Jax

Detailed Tips

1. 01

   Level 1 Q/E Start - When playing vs Jax level 1, the lane can go two different ways. Jax can either come out of bushes and force a hard trade with Lethal Tempo, or he can start hitting the wave for his grasp, following with him forcing a grasp trade with his E. As Renekton, we need to play accordingly into his play pattern, as we can prevent Jax getting the upper hand early. If Jax has lethal tempo, or if he simply tries to come out of the bush and force his auto attack and E trades, try to skill E and simply dash out of it. Doing this prevents Jax from getting his stun off, as well as being able to proc his auto attacks. Following this scenario, simply wait for him to shove the wave and play for level 2/3 to obtain lane control. If Jax doesn’t cheese from the bushes, you can walk into the middle of the lane and take Q start. Jax in this situation most likely will have grasp, meaning he will try to auto the wave then look for his trade with his grasp auto and E. Renekton with Q start can simply overpower Jax, in his ability to poke him down and push for level 2 faster than he can. Do note that spacing plays a GIANT part in avoiding Jax’s early power; make sure to Q right at the edge of your indicator to hit him, try to trade short and play to push with Q, try to also kite jax into a position where your minions will attack him after his E. As long as you preserve HP and reach level 2 before him you essentially win and gain lane control.

2. 02

   Play Around Jax Passive / Avoid Extended Trades - Jax’s passive is a core component to play around in the match up, as misplaying into his passive will leverage Jax the strength he needs to win every trade and fight vs Renekton. Usually Jax looks to stack passive on a pushing wave, followed by him comboing you if you walk up into his range. The trick to playing around Jax to avoid this, is to always pay attention to his passive stacks. Simply if Jax has passive stacks, don’t fight and just use E to escape his Q engage combo. If Jax doesn’t have stacks, make sure to sit on the wave and punish him if he comes close. Wait out his E, then look to punish him with your combo and E2 out. Furthermore, look to do your trades once your wave starts to slow push from your side; this is beneficial as you’re closer to your side of the map, preventing jax from overstacking passive and allowing for extended trades.

3. 03

   Respect And Outplay Jax E - Jax E is a giant counter towards Renekton, as he can completely avoid Renekton’s damage and stun, making it a giant power move in 1v1’s. Jax’s E is 17 seconds rank 1 CD, which is crucial for remembering within the match up. If Jax opens up with E you then have 17 seconds afterwards to punish Jax, make sure to hard combo him then look to disengage right after. Sometimes Jax won’t open up with E, in which he will use it mid trade of his combo. If he does this, you can try to time your W right away and disengage if he’s constantly trading with this pattern. Sometimes when E’ing away, Jax will also try to E > Q onto your E1 or E2 to try and chase up towards you. Make sure when dashing from Jax E, you hold E2 until he uses his Q animation, as doing this will escape his E stun and also allow you to maintain HP. Also make sure to always hold your W until you know what pattern he is doing, as this is a core way of understanding how to effectively use it.

4. 04

   W Stun Buffer Vs Jax E - I thought it would also be worth mentioning that you can actually stun Jax E, however you need to have giant balls to do this as it’s very risky in nature. Right at the end of Jax’s E frame, you can right click right at the end of it, to actually stun and deal all 3 of your W hits back at Jax, allowing you to stun him and punish his E. The great thing about this, is that you can ALWAYS do this, as long as Jax uses his E for the full 2 seconds. Problem is Jax can recast his E a second earlier, making this a very risky read unless he is fully committing, where he will use E for every second he can. Use this knowledge wisely and outplay with caution.

5. 05

   Abuse Empowered Q/E - Playing off your Empowered Q and E are essentially for a lot of portions of the game. As W’ing is hard until Jax E’s, we must rely on using our Q to poke down Jax, allowing us to outsustain and steadily get his HP down. Using Q like this will force Jax into recalling, or leave him troubled under his tower against Renekton’s quick Q waveclear. Later on in the game, Jax R is absolutely disgusting with his overall armour stacking, in which using empowered E to shred a giant portion of that is important for 1v1’ing, or playing around our team when playing vs Jax.

6. 06

   Play Wave On Your Side - Playing wave on our side is very important vs Jax as it provides safety in nullifying Jax’s extended trades, as well as giving us the perfect room to trade into Jax. Use this side of the map to abuse slow pushes, then wait out until Jax pushes back in order to force him back on your side of the map.

7. 07

   Avoid Fighting Jax R - NEVER FIGHT JAX R. Simply as that, this ability has been buffed and it provides him an insane amount of stats and damage in a pure 1v1. Try to utilise your double dashes to completely escape his all in, as burning his R is a giant resource to allow you to handle him within the lane. Alternatively, we can use empowered E to shred his R if it’s a winnable fight, however this isn’t always consistent as an option, so make sure to assess wisely.

8. 08

   Abuse Renekton R Powerspike - This is practically always needed vs Jax post 6, as our own stats can help us completely stat check Jax if we’re already ahead, or if we played well enough in an even state. Jax R is still to be avoided in a pure 1v1, however Renekton R can turn the fight if you’re kiting out and playing with minions or ignite to win the 1v1.

9. 09

   Build Eclipse, Black Cleaver or Stridebreaker - Go Eclipse for consistent power through mid game and damage mitigation with the shield. / Go Black Cleaver for additional CDR and other versatile stats for utility based gameplay. / Go Stridebreaker to cripple Jax’s mobility and provide teammates with additional utility.

10. 10

    Mid Game + Teamfighting Tips - Within the mid game, Jax’s overall power level reaches a critical mass when it comes to side laning power, meaning our full attention to fight or trade with Jax is simply non-existent. Once Jax gets Triforce and Sunderered, he can essentially hard win 90% of 1v1’s with Renekton if he has R up, as his low CDs and hard hybrid damage completely gaps Renekton in side lane. With that said, our only role is trying to wave clear and look for plays with our team when he’s isolated. Shutting down Jax is a giant advantage on the map, as he is not able to split push turrets and you’re able to roam or fight for map based objectives. Renekton’s overall strength over Jax is his skirmishing and teamfighting power, so finding opportunities to snowball is essential for beating Jax. Within teamfights try to either focus Jax’s carries if you’re fed enough to kill them and tank their damage, or play to protect your carries from Jax’s engage with your empowered W’s and your empowered E shred.