Welcome to my Jax guide!

This will be an in-depth guide, or as much as I can make it, covering what I know about Jax, his match-ups, his abilities, what he can offer for a team, and more.

I've been playing Jax just a month before his rework, so I know how he works. He is a lot of fun and can bring a lot to the table. So, if you want to learn anything, I'll post what I know and I will cover why I say this is an ideal build, for the fresh players starting Jax. Just remember, this is my OPINION. I know some people may not agree with my OPINION, it's fine because my OPINION may not work for everyone.

Remember, if I left anything out, please leave a post, or PM me, and I will adjust it to that.

Pros +Burst champion, dealing tons of damage in little time +Has a stun with Counter Strike + Leap Strike provides as a gap closer and an escape +Naturally tanky post level 6

Cons -Focused in team fights -Squishy early game -Very mana dependent champion -Can be countered pretty hard by certain champs -Has long cooldowns early levels

Jax's Abilities

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Passive: Basic attacks increase Jax's attack speed by 4%/6%/8%/10%/12%. Relentless Assault lasts up to 2.5 seconds and stacks up to 6 times.

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Q: Jax leaps to target unit, dealing damage if the target is an enemy.

Physical Damage: 70/110/150/190/230 (+60% AP) (+100% bonus AD)

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W: Jax's next basic attack or Leap Strike within the next 10 seconds deals additional damage. Empower resets the autoattack timer.

Magic Damage: 40/75/110/145/180 (+60% AP)

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E: For up to 2 seconds, Jax dodges all basic attacks and takes 25% less damage from area of effect abilities. At the end of the duration or if Counter Strike is activated again, Jax deals damage and stuns nearby enemies for 1 second. This spell deals 20% additional damage for each attack dodged to a maximum of 100% increased damage.

Physical Damage: 50/75/100/125/150 (+50% bonus AD) Maximum Physical Damage: 50/150/200/250/300 (+100% bonus AD)

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R (Ultimate): Passive: Jax deals additional damage on every third basic attack. The counter will reset if he does not attack for 2.5 seconds. Active: Jax gains bonus armor and magic resist for 8 seconds.

Magic Damage: 100/160/220 (+70% AP) Armor Bonus 25/35/45 (+30% bonus AD) Magic Resist Bonus: 25/35/45 (+20% AP)

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Ability Combos & Sequence

I won't bore you with walls of text, so I will make quick and simple bullet points to keep it short and sweet. There will also be an explanation for why each ability is leveled the way it is.

Combos

• In order to deal the most damage with Leap Strike, use Empower before you use Leap Strike. The bonus damage from Empower will deal immediate damage when Jax lands.
• Always initiate with Counter Strike, because you will stun them dealing more damage if they autoattack you, and you will always get a free hit or two while they are stunned.
• As soon as you learn Master-At-Arms, every three hits, you activate its passive. When you are going after your lane opponent, after your second basic attack, use Empower. You will reset your autoattack animation, deal additional damage with Empower, and activate Master-At-Arms passive.
• You can use Leap Strike even while Counter Strike is active, thus jumping to your target, stunning them, and dealing more damage.
• Don't be afraid to use Empower to farm minions and poke your opponent.
• When you tower-dive, use Master-At-Arms to give you the extra armor and magic resist.
• Leap Strike is used for an engage, or as an escape mechanism. Remember, you can jump to wards!

Reasons for Ability Levels

• Reason for the first point in Counter Strike is to either set up an early gank or to escape one.
• Empower is Jax's main ability for damage, so it's maxed first.
• Since Jax is usually against autoattack champions, max Counter Strike first. When they autoattack you, you will deal more damage when you use it, or when it activates itself.
• Leap Strike is maxed last because you should have a little bit of CDR, so the cooldown shouldn't be that bad.
• Counter Strike can dodge abilities that proc on on-hit effect, like Mystic Shot and Parrrley.

Counters

(Just the main ones that annoy me a lot)

Malphite is a really good counter to Jax because og Ground Slam. It reduces attack speed by up to 50%, which really defeats the purpose of having Jax. Jax depends a lot on his autoattacks, and having them reduced that much, it makes it really tough to do anything. Even if Malphite is in the jungle, he will most likely camp top lane, or wherever Jax is. So if you don't want any trouble for yourself, when you see the enemy pick a Malphite, don't pick Jax, unless you REALLY, REALLY know what you are doing.

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Singed is a really difficult lane for Jax. Post level 6, it's almost impossible for Jax to 1v1 Singed, because Singed can just use instanity potion go gain move speed, armor, magic resist, and health and mana regen. To make matters worse, even if you do get a kill or two on Singed early, he won't die later; he just becomes way too tanky. Jax is not a champion that shreds health like nothing, so to fight Singed, you will need a champion that shreds through health like nothing.

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Olaf is just an annoying champions to go up against as Jax. Yes,. Counter Strike will work against Olaf's autoattacks, but not against Reckless Swing. Nothing can stop the true damage it deals. If you are ever against an Olaf as Jax, post level 6, you should be able to win trades, if you're not too far behind. If you let Olaf get ahead, you already lost your lane.

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Jayce has the abilities to keep Jax, or any melee champ, zoned from farming with his knockback on Thundering Blow / Acceleration Gate. If you do win in trades against Jayce, he can always farm from a distance with To The Skies! / Shock Blast into Thundering Blow / Acceleration Gate. At a range, Jayce can deal a significant of damage by using Lightning Field / Hyper Charge, which gives him an increased attack speed when he is in his ranged form.

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Who Jax Counters

(not all of them, just a few of them)

Fiora is an autoattack champion. Counter Strike will shut her down because it deals more damage while its up and Jax gets autoattacked. What Counter Strike also does against Fiora is that when she uses Blade Waltz, while Counter Strike is active, Jax takes no damage. It may stun her, if you execute it at the right time, you can also stun Fiora when she comes out of Blade Waltz.

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When it comes to Irelia, it's the same concept as for Fiora. With Hiten Style, Irelia deals some true damage as well as her basic attacks. If Counter Strike is up, Jax won't take any damage and it will deal more damage to get per autoattack. Then, you will most likely win the trade, and therefore, most likely, win your lane. So, just don't get cocky or caught out, and you have a good chance of winning your lane.

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Gangplank is a champion that relies on his passive in order to trade. As I stated before, Counter Strike can dodge Parrrley, if it is active before Gangplank shoots it. This will also count towards Counter Strike's active, which makes it deal more damage depending on how many abilities Jax dodges. Once you dodge, Gangplank is a little useless until the cooldown is refreshed, so you can go and jump in and deal some damage before he can retaliate.

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Synergies

I'm not going to list the champions like before, because they are relatively the same, as in what they bring to the table.

The champs I'm trying to get at are the ones who provide buffs to the team, slow the enemies down, and just do massive damage in a short amount of time.