by The Great Lakes

Hi All,

It’s The Great Lakes, your favorite 1-tricking assistant principal. Each patch I pick a comp to 1-trick to Challenger, playing only that comp until I hit Challenger. For Patch 10.13, I chose to 1-trick Jinx-Brawlers to Challenger.

Intro

While there have been dozens of Jinx guides published over the past few months, my approach to the comp differs a bit from my other Challenger peers in a few key areas. Jinx is the most contested champ in the game right now. However, because of my rolling and leveling patterns, I am able to obtain between 6 and 9 Jinx on a relatively consistent basis. My positioning also mimics my previous Void Brawler positioning which I’ve found a lot of success with yet again.

Let’s get into it.

1. Stages of the Game:

Strongest Level 6

Level 7

Level 8 (No Asol)

Level 8 (With Asol)

Level 8 (Double Jinx)

Level 9 (Toss another Asol in somewhere. Why not.)

2. Positioning and Rationale:

Pyramid Formation Rationale:

As mentioned in the intro, I decided to mimic the pyramid formation I used during my time as a Void 1-trick. After getting absolutely slayed by infiltrators and Sorc Rivens for most of patch 10.12, I decided to implement a formation that deals with the current meta well.

To reiterate, I am no expert at positioning. I am actually very mediocre at this aspect of the game and I’m typically outclassed in most of my lobbies when it comes to positioning. With that being said, I depend very heavily on my default positioning to take care of most matchups. Because of this approach, I am able to compete at levels far above my actual skill level.

The Pyramid Formation Gives Three District Advantages:

• It protects Jinx from infiltrators positioned in any way. (I’ll go into a little more detail about this)
• Blitz acts as a sacrificial pawn who keeps Mechs and Rivens away from my backline while still activating his ult without fail every fight. He should be moved up to the front row if you are ever about to go up against a Riven-Sorc or Mech player.
• There are very few champions that need to be moved in a round. At most, I move two or three champs over 1 or two spaces each round.

Asol:

Why isn’t Asol positioned in the back? He is immune to Blitz hooks and is more protected in the back corner. These points are absolutely correct. However, your boy Asol also has a bad habit of bailing on Jinx. Against infiltrator players, Asol simply walks away from your Jinx and often deaggros from the infiltrators, leaving your girl Jinx alone with Ekko and whatever other monstrosity your opponent gave an infil spat to.

You know who doesn’t bail on Jinx? Your trusty Malphite. Good ole beefy Malphite. He’ll stay by Jinx’s side until he dies, providing both protection and moral support to Jinx as she takes care of business. Yes, Asol becomes more exposed moved up a row, but he is there for utility. Jinx is there to carry. Position to take care of Jinx.

Blitz:

Poor Blitz. Blitz is here to serve three roles as your most forward unit:

• Keep scary frontline units away from Jinx. Remember to move him up if against Riven or Mech.
• Take initial aggro from enemy units so Gnar has a chance to ult before being bursted down
• Pulling a squishy unit to close to Jinx to help her reset faster. Blitz is guaranteed to get his ult off, which makes him an expendable unit. I tried a few combinations in the frontline, but Gnar kept dying sooner than I wanted him to. This formation gave me the best results in terms of utilizing champions and survivability.

3. Leveling and Rolling.

This comp requires you to spend gold aggressively in the mid game in order to sustain yourself and acquire Jinx on a consitent basis.

Level 4

I always try to level to 4 on 2-1 if I can. Hitting a Vi or Ezreal early creates a smoother early game transition and allows for you to spend less gold on temporary units while sacrificing little to no power.

Level 5

After the round 2 carousel, I will level to 5. If i can’t make econ, I’ll pre level for an earlier chance at 4-costs.

Krugs

Try to have 20 gold by Krugs. Which is crazy to say because I’m used to having 40 gold at Krugs, but it’s a different world out there these days fellas.

Level 6

I level to 6 on 3-2 like every other chump. Econ from here on out.

Level 7/Wolves

Time to make it rain, boys. On 4-1, level to 7 and roll down to 20 gold. Your comp hits full strength at level 7, so 2-starring units and finding Jinx will allow you to win streak throughout stage 4. This is the stage where many players take large amounts of damage and start trending for an early exit. Since adopting this strategy, I have yet to have a non-top 4 finish. Take note that I am sacrificing the potential of level 9 and 1st place finishes for consistent success with this strategy.

Level 8/Raptors

Level to 8 and roll the rest of your gold. Pray for the Asol and pop those bad boys in as you get them. Save Fizzes as you roll as he will chill with you until you hit Asol or a 2nd 2-star Jinx. Donkey roll if you are low health or save gold if you are healthy.

4. Carousel Priority and Jinx Items:

My default is always to go for gloves first on the opening carousel as you need two of them and IE/LW is an amazing 2-item combo. Most people splash in vanguards in their early game too. However, if you can’t get gloves, BF sword is a great alternative. If you can’t get these two items, try for Bow or Chainvest. Try to stay away from picking tears or rods. You can absolutely use these items on Ezreal or Asol if you get them. You can even make Spark and Frozen Heart with them, but they add a bit less power to your comp than the other items.

My default is to build Infinity Edge and Last Whisper, but If I don’t get gloves or notice there are few to no vaguards in the lobby, RFC and Deathblade are great alternative items. I would warn against building a Giant Slayer before wolves as very few units are going to have the health threshold to make the item worth it.

If you get two BF swords to start the game, go ahead and slam the death blade for early game power and an overall useful item on any blaster who is holding items for you. If you have red buff components, I highly recommend building that as soon as possible too.

5. Item holders:

The dream is to obtain Illaoi as your Gnar item hold and Kog as your Jinx item holder. These two units will absolutely carry you through the early and mid game. If you can’t find Kogmaw, a Cybers start with Lucian as the item holder is also a strong item. If I have to, I’ll run a Zed/Nocturne backline with Nocturne holding Jinx items until I get two blasters to replace him with.