League of Legends Champion Profile: Jinx, the Loose Cannon

Lanes Jinx Players Love

Ashe – Short range, limited early game power, zero escapes. Ashe is simply the perfect lane opponent for someone like Jinx who wants to reach the mid game unscathed. Not only does Jinx out-range Ashe with Q – Fishbones, but she’s also almost always in range to throw down her E – Flame Chompers! Combined with an aggressive support like Blitzcrank or Thresh, Jinx should be able to kill Ashe two or three times in the laning phase and snowball this lead to an easy victory.

Kog’Maw – Kog, like Jinx, just wants to scale. You can of course elect to shake hands and farm it out, opting to meet in the late game and see who’s the better 5v5 player, but why not capitalise on Kog’Maw’s vulnerability as soon as possible? Similar to the Ashe match-up, pick an aggressive support and combine their CC with your Flame Chompers to instantly lock down and shut down the Kog’Maw before he can get going.

Tristana – Some enemy AD Carries will have an escape tool, such as Tristana. In these cases, it’s much more difficult to shut them down, and instead Jinx players should look to capitalise on the Tristana’s lack of early game damage and potentially punish any over-aggressive plays. For instance, if the Yordle gunner was to Rocket Jump in without guarantee of a reset, this presents the opportunity to turn the fight around and possibly pick up a few early game kills. Nonetheless, if the Tristana plays safe, Jinx can simply outscale later in the game.

Lanes Jinx Players Hate

Blitzcrank – Any champion with a form of heavy CC, like Blitzcrank and his Rocket Grab-Power Fist combo, is a detriment to Jinx’s early game playstyle. If a single Blitz Q lands, Jinx is in trouble for the rest of the laning phase and will probably be playing from behind for the majority of the game. It’s all about movement and avoiding the hooks, standing behind minions and preventing the enemy support from getting any sort of angle for a grab.

Draven – Even low elo players can understand the mismatch here. Draven wants to win lane hard, whereas its almost impossible for Jinx win lane due to her lack of early power. Here, Jinx players want to avoid fighting completely unless they have a numbers advantage, or they risk giving Draven the lead he requires to take over the game.

Leona – The all-in potential from Leona at levels 2 onwards are a constant threat to an immobile AD Carry like Jinx, even more so if she’s paired with an aggressive early champion such as Draven or Lucian. Ultimately it’s likely Jinx will fall behind in this match-up, giving up CS in order to remain safe in the lane. Once again it’s key to only fight with a numbers advantage to avoid giving up free kills to the aggressive Leona lane.

Tips for Playing Jinx

• Use your Q – Fishbones to trade in the laning phase and switch to Pow-Pow for farming. Jinx outranges almost every AD Carry when her Q is activated so it’s a simple trading tool that could provide the edge in the early game.
• Flame Chompers can change the course of a fight if placed correctly. It takes time to master instantly casting them in the ideal position and experienced Jinx players use this to full effect, preventing enemy assassins and bruisers from diving in.
• Learn to kite. Due to her insanely high attack speed, Jinx is one of the best champions to utilise kiting as she can become a huge problem for enemy divers with unpredictable movement in between auto attacks.

Tips for Playing Against Jinx

• She has no escape. Dive her at every opportunity. Champions like Sejuani, Skarner, and Zac are perfect to lock down the AD Carry and prevent her from outputting any damage in the teamfight.
• Shut her down in the laning phase. If you’re a jungler, Jinx should have a huge target on her back for the first fifteen minutes of the game due to her immobility. If she falls behind early, she won’t be picking up her 3rd item until well past 25 minutes into the game, at which point you should have complete control.
• Zone her out of fights. Use your Akalis, Irelias, Renektons. Despite her long range, she can still be zoned out if left 1v1 against an enemy bruiser. This is particularly effective in lower elos as Jinx’s support is very likely to leave her alone to face assassins one-on-one.

Champion Difficulty: 5/10

Jinx is rather simple to pick up, and once you’ve mastered the constant switching between Pow-Pow and Fishbones, you’ve got 90% of her kit down. The main issues Jinx players seem to have are placing Flame Chompers correctly, utilising her Super Mega Death Rocket, and not inting in the first fifteen minutes of the game.

Like most AD Carries, Jinx is all about auto attacks, and if you’re adept at one hyper scaling carry, you’re adept at them all. The key skills you require revolve around teamfighting – kiting, target priority, and avoiding enemy CC.

Zap! is probably the least utilised ability in Jinx’s kit, but with a 70% slow at rank 5, it could be key to catching out enemy carries or chasing down scattering opponents. The difference between a good Jinx player and a great Jinx player is their usage of both their W and E keys.

Similar to Champions

Kog’Maw, Tristana, Xayah.

Do you have an insight into playing Jinx? Want to advise new players? Throw your suggestions in the comments below!