JARVAN IV Guide - by dignitas Gamsu
|
Jarvan IV |
||
|
Our Korean top laner teaches you how to play Jarvan IV on |
||
|
Special thanks to Tristam 'Rampant' Mizak for |
||
|
Related links: |
INTRODUCTION
Jarvan IV has a storied history in competitive play, making his mark as a high-pressure Jungler who is able to solidify his team's advantage with ganks. However, he's also able to contribute to the team as a high damage, teamfight dominating top lane pick. Crashing through the enemy front line with a Flagstaff combo, Jarvan is able to isolate enemy carries with Cataclysm and finish them off before they can affect the rest of his team. This guide by our LCS top laner Youngjin "Gamsu" Noh should show you how to lead your team to glory as the Exemplar of Demacia.
Why You Should Play Jarvan IV: Jarvan is one of the strongest picks available for Top Laners who want to deal substantial amounts of damage. With an incredibly strong laning phase, he's able to endure almost any enemy pick. He's able to safely farm and harass with his Q. Using his E - Q combo, he has devastating all-in potential and can set up perfect ganks for his Jungler. With a full-damage build, he has great split-push potential and his dive allows him to assassinate enemy AD Carries with little counter-play.
Why You Shouldn't Play Jarvan IV: While Jarvan is strong, he's also incredibly skill dependent. He's also very dependent on his E - Q combo. Finally, he's very squishy for a front line fighter, and his tendency to dive into the middle of enemy team comps means he can be singled out, stunned, and killed quickly.
RUNES
For your reds, you should use either nine Greater Marks of Attack Damage or nine Greater Marks of Armor Penetration, depending on personal preference.
For your yellows, use nine Greater Seals of Scaling Health Regeneration. These will give us substantial staying power early in the game and will remain relevant throughout it.
For your blues, you have a choice between nine Greater Glyphs of Magic Resist or nine Greater Glyphs of Cooldown Reduction. This choice depends on your opponent in lane. If you're against a mage such as Rumble, Cho'Gath, or Vladimir, take the Magic Resist, otherwise take the Cooldown Reduction.
For your Quintessences, take three Greater Quintessences of Attack Damage.
MASTERIES
For our masteries, we're going to go with a standard 21/9/0 build for AD Assassins. We put 2 points in Sorcery over Fury because we’re more dependent on our abilities for damage and the 2 points in Block instead of Enchanted Armor, because our build has little to no bonus resistances early.
SUMMONER SPELLS - Teleport and Flash
 |
Teleport is mandatory for top laners, as it gives you global reach to contest objectives and become involved in teamfights. Flash is also ideal, as it allows you to quickly re-position yourself near the enemy Carry so you can destroy them with your ult. You can also use Flash while in flight with Flagstaff to extend the knock-up range.
SKILL ORDER
With your skills, you want to always max your Q first, as its damage and armor shred both scale significantly. As your primary source of harassment, you want to improve it as fast as possible. Normally, you'll go Q-E-Q-W the first four levels, then settle into maxing Q. In lanes with a lot of enemy harassment, go Q-W-E-Q as the shield at level 2 will allow you to endure them before setting up for an all-in.
E is a one point wonder for us, as our damage is primarily done through burst instead of sustained auto-attacks. Take it early for the knock-up with Flagstaff and leave it be till late.
SKILLS
Martial Cadence [Passive]
Jarvan IV's first basic attack on a target deals 10% of the target's current health as bonus physical damage, to a maximum of 400 damage. After hitting a target, Martial Cadence cannot affect them again for [10/8/6] seconds.
Part of what lets Jarvan trade with tanks effectively, Martial Cadence is one of Jarvan's best sources of harassment and burst. Cadence does physical damage, which compliments the Armor Shred on Q and our Armor Penetration build. Keep the cooldown in mind in lane, going in when it's up for free extra damage.
Dragon Strike [Q]
Jarvan IV extends his lance in a straight line, dealing [70/115/160/205/250 + 120% AD] physical damage to all enemies hit and lowering their armor by [10/14/18/22/26] percent for 3 seconds. If the lance connects to a deployed Demacian Standard [E], Jarvan is pulled to it, knocking up enemies along his path for 0.75 seconds.
Your bread and butter spell, Dragon Strike should be used to farm, to harass, and to initiate fights. The armor shred is applied before any of your bought armor penetration and lets other targets benefit, making normally beefy foes like Sion and Maokai weak. The knock-up should be used to follow up your Jungler's CC in lane and allows you to move quickly around the battlefield, ignoring terrain. In teamfights, focus on using your E-Q to get on top of the enemy AD Carry so you can lock them down and kill them with Cataclysm.
Golden Aegis [W]
Jarvan IV slows enemies by [15/20/25/30/35] percent within range for 2 seconds and shields himself for [50/90/130/170/210] health for 5 seconds. The shield grows in power for each enemy champion within range, gaining [20/30/40/50/60] health for each affected foe.
You should use Golden Aegis liberally in lane to avoid harassment and to endure damage during skirmishes. During teamfights, Aegis should give you enough health to endure the resistance when you crash through the enemy line. You can also use the slow of Aegis when chasing to better line up your E-Q.
Demacian Standard [E]
Jarvan IV is passively given [10/13/16/19/22] percent attack speed. Jarvan can throw the standard to a target location, dealing to [60/105/150/195/240 + 80% AP] to those caught beneath. The flag remains for 8 seconds, inspiring nearby allies and granting them [10/13/16/19/22] percent attack speed.
Demacian Standard's primary purpose is not any of the text above, but rather to be used in the Flagstaff combo. However, Standard does provide a few benfits besides the potential knock-up. When thrown, it provides sight in the area it lands, allowing Jarvan to clear brushes without facechecking them. After throwing the flag to get into the fight, it provides your team with a pretty substantial attack speed buff, and it will stack with the passive attack speed bonus granted by E.
Cataclysm [R]
Jarvan IV leaps to the targeted champion, crashing down on them dealing [200/325/450 + 150% AD] physical damage and creating a crater of shattered earth around them. The crater lasts for 3.5 seconds and is normally impassable terrain. Jarvan can activate this ability again to destroy the crater early.
Jarvan's greatest source of burst, Cataclysm allows you to kill enemy AD Carries the instant you spot them. Cataclysm's gap closer, when combined with the E-Q combo should allow you to clear the entire enemy team to reach your target. R can also be a powerful defensive spell, trapping enemies within to isolate them from the rest of their team. You can escape your own crater using E-Q, leaving the enemy stranded until the walls crash down.
ITEMS
Your starting buy should be a Crystalline Flask, 3 Health Potions, and a Warding Totem. This will give you enough sustain to endure most poke-heavy match-ups while allowing you to respond with continuous Qs to harass. Your first buy is normally rushing a Brutalizer, but against mages you want to go for an early Hexdrinker, buying your Boots of Speed whenever you have the extra 325 gold.
After your Brutalizer, you're aiming for a core of Brutalizer, Last Whisper, and Ravenous Hydra. If you're in lane against a tanky character, go for a Last Whisper first, otherwise grab your Tiamat. Finish off the Hydra only after you've purchased your Last Whisper.
You also should finish your boots once your Last Whisper is finished. Against most compositions that have either high magic damage or large amounts of CC, you should go into Mercury's Treads. However, if the enemy is lacking both of those, grab Ionian Boots of Lucidity, which will up your damage output.
Once you've upgraded your boots, upgrade your Brutalizer into a Youmuu's Ghostblade and finish off the damage part of your build by buying a Infinity Edge. Your final item slot should be dedicated to a defensive item which varies depending on the enemy team. Against high physical damage teams, pick up a Randuin's Omen and pick up a Banshee's Veil against high magic damage teams. If the enemy team is likely to pop you before you perform your mission of murdering their AD Carry, consider picking up a Guardian Angel. Finish off your build with an Elixer of Wrath to increase your damage and sustainability even more.
TOP LANE MATCHUPS
Jarvan has no bad match-ups in lane, but there are a few that you should take special note of. Against Gnar, the match-up revolves around hitting your Q's and playing around Gnar's built up Rage. Avoid going all in with Cataclysm when Gnar is ready to go Mega, otherwise you'll find yourself flattened against the side of your own crater. If you're able to hit your Qs on him, go ahead and try to all-in him, otherwise sit back and farm with your Q.
Jarvan is good against most tanks due to his massive Armor Penetration, and Sion is not an exception. His massive hit box means it’s easy to hit your Qs for both harassment and knock-ups, and while Sion is normally incredibly safe in lane, your ultimate stops his sole escape. This match-up depends on the Jungle, as while you're able to lock him down with Flagstaff/Cataclysm, you need the added damage to whittle him down.
Hecarim is a good lane for many of the same reasons Sion is - he has a large hitbox that invites you to keep smacking him with Q and his escapes outside his ult can be stopped by your Cataclysm. Unlike Sion though, Hecarim is possible to burst down alone.
JUNGLE MATCHUPS
While Jarvan is almost unstoppable in lane, a number of Junglers can give him trouble. Any Jungler with high amounts of CC can lock him down and the current triumvirate of the Jungle (Gragas, Sejuani, Rek'Sai) can knock him out of his E-Q, taking away your main escape. They're also fairly good at removing Jarvan from the fight, either knocking him away or keeping him occupied while his back-line retreats.
While they might give Jarvan trouble when they're on the enemy team, they're also great in conjunction with him. Nothing terrifies carries more than two huge damage threats diving at them, and each has tools to help Jarvan lockdown and kill the back-line quickly. Outside those three, any Jungler with strong CC can be a strong compliment for Jarvan. It's important to chain your CC with your Jungler - you don't want to waste any time. Junglers that aren't strong ganking characters, such as Nunu, are not ideal partners for Jarvan.
CONCLUSION
Jarvan IV is one of the strongest damage top laners available in the current metagame. With a strong split-push, a great laning phase, and the ability to instantly destroy enemy carries, Jarvan can be a valuable asset to his team. With a high damage, high armor penetration build, Jarvan can melt down the staunchest tanks and quickly kill those who survive his initial burst.