| Level 1: I don't take a point in any ability until closer to the first camp spawn time, let's say 1:20 just in case I should have to escape an invade by using Stealth Ward + Leap Strike. Now, with that said you will want to start by putting your level one point into (E) Counter Strike and try to start on the buff nearest to you ADC and Support. AA to start the camp and then immediately activate your Counter Strike, do not activate it a second time. I do not Smite this camp. | |
| Level 2: just after finishing your first camp you will hit level 2. If you have started on the blue side of the map this means you will have just cleared your Red Buff, now head to your Blue buff. If I am confident that I can get a kill at a level 3 gank I will once again try to hold off on using Smite here and save it for Gromp. If you have started on Red side you will have just cleared your Blue Buff, now head to your Gromp and after that Red Buff. |
Level 3: this is where I first look to gank. Generally I will gank Top or Mid lane, depending on where the champions are in each lane and who I am trying to gank. EG: It is a lot easier to level 3 gank an enemy Dr. Mundo top lane than it is an enemy LeBlanc or Lissandra mid lane, particularaly if your mid laner doesn't have strong CC to lock them down. If you cannot gank right now, perhaps your laners are pushed too far forward etc.. do not force it - simply clear your jungle but keep a sharp eye out and try to predict where the enemy jungler might be so you can at least arrive quickly to counter-gank should they enter one of the lanes.
| Level 4+ try to concentrate on farming while at the same time capatilize on any opportunity to gank a lane. You should also be looking to keep control of the vision in river by contesting Rift Scuttler whenever it spawns and of course you should proactively look to take objectives such as Dragon. Just be sure to clear out vision before starting an objective and it would be sensible that your nearby laners have lane priority so that they can react first to come and help you if the need arises. It never hurts to know where the enemy jungler is either, perhaps they are ganking your top lane and you are close to dragon with your bot lane pushing hard? | |
Level 6: This is your first power spike and you can now throw your weight around a little bit more than before. You have some extra damage now and your (R) Master-At-Arms will give you extra defensive stats when activated. Depending on the game, around level 6+ is where I begin to consider to swap out my Stealth Ward for an Oracle Lens or not. I try my best to keep the Stealth Ward as this not only allows you to keep placing vision on the map but it also enable Jax to escape by using Stealth Ward + Leap Strike. Remember to purchase plenty of Control Ward throughout every game!
You will want to continue to pressure objectives hard now. At this point in the game, players will begin to roam and group up for ambushes, ganks or to secure an objective ( Towers, Dragon, Rift Herald etc..) Large scale Team-fights and smaller skirmishes will begin to occur. Victory or Loss of these fights at this stage can sway the outcome of the game.
Vision control is a crucial part of mid-game and this can definitely turn games to your advantage or destroy a well earned lead. A well placed ward can help you to get picks on the enemy team. You will want to try to keep wards in key areas on the map and at key objectives, keep farming all the time and try to capitalize every kill into pressure on an objective. Do your best to never get 'caught' alone in your jungle or a lane, particularly by multiple enemies. In the skirmishes and team-fights you will want to focus the 'HIGHEST' priority on the enemy squishes: AP Carry - AD Carry etc.. but be careful and do not go all-in ham as the team can easily CC you to death. Instead look for the ideal opportunity for when to go in, it is usually 'after' most of the enemy team have used their big CC abilities.
Split-pushing is one of Jax strengths because he has decent enough wave clear, can take towers down very quickly and he excels at dueling. If you are ahead in game and are split-pushing it is quiet common that Jax can win fights 1v2 or sometimes even 1v3 given the person playing him is skillful enough. The fact that you can be so powerful will draw the enemy team to you while you are split-pushing which allows your team to take advantages elsewhere one the map. In an ideal situation your team will just pressure another part of the map hard, not engage the enemy and not allow themselves to get engaged on. If your team keep fighting over and over as you try to split-push you need to stop the split and do something differently as this will eventually lead to a loss.
You have to remember that you are now playing the Jungle role so you will have Smite instead of Teleport. This means you cannot split-push the same as if you were playing from top lane and makes it extremely important that you prioritize objectives like herald/baron/dragon over a split push. If the enemy team spots you split-pushing bot lane while they are close to baron it is likely that they could start the objective. You most likely will not get to the objective in time to contest it, hence you will have given a free baron to them. Generally it is ok to split push on the side of the map where an objective is up and you should not be split-pushing on the opposite side of an objective. If two objectives are up, depending on the game at hand it is a good rule of thumb to not split push until at least one of them has been taken.
It is crucial to know when and from where the enemies are coming from when you are split-pushing, therefore you need to have lots of vision on the side of the map that you are on. If you see enemies beginning to move towards you through the jungle it is time to assess the threat and either back off from your push or prepare yourself for the inevitable fight. The key thing when split-pushing is to draw the attention of the enemy team but to NOT die in the process.
Teamfights Can be tricky for Jax and you will get better at it with more experience. It is best to have superior vision and look for a pick on an enemy or two before an actual team-fight but this cannot always happen. Generally the enemy team will CC you to death if you initiate a team fight so try to avoid the temptation of mindlessly activating your Counter Strike and initiating with Leap Strike. There are times when this will be the perfect move to make but pick and choose your timing wisely. Generally it is best to let someone else initiate a team fight and enter just after some of the enemies CC has been blown. When possible you will want to target their high priority champions
ADC / Mid Laner -> Support/Fighter - Top -> Jungle -> Tank
If your team has won - Assuming you are not dead, now you need to look for objectives to take. How low health are you, do you have life steal? Is it possible to take an enemy tower, inhibitor, dragon, baron, rift herald etc.. ? Are your teammates healthy enough to help on objectives. Perhaps there is nothing to take and you simply need to return to base and reset/buy.
If your team has lost - Assuming you are not dead, back off to safety as quickly as possible and begin to assess what the enemies next move will be. What objectives are they going to look to take, your tower, inhibitor, baron, dragon etc... ? Now you need to either plan a way to try to stop them from taking the objective or recall and reset back to the game at hand.
It is likely that your teammates will not like when you tax their lane. However, after a successful gank, generally when your wave is pushing into the enemy tower you can take a minion tax. If you spend the time ganking a lane, this means that you are not farming - therefore you need to tax the lane a little to make up for what you lost. Some people, no matter what ELO they are in will simply not understand your reasoning for taxing their lane, so be careful of the rage kids and be mindful of an allied champion that is looking to freeze their lane. If they are trying to freeze their lane and you tax 2-3 minions ... you can put them in an awkward position.
I'm not talking about taking an entire wave here, just a couple of minions.
If you gank a lane and you get the kill: 1 - 2 Minions (Not the Cannon Minion)
If you gank a lane and your teammate gets the kill: 2 - 3 Minions (Not the Cannon Minion)
Try not to tax a losing lane at all and try not to tax bot lane heavily, especially if you get the kill!
I always try to prioritize damage to objectives over fighting/damage to champions. Remember we win games by taking turrets, inhibitors and eventually the nexus. While getting kills is important to help you snowball, stay relevant and to add pressure to the map, the game is won by taking objectives. It is very common for my 'after game' stats to look like the following. If it's important, I was (8/1/5) this game.
Spoiler: Click to view
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