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I saw this on Lolalytics/U.GG, thought it would be fun to share. After Riot nerfed Soraka and Sona, Janna seems to have taken their place as the viable, free-elo top lane enchanter.
DISCLAIMER: Very low pick rate compared to the craze that was Soraka/Sona last patch, but still not a completely insignificant amount, having about 8k games played globally.
A small breakdown:
- Had a 55% WR in the previous patch, but much lower pick rate as there was little reason to pick Janna when Sona and Soraka were available (I feel gross even typing this lol).
- Her playstyle is more similar to a budget Sona than Soraka. Poke immobile melee top laners to death to get gold with your Spellthief procs, abandon lane after to permaroam and help invades/ganks. Soraka gets Doran’s Ring, as she wouldn’t really be looking for actively poking, but instead she c*ckblocks dive attempts and helps her team globally through her ult.
- Doesn’t get Mobi Boots, as it is unnecessary due to Janna’s high MS with her passive + Relentless Hunter.
- Contrary to Sona and Soraka, actually has some losing matchups! Lack of sustain makes Janna more vulnerable and hard engaging should be enough to destroy her. Pantheon does good into her, as he bursts too hard and has a point-and-click stun + towerdive potential, while also being able to match her roams with his ult. Riven is also good, but I can’t comment on why as I don’t really play her.
Yorick is decent as well, as Janna can’t stop him from splitpushing and you don’t want to leave Yorick alone with your towers (Tryndamere doesn’t work, he will get kited to oblivion and can’t just ignore her poke).
Finally, why is this relevant? It isn’t, tbh. If anything, Spellthief’s changes should be prevent this cheesy toplane enchanter strats from working - both Sona’s and Janna’s winrates drop by approximately 10% wr when they pick Doran’s Ring over Spellthief’s Edge.
But it's cool/fun to look into the current situation and see how we got here and how the problem is being solved. Maybe this support invade was actually a blessing in disguise, a necessary evil to make Riot say 'ok, we need to do something about top lane'.
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