Long Sword

× You are already half way your first item if you start with Long Sword

Doran's Blade

× Doran's Blade is the best choice in lanes where you are expecting to wanting to be trading and/or fighting often.


Doran's Ring

× Since Jhin doesn't excel at pushing waves compared to some other ADCs such as Sivir or Caitlyn, there are times where starting Doran's Ring will help you win lane.
× With Doran's Ring, Jhin can spam his Q Dancing Grenade more often which is extremely useful for both pushing and poking. You will have less combat and all in potential with less damage on your autos, so Doran's Ring is very situational.


Infinity Edge

× Infinity Edge will be one of your core items on Jhin, in most cases you will want to rush it.
× From time to time I see high elo Jhin players choose to start with a Zeal THEN pick up an IE. If you do this, it allows you to have extra mobility in the early game due to the crits and extra movement speed, but you will be weaker combat-wise until you pick up Infinity Edge. I don't recommend this unless you feel very confident in this buy.


Statikk Shiv

× Crit and attack speed are both valuable stats for Jhin, attack speed buffs his AD due to his passive and both stats buff his mobility through movement speed.
× Usually I would not suggest Statikk Shiv as your core Zeal item, it's useful for waveclear and additional burst damage but not as reliable as Rapid Firecannon or Phantom Dancer in general situations.


Rapid Firecannon

× Rapid Firecannon is a pretty solid mid/late game item for an ADC because of the additional crit power and range (useful for both defensive and offensive purposes!) it provides.
× If you struggle to choose between Statikk Shiv and Rapid Firecannon, shiv is stronger for pushing and AOE damage while RFC is stronger for safe/easy poke and fighting. I would say in most cases RFC is more reliable, but there are many situations where you can pick up both if the game goes on long enough.


Lord Dominik's Regards

× Lord Dominik's Regards is a good item for when the enemy team has stacked a lot of armor, but in many cases even when the enemy is tanky Mortal Reminder may still be the better choice as a lot of champs are better countered with anti-healing than pure damage stats.
× Situations where you would prefer Lord Dominik's Regards over Mortal Reminder would be when they have armor such as Zhonya's Hourglass or Dead Man's Plate, but the enemy has pretty much no relevant healing sources on their team.


Mortal Reminder

× In most of my recent games where I find myself building Last Whisper, I tend to go Mortal Reminder over Lord Dominik's Regards. Tons of champs in every role have healing, whether it's ADCs with Fleet Footwork or Blade of the Ruined King, the enemy having supports like Nami or Janna, top laners like Darius, and Riot just seems to enjoy packing healing into overloaded champions kits these days. (Ahem, Sylas.) It is fairly rare that you will run into a game where grevious wounds will NOT be a useful addition to your team.
× If armor pen is not a big concern but they still have a lot of healing, for example their entire team is squishy but they have a Soraka, you can just build Executioner's Calling and work on other damage/defensive items and finish the completed Mortal Reminder later. If this is your plan, I would buy Executioner's Calling early, somewhere around while you are working on your second or third item.


Essence Reaver

× Essence Reaver is a less popular alternative first pick up item to Infinity Edge. With Essence Reaver, you will have less raw damage but be able to spam more abilities.
× If you decide to do the Essence Reaver build, you will want to buy it first. After that, pick up a Zeal item then you will still want to grab Infinity Edge.
× When you decide to go ER over IE, you are choosing to sacrifice damage over utility essentially. You will be using the extra mana and CDR to spam W's and R's to be looking to engage and find picks. I would not recommend this build for solo queue unless you feel very confident in your team, as it relies more on team play than solo play.


Mercurial Scimitar

× When playing ADC, your goal in the mid and late game is to do as much damage to the enemy team and objectives as possible without getting caught and killed. Even when you are positioning your best, some CC is very hard to avoid or mistakes happen. Mercurial Scimitar's active is your "one free oopsie doopsie" card. Don't forget to use it, and use it wisely.
× Similar to my note about Executioner's Calling and Mortal Reminder, sometimes it is more efficient to build Quicksilver Sash in the early or mid game and finish Mercurial Scimitar later if the game goes that long. If you are getting locked down by stuns, roots, etc. a lot, consider buying a Quicksilver Sash earlier rather than later.


Guardian Angel

× Typically, I only build Guardian Angel when they have a threat that is very difficult to avoid dying to, such as a fed Zed or another huge threat. In ideal situations, most deaths CAN be avoided by positioning properly or properly choosing when to take fights, but there are times where you’re just pretty much expecting to die in teamfights. That’s okay, just build a Guardian Angel.
× Only build Guardian Angel as a late game item, ideally your last item. There are exceptions of course, but if you find yourself dying over and over in mid/late game the problem probably isn’t not having GA, it’s likely your positioning/decision making/map awareness. Use your movement speed passive to your advantage, and stay out of reach of the enemy team.
× Again, similar to Executioner's Calling and Quicksilver Sash, buying a Stopwatch ahead of time can end up turning the tide of a fight and give you a lead if used properly.


Youmuu's Ghostblade

× Ghostblade will pretty much always be your first pick up when building lethality on Jhin, and occasionally it can be a decent first item for the crit focused build as well.
× So why/when do you take lethality over crit? Lethatlity does much more damage the less armor and HP a target has. Armor pen ( Last Whisper) ignores BONUS armor, so armor you get from items. Lethality ignores armor in general, so it includes the base armor that a champion has. So, the less armor a champion has, you can sometimes come close to dealing true damage with lethality. The problem is lethality items don't really do a whole lot if a target has a ton of bonus armor, so that's why they're not bought as counters to players who are stacking a lot armor. It's best against targets who only have their base armor. If an enemy team has more than one tank I usually won't bother with lethality unless I feel confident my support and I can stomp their bot lane matchup and can get snowballing early. If their whole team is squishy/no tanks, lethality does a lot more damage than crit, however it does not scale as well as crit.
× Ghostblade has an active that when used, gives you a burst of movespeed. You can use this to escape unfavorable situations, chase down kills, and have an easier time dodging and weaving around in fights.


Duskblade of Draktharr

× If you are going the lethality build, Duskblade will usually be the second item you buy.
× Duskblade has a unique passive - Blackout - that allows you to reveal wards and hidden traps. When it is up, if possible, try to use it to find wards and improve vision control.
× When you are done with Duskblade, a handful of players like to grab Edge of Night to continue stacking lethality but I don't always find the item super useful and I feel I fall off much quicker with three lethality items. I'll usually get Rapid Firecannon and Infinity Edge in whatever order, then a defensive item like Mercurial Scimitar, Guardian Angel or even Bloodthirster.

ADC MatchupsBack to Top
One of the most important things about laning phase is simply knowing your matchups, how to play them, and what to expect. Jhin has a decent amount of kill potential in most lanes, and benefits greatly from achieving a lead in lane and carrying it across the map. In this section, I will be detailing playing Jhin vs. each "standard" ADC plus a little bonus for some of the rarer bot lane picks such as Yasuo or Mordekaiser.

In general, what you can expect during lane as Jhin is trading with Q's and autos, avoiding taking harass, farming (obviously) and looking to set up engages/ganks with your team. Jhin scales fairly well so losing lane on him isn't the end of the world, but he has a lot of strengths that make winning lane on him fantastic for carrying a game.




ASHE

★ Ashe is very immobile, making her weak to ganks and all-ins. Try to put her in a position where it will be easy for your jungler to gank her and/or allow your support to engage on her and follow up with W Deadly Flourish.
★ In lane, be aware of her W Volley and avoid taking free poke damage by positioning behind minions.
★ Poke and harass her with Q's and autos (use Fourth shot if you can), as she cannot trade back nearly as effectively. When she walks up to CS, try to get a Q and auto onto her for free damage.
★ Once Ashe hits 6, you need to be wary of her ult Enchanted Crystal Arrow, especially if their support has CC that can follow up or vice versa.

WIN CONDITION: Abuse her for her weak laning phase by setting her up to be vulnerable for ganks and harassing her with poke. Look for chances to all in her with your support. Be careful of her level 6 power. Jhin should be able to win this lane fairly easily, so long as he doesn't make mistakes and end up giving her free kills.


CAITLYN

★ In this lane, Caitlyn will most likely try to push in and bully Jhin. Avoid allowing her to do this, you may want to start Doran's Ring to be able to spam more Q's to try to prevent her hard shove and sustain with an extra health pot.
★ In the event that you do get shoved under your tower, be wary of sneaky Yordle Snap Traps hidden behind the tower. If you step in one, it'll give Caitlyn a lot of free damage.
★ Avoid using only autos in trading with her (the exception is if she lets you get Fourth shot onto her), since she outranges you greatly she will be able to get in more autos than you can while you run up and/or back. Use your Q as well, this is another reason it is beneficial to consider starting Doran's Ring in this lane.
★ All in all, Caitlyn will be looking to poke Jhin and shove the wave. If you can avoid taking too much harass, staying even in CS and try to prevent allowing her to get free tower plates, you will be in a good position to punish her and kill her.

WIN CONDITION: Consider starting Doran's Ring in this lane, especially if Caitlyn has a support that applies a lot of lane pressure. Avoid taking too much harass or losing CS, and look for an opportunity to punish her with an all in.


DRAVEN

★ Jhin will pretty much never win fights against Draven unless Draven gets himself caught or has fallen extremely behind in HP/gold (but a Draven that is behind is still dangerous.) Avoid getting greedy and trying to fight him when it doesn't look free, especially early.
★ Consider buying Ninja Tabi early, but remember that the Ninja Tabi still don't mean you will be able to 1v1 him in most cases.
★ Due to Draven's Q Spinning Axe and his passive, he will likely be pushing the wave nonstop. This makes him a good target for your jungler, but Jhin needs to do his best to stay healthy while waiting for an opportunity to all-in him. Similarly, if your jungler is low on health or weak, tell them to not come. A 3v2 ending with Draven getting kills can be disastrous. It's better to stay behind and wait to outscale Draven than to give him kills in a desperate attempt to shut him down early. It's just not worth it if that will be the outcome.
★ Draven also excels at dives, so ward accordingly, set up traps in places that would help you in the event of a dive, and know when to just back off your tower.

WIN CONDITION: Do not give him kills. If a fight with Draven looks bad or risky, it probably is. Farm, scale, and wait for an opportunity to punish and all-in Draven.


EZREAL

★ Pretty much all of Ezreal's lane pressure is in his Q Mystic Shot and his W Essence Flux. Take advantage of your minions to avoid getting hit by Q Mystic Shot, but be aware that W Essence Flux can pass through minions and all it takes is an auto or E Arcane Shift bolt to pop it.
★ If you can avoid getting hit by Q Mystic Shot (consider buying early boots to aid in sidestepping if it's a problem), Jhin is 100% the bigger lane bully. Harass Ezreal with auto attacks and Q's, and try to push him out of the lane.
★ Some Ezreal players like to take Teleport. If you see an Ezreal with Teleport, it means that he is planning to get enough for Tear of the Goddess, back, then TP back to lane. If you see him do this, try to deny him as many creeps as possible. You might want to try to hard shove the wave into tower early.
★ Once Ezreal has his R Trueshot Barrage he has a lot better all-in combat potential than Jhin so keep this in mind.

WIN CONDITION: Avoid his harass by positioning and dodging in lane, and bully him back with fourth shots and Q's. You outscale him anyway, but putting him behind in the early game will make the game much easier.


JINX

★ It should be very easy for Jhin to bully Jinx in lane, due to her low range and weak early game. Force trades on her with autos and Q's whenever there is an opportunity, and try to bully her out of lane.
★ When your Fourth shot is up, try not to use it immediately on the minions if you can hold it. Either use it on her, or if she isn't in range, you can use it to threaten her as she will likely back off the minions to avoid taking the damage.
★ Look for opportunities to all in her, if you have been harassing her and reducing her health it should be even easier. Follow up your support with W Deadly Flourish, or try to get W onto her yourself.
★ It's very easy to shove against Jinx early without meaning to while spamming Q's, so be wary of enemy jungler ganks. Jinx snowballs very quickly if given a few early kills, you want to avoid this at all costs. You want to shut her down early.

WIN CONDITION: Trade aggressively with her, try to all in her or harass her out of lane. Be wary of being punished for aggression by enemy ganks.


KAI'SA

★ Kai'Sa has low range and is fairly weak in lane, so try to abuse her for this. Use autos, fourth shots and Q's on her when there is an opportunity.
★ Before 6, you should try to all-in Kai'Sa if possible. She doesn't have a reliable means of escape besides a small burst of movement speed from E Supercharge, so she is vulnerable. Just be wary of over-committing, and letting her get her passive Second Skin onto you too much.
★ Also due to her low mobility, try to set up ganks on her with your team. She is an ADC that is valuable to shut down early.
★ Once she hits 6, Jhin needs to start being wary of Kai'Sa as her all-in potential becomes much stronger with her ult Killer Instinct. I wouldn't suggest trying to 1v1 her at this point, unless she is very weak.

WIN CONDITION: Harass her and bully her as much as possible in lane, and look for opportunities to all-in her early while her combat potential isn't the best. Just be cautious of extended trades, as her passive benefits from long trades wheras Jhin's kit doesn't.


KALISTA

★ When trading with Kalista, Jhin will want to look for short/efficient trades, like Fourth shot + Q then running back.
★ The longer a fight goes on with Kalista, the less likely Jhin is to win since the more Rend stacks Kalista builds up, the more dangerous she is.
★ To beat Kalista, Jhin will need to bully her out of lane with short/efficient trades or by waiting for his support and/or jungler to lock her down. Don't try to take extended fights with her besides in cases like this, as Jhin will more than likely lose.
★ Once Kalista hits 6, Jhin needs to be extra cautious about being pushed up or alone as it will be very easy for Kalista and her support to catch him with her ult Fate's Call. Plan accordingly.

WIN CONDITION: Take short but good trades with her, avoid engaging in extended fights. So long as Kalista doesn't become a monster in lane, Jhin will outscale so just don't take any dumb fights and he will win.


KOG'MAW

★ Kog'Maw is extremely immobile and scales extremely hard, so Jhin needs to do his best to take advantage of his early weaknesses to shut him down and come out on top.
★ Poke him with Fourth shots, Q's and autos as much as possible. Also look for opportunities to snare him with W Deadly Flourish for all-in potential.
★ Whittle down his health, and look for opportunities to all-in him or create a gankable situation for your team.
★ Be wary of over-committing and taking the full duration of his W Bio-Arcane Barrage, as in this case Kog'Maw will win the fight and it may be hard for Jhin to make a comeback.

WIN CONDITION: Take short trades with him as much as possible, and try to bully him and look for opportunities to all-in/punish him. Don't give him free kills, and the game should be easy.


LUCIAN

★ Lucian will likely look for opportunities to all in Jhin and get his full combo off on him, so watch for this and try to react accordingly.
★ Though Jhin's early combat potential isn't as good as Lucian's, Jhin can abuse his range advantage to try to get favorable trades onto Lucian.
★ To win this lane, you will have to try to get poke/good trades onto Lucian whenever possible, otherwise you will probably get pressured out of lane.
★ Though Jhin will outscale Lucian, a Lucian with a huge early lead can become very oppressive. Try to keep even with him as much as possible, and look for chances to punish him for overextending.

WIN CONDITION: Avoid getting all-in'd, and poke him with Q's and autos as much as possible to try to keep his HP below yours. Stay even in CS, and outscale him out of lane.


MISS FORTUNE

★ One of the most important things you need to do in a Miss Fortune lane is pay attention to the health of your own minions to avoid taking a ton of damage from Q Double Up.
★ You will want to constantly be re-positioning in lane in order to avoid letting her Q bounce to you. Farm with caution.
★ If you can avoid her Q's, you should be able to out-trade her in lane with your Fourth shot passive and Q's.
★ Once she hits 6, Jhin needs to be wary of her R Bullet Time. It can turn a fight very easily in favor of Miss Fortune, or cause Jhin to have to blow summoner spells. Always be wary of choke points/fighting in the jungle for the remainder of the game.

WIN CONDITION: Pay attention to your minions to avoid letting her get Q Double Up bounce onto you. Try to out-bully her in lane. You will outscale, just be wary of her ult Bullet Time as this is her main danger past level 6 and out of laning phase.


SIVIR

★ Sivir is a hard pusher and scaler, but she has extremely low range, so Jhin can bully her very hard in lane with her superior range and abilities.
★ You can try to use your Q to bait out her Spell Shield, because without Spell Shield a caught out Sivir will die very quickly. You can then use your W Deadly Flourish on her to try to lock her down, or your support can follow up with their abilities or vice versa.
★ Past level 6, be cautious about being caught out alone or pushed up since Sivir and her team can run you down easily with On The Hunt.
★ You can consider starting Doran's Ring in this lane if you wish, so that you can use the additional mana to spam Q's to push the wave back against her and have additional poking power.

WIN CONDITION: Avoid allowing her to shove in, punish her for her low range and weak early game. Be careful about being caught out by her ult, especially in the mid and late game.


TRISTANA

★ Similar to other ADCs that are weak earlier and stronger later, you will want to try to take advantage of your strong short trades.
★ Even early, avoid taking extended trades with her. If you stay in combat with her for too long, she will be able to pop her E Explosive Charge, and get a free W Rocket Jump which will likely cause Jhin to die or have to blow summoner spells.
★ Tristana can take out towers very quickly and easily, so keep this in mind and try to time your backs accordingly so that she can't get free tower damage, avoid getting pushed in, and try to rotate to match her in other parts of the map.
★ Avoid 1v1ing her at all points of the game, unless she is extremely far behind.

WIN CONDITION: Bully her in lane, and don't die to her by over-committing to fights or getting caught out. She will outscale you, so you need to do your best to secure an early lead.


TWITCH

★ Twitch is another ADC that will be very easy for Jhin to abuse in the lane. Harass him with Q's and Fourth shots, and don't allow him to farm freely.
★ Try to take only short but meaningful trades, because the longer you engage in a fight with Twitch the less likely you are to win due to his Deadly Venom stacks. Take short trades then run back.
★ Look for opportunities to all-in him and punish him for his low mobility.
★ More than any other ADC, Twitch is the one you will want to be spam pinging about when he goes missing from your lane. Help your team be aware of his attempts to roam.

WIN CONDITION: Take short trades to try to bully him out of lane and get a CS lead, and look for chances to all-in and kill him. Be wary of his stealth ganks/flanks at all points of the game, and help your team know when he has gone missing.


VARUS

★ You may want to consider buying early boots if you struggle to avoid getting hit by Varus's Q Piercing Arrow.
★ Like other immobile ADCs, you will be looking to try to harass Varus in lane and look for chances to all-in him, and set up opportunities for your team to gank him and kill him.
★ At level 6, you will want to try to keep your distance from him or be ready to Flash to avoid his Chain of Corruption.
★ Varus isn't in the best spot in the current meta, so don't feel too pressured to stomp him in lane. You will outscale him and be more relevant later in the game due to crit item power.

WIN CONDITION: Harass and look to all in, be wary of getting locked down and dying at level 6. You will outscale him because your items are in a better state than his.


VAYNE

★ Like other ADCs with stacking auto attack passives, you will want to avoid taking extended trades with Vayne because of her Silver Bolts. It is better to walk up and throw an Q + auto, then back off.
★ You will want to do your best to bully Vayne in lane, try to punish her with damaging her when she walks up to farm.
★ Once she hits 6, you will never want to 1v1 her. You will not win unless she is extremely behind.
★ Be wary of her running you down or flanking you, since her passive Night Hunter will allow her to chase you down. This is mainly a concern if the two of you are farming lane together alone, and she has ult.

WIN CONDITION: Try to put her behind and kill her in lane while she is weak. Be careful about 1v1ing her, and be wary of her flanking potential.


XAYAH

★ Pay attention to the position of Xayah's Clean Cuts feathers, so that you don't get rooted or take a lot of damage for free.
★ Prior to level 6 when Xayah gets her ult Featherstorm, she is very vulnerable to ganks and all-ins. Try to harass her during this time, or try to freeze the wave near your tower to make her an easy gank target for your team.
★ Remember that at level 6 she can also use her ult to dodge your bullets, so try to hold Curtain Call until she has already used her ult, if possible. If not, just keep in mind that she can dodge one of your shots for free with Bladecaller.
★ Unlike other scaling ADCs, due to her kit, Xayah is much better at early all-ins than other ADCs, especially if she has a Rakan. Be careful about getting engaged on by her support.

WIN CONDITION: Play cautiously to avoid getting hit by her feathers if possible. Harass her in lane. Don't forget about her R Bladecaller.