League of Legends’ support role has undergone significant changes with recent patches, particularly for Janna. These adjustments have aimed to make her a more viable option for a wider range of players, bringing her back into the spotlight after falling into obscurity as a counterpick. Patch 13.22 introduced changes to Janna’s kit, allowing for a more active and aggressive playstyle. Patch 13.23 further buffed Janna, but some players were still dissatisfied with the recommended build, leading them to explore a new strategy: Hail of Blades Janna.
Janna’s initial changes focused on rewarding her for harassing enemies in lane, similar to other enchanter champions. Her basic attacks and W ability, Zephyr, became more powerful, granting her increased movement speed and damage based on her speed. This allowed players to deviate from the traditional Glacial Augment build that had been associated with Janna for a long time.
While Summon Aery and Arcane Comet remain popular rune choices for Janna, some players have started to experiment with Hail of Blades. This rune takes advantage of Janna’s passive movement speed ratio, encouraging players to focus on basic attack-centric keystones. Hail of Blades rewards Janna for constantly chipping away at her opponents with basic attacks, granting her stacking attack speed and bonus magic damage based on her movement speed. Janna’s crowd control abilities also complement this rune, as she can slow down enemies attempting to escape her range, allowing her to proc the rune multiple times. Even her E ability works well with this build, as using it on herself provides extra attack damage while the shield is active, essentially turning her into an ADC that scales with her speed.
Currently, Arcane Comet and Summon Aery remain the most popular rune choices for Janna players worldwide. However, it is likely that players will continue to experiment with Hail of Blades to determine its strengths and weaknesses, potentially making it the new go-to rune in the future.
Source: DOTESPORTS
