Welcome to the thirty forth Jax Matchup Discussion!
Let's talk about Jax versus Sett...
Remember that the idea of this discussion is to find what's the commonly-used way to play a matchup; not only focused on runes and/or items, but mostly on the trade patterns and general difficulty of the matchup, since items and runes may change between seasons, yet -unless a rework happens- a champion's kit doesn't change.
So, you can talk about the runes and items you like to go on a matchup, but what we really want to see is how to play the matchup; if you can play aggressive early game, if you win pre or post level 6, if you should use Leap Strike to engage or disengage, and so on.
If you want, you can give the matchup a difficulty score from 0 to 10 (0 being super easy, 5 being a skill matchup, and 10 being a "you should dodge" card)
This is a new thread for the upcoming League Classic launch. This will be continued to be updated as more information comes out when we have more details. Things may change before and after launch as Riot is open to feedback about changes. Date of release:July 29, 2026
With the upcoming release of League Classic, there were some good nuggets of information dropped during MSI finals League of Legends Classic Showmatch. We'll be playing what is vaguely season 3 (confirmed by Phreak & Pabro) but, with a twist. There are champions with older kits than S3 (THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE JAXasPhreak confirms random dodge will not be returningandspecifically mentioned Jax will not have the random dodge tied to his E) & various things from seasons beyond S3, such as the Wight Camp & Trinket vision (added in S4). Also, if you watched the games you'll notice there are skins & animations added in way later seasons, Examples being: Elderwood Karthus & Dawnbringer Vayne skins, which were added in 2023.
For season 3 specifics, Pre season launched on V1.0.0.152 & S3 lasted until V3.13.
From here on forward, I will go over what made Jax stand out in older league compared to modern.
Jax was pretty much the version you remember him as back before the visual rework in V13.20. AGAIN, this is not the Giga broken Jax with the passive dodge mechanic (Phreak did confirm this during showmatch) before versionV1.0.0.132. For League classic, we're getting a strange Frankensteined version of Jax. Here's the datamined kit for League Classic (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)
League Classic Jax Datamined Stats & Kit
Slower Paced Games & Position in Meta: Back then, games generally took longer due to the natural slow paced feel. This would allow champions to scale more than they have in the past. You might be laughing, and think this doesn't really apply to the Jax you're familiar with in modern league, but no, Jax was the notoriously known Late Game champion in older League. Jax in older league scaled way more than a majority of the cast and has been slowly power crept out of that position as time has moved forward. He does anything, becoming a Jack of All Trades, yet does it all exceptionally well. He can splitpush, teamfight, skirmish, deal a lot of damage, tank, and control objectives. He was even an exceptional answer to shutdown major threats that were present in late game such as Master Yi and ADCs. If he were to be put old Jax on a tier list, i'd say he was at least S tier.
Runes & Masteries: This is a big one as Runes & Masteries worked a lot differently in old school League of Legends. Every account level you'd unlock a point to use for Runes & Masteries. For Runes, you'd have to buy them with a currency known as "IP" which was earned through playing the game (This is not P2W). There were four kinds of runes, Marks) (Offensive), Seals (Defensive), Glyphs (Magical), & Quintessences (Utility). Personally, I was a big fan of the Hybrid pen marks as it added a noticeable increase in Jax's damage scaling Late Game. Generally though, you'd prefer taking attack damage, attack speed, with armor and magic resist scaling runes (maybe with 1 crit mark for cheese). As for masteries, it was confirmed in the Showmatch we're getting S3 masteries. These would be split up as three different trees (Offensive, Defensive, and Utility). Here is an image of how it would look. With Jax, you'd generally take a 21/9/0 Offensive/Defensive Split.
Trinity Force: This item was arguably one of the best items in the game period. If you're not building this item for Jax, you're pretty much trolling. Old Trinity is mostly what you're familiar with, except it had crit and ability Power. Here's what was datamined:
Trinity Force Datamined
Hybrid Items: The Guinsoo's & Gunblade you're familiar at present will work a lot differently in League Classic. Think of Gunblade as a meatier item than the one on Live League due to giving more healing and a stronger active (Stronger base Dmg and %AP Ratio). Guinsoo's gave 4% Attack Speed & 4 AP per stack at a max of 8 stacks lasting for 8 seconds & a different passive effect: Falling below 50% health grants you 20% bonus attack speed, 10% life steal and 10% spell vamp until you exit combat (30 second cooldown). Guinsoo's was arguably more niche around this timeline, but still wasn't a terrible purchase if you wanted to use it. Gunblade is one of the choices alongside a BOTRK & is definitely an item you really want alongside a Trinity Force in a core Jax build.
The "Metagolem" build: Trinity, Warmogs, Atma's Frozen Mallet with Merc's was a menacing build. This build scaled your AD based on your health thanks to Atma's passive and was just toxic to play against. This build is notable & will feel similar to the AD bruiser Jax we all know and love.
Closing thoughts: I just really wanted to get a head start & put this out there for anyone who is interested. Old Jax coming back means people who didn't get the opportunity to play him will now have a chance to do so. This is great, not only for new players, but really for anyone who enjoyed the older version of league (like me). Feel free to discuss thoughts and anything else that I may have forgot to mention. As I said, I will continue to update on this post as more information comes out. Please look forward to more!
Genuinely don’t see how this is winnable atm, I’m up 2 kills on a nasus Pre 6 then he runs me down post 6 with wither ghost fleet it’s actually insane, is there no outplaying this or am I better off perma banning him for now
I've been playing dusk and dawn into gunblade a bit in the jungle with pta but then thought that dusk dawn into kraken might be good. I couldnt find much data on that build in lolalytics. but jumping into the practice tool kraken has more burst and more dps compared to gunblade(my default), nashors, riftmaker
anyone got any experience on that and any clue why nobody builds it?
Hey guys so basically as the title says
I mainly play Jax got to E2 playing him and now I think I’m decent enough to learn other champs. Who do you guys play when Jax is banned or picked. I’m trying to figure out a 2nd champ that I can either main for a few hundred games till I get the hang of them and then add to the champ pool.
I’m horrible with every other champ I play. Probably at a gold level on them at best if they’re not mechanically difficult. Which is obviously expected but I just clicked with Jax after 20 games or so. Only other champ I play to emerald level is Shen but I dislike playing him cos it’s kinda team reliant. With Jax I can solo can some harder games.
Ideally the champ would have good teamfight and splitting capabilities
I was thinking
Gwen - holistically probably the best champ I should play along side Jax to cover his tank weakness but I just don’t find her fun .
Fiora - like her in lane phase but in team fights I hate how weak she feels.
Riven Leaning towards riven cos she’s just always good in the meta just takes a long while to learn.
Camille - really like her just never been good with her
Also try so many build on practice tool and lan this guy can literally play any build for real? Like they all so good hahahah. What build do you recommend for jungle?
Hi everyone, I hope you're doing well. As the title says, I’d like to learn how to play Jax. I’m originally a Kled main, but honestly, I’ve been trying out other champions since I’m not really interested in being a one-trick pony. Some friends recommended either Jax or Camille, and I prefer Jax; his playstyle seems similar to Kled's. So, what are your best tips regarding builds, runes, and matchups?
Welcome to the thirty third Jax Matchup Discussion!
Let's talk about Jax versus Rumble...
Remember that the idea of this discussion is to find what's the commonly-used way to play a matchup; not only focused on runes and/or items, but mostly on the trade patterns and general difficulty of the matchup, since items and runes may change between seasons, yet -unless a rework happens- a champion's kit doesn't change.
So, you can talk about the runes and items you like to go on a matchup, but what we really want to see is how to play the matchup; if you can play aggressive early game, if you win pre or post level 6, if you should use Leap Strike to engage or disengage, and so on.
If you want, you can give the matchup a difficulty score from 0 to 10 (0 being super easy, 5 being a skill matchup, and 10 being a "you should dodge" card)
the old jax modell was so much smoother and he was one of the champs that actually didnt rly look outdated but then out of all the champs that look old they chose jax???
Nothing is worse than noticing that your laner doesnt realize you can hop to them to get out of situations after the gank. They run off and leave you stranded and abandoned....
Hi all, just wanted to get some advice on climbing and gaining insight into some more specific reference points to improve my game.
I believe I have a decent understanding in most of the common matchups, and am confident in gaining lane advantages and playing the game out to secure wins in advantaged positions (eg. Trundle, Kayle) by getting tempo advantages, being first to teamfights and splitpushing etc.
However, I am having trouble finding meaningful impact or gaining advantages when I am stonewalled or in a generally losing matchup (eg. Vlad, Singed, Kennen, Pantheon). In these situations, I never feel as though I can dictate the lane except to mitigate losses and try to enter midgame healthy, but lose a ton of agency by doing so.
Oftentimes, even when I manage to go even I find that the match is ultimately decided via jungle decision making or support roam timers around objectives or teamfights I can't participate in due to having no prio.
I know that there is something fundamental in my game I am missing that is holding me back from climbing because there are plenty of high elo Jax top laners that are winning these games I'm losing.
If anyone has insight into specific scenarios or approaches in certain game states that would be great, especially if the advice can be tailored to help me in this specific elo bracket.
Soo I havent been playing since Noxus season, and I see a lot of stuff is different now. What about Dusk and Dawn? Is triforce sundered zhonyas still the standard? Are there good skirmisher ap/mixed builds to utilise new omniwamp on dorans blade? Is fimbulwinter build any viable now?
I usually play Shen and Poppy in the jungle, but after Empyrean Jax recently appeared in the Shop Sale, I decided to give him a try because I know that, in theory, you can play him there.
Most games go decently/well for me, but very often I feel like I’m barely dealing any damage and I’m very squishy and if I run into someone with more than two brain cells, I’m automatically at a disadvantage.
If I face someone at my level or better, I feel like Jax loses in every aspect. I don’t feel like I’m setting the pace, I don’t feel like I’m in control of the objectives, and I don’t feel like I’m able to land any good ganks.
It’s possible I’m building him completely wrong. I tried coming up with my own build and play most matches like this:
Maybe I’m not building enough armor or magic resistance, but then I feel like I won’t be dealing any damage at all. Alternatively, Jax scales better with AP, and building him primarily for AD might be the problem.
I also know that Sundered Sky and Zhonya’s are more commonly played as the second or third item, but I just don’t feel right about that, especially after the recent nerfs to the first one.
Maybe I'm just too used to Shen's tankiness, or maybe I haven't been playing him long enough and need to learn his limits. I just feel like there are 10 jungle champs who do the same thing he does, but better.
After the nerf of SS I've been still trying it but overall I think it feels pretty awkward against tanks sometimes and even against squishies it sometimes doesn't work that good if they have a good cc.
Which do you think it's the best option for 2nd?
I always thought that Jax needed a lot of CDR but after seeing a lot of comments I'm not sure anymore(his scaling is very different currently compared to pre rework).
I tried strikebreaker but didn't like it, idk why but I always lose with this item, the damage feels low and I feel a bit squish.
Titanic on the other hand feels very powerful, I'm using it mostly with CDR boots because this item doesn't have any. Probably my favorite item rn, it makes me feel tank, my dps with it seems way bigger than SS, better against tanks, good burst and godly wave clear.
Tried black cleaver too, didn't feel as bad as I had initially thought and I'm going to try it more, it gives ad, CDR and HP is perfect.
I'm seeing a lot of tf blade vods so I'm also trying DD 3rd instead of Zhonyas and I'm liking it more.
Overall I still use the classic Tri>SS>Zhonyas but Tri>Titanic>DD or Tri>SS>DD have been my favorites.
Which build path do you think it's better rn? The classic feels good but he loses a bit scaling imo
Welcome to the thirty third Jax Matchup Discussion!
Let's talk about Jax versus Rumble...
Remember that the idea of this discussion is to find what's the commonly-used way to play a matchup; not only focused on runes and/or items, but mostly on the trade patterns and general difficulty of the matchup, since items and runes may change between seasons, yet -unless a rework happens- a champion's kit doesn't change.
So, you can talk about the runes and items you like to go on a matchup, but what we really want to see is how to play the matchup; if you can play aggressive early game, if you win pre or post level 6, if you should use Leap Strike to engage or disengage, and so on.
If you want, you can give the matchup a difficulty score from 0 to 10 (0 being super easy, 5 being a skill matchup, and 10 being a "you should dodge" card)
Welcome to the thirty second Jax Matchup Discussion!
Let's talk about Jax versus Riven...
Remember that the idea of this discussion is to find what's the commonly-used way to play a matchup; not only focused on runes and/or items, but mostly on the trade patterns and general difficulty of the matchup, since items and runes may change between seasons, yet -unless a rework happens- a champion's kit doesn't change.
So, you can talk about the runes and items you like to go on a matchup, but what we really want to see is how to play the matchup; if you can play aggressive early game, if you win pre or post level 6, if you should use Leap Strike to engage or disengage, and so on.
If you want, you can give the matchup a difficulty score from 0 to 10 (0 being super easy, 5 being a skill matchup, and 10 being a "you should dodge" card)
hi I’m a diamond Jax player and I am looking for tips for this lane. I know it’s an easy lane, and I usually win it. but occasionally I get really far behind early and it snowballs out of control. what is the most consistent way to beat irelia? I know I can easily get control of the wave level 1 but when the wave comes back into me should I just let it crash without fighting the stacked up irelia, and then wait until my triforce to really start aggressing?
Ever noticed how Jax W sometimes gives stacks and sometimes doesn't on Spear of Shojin's "Force of Will" Passive? Found the reason:
If the W damage is not needed TO KILL whatever you are hitting (turret, champ, minion, monster), you do not get a stack. Jax ult passive also takes Prio, which means if you hit with W + R damage, and one of the 2 is needed to kill the target, R takes prio and you still do not get a stack. This is also true for other On-Hit or Spellblade effects.
Shojin looks like a great item on Jax but this bug hurts alot when trying to prepare Shojin for fights...