Laning against Sion as a Jax

Fuh Queue·Feb 23, 2017·1 votes·1,855 views

Hey everyone!

So I'm leveling up an account where I'm playing Jax as a main. Yesterday I was placed in a game against a few Platinum players in a lvl 23 matchmade game. We obviously got destroyed.

I had one of the Plat players up top and they were playing sion into my jax. Needless to say, my skill level is way under that of high plat players. He bent me over a table (and not in the fun way).

It seemed I was getting smacked by every E he shot, which lead to a 75% channeled Q and I couldn't trade back efficiency after that.

Later in the game I was able to fight him when I hit my trinity and ruined king, but in lane I got stomped.

So, for the people more experienced with this lane than myself, what is the best way to play into a sion as jax?

7 Comments

RandomoniumFeb 23, 20172 votes

You kind of already talked about how to beat him, you need to dodge his E. A lot of that comes down to anticipation and mind games. You need to know what the cooldown is on the ability and assume he's going to try and use it to deny your last hits on minions. The minion flying at you is often too quick for you to dodge so you need to already be moving as soon as you see the animation start. If he misses his E that's your window to trade onto him. You can jump onto him, auto once, anticipate his Q and side step around him, auto and then W for auto attack reset, as soon as he finishes his Q start channeling your E since he only has his shield and auto attacks left and then bash him in the head until your stun wears off. After that point reset because his abilities should be coming up again.

Fuh QueueFeb 23, 20171 votes

That makes perfect sense. I think at a certain point the constant pressure was causing me to tunnel on trying to farm under tower, so I was eating hid abilities non stop. The trade you mentioned seems excellent, thank you.

EndlessSorcererFeb 23, 20171 votes

I believe that rushing Corrupting Potion -> Hextech Gunblade used to be how you laned against Sion. I'm not sure if this is still the case.

Sion tends to poke his opponent down during the laning phase, so the sustain provided by Hextech Gunbalde would help you survive against him by out-lasting his mana.

In addition, Hextech Gunblade would hybridize your damage, so Sion has a more difficult time building against you early-game.

Building MR (i.e. Null Magic Mantle -> Mercury Treads) can help too. Sion tends to rely on his base damage so having some MR will reduce the damage dealt by his W, E and Sunfire Cape.

Fuh QueueFeb 23, 20171 votes

Gunblade is definitely still a core item, I believe it replaces BotRK but it still works. I was rushing into blade that game, but the sustain wasn't enough because I did a terrible job avoiding his combo. I appreciate your response.

RalanrFeb 23, 20171 votes

Sion is a bit of a lane bully, so if you let him he'll harass you heavily and push you hard. Like with all lane bullies, asking for ganks helps.

Now depending on what Sion maxes in lane your approach will change. If he's maxing Q, give the hitbox a wide step (I'm not sure he'll let you stun him before triggering it) and be wary of bushes when he's near. If he's maxing E, avoid being behind your minions.

If you can avoid his abilities and force a fight, he'll likely lose the trade as he's squishy early game.

KaiokoFeb 23, 20171 votes

You need sustain to beat Sion as Jax. Then all you need to do is focus on farming and ignore him till like you said; you had the items you needed to beat him.