If you’re struggling to play against Jax, here are some of the best counters to beat him and earn some free LPs.
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5 Best Jax Counters
Jax is one of the best carry top laners to play in solo queue this season. Not only is he a great duelist, making it perfect to beat the enemy laner, but he also has strong scaling and excels at split pushing. While he doesn’t have the strongest early game, he still can prevail in most matchups.
Therefore, he’s also a frustrating champion to play against, and given his popularity, it’s likely that you will face him somehow when playing top lane. If you want to take him down and get an advantageous matchup, here are the five best counters for Jax to play this season.
Garen – Out sustain and tankier
Even though Garen doesn’t scale as hard as Jax does, he can prevail over the Grandmaster at Arms during the early game. By maxing out the E first, Jax will never be able to win the trades until he builds Divine Sunderer. If Jax tries to trade aggressively early on, he will likely not succeed.
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On top of that, Garen can perfectly hold Jax on the side lane thanks to his sustain from his passive, making it tough for the enemy to exert good lane pressure on the side lane.
When playing Jax, make sure to always build some healing reduction once Jax purchases his Mythic item: it will allow you to prevail over the mid-game skirmishes. Below are some tips on what you should be doing against him:
Freeze the minion wave slightly outside of your turret, so that you can farm safely and he won’t be able to go for all-in trades.
Make sure to not use your Q-empowered auto attack on his E and try to bait his abilities before going for your own combo.
You will beat him at level six with your ultimate, so take advantage of that window to get an easy 1v1 kill.
When dueling with Jax, try to bait out his E and then back away while it’s up. Re-engage with your full combo as he will be unable to retaliate.
Read more: Best Champions to carry early game in League
Akali – A counter to beat him in lane
Despite Akali not being particularly strong in the current meta, she’s still one of the best counters to beat Jax. This is because Akali can neutralize most of the damage coming from Jax’s combos thanks to her high mobility and dashes. Whether it’s through her W’s shroud, or her dash back on her E, she can space well into Jax and dodge the stuns and attacks.
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That said, it’s imperative that Akali must not engage in an extended fight, otherwise Jax will start prevailing. Jax is relatively squishy compared to most top lane champions, so make sure to go with a full AP build to burst him down as quickly as possible:
Use your Qs to get some free harass damage whenever Jax walks up to last hit minions.
Use your E and W to quickly draw some distance from Jax when he jumps in with his E-Q combo. Fight back when his E is on cooldown.
Run Ignite in this matchup to look for kills.
Even though your opportunity to kill him is at level six, he will also get a lot of extra magic resistances if he’s able to hit his ultimate on you: pay attention to that.
Singed – The most obnoxious matchup for Jax
If Jax is the champion that wants to stick to you and win by having higher DPS, Singed is the exact opposite since all he wants to do is run around and use his poison to kill his enemies.
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While Jax won’t necessarily die in this matchup, Singed will make the laning phase impossible to play for the enemy top laner. Singed constantly proxy the minion waves to slow down Jax’s pushing power. And in case Jax tries to engage Singed, the latter can choose to flip him and put enough distance between himself and the enemy. Regardless of what Jax does, Singed has the tools to neutralize him:
You can proxy the minion waves right from level one, but be aware of where the enemy jungler is to know whether it’s worth going for it.
Don’t go for trades yourself, let him jump in first and then flip him if he’s too close to you.
Use your lane priority to invade or roam to other lanes to get other lanes ahead.
Read also: Best Clash Team Comps
Poppy – The anti-engage champion
Similar to Singed, Poppy doesn’t really beat Jax in the 1v1. That said, she’s probably one of the best counters when it comes to denying Jax’s skirmishing power during fights.
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Poppy can prevent Jax from jumping in with her W, and push him away from the allies if he manages to get near them. If that wasn’t enough, Poppy can “send him to Narnia” by throwing her ultimate. Regardless of what Jax tries to do during a teamfight, Poppy can easily protect her team.
Just like Garen, however, make sure to stack enough armor and some healing reduction, since it will be tough for Poppy to stop Jax’s split pushing later in the game.
Always try to block him with your W whenever he uses Q.
Use your Q and passive auto attack when he’s walking up to farm minions for free damage.
Be careful to not cast your ultimate too early or he can stop it with his E’s stun.
Make sure to not use your Q-empowered auto attack on his E and try to bait his abilities before going for your own combo.
You will beat him at level six with your ultimate, so take advantage of that window to get an easy 1v1 kill.
When dueling with Jax, try to bait out his E and then back away while it’s up. Re-engage with your full combo as he will be unable to retaliate.
Malphite – Good luck winning 1v1s
To round off the list of Jax counters, we have Malphite, the best champion to punish Jax during the laning phase. For Jax players, this is one of the toughest matchups to play against. Not only does Malphite have high base damages from his abilities, but his kit is specifically designed to beat auto-attack-based champions like Jax.
Image Credits | Riot Games
The rock champion can freely harass the enemy with his Q during the lane, and if Jax attempts to go for a trade, Malphite can just use his E to lower Jax’s attack speed. And if that wasn’t enough, he can use the ultimate to either finish him off or get away, in the worst-case scenario.
In other words, there’s little to nothing Jax can do. Not to mention that the matchup gets tougher for Jax once Malphite starts stacking armor, making him almost unkillable.
Later in the game, however, Malphite will struggle to match Jax in the side lane, so your goal will be to find advantages during the teamfights with your point-and-click engage.
Use your Q to poke Jax during the laning phase when he gets into range.
Make sure to apply the E’s attack speed reduction to win the trades.
A strong Jax player can dodge your ultimate if he’s fast enough for a ward-Q combo. Wait for him to use the ability before finishing him off with the ultimate.
Read more: Best Bot Lane Duos in LoL
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