How to Play Against Jhin (6 Tips)
Jhin is an S tier ADC right now with what sometimes feels like a 100% pick or ban rate.
In high ELO, it feels like I am always facing this masked villain, and as a Support main, he can be quite annoying to deal with.
Throughout this guide, we will break down some tips and tricks that I’ve learned playing against him as a Diamond 2 Support main to counter Jhin in the bottom lane.
How to play against Jhin
- Choose a counter pick
- Hit level 2 first
- Stand away from low health minions
- Play around your level 6 power spike
- Play around Galeforce
- Avoid chokepoints
1. Choose a counter pick to Jhin
There are a lot of good picks into Jhin. From a Supports perspective, champions with long-ranged poke or hard engage are perfect against him. I would avoid picking utility champions into Jhin unless you have good synergy with the ADC. This is because Jhin has a lot of burst damage and poke, and if he attacks you, you’ll lose a lot of HP.
Champions such as Nautilus or Leona are quite good against Jhin as they engage on to him and take him down. You may find less success if you play champions such as Soraka, Lulu or Karma as they are squishy and do not have a lot of health. You’ll also put yourself in danger if you try to harass him. Do note though they can be played into him.
For ADC picks, Jhin struggles against champions with strong all-in such as Kai’Sa and Tristana. He is good against champions like Syndra or Aphelios, so avoid those picks if possible.
Do you want to learn what other champions are good and bad against Jhin? Check out our Jhin counters page to see who he does good and bad against.
2. Hit level 2 first
Hitting level 2 first in the bottom lane is crucial in every matchup. Against Jhin, if you have the level advantage, you can look to gain a health lead by poking him down. Gaining an early health advantage could force him to consume his health potions.
If he hits level 2 first and is paired with an aggressive all-in Support like Leona, they could look for an aggressive and favourable trade which could result in you blowing Summoners or even dying.
By hitting level 2 first, you could counter this play or even turn it around depending on the champion you’re playing (such as a counter engage pick like Galio Support). Jhin has strong follow up damage and CC thanks to his W which he can apply to extend the lockdown duration with an all-in Support.
To hit level 2 first in the bottom lane, you need to kill the first nine minions before the enemy. These minions include the first six minions on the first minion wave followed by three melee minions on the second wave. Killing two melee minions and one ranged minion will not provide you with enough XP to level up. Ensure you kill the melee minions first.
If you’re confused on when a champion hits a certain power spike, here’s 5 different types of power spikes in League of Legends. See what you think relates to Jhin.
3. Stand away from low health minions
Jhin’s Q can bounce to up to 4 different targets. When laning against Jhin, stand away from low health minions as Jhin will usually use his Q on them to push and clear the minion wave. If you’re close to the minion wave when he does this, the Q may bounce on to you. This can cost you a lot of health and he may even look to follow it up with his W to root you.
This image and ones similar are from the League of Legends Wiki.
At level 1, Jhin players tend to use their Q on the minion wave after leashing to quickly secure the first three minions. Keep this in mind and do not stand near the wave once you get to the lane. If you’re trying to secure minions for your warding quest or trying to harass to get some early stacks, hold off until his Q has been used.
Do you need to work on your positioning as a whole? Check out our how to position guide as a Support. It will definitely help you ensure that you’re positioning properly in the lane so you can stay healthy while also being able to bully the enemy Jhin down.
4. Play around your level 6
Jhin’s Ultimate is not very good in skirmishes in the bottom lane. Of course, this is somewhat subjective and depends on the scenario, but in a straight 2v2 fight to the death, you’re going to benefit more from an Ultimate that can be used as quickly as possible.
Jhin’s Ultimate is a channel, and he is vulnerable while he is using it. This means he shouldn’t use it in a straight 2v2 battle. Instead, he may prefer to use it at the start of the fight or near the end while the enemy is retreating. With this in mind, try to abuse your champion’s level 6 power spike to win a fight and gain a kill.
Strong dueling or skirmishing Ultimates such as Miss Fortune, Tristana, Lucian or Vel’koz will all help you beat Jhin at level 6 as you can deal a lot of damage to him very quickly. If your champion has a fighting Ultimate, your kill pressure will be higher than Jhin’s at level 6. Try to abuse this when you can.
Of course, Jhin’s Ultimate is very versatile and can be used in a variety of ways. So you need to take this advice in particular with a pinch of salt.
5. Play around Galeforce
If Jhin has Galeforce, you need to play around this item as much as you can. Galeforce is versatile and can allow him to chase you down in lane, dodge CC, and dodge skill shots. It is incredibly versatile and annoying to deal with.
Try to get as much gold and as many kills as possible before he gets this item, especially if your champion’s CC tool is a skill shot such as Nami. Once he has Galeforce, it’s going to be hard for you to land your Q.
If your champion isn’t very strong early and Jhin is ahead, try to stay as far away as possible from him so he is unable to close the gap with Galeforce and get on to you and take you down. My advice would be to play safer when this item is available and if you’re behind. Try to abuse the cooldown and look for kills whenever he has used it as it has a long-ish cooldown.
Jhin’s most popular build on patch 11.2.
This is Jhin’s current build. Galeforce is his first item and has a 90-second cooldown. Keep track of it and look for kills while it is on cooldown. Keep up to date with Jhin’s latest build via Jhin’s champion page.
6. Avoid choke points in lane
Jhin’s W can be hard to dodge. Let’s face it; even the best players cannot avoid some of the simplest of skill shots. Although there are some things you can do to make dodging his W slightly easier. The primary way you can do this is by standing in the open and avoiding choke points in lane.
For example, if the lane is even, you should stand in the middle of the lane rather than near a wall as you have less room to manoeuvre in case he throws out his W.
Let’s say you’re hugging the wall, you have fewer options to dodge this ability, and any follow up abilities as your movements will be somewhat scripted. It’s somewhat obvious where you’re going to move to dodge the W. If you stand in the middle of the lane, you have a higher chance of weaving this spell because you’re not being limited by a wall being in the way.
When you’re being pushed under your tower, avoid standing near the tower if you can. Specifically, avoid the small wall near the tower as it will allow him to easily land his W. We have tailored this advice to suit playing against Jhin, but the advice is standard for anyone with major skill shots like Blitzcrank, Bard, or Thresh.
This advice also works for his Ultimate. Standing in the middle of the lane will make it harder for him to land each shot as he will need to predict your movements more when compared to standing near the wall.
Summary
To summarize, there are quite a few things you can do to make playing against Jhin a lot easier. We’ve only touched the tip of the iceberg with this guide, and there are loads of other things you can do when playing against him. We hope the advice we’ve given in this guide will give you a slight advantage over him.
If you have any questions or want to learn more, check out PicklePants’s stream.
