Reign of Gaming

Champion Notes: Jax, The Grandmaster at Arms!

     According to his lore, Jax has won more games than any other champion.  Might not be true in reality, but the later the game gets, the more you get to see why he is called the grandmaster.  Jax is highly mobile, hits like a truck and it only gets worse as he gets more items.  Just about no one would ever dare to face Jax in 1v1 and it is lucky for the rest of the league that it is a team game!  His power is such that you can almost consider him a melee AD carry and that makes a threat that cannot be ignored.  If your looking to destroy people with a lamp-post or just feel incredibly manly, Jax is your man.  At least I think he is a man.   

Stats, Abilities, Ratio's Numbers:

http://leaguepedia.com/wiki/Jax

Relentless Assault (Passive) 

• A simple attack speed buff.  What is unique to note here is that it is a stacking buff.  Most of the time a champion who already has an attack speed buff, would focus on other stats for damage.  But due to the stacking nature, your going to want some additional attack speed to get to max stacks faster. 
• This passive is part of the reason jax does as much damage as he does.  The attack speed buff also never fades, so long as you continue attacking.  Leaving Jax alone to attack teammates is a bad idea. 
• Just as you should never get in a land war in Asia, never get into an auto attack duel with Jax.  This passive will make sure he wins almost every time. 
• Did anyone know his passive was a picture of Jax fishing?  That does not scream "Relentless Assualt" to me. 

Leap Strike (Q)

• Very strong mobility skill.  The CD on it gets to be rather short when maxed out.  It can be difficult to kite Jax as a result, especially if he has some cool down reduction. 
• Can be used to jump to friendly or enemy units.  Wards included.  Making it a very powerful escape tool, as well as a gap closer. 
• Can be stacked with Empower (W) to get extra damage immediately without needing to land an auto-attack.
• Jax travels relatively slowly while using this ability compared to Irelia or Xin.  They are basically teleporting while Jax actually moves through the air, giving your opponent time to use an escape.  This can be frustrating when they escape before you can really get the benefit of the gap close.   

Empower (W)

• This is one of two sources of magic damage for Jax.  And is the only one that is on command. 
• Can be combined with Leap Strike (Q) for extra damage. 
• This does reset his swing timer, so you can auto-attack, Empower (W) to get two quick attacks.
• This is counted as an auto-attack for the purposes of your passive. 
• The cool down on this ability gets very low when maxed.   

Counter Strike (E)

• Jax will continue to auto-attack while using this ability.
• You can move while using this ability, including using Leap Strike (Q). 
• The radius on this ability is larger than you would think based on the graphic. 
• This is part of the reason why Jax is such a powerful duelist.  Auto-attacks are very important to fighting in 1v1's and he is basically negating them, getting damage from dodging them and scoring a quick stun. 
• There is an AOE shield on it, so even if you do not expect to avoid many attacks, it can be used to provide bonus defenses if you see a lot of AOE coming your way. 
• This is the only ability of Jax's with a scaling mana cost when leveled.

Grandmaster's Might (R)

• A very powerful defensive steroid.  Jax is basically rewarded with free defensive stats, for building offensively.  It also lasts for a long time compared to other similar abilities.  As a result, you do not need to build many defensive stats on Jax, despite his melee nature due to this ability.  
• This does scale as you build more and more offense. 
• This also provides Jax with a second source of magic damage and another auto-attack steroid.
• This, combined with his passive, will allow Jax to shred towers (and players who don't move!) for no mana cost at all.
• The sound effect for when the passive procs is very satisfying.     

Jax and Scaling

      Normally in a discussion of late game scaling, brusiers and fighters are not considered when AD carries are around.  Jax however stands as a strong exception to that generality.  As Jax gets more and more items, he becomes almost a carry himself.  Phreak on streams has even go so far as to call him a "hyper carry."  I disagree his late game is that terrifying but there is no doubt that a late game Jax is as scary as any AD carry.  A cursory glance of his kit makes it clear where that power can come from.  His passive is a massive attack speed boost in protracted combat, his empower is an attack reset with a small cool down, his ultimate scales with both attack speed (which he gets free already) and gives him defensive stats that scale with items.  I have seen Jax's with awful builds still dramatically hurt people due to the base power inherent in his kit.  Jax needs to be stopped before he can get to his power point, if you do not, he can eventually become as powerful as the carry and murder everyone, including your carry with his mobility then you.  It is for this reason that Jax is a very common pick in dominion.   

General Notes

• Jax is not technically a melee AD carry, but he comes close.  If your team needs a front line fighter and damage, Jax is a strong contender for that spot. 
• When itemizing against Jax's damage, treat him as physical.  While he does have some magic damage, it is no by no means his primary source of damage.  Since you are unlikely to ever really try to engage him in an auto attack war, only his W will really cause magic damage.  Further, most of his damage comes from auto-attacks and attack speed, so a warden's mail and items it builds into, help deal with with his damage. 
• If your going to shut Jax down, do it early.  Champions that can really bully with a very strong early game, help to make it so that he does not reach the point where Jax becomes Jax.
• If you want to counter pick him elsewhere, consider champions that reduce attack speed or can help kite him.  
• Jax can get relatively tanky for his offensive potential, but once his ultimate and Counter Strike run out, he is as vulnerable as anyone else.  
• Jax has a lot of good match-ups against champions that rely on auto attacks.  And many of his match-ups that are not in his favor, change once Jax reaches level 6 and gains his ultimate.  He can win a large number of all-ins at that stage. 
• Because Jax often times builds much more AD than AP, spells are often a faster way to kill him when his ultimate is up. 
• When you get to that late game Jax point, few things will make you feel as manly.   

That concludes this edition of champion notes.  Go strike fear into the hearts of all!

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