I hopped into a game this afternoon with one of the readers here, playing a Blitz/Vayne combo on bottom lane. I really thought we were going to dominate – we were up against Lee Sin and Janna, which on second thought I should not have underestimated as heavily as I did. Janna is such a strong lane partner and, frankly, Lee Sin does a hell of a lot of sustained damage with a support to back him up.

Things didn’t go exactly as I had planned. I died early thanks to an Ignite/Exhaust combo and struggled to get my farm up for the rest of our lane phase. Around 15 minutes I checked the score; our team was up 14 to 5, but I was a whopping 4 of my team’s deaths. Ouch.

My deaths didn’t tell the whole story, though. In fact, I was 4/4/4. It was more deaths than I would have liked to endure early, but I also had a nice kill count and the cash from four assists. I had been involved in 8 of my team’s 14 kills, which is a pretty nice contribution for early in the game.

I’ve always maintained that stats don’t tell the whole picture. Sure, four deaths worth of gold was a lot to give up in the early game, but my dying usually allowed my team the opportunity to turn a couple kills, which resulted in much more gold for my own team than I was giving up. It was a frustrating early game for me but it resulted in a very solid performance for my team and a handy win. Always make sure you’re looking at the big picture in those frustrating lanes. If you’re playing smart, sometimes it’s okay to be the one soaking deaths for your team, even as a carry.

With yesterday’s Jax buffs you can bet you’ll be seeing a lot more of the lamppost-wielding master at arms. The changes made him much more viable for competitive play, but he still requires a skilled player to truly dominate a game. I lost a few games in a row as Jax today, in part because my teammates couldn’t quite figure out how to complement the Jax playstyle. He is very different, so I’ve put together this quick guide to help you get the most from any Jax you might lane with.

As with most melee carries, Jax is most effective when he’s fighting. He really starts to shine, though, when someone is attacking him back. This is especially important to consider early game, when one stun can be the difference between a kill and a death. If specced and runed, Jax can have nearly 20% dodge at level one with Counter Strike. If you see him engage an enemy, especially a physical damage dealer, get in there with him. Chances are he’ll have a Counter Strike stun within the first 2-3 hits.

The same is true for the rest of the game. By level 6, Jax can easily have 30% dodge or more if he gets his Ninja Tabi, and it improves, albeit with diminishing returns, from there. If you see Jax engage and you are confident it will be an even fight or better in your favor by numbers, fight. His damage output is huge, and with his dodge chance and stun, you should both walk away in the end. The one exception is two casters, like an Annie/Ryze combo. Without silence, you’re both probably dead.

For the rest of the game, your best bet is to shut down casters early and often. Very few players can withstand Jax and a friend, and once you reach a certain farm level, meeting Jax one on one is guaranteed death.

There is one situation in particular that I feel needs covered because it happened to me several times today and it is infuriating to watch. If you have a Zilean on your team, consider that he can use his ult offensively. It is not just a tool to help you get away from an ignite or a poison. Jax is a great target for Zilean ult because he is very high damage and has to get in the mix to be a threat. If Zilean throws his ult on Jax, blow all of your cooldowns on as many enemies as you can see. They’ll surely burn Jax when he jumps in, but if you’ve done enough damage, he can pop up in the center of the scrum and wreak havoc.

Jax is in a better spot than he’s ever been, but he requires an extremely aggressive playstyle to succeed. If you can support that style, you’ll probably have a lot of fun playing with him. If not, be ready for a long game, because you’ll need a lot of farm before he becomes effective.

I have a fairly large base of friends playing League of Legends now, mostly thanks to my shameless plugs every time we’ve spoken over the last several months. Of those people I was the first to hit 30, so I get asked most of the questions regarding strategy, hero choice, etc. The big question of late, though, is what to do when you get into a losing streak.

Games like LoL tend to ebb and flow quite a bit. I often feel unstoppable for as many as ten games, only to turn around and lose the next ten because of sloppy play and unskilled teammates. Things are never completely out of your hands, though, and a little focus can save you a lot of frustration.

First off, take a look at your team comp. It sounds really basic, but it’s a mistake I see from almost every team. You cobble together a few wins and think you must be so skilled you can win with any comp. Not so, and it’s usually the base reason behind a streak of losses. Make sure you have a balance of range, nuke, dps, and meat.

You also need to take a look at lane comps. A balanced team means nothing if you have a lane with no disable. Try to put at least one disable in each lane and if you have spares, pair one lane for ganking. That lane can be responsible for pushing tower first and then roaming to help the team.

Lastly, take a look at your summoner spells and tune them to account for you team’s weaknesses. If you’ll have trouble laning early, consider Fortify on at least 2 champs. Exhaust is great for shutting down the enemy Twitch or Shaco in team fights, and Cleanse can help save you in big team fights. Avoid relying on spells like Flash and Heal because they can quickly turn into a crutch that you’ll be unsure how to play without.

Once you’re back on your feet, try to at least keep a few of these things in mind. If you have a regular team to roll with you can be a little sloppy, but playing pugs, you need every advantage you can get.