Janna
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Good (7/10)
Epic Relics
Low Investment
Paid Relics
Janna is an exceptionally engaging combo champion whose effectiveness is strictly tied to relic optimization. While her potential for high-speed card-draw loops and board manipulation is significant, she requires a high level of investment in both champion levels and specific relics to overcome early-game clunkiness. She excels in environments where mana-cheating and spell-slinging are prioritized.
Plunder-Aggro Combo
Provides an immediate Nexus health swing and a reliable trigger for Plunder mechanics at the start of the game.
Reduces Janna's cost for an early-game arrival while providing scaling stats for every round the enemy Nexus is damaged.
Reduces the cost of champion spells and increases deck consistency, allowing for repeated use of Janna's protection and buffing tools.
Strategy
This configuration focuses on deploying Janna as early as round one. By utilizing the guaranteed damage from the Raven Army to trigger Packed Powder, Janna can begin discounting cards immediately. The combination with Echoing Spirit ensures a constant stream of low-cost spells to maintain board presence and card advantage.
Elemental Control
Significant damage increase for all elemental spells and skills, transforming utility spells into powerful removal.
Grants card draw and creates copies of spells in the deck, ensuring the hand remains fueled.
Refills spell mana upon playing or leveling Janna, facilitating high-tempo spell turns.
Strategy
This build leverages Janna's elemental synergy to dominate the board. Icon of Valhir is essential here, as it allows Howling Gale to function as high-value removal. The strategy revolves around using mana-refill mechanics to spam elemental spells, clearing the opponent's board while cycling through the deck.
The Universal Cheese
Shuffles high-statted Level 2 champions into the deck and draws one on play.
Reduces the cost of all allied champions in hand, allowing the champions created by Oath to be played for massive discounts.- Stacking a second instance of this relic ensures that even the most expensive champions in the deck become trivial to cast.
Strategy
A reliable strategy for high-difficulty encounters like Nightmares. This build pivots away from Janna's inherent kit and uses her as a vessel to deploy overpowered Level 2 champions. Her natural cost reduction and draw power help find and play these game-ending units much earlier than intended.
Other Relic Options
Excellent for drawing a specific high-impact card and reducing its cost to zero, which synergizes perfectly with Janna's level-up condition.
Transformative in the late game or during specific adventures with mana-boosting modifiers, allowing for infinite spell-draw loops.
Generates a constant supply of Janna's champion spell, providing consistent buffs and board protection.
A viable niche option that provides massive keywords to the low-cost units Janna naturally creates and discounts.
Janna is highly flexible but heavily dependent on her relic slots. Without at least one or two Epic relics, her performance in higher-tier adventures like Lissandra or Nightmare challenges decreases significantly.
Constellation
Janna's base 3-star power is considered among the strongest in the game for non-constellation champions. She functions effectively at lower star levels because her core mechanic—mana cheating through card draws—is inherently powerful. While she lacks a full constellation, she remains a top-tier choice for Piltover & Zaun requirements in monthly challenges.
What's Updraft?
When you play a cost reduced card, reduce the cost of the top card of your deck by 1.
Eye of the Storm
+1 Starting Mana. When you play a cost reduced card, grant the weakest ally +1|+1.
What's Updraft? II
When you play a cost reduced card, reduce the cost of the top 2 cards of your deck by 1.
Gameplay Tips
- Management of Hand and Deck Space
Janna's high-velocity draw engine makes self-milling a legitimate risk. Players must be cautious when playing multiple 'draw' cards in a single round, especially when using relics like Echoing Spirit that add more cards back into the deck.
- Prioritize Low-Cost Unit Generation
Janna's engine thrives on playing cards with reduced costs. Prioritize drafting 1-cost or 2-cost units that can be discounted to 0, as this allows you to trigger her star powers multiple times per round for a massive board swing.
- Strategic Use of Howling Gale
When equipped with Icon of Valhir, Howling Gale becomes an efficient board wipe. Save these spells for moments when the enemy has multiple high-threat units, rather than using them purely for chip damage.
- Optimizing the Plunder Window
If running a Packed Powder build, use your low-cost elusives or Nexus-damage spells early in the round to ensure Janna can be played at her minimum cost. Delaying her entry by even one round can result in a loss of tempo that is difficult to recover from in harder adventures.
- Drafting for Elemental Synergy
When given the choice in shops or rewards, prioritize Freljord or Bilgewater support packages. These regions contain a higher density of elemental spells and skills that benefit from Janna's cost reductions and specific relic buffs like Icon of Valhir.