Why should I trust you?

I never take anything other than these two spells (Unless jungling of course)

Starting Items

I start with these items first in all situations except against Pantheon. If you lane against him, go Cloth Armor and Health Potion. Take Stealth Ward in all situations since you can Leap Strike to it, unless you are laning against Teemo and you are having difficulty with his Noxious Trap. Then you may want an Oracle Lens.

First Back

Here's a strategy most people are not used to. Start by buying Sheen and Vampiric Scepter. You will need Vampiric Scepter for some extra damage, but mostly for some MUCH NEEDED sustain. Sheen works so good with Empower specifically. You will want to finish Trinity Force first in most situations.

Boots

Simple enough, build Mercury's Treads against AP or heavy CC, build Ninja Tabi against heavy AD.

Core Items

Your first item built should be Trinity Force, unless you are fighting a tank, then you might consider BOTRK first. This item gives Jax a nice boost in many areas and is typically all you need to out-duel your opponent. Sheen should always be first in the build path, choose whether you want Stinger or Phage based on your matchup. Phage if you need to stick to your enemy better, Stinger if you feel you need some CDR. Next you will want to focus on your last pure damage item, Blade of the Ruined King. Once you finish this item, you will have an ideal amount of attack speed, and the passive will help greatly against any tanks you are going against. The active skill is also very useful to Jax. The movement speed you steal is enough to stop an enemy from getting away most of the time.

Late Game/Final Build

Now that we are past the core items, these next items will change a lot in order built, and the items themselves. At this point, just ask yourself what you need the most. If no one on the enemy team poses a real threat to you currently, go with Spear of Shojin. If the enemy has a fed mage, go with Maw of Malmortius. If you want more damage & an extra life get Guardian Angel. If you have fed enemies that are crit-based, go with Randuin's Omen.

Situational Items

Most of the time, you will probably use 1 of these items per game. It is important to know the right item to take. Mercurial Scimitar is only taken if the enemy has a strong suppress CC move (Because suppress is unaffected by tenacity). Examples would be Malzahar Nether Grasp, Warwick Infinite Duress. Adaptive Helm is really only taken against Teemo. It helps a ton against his Noxious Trap and his poison. Thornmail should only be taken if multiple enemies are basic attackers. Example of a team comp to take Thornmail: Tryndamere top lane, Master Yi jungle, Vayne ADC. It is not worth taking Thornmail if your lane opponent is the main basic attacker. Your Counter Strike is enough to deal with your lane opponent. Hextech Gunblade is great if you need to fool your lane opponent. When you are facing a pure tank who just builds armor to counter you, take this before Trinity Force. This is the only time I do this, but it will work great against "counters" such as Malphite or Rammus. They will always build armor first and you can obliterate them with this item. Mortal Reminder is hardly ever built, but if the enemy team has multiple heavy healers, such as a Dr. Mundo top, Vladimir mid, and Soraka support, you should consider getting this item.

Farming is very nice with Jax. It will take a few matches to get used to Master-At-Arms passive 3rd hit, but once you get used to it, farming will be a breeze. Empower and Relentless Assault make his under tower farming exceptional. If you are about to miss a minion kill due to basic attack delay, use Empower to finish it off. The mana cost is low so it shouldn't affect your mana pool much.



Early Lane Phase

Starting at level one, you will want Counter Strike first most of the time. It's a great skill if you are going against another melee champion that you can easily walk up to attack.

You will want to start basic attacking minions the second you get in lane if there is no threat from your opponent. Don't push too hard, but try to stack up your Relentless Assault. When you are not in danger of losing much health from enemy minions, go in and attack. The attack speed should make you come out ahead. Obviously, you don't want to try this against certain opponents who have strong level 1, such as Pantheon.

You will have to be careful to not push your wave too fast, leaving yourself susceptible to ganks. It is a little tricky knowing when to stack your passive or not. At level two, assuming you managed to out trade your opponent, grab Leap. If you played your hand correctly with Counter Strike at level 1, your enemy should already be low. You can force a Flash at level 2 in most matchups.

At level 3 when you have all three of your basic skills, I usually start to play a bit more passive at this point. Unless your opponent is a hard counter, he/she should be pretty low on HP or backing already. Take this time to grab some farm. Getting your first two items is absolutely critical for Jax, so try not to take unnecessary risks.

Mid Lane Grandmaster's Might Phase

Skipping ahead to when you get Master-At-Arms and probably have Sheen or are close to it. This is where you can really punish your opponent. Basic attack a minion twice, then Leap Strike to your opponent, basic attack, Empower, and back off. Watch your opponent's health drop by 1/3 with this quick combo. Once your cooldowns are reset, go in again, but activate Counter Strike before you Leap Strike. The stun should be enough for you to get a kill if he/she does not have Flash up.

If you find yourself in an extended duel with a basic attacker like Tryndamere, it is VERY important to not reactivate Counter Strike. You will want this skill going as long as possible to dodge as many attacks as possible.

Try to activate Master-At-Arms early instead of too late. If you see a gank coming in that is unavoidable, or you are about to engage in a team fight, activate it before you take any damage. It is better to activate it a little too early than activating it too late.

Late Lane Splitpush God Phase

Late into the lane phase, you will have a lot of attack speed by now. Nobody in the game will be trying to solo duel you. Keep pressure in your lane and try to drop a tower. Don't forget to use Empower to reset your basic attack and deal extra damage with Trinity Force.

Depending on the enemy team, you may have 1 or 2 towers down, or maybe 0 if they really concentrate on shutting you down. Because Jax does so well in 1 on 1 situations, and has great mobility potential, I find jungle roaming to be very effective at this point in the game, maybe more effective than trying to gank another lane. Start making your presence felt all over the map. Roam around and look for opportunities to steal jungle farm, pick up an easy kill, or help another lane.



Once team fights start happening, you will want to change up your style a bit. You can't just jump into the middle of a fight right when it starts, because Jax is susceptible to burst and kiting. Try to wait for a couple seconds for the front lines to throw out their skills. Once the fight really starts going, activate your Master-At-Arms, then Counter Strike, and hop on an easy squishy target. In these situations, you want to keep Counter Strike spinning as long as possible, as it also reduces AoE damage. If you manage to kill someone, but are in danger of dying, back off and try to Leap Strike to safety. Jax is amazing at escaping contested team fights.

If you have a decent amount of health and a few opponents are low, keep attacking. You have the tools to survive and kill them all. Take notice of Counter Strike cooldown, because it is the biggest factor in securing kills at the end of team fights.

The other strategy when team fights start happening is to simply splitpush. As stated before, Jax is a godly splitpusher. Don't splitpush too much though, your team will likely need you. Pick your spots well.



Most of Jax's tricks have already been mentioned somewhere above, but I will go through each one here.

Leap Strike can be used on almost everything. Leap to a ward, minion, champion, jungle fruit, even a Thresh lantern! You cannot leap to a tower/inhib/nexus.

Empower cancels basic attack delay, so take advantage of this NONSTOP. Cancel when attacking towers, minions, and obviously enemy champions.

Counter Strike should not be reactivated when dueling with a basic attacking champion. Dodge as many attacks as possible before the stun goes off.

Once you have Master-At-Arms, attack a minion twice, then Leap Strike to your opponent, basic attack, Empower, and back off. In one second you'll hit your enemy with Leap damage, basic attack damage, Master-At-Arms damage, Sheen damage, then another basic attack along with the Empower damage, dealing massive damage before the enemy can react.




Jax is a versatile duelist capable of dominating even the heaviest damage dealers. Hopefully my guide gave some insight on this champion. For those of you who made it this far, thank you for reading!

Comments, questions, and feedback are very welcome. I will do my best to answer all questions sent my way.

Spoiler: Click to view -5/7/19 -Updated threat/matchup information. -Changed item order slightly. -4/19/19 -Updated some "threat" information. -Added my stats -4/18/19 -Provided a much needed guide revamp with new information pretty much everywhere. -11/25/17 -Added additional "Con", weak against tanks. -11/24/17 -Guide officially created!