First Impressions: Jinx

Jinx, the Loose Cannon has been announced and her kit has been revealed. Her psychotic behavior and high damage kit show that she'll definitely be someone to be feared in solo queue, but will she be viable as a pick for the competitive scene or will she be shelved before she even gets a chance? I'll be discussing the pros and cons in an article titled, "First and Latest Impressions."

With the announcement of Jinx, a lot of people were wondering what a new marksman will be bringing to Summoner's Rift. While her damage output is remarkable and the scaling ratios for her W (1.4 AD) and R (1.0 AD) are astonishing, it seems to be the biggest deterrent from seeing her in a more competitive light is the lack of an escape. Her passive allows a 175% movement speed bonus that decays over 4 seconds, but it is only activated after the destruction of an enemy tower, kill, or assist on an enemy champion.

Without a reliable method to escape, she becomes more reminiscent of Kog'Maw, who suffers from his own problems to escape. With positioning becoming such a huge factor for a marksman, will Jinx have enough damage to nullify her crippling non-escape?

Without further ado, let's take a look at her kit:

Get Excited - (Passive) - Whenever a champion or tower that Jinx has dealt damage to within the last 3 seconds is killed or destroyed, she gains 175% movement speed that decays over 4 seconds.

This is such a great passive for actively chasing/cleaning up a fight or escaping one, but it does not allow her to reposition herself if caught. Like Kog'Maw and Miss Fortune, a miscalculation of positioning could spell death before you even notice. Caitlyn, Graves, Vayne, and Corki all have very reliable escapes/abilities to reposition themselves in case there is a miscalculation. It's decent enough to try to make up for her lack of a proper escape, but not by much.

 

Switcheroo! - (Q)

Cool down: 1 second
Jinx swaps weapons.

Toggle off - Pow-Pow, the Mini-gun: Jinx’s basic attacks grant 16.6 / 23.3 / 30 / 36.6 / 43.3% bonus attack speed for 2.5 seconds, stacking up to 3 times for a total of 50 / 70 / 90 / 110 / 130%. The stacks decay one at a time when she stops attacking. If Jinx switches to her Rocket Launcher, she will lose all stacks after her first attack.

Toggle on - Fishbones, the Rocket Launcher: Jinx gains 75 / 100 / 125 / 150 / 175 bonus attack range and deals bonus damage (+ 0.1 AD) on her attacks, at the cost of 20 mana per attack. Additionally, her attacks will splash to nearby enemies – dealing full damage to all enemies hit.

This is what I love about Jinx. It's such a unique way to integrate aggressive and passive play style into one simple toggle. With her Q toggled off, it allows Jinx to farm at a safe distance and build up stacks of attack speed by doing so. When she sees an opening, she can easily toggle her Q on and get a fairly decent amount of damage to whoever gets near her and whoever is nearby the enemy hit. A good thing to note, when she toggles her Q on and attacks, she will lose all stacks of the attack speed bonus when the animation is complete.

 

Zap! - (W)

Range: 1450
Cool down: 10 / 9 / 8 / 7 / 6 seconds
Cost: 45 / 50 / 55 / 60 / 65 mana

After a short delay, Jinx fires a shock blast that deals 30 / 75 / 120 / 165 / 210 (+ 1.4 AD) physical damage to the first enemy hit, also granting sight and slowing it by 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 / 70% for 2 seconds.

Reminds me of Lucian's Q. With Zap's massive scaling ratios, this move will easily become your bread and butter for turning fights and securing kills. The vision and slow on hit will definitely help her continue to hunt down and terrorize her lane opponents with ease. The only real drawback to this is her small mana pool. The timing delay might take a few attempts to get the swing of it, but once you grasp it, you will never want to be apart from this move.

 

Flame Chompers! - (E)

Range: 950
Cool down: 20 / 19 / 18 / 17 / 16 seconds
Cost: 50 mana

Jinx tosses out 3 chompers that, once armed, explode on contact with enemy champions dealing 120 / 175 / 230 / 285 / 340 (+ 1.0 AP) magic damage over 1.5 seconds to nearby enemies. The champion that sets off the chomper is also rooted the same duration. Chompers explode automatically after 5 seconds.

We're seeing a lot of utility coming from her kit, perhaps to compensate for not having a proper escape. The base damage that comes from this skill should be scary enough, but a 1.5 second snare is devastating. With the range on these, it's easy to see that a W+E combo will become the standard for demolishing foes and crushing any hopes of them escaping. It also allows her to be able to drop them behind her and stop a chase on her all together, at least from the leader of the chase. Nothing too negative coming from this move, besides maybe a long cool down, but that really isn't worth complaining about for such a powerful move.

 

Super Mega Death Rocket! - (R)

Range: Global
Cool down: 90 / 75 / 60 seconds
Cost: 100 mana

Jinx fires a rocket that gains damage over the first second it travels. It explodes on the first enemy champion hit, dealing between 150 / 200 / 250(+ 0.5 AD) and 300 / 400 / 500 (+ 1.0AD) Physical Damage plus an additional 25 / 30 / 35% of the target’s missing health. Nearby enemies take 80% damage.

Ah, the ultimate worth dying for. The Ezreal/Garen Super Mega Death Rocket is definitely something to fear. It promises a giant amount of damage and is a global execution, if you can land it. This ultimate is going to take a lot of practice and positioning, especially for those "half-way across the map" skill shots. It's a big gamble with a crazy pay off and definitely suits Jinx's chaotic personality.

In the end, Jinx has a great kit that offers high amounts of damage and utility to cover up the lack of a proper disengage. Without a doubt we will be seeing her banned in solo queue often, but for the competitive level it's not so certain. Without the ability to pass through hard terrain and reposition herself in a team fight, it may be a one way ticket to solo queue for her. I'd definitely love to be proven wrong and see her shine beautifully in the competitive scene, but on a first impression basis, I'm not seeing the sparkle.