League of Legends Champion Profile: Jinx, the Loose Cannon
Game Stage Power
Strength in Early Game/Laning – Low
Jinx is very much a late game, hyper scaling champion and thus her aim in the laning stage is to simply survive and farm. Falling 10-20 minions behind in difficult lane match-ups is absolutely fine due to her inevitable spike in late game teamfights.
The goal in the first 15 minutes of the game is to play around jungler positioning, cheekily pushing up and getting tower damage when you know you’re safe, while playing much more reserved with little information. It’s vital to remember how vulnerable Jinx is due to her lack of escape tool, and if she is jumped on, it’s very likely that it’ll result in her death.
Despite most of Jinx’s strength coming in the late game, she can still provide damage in small 3v3 or 4v4 skirmishes in the bottom lane due to her ability to ramp up attack speed and provide long range damage. But its important to remember that getting out of lane even is much more important than risking getting her a lead.
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Strength in Mid Game/Skirmishes – Medium
Infinity Edge, Runaan’s Hurricane, Rapid Firecannon. Up until Jinx has these three items, just be patient. Obviously don’t give away needless dragons and towers because you’re waiting for your AD Carry to reach her spike, but also bear in mind that Jinx requires three items before she can be considered a win condition.
In mid game skirmishes, much like every teamfight, Jinx should remain on the outskirts of the fight and use Fishbones to deal long range splash damage. If enemies look to assassinate her, she should kite using Pow-Pow and Flame Chompers, while her support assists and peels.
Strength in Late Game/Team Fights – Very High
There aren’t many more terrifying sights in League of Legends than a Jinx with six items, and if she’s got to this point, her team should win the game nine times out of ten. Firing rocket after rocket into the enemy team, critically striking 75% (or 100%) of the time, it won’t be long before her opposition is reduced to dust.
Obviously she has her weaknesses and must play around them like she would at any point in the game. A Quicksilver Sash is near essential on Jinx due to her lack of escape, but even with a QSS, she’s still vulnerable to assassin or bruiser dives. A good AD Carry player should be able to kite around these potential threats and take them down rather quickly, but even the best ADCs aren’t immune to being instantly blown up.
In short, Jinx players should be cautious around late game teamfights, using Fishbones and Rapid Firecannon to chunk out enemy champions before a fight breaks out, then continue to auto-attack the safest target during the 5v5. The main aim is to get a single kill/assist, then whiz around the teamfight, avoiding every skillshot and CC, due to her passive Get Excited!