment early on with high dmging DPS lane partner (i.e. Pantheon)
-pretty good AP ratios (except for ult sadly)
-one of the fastest champs in the game (gets to team fights quickly)
-moderately strong damage output for a support champion

Cons:
-pretty squishy early on
-smart teams will focus her first cuz she can protect and heal so well
-requires non-***** teammates who are willing to jump in and harrass when you shield them
-requires your entire team (this includes you) to communicate well with each other so that people won't B after you clarity AND ult them

Mana regen and cooldown reduction is all she needs, though some extra magic penetration never hurts. I prefer CDR per lvl because it's overall total is greater than flat CDR, even though it takes longer to get there. I use health quintessences to add survivabilty. I like being alive. It's fun.

0/9/21. Period. LOL I said period but we'll laugh about that later. Janna is PURE SUPPORT. She helps her teammates survive and rape people, she is not suppose to rape people herself. Because of this, stay out of offense. the 9 in defense adds a little bit of extra survivability, but the 21 in utility is the most important and probly the most obvious. It gives a nice exp boost, a ton of mana regen, CDR and upgrades both of my summoner spells, which I'll discuss now.

*Update* - I have found that 9/0/21 is also acceptable, seeing as 15% magic pen + the extra AP per level is worth investing in, but it's all preference.

Clarity- Essential. Don't you dare let me catch you playing Janna without it, or I will F***ING KILL YOU! The reason is because it really helps keep you and your laning partner from running oom, which gives you a significant early game advantage. With this builds mastery/rune set, your mana regen will allow you to spam abilities quite frequently and not run oom for 4-5 minutes. Once you are oom, just use clarity. By the next time you are oom, clarity will be refreshed and you can use it again. Also, if you're smart, you'll be laning with some high-damaging dps champ, and they tend to get mana starved failry quick. Clarity prevents this problem.

Clairvoyance- A game-winning spell imo. Some don't like it, but I think it's the BEST support spell in the game, besides maybe Clarity. And why? Most early and mid game deaths are caused by ganking and poor map awareness. Clairvoyance protects flawlessly against ganks, assuming your team pays attention. AND with the 21 points in the utility mastery tree, it can be used once every 45 seconds :DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Other useful spells:

Fortify: It helps keep towers alive and often times ends an enemy push early. Enough said.

Heal: OMFG HEAL IS SUCH A NOOB SPELL YOU SUCK!
Do I? Or did 2 of my teammates barely survive a gank from your ****ing annoying jungler Olaf/WW/Fiddle****s? Oh check it out they got away scott-free too :p

Teleport: Um, I guess it helps you get back in your lane faster, but again, with clarity and Monsoon, you don't really have a reason to b that often.

Flash: I used to think this was a bad skill for Janna, because she doesn't really need another escape ability (she already has enough fleeing power with her Q,W,E, & R)but Basoosh recently pointed out that (and I quote) "Flash + Monsoon can be a devastating surprise for an enemy team, throwing them all way out of position. Great way to pin enemy champs up next to your turret if they get too close, as well." So if you want to give Flash a shot, feel free. And make sure to thank Basoosh for this helpful tip. If you're reading this, I hope you do not mind my quoting you too much.

Useless spells (basically all others):

Ghost: No. Janna is fast enough as it is. You put ghost on a good chaser. Janna is not a chaser, killer, or assassin.

Cleanse: Again, plenty of escape power.

Smite: What are you jungling? With Janna? Better hope for your sake I don't hear about you doing this.....

Ignite: I know what you're thinking, and yes I have seen a Janna with ignite. I dam near peed myself from laughing. Janna is not for offense.

Exhaust: Great spell.....for anybody else.

I'm not even going to bother with Revive or Rally, you all know how "good" those spells can be.

WHAAAAAAT? WHY DONT YOU MAX TORNADO FIRST IT'S HER MAIN SKILL!

Oh, really? Cuz no it ****in isn't. The shield (E) is janna's primary and best ability. You should start with tornado, it's great for harrasing, but janna is not for offense. I'll be saying that a lot in this guide. Tornado is great don't get me wrong, but what's so good about it is the range, and knocking ppl airborne. It stops chasers, slows runners, disables ppl in team fights, and farms. Damage is the only thing that increases with rank and the least important aspect of the skill. Pick tornado first, then put 1 on shield and another on zephyr. Then max shield. It's one of the greatest buffs in the game, at lvl 5 it blocks nearly 300 dmg and gives your ally 50 atk dmg for 5 seconds (it's a free BF sword!). Next is zephyr, because it adds more to janna's crazy movement speeds, and doubles as a nice little active slow. Lastly, finish up tornado and obviously upgrade your ult whenever possible.

CATALYST FIRST! ALWAYS! It gives you plenty of mana and hp early on, giving you even MORE precious lane time. Obviously you cant start with this so start with a ruby crystal for more survivabilty. Recall around 1500-1800 gold to buy your catalyst, boots of speed, and maybe even an amplifying tome if you stayed out long enough. After those first 2 items, go for mejais.

BUT THOMAS (real name)! I THOUGHT JANNA WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO GET KILLS?!?!!O______________O

You're right. She isn't. But all of her abilities can lead to a crazy amount of assists, which also stack with mejais. Basically, if played right, mejais will boost her AP by a lot vey quickly. And AP is CRUCIAL on Janna, because it boosts the strength of her shield AND gives her ult more healing power. Next major item is Rod of Ages. It gives a lot of hp so she can live longer, extra mana, and of course, a large amount of AP. Then you can upgrade to boots of swiftness to add to her already rediculous movement speed, or cooldown boots to allow more frequent use of your abilities. Now you can start making nifty little support items, starting with Aegis of the Legion, a fantastic support item. The aura gives armor, mr, and even damage. After that, Soul Shroud. It gives a lot of extra hp, as well as invaluable mana regen and CDR, plus an aura that does the same for nearby allies. Last item I usually get is Rabadon's Deathcap. Why? AP. Tons and TONS of AP. The AP bonus's will make you and your allies invincible.

Situational Items:

Sometimes, you will have to sacrifice one of the fantastic items above for something else depending on how the game is going. Aura items also work fairly well with her.

Abyssal Scepter/Will of Ancients: Get one of these if your team is very caster heavy (Abyssal tends to work better)

Frozen Heart: Up against a LOT of DPS? This items will reduce their dmg output on you significantly, plus it adds to your mana pool and CDR.

Banshees Veil: Amazing counter for CC heavy teams.

Buy your Ruby Crystal (you want that catalyst ASAP), put a point on Tornado, and about 8-10 seconds into the game, clairvoyance the enemy's summoner platform. This will show you where they are headed, and what items they started with, which may give your teammates a slight early game advantage.

ONLY MID IF YOU HAVE TO. Janna is really not that great at mid. She can harass pretty well with her tornado, but it does minimal dmg to start with, and if you're maxing that first, then you're an idiot. Janna is much better laning with a partner, and you need to call your partner early on. Try to lane with a strong dps champ. If you have a pantheon on your team, he is your partner. Hands down. One of the best combos in the game is Janna and Panth. Panth stun + Janna shield + Spartan Rape Cone = dead enemy. This combo makes laning a breeze and it scares your enemies out of farming.

Anyway stay in your lane until about 1600 gold. Then buy your Catalyst, Boots of Speed, and an amplifying tome for extra AP. then return to your lane and keep farming and harassing with your lane partner. If you don't lane with a dps champ, then just stay back and harass with tornado, shielding your partner, if he/she is in trouble. If you are laning with a dps champ, use shield often, and hope that they aren't ******* and are willing to harass well with it. Also, do not forget that you have clairvoyance. Use this frequently, and at the right time. If you're bot and someone goes mia, wait a few seconds and clairvoyance the river bank. Hopefully the guys at mid will watch the map, read the mia, back off and not feed. If they have a jungler, frequently clairvoyance the Blue and Red buffs. If they see the clairvoyance they will leave and not get the buff. If they aren't paying attention, you can send people to ambush them and steal the buff. Once you have another 1500 gold or so, return to base and buy your Mejais, and a blasting wand or RoA if you have enough. By now you should hit mid game.

*UPDATE* - Janna's damage output early game is actually surprisingly good. If soloing a lane, she can cast Eye of the Storm on herself, boosting her own attack damage by 50, and then auto attack enemies for some solid harassment. That aside, Janna has decent attack speed and very long range. Don't forget to shield yourself when attacking an enemy turret!

More often than not, mid game officially ends the laning phase. This means you and your allies are going to start running around in various patterns farming creeps/minions, killing off champions, taking out towers and gathering buffs. The number one rule for Janna is never leave a teammate alone. At least not if most of the other team is mia. If you see an ally all by himself somewhere in the jungle while the entire enemy team is mia, get your *** to that ally. They'll thank you when you barely save them from a surprise attack. This brings me to the second rule of playing Janna: YOU should never be alone. As a pure support champion she can't really do anything by herself. Remember, Janna's role is to buff, save, and assist her other allies. You can't help your allies if they are nowhere near you.
Obviously, you will have to seperate in order to farm. If you see a large group of minions, go rape them with your tornado. You need gold to build your Aegis and Soul Shroud. If you see a team fight about to begin, get your *** over to it. In team fights, you should be shielding your highest damaging DPS champion while he/she murders people. Also, know when it's appropriate to use your ult. Appropriate times to Monsoon would be:
-When you have 1+ dying ally
-When you are losing a fight and you need to run the knock-back will save your team more often than not
-If you can position a fleeing enemy/enemies between you and your allies, Monsoon will throw them back into the Rape Festival

Note: Remember that the knock-back on Monsoon CAN save an enemy's life. This will piss your allies off. But keep in mind that trading a kill for your team to save an ally is a sacrifice you should always make.

To summarize, stay with your allies. Break away to farm if you get the chance (the enemy team is dead or you know where they all are), but other than that, stay close, assist in any way you can, save lives, and ensure kills. Also, DON'T FORGET YOU HAVE CLAIRVOYANCE. Use this frequently. Good places to clairvoyance would be the Lizard, Golem, Dragon, and the river banks.

By this point you should at least have your Soul Shroud and Aegis of the Legion (if not, at least most of it). As expected, Late Game means team fights out the ***. This is the point where you are going to be considered a massive nuisance to the enemies. Late Game, there are no exceptions to the "never be alone" rule. Stay with your entire team at all times.

BUT I WANT TO FARM MINIONS!

Tough ****. If you break off and the enemy team surprises your allies while your gone, they're going to blame you, as well they should. I would. I'd blame the hell out of you. I would blame so hard your kids would feel it at birth. Basically, you'll be up to your nuts in blame and self-disappointment. And the almost-ace might have just lost you the game. Nobody wants any of that.

Same rules apply for team fights. Once someone initiates (YOU can with Tornado), shield your DPS, stay behind you allies and auto attack, occasionally throwing in your slow if someone tries to run away. If your team needs to run, blow the enemies back with your ult if you have it.

Reminder: Clairvoyance. At this point, you should be frequently Clairvoyancing Baron. If you find the enemy team there, haul *** and stop them from getting that buff. If they do get it, it's not the end of the world. Just stay at your base and defend with your team. Remember that Janna can shield turrets if the enemy is pushing too hard.

After playing more games with Janna, I have come to realize there were a few very noobish aspects on this build, so I made a few changes:

1. Aegis of the Legion is a better early game item than Soul Shroud, and so it has been recommended you buy that first. Also, Soul Shroud was nerfed recently.

2. Marks (red runes) have been changed from CDR to Magic Pen, seeing as 1.5% CDR is ********, and far inferior to 10% extra magic penetration. I was obviously ******ed when I initially made this guide, and for that I apologize.

3. Flash has been added under the "useful summoner spells" section of this guide.

4. Though I do not believe Janna is a fantastic killer, I seem to have greatly underestimated her damage output, which is surprisingly good for a support champion (talked about in "Early Game" chapter).

5. Deathfire Grasp has been replaced with the much more useful Rabadon's deathcap.

If you followed this build, you probably did fairly well....okay you probably did AWESOME. You may have only one kill (if even) but you have a ton of assists. In the after-game lobby, people should be raging about how gay you are and whatever excuses they can think of because they just can't deal with the fact that you're better than them. So sit back, enjoy the flames, and lol in their face.

Thank you for reading this guide. Feel free (but not obligated) to leave comments and ratings, and do give this build a shot, regardless of how skeptical you may be. Trust me. It works. Well.