How To Lane Against Jayce – Ultimate Guide

In the meathead-infested Top Lane, most Champions are melee Bruisers that bat it out for twenty minutes while the rest of their team either dominates or loses completely. Many Top Lane matches end up being nearly identical, with minor variations. However, sometimes there come a few select Champions that are often excruciatingly difficult to Lane against. One such is undoubtedly Jayce.

Largely considered one of the best Top Lane Champions in League of Legends, Jayce is both a melee Bruiser/Assassin and an AD Marksman. This combination of Champion types makes him a formidable foe in most matchups. Inexperienced and intermediate players will have equal trouble fighting against him but worry not; I’m here to help. Let’s dive in and look at how exactly you should Lane against Jayce and ultimately beat him.

What you can expect:

• Rundown of Jayce’s abilities.
• An in-depth guide on how to Lane against him.
• Advice from a seasoned Top Laner.

Jayce’s Abilities: The Best of Both Worlds

As I’ve said in the introduction, Jayce is both a ranged and a melee Champion. He has seven spells in his kit (or eight, depending on who you ask) and only one passive ability. They allow him to switch between a melee and a ranged stance and offer him a myriad of different tools that he can employ on and off the Lane. His melee stance is focused on Bruiser/Assassin all-ins and attacks, while his ranged one helps him remain safe and dish out a ton of damage from a distance. Let’s take a quick look at his kit.

Passive – Hextech Capacitor: Jayce gains 40 bonus movement speed and ghosting every time he uses his Ultimate to switch between his Hammer and Cannon.

Melee Q – To The Skies: Jayce jumps at his target with his Hammer, deals AOE damage, and applies a slow.

Melee W – Lightning Field: Jayce activates a lightning field around him that damages nearby opponents.

Melee E – Thundering Blow: Jayce hits an enemy target with his Hammer, knocking them back and dealing damage.

Ranged Q – Shock blast: Jayce fires a lightning ball out of his Cannon that explodes on impact or at max range, dealing massive damage. If the ball goes through his E’s Acceleration Gate, it gains speed and deals extra damage. The ball also reveals the area of the explosion briefly.

Ranged W – Hyper Charge: Jayce gains bonus attack speed on his following few attacks, but they deal reduced damage. It also works as an auto-attack reset and can critically strike.

Ranged E – Acceleration Gate: Jayce opens up a lightning gate that speeds up all units that pass through it, including his Q’s exploding ball.

Ultimate – Transform Mercury Cannon/Hammer: Jayce transforms his Hammer into a Cannon that gains 500 range and empowers his next attack. Jayce starts with this ability, and it cannot be leveled up. Instead, the rest of his kit has 6 levels per ability instead of the usual five. Jayce can transform his Cannon back into a Hammer, becoming melee and empowering his next attack. Jayce also gains bonus armor and magic resistance based on level.

Laning Against Jayce–The Early Game

As you can see from his kit, Jayce comes to the Lane more than ready to rumble. His unlocked Ultimate and double ability design mean that he starts the game with 3 abilities at level 1. This is a massive early-game advantage as he can use his empowered attacks from his Ultimate to do massive early damage. If you happen to be a melee Champion, as Top Laners usually are, he can leverage you with his Ranged stance right off the bat, making it especially difficult to trade with him.

The best advice to keep in mind when fighting Jayce early is to keep safe. Try to dodge his Ranged Q, as it can easily shred through your health bar. Leverage the bushes as much as you can. Jayce may be strong but can’t hit what he can’t see. Therefore, you should always hover in and out of bushes and farm safely. Ensure those Qs don’t hit you when you’re not behind a minion wave.

And that brings me to the second part: use the minions to your advantage. His Q doesn’t go through them, and you should think of the minions as a wall you can hide behind. Once his abilities are on cooldown and he’s spent them vainly striking at minions, you should try and pull out a trade. Just make sure he doesn’t have his E up to knock you back, as its %HP damage can be devastating, especially if he’s ahead in items.

After Level 6

If you survive the pre-6 stage, you should be more than fine against Jayce in the long run. You see if Jayce doesn’t stomp on you early, there is little room for him to grow due to how dependent he is on his build. This is one of the primary reasons for Jayce’s low position on all Tier Lists. He requires a decisive win in Lane and, if denied, tends to struggle throughout.

However, he can snowball just as quickly in the mid-game, and if he gets his hands on Eclipse, which he usually does by the fifteen-minute mark, things can become sour for you. His all-in is brutally powerful, and the aforementioned %HP damage can eviscerate you in seconds. Don’t allow him to do so. Bait out his most important abilities (Melee Q and E), and then go for an all-in. Jayce might be considered a Bruiser, but he’s more of an Assassin than anything else. Therefore, he should be pretty squishy, and without a full kit to activate his Eclipse, it’s easy to take him down.

Naturally, you need to coordinate with your Jungler to set up ganks and try to win against him that way. Jayce doesn’t have many escapes save for his melee and ranged E, and he can use only one at a time. If he’s in melee form, it won’t be much of a hassle to kill him with a well-coordinated gank. Just don’t fail, as any advantage gained can make Jayce an unstoppable force of nature.

Late Game

Jayce can have one of two Late game forms: brutally strong or underwhelming. It all depends on how you fought him in the previous two stages of the match. Giving him an early lead will almost certainly give way to a dominant late-game Jayce. However, taking things slowly and meticulously, denying him kills and an advantage, will equally mean a very weak Jayce. He’s an Assassin, as I’ve said, and like all other Assassins, he needs those many items of his to do just about anything.

But do not be deceived. Even a weak Jayce can dish out some serious damage. His spells have massive base damage and scale insanely with bonus AD. His E’s %HP damage makes his attacks hurt way more than you’d expect. The Late game also means that he’ll at least have a couple of items, if not most of his build, completed. Thus, don’t underestimate any Jayce player who has lost the early game but reached the late game. The Late game is wild territory, no matter how well one played in the previous stages of the match. Jayce, especially, can be very strong with only a couple of items at hand, but if you have a massive lead over him, even that probably won’t be enough for him to beat you. Still, you should watch out and ensure not to die or give him shutdown gold. This goes for any matchup out there. Don’t squander your lead by joking around and underestimating your opponents. Shutdowns are there to allow people to come back, so don’t be the one giving them the opportunity.

Countering Jayce’s Abilities

The best things you should do to bait out or counter Jayce’s abilities are the following:

• Use the minions for protection. His Ranged Q doesn’t go through them, so you can safely hide behind a wave with no worries.
• Bushes are your best friends. Jayce’s attacks are primarily targeted, so he won’t be able to strike at you if he can’t see you. Use this to your advantage for farming in the early game.
• Baiting an attack. Sometimes it’s safe to get hit by his E and send it on a cooldown. It’s got a long CD, especially in the early game, and it can allow you to launch an all-out attack afterward.
• Jayce players tend to spam his Ranged Q and E. With these spells down, all it takes for you to all-in him is to dodge. Master your movement skills, and you should have next to no problems against Jayce at any stage of the game.
• Just play against him. Experience is all you need to know what to do against Jayce and his many abilities. The more you play against him, the more you’ll learn. Therefore, just give it time, and you’ll meet him more than enough and know all you need to.

Top Lane Counters for Jayce

No matter how powerful, or complex to handle one Champion might be–there will always be a bigger fish in the sea. So, let’s see which Champions are the best for Laning against Jayce and apply the strategies I’ve detailed above.

Malphite

Malphite has become an insanely popular Champion over the course of the current Season. He’s a massive Tank that’s capable of taking on even the most formidable of CHampions out there. Therefore, it’s no wonder he’s a good pick against Jayce. Malphite’s expertise is stacking brutal amounts of Armor and Resistance, and Jayce can seldom do anything to counter this.

Malphite’s passive shield is a welcome help for mitigating Jayce’s early damage. Even in direct fights, Malphite can reduce Jayce’s attack speed, slow him, and deal massive damage. Later on, Malphite outright gains the ability to one-shot Jayce (and probably the rest of the team) despite only building Armor and Magic Resist.

This comes from the fact that Malphite’s W scales from said resistance, and the more he has, the more damage it deals. Once activated, it boosts Malphite’s total Armor and buffs his basic attacks with insane bonus damage. This is especially deadly against Champions like Jayce, who aren’t known for having a ton of HP or resistance (though his melee stance does help somewhat).

In the Late game, Malphite is nigh unkillable, and I don’t have to say that–you probably already experienced it. He’s insane right now and good against most Top Laners, if not all.

Ornn

Patch 13.10 propelled Ornn to unprecedented heights, and he’s now one of the best Top Laners to choose from. However, even without the Midseason update, Ornn can take on Jayce with no difficulty. Like Malphite, Ornn is well known for stacking insane amounts of Armor, maybe even more so than Malph. Also, like Malphite, Ornn’s abilities scale their damage from HP and resistances, and his W even does %HP damage, which tends to be more than lethal.

Jayce can barely do anything against Ornn. No matter how much he builds up, he cannot fight him head-on. If you pick Ornn and play it safely, avoiding Jayce’s incessant poking, then you should have zero issues Laning against him. If he doesn’t chop your HP bit by bit, there’s nothing he can do to stop your onslaught.

When you hit the late game and start boosting your whole team’s damage and items, it’s more than over for a Jayce that has probably decisively lost to you in the Lane. And I’ve already spoken about how bad that can be for Jayce, who relies on strict itemization.

Quinn

Outside of Tanks, Jayce also struggles against some ranged Top Lane Champions such as Quinn. She has incredible movement speed, massive burst potential, and that wretched spell that pushes you away from her (sound familiar?). She’s basically melee and ranged Jayce combined into one singular kit. That may sound scary, and it rightfully should.

At any rate, Quinn can do to Jayce what she does to most other melee Champions. Her poking is challenging to counter and rather annoying. She can deny farm and effortlessly zone a Champion. Being at a level disadvantage against Quinn is more frequent than you’d think.

So, if you ever find yourself enraged that someone picked Jayce, remember that Quinn is likely open. Fight fire with fire.

What About Jayce Mid?

While Jayce Mid only has about ⅓ of the matches compared to Top Lane, he seems to be doing quite well at it. He has a higher win rate and is astronomically higher on the Tier List. So what can a Mid Laner do against Jayce? Well, it’s mostly the same stuff. Just add that you should be more proactive and help your team build pressure and an advantage. If Jayce gets the upper hand in this regard, you’re pretty much screwed.

Most traditional Mid Lane Mages stomp Jayce and he doesn’t seem to have much of a solution for them. Let’s take a look at who these are:

Akshan

Akshan is everyone’s counter on the Mid Lane. His incredible mobility, range, and damage allow him to stomp on almost any Champion in the game. Jayce especially struggles against Akshan’s speed and can hardly get a hold of him. Jayce’s abilities are targeted, as I’ve said above, and Akshan’s elusive nature means that he’ll scarcely get the chance of actually doing any damage to Akshan.

Conversely, Askhan can use his overpowered and overloaded abilities to poke, attack, and eventually kill Jayce. A good Akshan player will curb-stomp Jayce with zero effort and then use that advantage to curb-stomp the rest of Jayce’s team. His mobility allows him to cross great distances quickly, and he can build insane map pressure, especially if he gets a good lead in the Lane. Against Jayce, this is almost guaranteed.

So if you’re looking to counter Jayce, maybe you should give Akshan a chance. However, don’t expect people to like you for it.

Fizz

There’s not much to say about Fizz versus Jayce. It’s pretty self-explanatory. Fizz’s high base damage and low-cooldown invulnerability are more than enough to beat any Champion, Jayce included. His E makes him untargetable, denying Jayce any damage whatsoever.

Fizz’s high mobility means he can dance around Jayce and even fight him one-on-one. He can use his E to escape from retaliation and return once he’s ready for round two. Rinse and repeat and he’ll have killed Jayce more than a few times. Jayce players will find it unbearable to play against Fizz, and like with Akshan, this will probably spell the end of their match altogether.

Mid is the most important Lane in League of Legends, and that’s often overlooked. Mid Laners establish massive leads and map pressure for their teams; counter-picking is a crucial part of the experience. Countering Jayce on Mid will increase your chances of winning by a significant amount, and Fizz is a perfect pick in this situation.

Lux

Lastly, I’ll mention Lux. She’s primarily been relegated to the Support role but is frequently picked on Mid. She does more than well against Jayce, using her long-range and high-base damage to poke him and stop him in his tracks if he gets too close. Her slow is amazing to mitigate his high movement speed, and that root is basically a deterrent against any all-in attempts.

When she reaches level 6, it’s pretty much game over, as she can stand at a long distance and dish out obscene damage. Her snowball is among the best in League of Legends, which is unsurprising, seeing as she’s Riot Games’ poster girl. All the poster children of League of Legends are overtly strong, and Lux is no exception.

Against Jayce, she’s even better, and she can easily beat him both on and off the Lane. Not to mention she probably adds more utility to her roster than Jayce does, and if she gets an advantage over him, that can create a massive gap between the teams. 

Best Items Against Jayce

Everything revolves around items in League of Legends. Naturally, some are better than others against Jayce. Let’s take a look.

AD Options

AD Champions have a more limited pool of Items to Choose from. But, here are a few situational options:

1. Plated Steelcaps (They’ll give you solid extra Armor alongside reduced incoming damage from basic attacks, which can mitigate a lot of Jayce’s early poking.)
2. Dead Man’s Plate (Gives solid HP, Armor, and bonus Movement Speed that are all crucial in fighting against a mobile and powerful Jayce.)
3. Guardian’s Angel (No better way of protecting yourself than with an extra life. This can help you survive Jayce’s initial burst if he gets stronger. Though if you don’t stop him in time, two lives won’t be enough.)
4. Death’s Dance (Situational item for a select pool of Champions. It’s good against high burst matchups and can be pretty strong in combination with Guardian’s Angel.)

AP Options

There are good AP options to pick up both in early and late game.

1. Seeker’s Armguard (Builds into Zhonya’s Hourglass, gives a ton of early game Armor and solid AP. It’s one of the best anti-AD Items one can purchase on an AP Champion. It’s unbalanced because there’s no equivalent on the AD side, and that’s a shame.)
2. Stopwatch (You can get it for free from a Rune, and it gives the same effect as Zhonya’s Hourglass.)
3. Zhonya’s Hourglass (The best anti-Burst item in League of Legends. It can stop any Assassin out there, Jayce included. It’s beyond broken.)
4. Archangel’s Staff / Seraph’s Embrace (Gives you an incredible shield that can protect you from solid bursts like Jayce’s)
5. Riftmaker (Provides you with a ton of AP, Health, and Omnivamp. The passive also gives you True Damage that’s more than useful against an Eclipse Jayce.)

Overall, one should focus on picking up HP, Armor, and overall survivability items. Every bit helps to mitigate burst damage that Jayce can dish out in seconds.

Conclusion

Jayce is a strong Champion that’s been underperforming in the current Season. This is good news for those that hate him and don’t want to face him in Lane. He’s not too popular compared to some other picks and isn’t what he used to be. He can still do quite a lot, so don’t underestimate him. Use everything you’ve learned here; you should have minimal problems fighting and laning against Jayce. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and wish you the best of luck on the Summoner’s Rift!