EPT
Capable of zoning bottom lane with ease, Janna is one of the best support champions in the game. She is a DPS carry’s best friend and has the most reliable “counter” ultimate in the game.
Summoner Skills: Cleanse/Ghost (preferred), Teleport/Ghost, Clarity/Ghost, Exhaust/Ghost, Ignite/Ghost
Playing a support role for your team, Janna has great flexibility in her summoner skills. Ghost is nigh mandatory because it works well with her already high move speed and ensure that she can catch or run away from anyone.
Cleanse if the enemy team has a lot of CC. Teleport for global support. Clarity if your lane can make use of double harassing champions. Exhaust will help counter any annoying DPS like Twitch or Yi. Ignite provides another nuke to your team as well as a heal debuff.
Masteries: Standard 9 0 21 for Support champions. Invest in Ghost Mastery, as well as Teleport, Clarity, or Exhaust Masteries if you select them.
Runes:
Quints: Flat HP
Red: Magic Pen
Yellow: Mana per 5 per Level
Blue: Cooldown Reduction per Level -OR- Mana per 5 per Level
Skill Order: EQEWER, R > E > W >= Q
Item Build 1: Doran’s Ring + hp pot => Doran’s Ring + Boots => Doran’s Ring + Merc Treads or Boots of Mobility => Banshee’s (if no Cleanse) or Zhonya’s
Item Build 2: Doran’s Ring + hp pot => Boots => Aegis => Merc Treads => Soul Shroud => Banshee’s
Playstyle
Janna will always go down to bottom lane. Who you lane with will decide how you play out the lane during the first 8 levels.
Laning with a DPS: This can be a ranged DPS like Ashe or a melee DPS like Xin Zhao. For the most part, you shield your ally to give them increased attack damage as well as allowing them to negate most of the counter-harassment they will receive. Any DPS champion with Janna’s E will be able to successfully zone the enemy pair.
Laning with another Support: Sona, Soraka and the like. Together with your ally, you can shield/heal off any harassment the enemy dishes out. If the enemies are also healers, focus on farming. If the enemies do not have any heals, focus more on zoning.
Leveling Q or W after E will depend on what your lane is deciding to do. If your ally is an Ashe (with Flash/Ghost) or a Taric (with Flash or Ghost) for example, it’s probably a good idea to invest in Q more and push your lane hard. By pushing hard, you will be able to somewhat deny your enemies farm (since they will have to compete with their own tower for last hits) and be able to harass their tower early and consistently. In this situation, always E whoever can deal the most physical damage. That would obviously be Ashe in a Janna/Ashe lane and yourself in a Janna/Taric lane.
Pushing the lane hard is acceptable due to your combined skill sets as well as Summoner Skills. Ashe has Volley and can Flash into the brush and Ghost away. Taric has Dazzle and can Ghost away as well. Not to mention Janna is also equipped with a slow and an AOE knockup. The combination of skills and abilities allow your team to harass the tower with impunity but also escape a jungle gank easily if need be. Of course, take into consideration what the enemy skills are as well. If their bottom lane (e.g. Sion) or jungle (e.g. Amumu) has a stun, that could greatly diminish your potential of getting away. So take that into consideration.
If you are not pushing the lane hard, just get one point in Q at level 2, then level W after E.
While playing Janna on the AP spectrum, there are two distinct playstyles reflected by Janna’s items.
Item Build 1 was popularized by Zirun. You are aiding your team merely by the effects of your skills, not so much by the damage. Doran’s Ring stacking provides all the necessary stats Janna could ask for: HP, mana regen, and additional AP to make your E more effective.
Item Build 2 sets Janna up to be a walking aura station for her team. Aegis gives an array of defensive stats. Soul Shroud provides mana regen and CDR. All things useful in a 5v5 situation.
Janna’s Ultimate, Monsoon, is the best counter Ultimate in the game.
Fiddle Crowstorm in? Janna presses R.
Galio manage to taunt all five of you and the enemy is rushing in? Cleanse and press R.
Ashe land her Arrow on your carry and Amumu is bandaging in? Press R.
I think you get the picture. If nothing else, Janna’s ultimate is an instant reset button for your team in any unfavorable team fight. Enemies are knockback (not always in the same direction) and you begin to heal your allies at the same time. In these situations, it is vital that you are able to Ulti when your team needs it. That is why Cleanse, Merc Treads, and Banshee’s are all highly recommended. You can cut corners on these anti-CC depending on how much CC the enemy has.
Tips
- While Janna’s Q doesn’t make a sound when it hits an enemy (like Ashe’s Volley or Mundo’s cleaver do), use Q right before your team face checks a brush. Sometimes it’ll buy your team enough time to retreat if needed or even provide a half decent initiation.
- In regards to boots, Merc Treads vs Boots of Mobility are a matter of preference. I lean towards Boots of Mobility but they are simply not a good option if you get CC’ed. If the enemy team has 1-2 stuns, Boots of Mobility are an acceptable choice. Chances are that the enemy will try to CC your carry. Janna is not high on the priority list of champions to stun in a team fight. If the enemy has a lot of CC or an AOE CC like Amumu or Galio, go Merc Treads (as well as Cleanse if it’s Draft Mode)
- Know all the uses for your ultimate. If a teammate is getting ganked in a 3v1 situation, don’t hesitate to run up to him and Ulti the gankers away (Press R then immediately run away with your allow) then throw a Q in their direction. Janna is one of the best lifesavers, so do your role.
- Another good use for your Ulti. Your WW comes to gank at level 6, he pounces on an enemy. If that enemy still has Flash up, your W and Q won’t be very effective at stopping the enemy from getting away if WW doesn’t Garen-tee the kill. Instead, while WW is casting his Ulti, run in front of the enemy and Monsoon as soon as WW’s Infinite Duress completes. This ensures that even if the enemy Flashes and Ghosts, he can’t get away from the 3v1 situation away from his tower.
- The most obvious and easiest use with Janna's ulti. Your team wins a team fight and is preparing to bring down a tower. If the majority of your team is half hp or worse, press R and heal for the full duration.
- With either Item Build, you are typically left with 2 open items slots. More so with Item Build 1 than 2, Janna should buy at least 2, if not 3 wards, every time she goes to town. Zirun’s build emphasizes on her utility, so not much needs to be invested in terms of items. As a result, a lot more gold can be invested in wards, providing your team with better map control.
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