Janna's back to over a 54% win rate and 20% play right, and has no counters or risk

MealReadytoEat·3/1/2016, 7:57:21 PM·35 votes·4,274 views

Janna's back to being the highest win rate support, and the second most played. (Source)

To make matters worse, her kit isn't counterable, edging over a 50% win rate against every single other support and better than 50% win rate against every ADC except Ashe, whose lead is only marginal. Sure, some picks are better against her than others, but factoring in its a 5 v 5 game, every support performs worse than her EVEN WHEN ACTIVELY COUNTERPICKING HER in the average game.

Janna tends to dominate higher tier play when she's strong, and her anti-aggression kit drags on and dulls games. I don't see how this is considered fun, although its certainly less in-your-face frustrating than something like a blitz grab.

Sure, Janna might not be a Jack-of-all-trades champion like Thresh, but what her kit provides is always useful, always strong, and always irritating- there's never a game were depriving your opponents of the ability chase or dive aren't really useful, and the AD and damage mitigation of the low cooldown shield are always good.

Janna's strength also removes any hope we have of seeing non-conventional bot lanes, as her peel and safety destroy every melee, and damage mitigation nearly every mage.

I'm sick of losing all my ability to capitalizes on my opponents missteps when playing against her, and playing with her I feel like I need adderall just to stay awake for the super-safe farming sim she makes bot lane.

Not only is she one of the lowest risk champions, she drags down anyone else who wants to take risks. I'm sick of seeing her in games.

61 Comments

ForgiveColour3/1/2016, 7:58:39 PM11 votes

Hurdur shes squishy we dont play bot lane and know how cancer she is to play against Xdddddxxxx

F1eshandB1ood3/1/2016, 8:59:42 PM7 votes

You say this, but Alistar has a malphite ult every 12 (or so) seconds, and AoE heal, and 70% damage reduction that gives 90 AD. If you play anyone that tries to hard engage, good luck ever being useful the entire laning phase with that thing's forehead in the way. At least you can blow up Janna.

darkdill3/1/2016, 8:02:05 PM7 votes

She's in a favourable meta right now while her counters are not.

Digital Badger3/1/2016, 8:11:21 PM6 votes

As a support main, I can sort of understand where you're coming from... although the main thing with Janna is that she has a pretty high skill cap. Yes she has wicked mobility and disengage, but she also is very easy to delete if she gets caught. Not to mention that her Ulti can both win and lose a teamfight all on it's own depending on how well or poorly it's used.

I main Leona, and while Janna is considered a counter to her, I still tend to wreck them because they can't use her kit properly. Admittedly I'm not playing against Platinum tier opponents, but at that point you should be well enough versed in the game to work around her.

She's always been strong, and I don't think there's much that can be done about her without completely eviscerating her identity as a champion. If she's that much of a problem, perhaps consider banning her over less problematic champions. I know I've seen some LCS games where 5 out of the 6 bans were supports, so it might be worth considering (even if it feels odd compared to a Mundo/Xin/Jax/Zed ban).

Yumifries3/1/2016, 8:20:09 PM5 votes

Considering this is an AD meta, it's no wonder she is getting much more play.

NotClarkolas3/1/2016, 9:04:15 PM3 votes

Is this a joke? Janna's shield and ult both HAVE COOLDOWNS during the laning phase, just to let you know. She's squishy. She does no damage. She's NEVER picked over Alistar or Braum in competitive play. "Over 50% winrate" means nothing, as anyone who has spent more than 10 minutes on the Boards should know.

Casri3/2/2016, 12:20:23 AM3 votes

I've been playing League since April 2013 and I can't recall one point at which Janna's win rate dropped below 50%. There is a reason she's the go-to support for players who just want to be carried.

Let's dispel the illusion that Janna is a mechanically intensive champion. She isn't. The most difficult things while playing Janna are interrupting dashes with Q and knowing when to press R, both come easily with a bit of practice. W and E are point-and-click and her passive is just free stats for chasing/retreating.

Throughout a game, Janna gives teammates infinite get-out-of-jail-free cards and prevents the enemy team gaining any significant advantage. All teamfights happen on Janna's terms while her R is available. Not to mention, her utility scaling with AP is godlike compared to that of other supports.

Janna's peel/saving power is unrivaled even by someone like Tahm Kench, who many people QQ about. Tahm can do for one what Janna can do for five. She is insanely powerful and her utility is invaluable regardless of meta, I challenge anyone to name a meta in the past 3 years wherein Janna has been seriously weak/very sub-optimal. Even the harsh Q instant-cast range nerf she received in 5.17 left her relatively unscathed.

Hayaishi23/1/2016, 8:34:24 PM3 votes

Janna is so frustrating to face, she should be a candidate for rework

OverpoweredSoap3/1/2016, 8:06:50 PM2 votes

This always happens to Janna.

Every Season. (Except like one of the seasons I believe, please correct me if I'm wrong)

She is just so good as a support and makes killing her adc extremely difficult when played well. Add the fact that most adcs nowadays have an escape and you have a big target that you a lot of trouble shutting down.

She does too well with experienced /decent adcs imo.

Since most of the community seems to be gold/silver/bronze/unranked, she doesn't get complained about because most adc players aren't that competent.

That being said, she's probably overturned at the moment.

I honestly feel like she'll never be a bad pick unless riot does some huge nerfing to her or something.

Stephenizgod3/2/2016, 5:25:33 PM2 votes

Sorry but as a Support main I disagree, my 3 main Supports are Nami, Janna, and Morg. I pick Janna when my team comp is lacking in synergy (which is all the time), I pick Nami when we need sustain and poke with hard CC, and I pick Morg when we can be super aggressive.

Janna does not handle poke and aggressiveness in lane so well. If she shields her ADC, switch to her, she will drop like a fly. Pick someone like Blitz or Thresh and bait the shield then hook her, Lucian is also strong against her as an ADC. Sivir is also decent because her Ult makes it hard for Janna to peel since she gains so much MS. Soraka actually does really well against Janna, Janna can only shield so much damage, but Raka can heal everything up and continuously gain health with her Q.

Try picking Lux, Vel'koz, or Zyra Support. These three have long range high damage abilities and good CC, at most her shield will block around 200-300 damage. Those 3 can easily do that much specially in conjunction with their ADC. Janna can be annoying but she is not impossible to beat, if her ADC is making a lot of mistakes its fairly easy to capitalize off that and force Janna to take more risks in order to protect her carry.

The Bíg Ticket3/1/2016, 9:25:55 PM2 votes

She also makes every melee champion useless.

Jorencice3/1/2016, 9:33:31 PM2 votes

Karma owns her hardcore.

Enough damage to laugh at your shield.

Fast enough that you can't disengage.

A 3 second root if done correctly on a fairly short cd.

Luckily no one plays karma.

Jacknife3/1/2016, 10:19:25 PM2 votes

Eh, she's pretty much in the same boat as Soraka. Can't do anything herself, so she just runs behind her team and becomes a giant cock-block to anyone jumping her ADC.

Subject 53/5/2016, 9:16:06 PM1 votes

Thresh Does everything besides sustain TahmKench Can deal 30% hp with one button and a stun every like 4-5 seconds when stacked without cooldown items, massive shield and massive range on ultimate

Janna Literally, the most passive support ever. How do you counter her ermagurd, idk how about you work around disengage and solve the problem with a Vi, Nocturne, Taric etc?

The DFG Spot3/1/2016, 10:39:54 PM1 votes

Having read through the majority of the comments I feel only a few people have skimmed over the 'issue' that causes to why Janna has a high win-rate/op-ness/whatever. i believe it is a result of the meta that we play in, Assassins/melee champions seem to be all the rage right now and Janna seems to be able to make the difference by denying the opposing team the opportunity to gib the adc. As a diving zed or bruiser your effectiveness is largely based on your ability to kill or effectively kill (send the adc back to base with a sliver of hp), If Janna can deny this the diver just becomes a damage buffer for his team.

If one instead played Anivia Xerath Orianna instead of Zed Yasuo Diana Darius Talon , Janna wouldn't be as overbearing bc the aforementioned 'traditional' mages don't need to assassinate anyone, like the carry they just need to survive and deal some damage.__

Napharious3/1/2016, 11:28:16 PM1 votes

I recently switched to top/jungle to have more impact on my games, but the last 3 years I have been a support main. I have played plenty of Janna. She has always been a go-to support in my eyes due to her ability to engage and disengage with 3/4 abilities.

Her Q can set up a gank or leave just enough time to get that last auto attack off to kill the opponent. On the flip side, her Q can also deter a champion from engaging whether it is just walking up to you for a gank or getting engaged on with an ability (Leona E for instance). The downside to this ability is its shorter range if used early and the fact that once you put it down, you cannot change the direction. You have to be on point with this ability or it ends up being useless.

Her W can slow someone in order to provide time for your ADC to do more damage as an opponent is trying to disengage from a trade situation. It can also save your butt if being chased down by someone (Her movement speed passive helps with that too). There is no real downside aside from maybe having to get into closer proximity of an enemy to cast the ability on them.

Her ultimate is incredible if used correctly in a situation. My favorite thing to do is flash behind an opponent when my jungle is coming in for a gank. Pop her ultimate and they go flying into your ADC and jungle. EZ kill. Her ultimate also provides superb disengage for enemy tower dives or jungle ganks. Obviously teamfights as well. Aside from that, it HEALS. If all your allies are low and you are potentially getting into a sticky situation, popping her ultimate for the heal can be the difference between winning and losing a teamfight. The downside is using it in a way that ends up saving the enemy. But that is all a matter of learning her as you play.

Among the amazing engage and disengage abilities, she has a shield that also buffs the ADC. The passive movement speed is nice too, especially if you want to make a quick roam to mid to set up a gank with the jungle and mid laner. The extra movement speed also helps in warding areas faster and safer. I am not surprised she has over a 54% win rate based on her abilities and the current meta. She will probably continue to dominate the support charts.

Jeddy0173/1/2016, 11:53:11 PM1 votes

Oh okay,it's Janna's turn now I see.Last week it was Lux. My bet of next week's champ getting a bunch of threads asking for them to be nerf is Leblanc.

Canidae3/2/2016, 12:29:00 AM1 votes

I usually counterpick Sona or Soraka. One has stronger poke and more sustain and the other has much much more sustain.

HadesBlades3/2/2016, 12:40:01 AM1 votes

Except Morgana does well against her, lulu does well into her to break lane even or win, and also thresh is still a viable option agianst her as well. If anything her ADCs are in meta, so she is fine as is.

Anisoptera3/2/2016, 12:45:02 AM1 votes

Upvoted because I'm sick of Janna in the same way I am sick of Lulu. Better nerf Viktors E because "uninteractive'.

WadeWilson13373/2/2016, 1:40:35 AM1 votes

Blitzcrank Come on Janna, auto attack me for that 8 gold. I dare you bitch.

Br4ndon3/2/2016, 8:15:36 PM1 votes

Lulu in a solo lane is just as bad.

I've had a game where i laned against her mid as velkoz and did pretty well (3/0, 50 CS lead). But after lane i was useless due to the fact i couldnt kill anyone because of her 500 health shield and 1k health ult with what little AP she had built. I never felt so useless after doing so great.

ArlanKels3/2/2016, 8:22:50 PM1 votes

Last Janna I went against I crushed.

I was an Anivia support.

THE POWER OF THE EGG COMPELS YOU

ZER09993/5/2016, 8:24:29 PM1 votes

One thing to notice is that Riot never even considers risk vs reward in their balancing, so I would stop being hopeful about that. They will probably lower her q and w dmg for the third time and call janna fixed again.

The Deckowner3/5/2016, 8:34:49 PM1 votes

once assasins and adcs become weaker and tanks rise again in the meta janna will just fall off