For League of Legends players, experiencing new champions or recently reworked ones is always incredibly enticing. Therefore, the pick rates of newly released characters or those significantly adjusted in their skill sets are always quite high in solo queue. However, a paradox occurred in patch 11.16 when a lightly reworked champion like Sona had a lower increase in win rate compared to Jarvan IV, despite the latter being adjusted very little.
Specifically, according to statistics from the specialized site LeagueofGraphs, Jarvan IV’s pick rate in solo queue in update 11.16 increased by 6.9% compared to the previous version. Moreover, Jarvan IV also has the highest win rate increase among League of Legends champions, gaining an additional 2.5% win rate in patch 11.16. So what has caused Jarvan IV to suddenly become such a “super hot pick”?
First, we need to look at the changes to Jarvan IV himself in update 11.16 that Riot Games just implemented. Specifically, the damage based on the current percentage of the target’s health from his passive, Martial Cadence, was increased from 8% to 10%. Next, the interaction ratio with the additional AD from his ultimate – Cataclysm – increased from 150% to 180%.
With the change to his passive – Martial Cadence, Jarvan IV will have a significantly faster jungle clearing speed in the early game. This gives Jarvan IV a considerable advantage in contesting the Scuttle Crab with opponents after completing his first jungle clear. Even when having to duel the enemy jungler, Jarvan IV is not afraid at all with the increased damage mentioned above.
We also need to remember that fighters with item builds providing a lot of health such as Bloodthirster, Goredrinker, Sterak’s Gage… are dominating the meta in both the Top Lane and Jungle positions. Hence, Jarvan IV’s passive becomes an effective tool to counter enemy fighters as it consistently inflicts significant damage. This has led several professional players like Nuguri and Kiin to experiment with Jarvan IV in the Top Lane in patch 11.16.
For the rune build for Jarvan IV, the Conqueror rune remains the optimal choice at this time. You should also prioritize the Inspiration secondary tree and take the Cosmic Insight rune when building Jarvan IV. With the activation of Bloodthirster (an item considered “core” for Jarvan IV”) being very powerful, having an additional 18 item cooldown reduction from Cosmic Insight is incredibly valuable.
As for items, Jarvan IV also has two build styles: Fighter and Assassin. In the Fighter style, the combo of Bloodthirster and Sterak’s Gage is the top choice. After that, Guardian Angel and Black Cleaver are items that players should aim for. With the Assassin playstyle, you can learn from Canyon of DWG KIA with items like Duskblade of Draktharr, The Collector, along with the Electrocute rune page.
In fact, Jarvan IV was not a weak champion in patch 11.15, as he still had a win rate of around 49-50%. Therefore, as soon as he was buffed in update 11.16, Jarvan IV became an incredibly strong choice in the Jungle position. If you’re looking for a champion to climb the ranks quickly in patch 11.16, Jarvan IV is the perfect fit.