Jhin Counters: Who Beats Jhin

Updated for patch 26.21. Ability details come from Riot’s official game data for this patch.

Jhin counters are bot laners with a dash, because he has none. He’s a 550-range marksman whose gun fires at a fixed rate and holds four shots, whose root needs a target that was recently hit, and whose ultimate is a channel at extreme range, so mobility, a projectile block or a dive onto him beats him.

These five come from his ability text for patch 26.21 set against theirs. We don’t rank by win rate.

Why is Jhin hard to counter?

• Whisper (passive): his hand cannon fires at a fixed rate and carries only four shots. The final bullet critically strikes and deals bonus execute damage, and every crit gives him a burst of Move Speed.
• Dancing Grenade (Q): a magical cartridge that can hit up to four targets and gains damage each time it kills. Cooldown 7/6.5/6/5.5/5 seconds.
• Deadly Flourish (W): a single shot with incredible range that pierces minions and monsters but stops on the first champion. If that champion was recently struck by Jhin, his allies or a lotus trap, they’re rooted. Cooldown 12.
• Captive Audience (E): an invisible lotus trap that slows, then explodes. When he kills a champion, a trap blooms near the corpse. Cooldown 2.
• Curtain Call (R): he channels, turning Whisper into a shoulder-mounted cannon that fires 4 super shots at extreme range. They stop on the first champion hit, slow and deal execute damage, and the 4th shot always crits. Cooldown 120/105/90.

Jhin’s whole kit is about the fourth shot. Three bullets, then one that crits and executes, then a reload, and he times every trade around that rhythm. Deadly Flourish roots anyone his team touched a moment ago from a range most bot laners can’t answer, and the lotus traps make walking into a bush a gamble. What isn’t in the kit? Any dash, blink or shield. The Move Speed from a crit is his only way out, and that only arrives after he’s already fired the shot that could have killed you.

Which champions are the best Jhin counters?

Lucian

Relentless Pursuit (E) is a short dash whose cooldown drops with every Lightslinger attack, so Lucian can sidestep Deadly Flourish and keep sidestepping it. Lightslinger (passive) turns his next attack after an ability into a double shot, which gives him more bullets per trade than a gun locked at a fixed rate. Piercing Light (Q) shoots through a target, and Ardent Blaze (W) marks and reveals enemies (lotus traps don’t help Jhin when Lucian already knows where he is). He works at 500 range against Jhin’s 550, so the dash is what closes that gap, honestly, not patience.

Tristana

Rocket Jump (W) propels her to a distant location, slowing and damaging where she lands, and Buster Shot (R) knocks the target back. A knock back during Curtain Call is the end of Curtain Call. Explosive Charge (E) places a bomb that explodes after a short duration, and Buster Shot doubles its detonation radius when the target carries one. Draw a Bead (passive) increases her Attack Range as she levels, so the 550 range he starts with stops being an advantage. The thing Jhin fears most is someone arriving between shots two and three. That’s Tristana’s whole plan.

Samira

Blade Whirl (W) is a spin that destroys enemy missiles around Samira. Deadly Flourish is a missile. So are the four shots of Curtain Call. Wild Rush (E) dashes through an enemy, including structures, and refreshes when she kills a champion, and Daredevil Impulse (passive) dashes her to attack range against anyone affected by an immobilizing effect, which makes her support’s crowd control into Samira’s gap closer. Inferno Trigger (R) then shoots everyone around her. Jhin wants distance and a target that holds still; Samira removes the first and never offers the second.

Kai’Sa

Killer Instinct (R) dashes her near an enemy champion, and Supercharge (E) raises her Move Speed, then her Attack Speed, and its Living Weapon upgrade adds brief Invisibility. Against a marksman whose Whisper fires at a fixed rate, extra Attack Speed is an edge he cannot copy. Void Seeker (W) is a long-range missile that marks enemies with her Second Skin (passive), and the passive’s Plasma stacks deal increasing bonus magic damage, so a Jhin standing at 550 range to poke gets poked back and then dived. Funny enough, her kit has everything his lacks: a dash, a speed boost and a way to disappear.

Xayah

Featherstorm (R) makes Xayah untargetable while she leaps and throws a fan of daggers, and a Curtain Call shot that stops on the first champion hit can’t stop on someone it can’t target. Bladecaller (E) recalls every dropped Feather, damaging and rooting enemies along the way, so the root Jhin usually owns in this lane is hers too. Deadly Plumage (W) raises her Attack Speed and damage and grants Move Speed when she attacks a champion. To be fair, she has no dash either; what she has is a button that says no to his fourth shot, and in this matchup that’s the one that matters.

How do you play the lane against Jhin?

• Count to four. Whisper holds four shots and the last one crits and executes, so trade after the fourth shot, while he reloads.
• Don’t stand behind a damaged ally. Deadly Flourish roots anyone recently struck by Jhin or his allies, and it stops on the first champion it meets.
• Walk around bushes he’s been in. Captive Audience traps are invisible, and a kill drops another one at the corpse.
• Put a tanky teammate in front during Curtain Call, not a minion wave. The super shots pierce minions and stop on the first champion.
• Dive him after the root misses. Deadly Flourish is on a 12 second cooldown and he has no dash to follow it.

Which items counter Jhin?

His damage is physical and his fourth shot always crits, so Armor with crit reduction is the first purchase for anyone he’s aiming at. Randuin’s Omen gives 350 Health and 75 Armor, Resilience makes you receive 30% less damage from Critical Strikes, and Humility slows nearby enemies by 70% for 2 seconds, which is a long time against a marksman with no dash. Plated Steelcaps bring 25 Armor and Plating, which reduces incoming damage from attacks by 10%, and every one of Jhin’s four shots is an attack. Dead Man’s Plate adds 350 Health, 55 Armor and up to 20 bonus Move Speed while moving, plus Unsinkable, which cuts slows by 15%, and both his traps and his ultimate slow. For the root, a Spell Shield from Banshee’s Veil or Edge of Night blocks Deadly Flourish outright, and Quicksilver Sash removes it for 1,300 gold. One item that doesn’t work: Frozen Heart’s Winter’s Caress reduces nearby champions’ Attack Speed by 20%, and Whisper fires at a fixed rate regardless (the one marksman it was never going to bother). Everything here is in our item database, and if you’d rather out-trade him than out-tank him, Infinity Edge is the crit item to compare.

When is Jhin at his weakest?

While he reloads. Whisper carries four shots, and after the fourth there’s a gap where he does nothing but walk, and he walks with 550 range and no dash. That’s the trade window, every time, and in practice most of this matchup is just counting.

During Curtain Call, too. He channels it, the shots stop on the first champion they hit, and at rank 1 it’s a 120 second cooldown (two full minutes without his best spell). Is he channeling from a safe place? Then walk sideways out of the line and let the shots hit nothing. Is he channeling within reach? Then he has just told you where he is standing still.

If you’re still working out what each position does, our guide to LoL roles covers the bot lane. The Jhin skins page lists his cosmetics, and the Jhin ARAM guide is the Howling Abyss version of this page. Long story short, the best Jhin counters all carry a dash, and the four-shot rhythm only works on people who stand where the fourth shot is going.

FAQ

Who counters Jhin the most?

Bot laners with a dash or a way to deny his shots: Lucian, Tristana, Samira, Kai’Sa and Xayah.

Does Jhin have a dash?

No. His only mobility is the burst of Move Speed from Whisper whenever it critically strikes. He has no dash, blink or shield.

Can you block Jhin’s ultimate?

Partly. Curtain Call’s shots pierce minions and monsters but stop on the first champion hit, so a teammate in front absorbs them. Samira’s Blade Whirl destroys enemy missiles, and Xayah’s Featherstorm makes her untargetable.

Does Randuin’s Omen counter Jhin?

Yes. Its Resilience passive reduces damage from Critical Strikes by 30%, and Jhin’s fourth shot and the last shot of Curtain Call always crit.

Is this list based on win rates?

No. Every pick comes from comparing Jhin’s patch 26.21 ability text with the other champion’s kit. We don’t use win-rate data.