Jax has always been an extremely overpowered and strong champion, especially during the closed beta. He went through a lot of buff/nerf cycles, and now he stands in a pretty stable area when it comes to League. The exception, however, is in Dominion. Jax shines in Dominion because of his mobility, sheer damage and incredible ability to 1v1. His damage scales like mad, and if you become fed and throw life steal/spell vamp on top of that he is essentially impossible to kill.

Be wary, however. Jax is not a team player. Just because you have 20 kills and 0 deaths does not mean you will win a game of Dominion. The key is to get fed and use that to your advantage. Use yourself as a pseudo-tank and scare the enemy away from the capture points. Pick off enemies while your allies are capturing a point. In this guide, I will explain what to do in almost all situations. Whether you are rushing top, defending bottom against one other champion, or roaming and backdooring the enemies' capture points.

The masteries are pretty self explanatory. There are a lot of different mastery setups you could use, but I prefer this one to maximize my 1v1 ability. No matter what build I use I always go with Nimbleness for obvious reasons. With the attack damage and ability power I can pretty much dominate wherever I go. I would opt for the utility tree if you're going to be doing a lot of moving around, picking off and backdooring instead of jumping into fights head on.

A note about Cripple: Dropping 1 point in Deadliness and putting it into Cripple is absolutely fine, because most of the time when you are exhausting someone you will want to be killing them too. I simply opt out of it because I like to save my exhaust for when I'm trying to get away and I need to reduce damage against me, so I don't benefit from it as much.

Runes are another situational thing, and if you know what you're going to be doing for your team you should definitely plan accordingly. Otherwise, these runes are pretty stable no matter what you're going to be doing. The attack damage will scare off many champions early game, and the magic resist will help if you are getting focused or if you are against an AP champion in the bottom lane. I would always go for the dodge runes, because they are extremely overpowered on Jax. That plus his Counter Strike skill will make you almost impossible to hit 1v1.

Flash will allow you to escape an unexpected gank if you are backdooring, or allow you to get that one extra hit in if your leap is on cooldown. Always take flash. I would normally opt for ignite on Jax, but in a fast-paced map like Dominion it won't do you much good. The second spell is pretty much up for grabs, but I like to take exhaust. There's a lot of utility, such as chasing champions, helping you get away, or minimizing the damage taken by an ally who is trying to capture a point.

A note about Cripple: Dropping 1 point in Deadliness and putting it into Cripple is absolutely fine, because most of the time when you are exhausting someone you will want to be killing them too. I simply opt out of it because I like to save my exhaust for when I'm trying to get away and I need to reduce damage against me, so I don't benefit from it as much.

Jax's prowess with weapons and armor increase his fortitude as he gains equipment. Jax gains 3 health per point of Attack Damage and 2 health per point of Ability Power received from items.


Jax's passive is a little bit more useful in Dominion because it gives him that 1v1 survivability that makes or breaks his usefulness. You can focus more on stacking damage and not worry about dying as much, and it synergizes really well.





Jax leaps towards a target. If it's an enemy, he attacks it and deals an additional 20/45/70/95/120 (+100% of attack damage) (+70% of ability power) magic damage.

Cooldown 13 / 11 / 9 / 7 / 5 seconds
Cost 65 mana
Range 700


Your gap closer, damage dealer, and oftentimes your escape mechanism. Leap strike deals incredible amounts of damage when you have good build items. Plus, in a small map like Dominion it acts as an extra flash because you can leap over certain walls onto minions.





Jax charges his weapon with energy, causing his next attack to deal 60/95/130/165/200 (+40% ap and 40% bonus ad) bonus magic damage.

Cooldown 5 seconds
Cost 60 mana


This is another great spell that adds damage. I find, however, that if you max this over Counter Strike, you will either die too much early game, or not be able to live long enough to get kills off late game. I like to hold back on it and use the dodge procs from Counter Strike to allow me to be more reckless.





Passive: Increases Jax's dodge chance by 10 / 12 / 14 / 16 / 18%.

Active: Jax stuns surrounding enemies for 1 second and deals 80 / 100 / 120 / 140 / 160 (+60% of ability power) magic damage to them.

Usable only within 7 seconds of dodging an attack.

Cooldown 4.5seconds
Cost 60mana
Range 400


A very useful spell that will make 1v1ing you a horror. Use this as an advantage over other champions and be reckless with your offensive items. Your damage output will come out on top, and with the dodge procs you get extra CC and damage. The stun from the active spell is also useful to help escape if you become overwhelmed (which should not happen if you plan your fights carefully).





(passive) Jax's basic attacks increase his attack speed by 6 / 10 / 14% for a short duration, and hitting the same unit 2 consecutive times enhances Jax's next attack for 140 / 170 / 210 (+70% of ability power) bonus magic damage. Attack speed stacks up to 10 times.

(active) Grants 20/35/50 + Jax's dodge percent in bonus magic resistance for a short time upon activation.

Cooldown 60 seconds

Cost 80 mana

Range 100



Jax's ultimate is icing on the cake. Like all of his other spells, you get more damage and more dodge procs. Save your ultimate until the team starts focusing you in a big fight, or when you are running away and you don't think you'll make it. It's on a pretty short cooldown, so don't be afraid to use it often. You just need to make sure you are activating it when it will benefit you the most.

The skills are pretty much up for grab, because they all synergize with one another. However, you should know a few things that will maximize your usefulness and damage output. Always take 2 points in Leap Strike early game. Nothing will help you more than that. Take one in Counter Strike because you will lose health fast if you are jumping in and out of teamfights. As I explained earlier I don't like to max W over E because the survivability usually outweighs the extra damage W gives you. Don't let that throw you off, though. In Jax's current state stacking life steal/spell vamp items is perfectly viable in Dominion, and that plus the damage W gives you should give you the same amount of survivability. It's all preference. The E route is a more stable, safer route to take. The W route is for more skilled Jax players who know when to fight and when they are going to win.

The item set is another very flexible thing because of the amount of items that benefit Jax. Ninja Tabi, Hextech Gunblade and Guinsoo's Rageblade are the only thing in your build that should never change. Otherwise, play offensively if you're fed and their team is weak or play defensively if you need to defend points and their team is aggressive. It's all situational but make sure you find a balance between survivability and 1v1 damage output. Focus on that and you shouldn't have any problems no matter what biuld you try.

Early game you do a lot more damage than other champions, especially with Leap Strike. Don't underestimate the enemy team, though. You will lose health that will be hard to get back, even if you opted for potions.

If you get sent top: Focus on bursting down one of the enemies. Make them pull back so that your team overwhelms them. Jump in, jump out, jump in, jump out. If you end up going into a teamfight focus the most dangerous carry and use Counter Strike to stay alive while getting focused. Keep an eye on your health bar, you aren't invincible yet.

If you get sent bottom: This is an easier job, especially if the enemy team doesn't put a lot of pressure on you. I usually take Vampiric Scepter this route because you will spend a lot of time outlasting the enemy team's defender and getting gold. If you can pull off a kill, then you should start roaming and looking for teamfights/people to pick off. Otherwise, turtle and play the waiting game. The longer the enemy waits, the more stronger than them you will become.

Essentially you should keep doing what you're doing. Try to catch people off guard and maintain a positive kill/death ratio. Don't get cocky, though. You still need to make sure you have enough health going into fights. Keep doing your job as a "jump-in" assassin and help your team capture points. You should also be at the point where you can backdoor some capture points. I usually like to help my team win a teamfight, then go across the map and capture a point. I stay in that lane until I need to buy something or their team comes after me, and our team can push the opposite lane back.

Late game is where you will shine (Jax shines in every aspect in Dominion, but late game you will shine the most). You should either be backdooring like a madman, or scaring the enemies away from your team. If you are building correctly, your tankiness should scare off any other champion 1v1. The key if you want to win is to not get caught up chasing enemy champions. Kills don't mean as much as they do in 5v5s. Scare the enemies off and use their absence to gain capture points. If you find that you are doing more fighting in the jungle than running around looking for points to capture, you are either winning by an obscene amount, or you need to rethink your priorities as the fast assassin for your team. Don't hesitate to fight somebody if they are aiming to disrupt your team, but you should be running around looking for enemies trying to backdoor you and recapturing points.

In a team fight situation you need to focus on the enemies' most dangerous champion. Have somebody on your team capture a point while you defend them and punish the enemy for trying to interrupt your teammate. Keep an eye on your health and use your intimidation to push the enemy off of your team.

Where he currently stands, Jax is essentially broken in Dominion. That doesn't mean you can run around without dying, and carry your team to victory however. In a game mode where kills don't mean as much, you need to reconsider your priorities if you want to win. The kills are just a bonus. Instead of using your power to chase down and kill enemy champions, use it to make the enemy scared of you while you sit there capturing points. I don't see Jax being nerfed very soon, because of the fact that Dominion isn't very popular yet, and even if he was nerfed I would still see him being a top pick for Dominion.