Jarvan IV, Fighter / Tank
Jarvan IV, the Exemplar of Demacia, is a Fighter and Tank champion in League of Legends. Everything below comes from Riot's Data Dragon for patch 16.21.1: ability text, base stats and Riot's tips. Counters and matchups by class are worked out from that text, and each one shows its reason.
Playing as Jarvan IV
Riot's own tips
You can use the Dragon Strike / Demacian Standard combo to get out of your own Cataclysm arenas.
Split your basic attacks on different champions at the beginning of fights to maximize damage.
Use Demacian Standard as a scouting tool when worried about incoming enemies.
Playing against Jarvan IV
Riot's own tips
Keep out of the path between Jarvan IV and his Demacian Standard to avoid being knocked up in the air.
Cataclysm's terrain is a frightening force to fight against, but movement abilities can go through it.
What the kit does
Analysis read from Riot's ability text. Each line shows the words it rests on.
QHard crowd controlDragon Strike: "knocking up enemies"
WSoft crowd control (slow, silence, blind)Golden Aegis: "harm and slow surrounding enemies"
- QKnock-up, knock-back or pull
Dragon Strike: "knocking up enemies"
RDash, leap or blinkCataclysm: "IV heroically leaps into battle"
- WShield
Golden Aegis: "Demacia to shield him from"
PDamage based on the target healthMartial Cadence: "based on their current Health"
- QArea damage
Dragon Strike: "Armor of enemies in its path"
Jarvan IV's abilities
Riot's own text and preview clip for each ability, from Riot's Data Dragon, patch 16.21.1. Pick an ability and its clip plays here, muted.
PPassive
Martial Cadence
Jarvan's first basic attack on an enemy deals bonus physical damage based on their current Health. This effect cannot occur again on the same enemy for a few seconds.
Effects in the text
Dragon Strike
Jarvan IV extends his lance, dealing physical damage and lowering the Armor of enemies in its path. Additionally, this will pull Jarvan to his Demacian Standard, knocking up enemies in his path.
Effects in the text
WW
Golden Aegis
Jarvan IV calls upon the ancient kings of Demacia to shield him from harm and slow surrounding enemies.
Effects in the text
EE
Demacian Standard
Jarvan IV carries the pride of Demacia, passively granting him bonus Attack Speed. Activating Demacian Standard allows Jarvan IV to place a Demacian flag that deals magic damage on impact and grants Attack Speed to nearby allied champions.
Effects in the text
RR
Cataclysm
Jarvan IV heroically leaps into battle at a target with such force that he terraforms the surrounding area to create an arena around them. Nearby enemies are damaged at the moment of impact.
Effects in the text
Items and runes that fit Jarvan IV
Riot publishes no builds and this page invents none. Below: completed items ranked by how many of the stats Jarvan IV's kit uses they give (attack damage (AD) first), the runes whose official text matches the kit, and picks for each enemy type. A fit, not a strength ranking. No win rates.
Closest stat fit
Editorial estimateCompleted items ranked by how many of the stats Jarvan IV's kit uses they give. A fit, not a verdict: Riot publishes no builds and no win rates.
Lord Dominik's Regards3,300- +35 Attack DamageJarvan IV scales with it
- +35% Armor Penetrationits damage is physical
- +25% Critical Strike Chanceits kit leans on basic attacks
Mortal Reminder3,000- +35 Attack DamageJarvan IV scales with it
- +30% Armor Penetrationits damage is physical
- +25% Critical Strike Chanceits kit leans on basic attacks
Stormrazor3,200- +50 Attack DamageJarvan IV scales with it
- +25% Attack Speedits kit leans on basic attacks
- +25% Critical Strike Chanceits kit leans on basic attacks
Yun Tal Wildarrows3,000- +50 Attack DamageJarvan IV scales with it
- +45% Attack Speedits kit leans on basic attacks
- +0% Critical Strike Chanceits kit leans on basic attacks
Blade of The Ruined King3,200- +40 Attack DamageJarvan IV scales with it
- +25% Attack Speedits kit leans on basic attacks
Experimental Hexplate3,000- +40 Attack DamageJarvan IV scales with it
- +20% Attack Speedits kit leans on basic attacks
More items with the same stat 38
Guinsoo's Rageblade3,000 gold
Kraken Slayer3,000 gold
Serylda's Grudge3,000 gold
Statikk Shiv3,000 gold
Stridebreaker3,300 gold
Terminus3,000 gold
Trinity Force3,333 gold
Essence Reaver3,050 gold
Hexoptics C442,800 gold
Immortal Shieldbow3,000 gold
Infinity Edge3,500 gold
The Collector3,000 gold
Axiom Arc2,750 gold
Bastionbreaker3,000 gold
Black Cleaver3,000 gold
Bloodthirster3,400 gold
Chempunk Chainsword3,000 gold
Death's Dance3,300 gold
Eclipse2,900 gold
Edge of Night3,000 gold
Endless Hunger3,100 gold
Guardian Angel3,200 gold
Hextech Gunblade3,000 gold
Hubris2,800 gold
Hullbreaker3,000 gold
Manamune2,900 gold
Maw of Malmortius3,100 gold
Mercurial Scimitar3,200 gold
Overlord's Bloodmail3,300 gold
Profane Hydra2,850 gold
Ravenous Hydra3,300 gold
Serpent's Fang2,500 gold
Spear of Shojin3,100 gold
Sundered Sky3,100 gold
Titanic Hydra3,300 gold
Umbral Glaive2,800 gold
Voltaic Cyclosword3,000 gold
Youmuu's Ghostblade2,800 goldBoots
Rune fits
Editorial estimateRunes whose official text matches the most things Jarvan IV's kit does. Each line shows the words it rests on.
AftershockResolve, Keystone · Matches: 1- It can immobilize, slow or impair enemies: Dragon Strike: "knocking up enemies"
Glacial AugmentInspiration, Keystone · Matches: 1- It can immobilize, slow or impair enemies: Dragon Strike: "knocking up enemies"
GuardianResolve, Keystone · Matches: 1- It brings shields: Golden Aegis: "Demacia to shield him from"
Manaflow BandSorcery · Matches: 2- Its kit leans on basic attacks: Martial Cadence: "Jarvan's first basic attack on an"
- It uses mana: Mana
Shield BashResolve · Matches: 2- Its kit leans on basic attacks: Martial Cadence: "Jarvan's first basic attack on an"
- It brings shields: Golden Aegis: "Demacia to shield him from"
Sudden ImpactDomination · Matches: 2- Its kit leans on basic attacks: Martial Cadence: "Jarvan's first basic attack on an"
- It has a dash, leap or blink: Cataclysm: "IV heroically leaps into battle"
Against each enemy type
Editorial estimateSituational picks, counted from what the champions of each class do in Riot's Data Dragon. Swap a slot when the enemy team has several of that class.
Tanks
Anti-heal 25 of 45 heal or sustain
Cleanse or tenacity 20 of 45 have two or more hard CC abilities
To cut through them Tanks stack armor and magic resist; these items give armor penetration.
Fighters
Anti-heal 40 of 59 heal or sustain
Armor 38 of 59 deal physical damage only
Assassins
Anti-heal 24 of 46 heal or sustain
Armor 23 of 46 deal physical damage only
Mages
Magic resist 53 of 75 deal magic damage only
Anti-heal 30 of 75 heal or sustain
Marksmen
Armor 14 of 33 deal physical damage only
Supports
Magic resist 36 of 43 deal magic damage only
Anti-heal 19 of 43 heal or sustain
Counted from the official ability text, League of Legends patch 16.21.1. These are counts of champions, not win rates.
Rune trees
Lit runes: their official text matches something Jarvan IV's kit does (Analysis). Select a rune to read why.
Precision3 lit
Domination2 lit
Sorcery4 lit
Resolve6 lit
Inspiration3 lit
Matchups by class
Jarvan IV against each class of champion, counted from the official ability text. Choose a class or a lane to narrow it down.
Against all 172 champions: 158 ahead, 14 even, 0 behind. Each class is read against that, so check the best and toughest tags too.
Against Tanks
Strong42 ahead · 3 even · 0 behind of 45
- True or percent-health damage cuts through their armor and magic resist.
- You clear waves faster and can push the lane.
What to do: A good pick when the enemy has several tanks. Play for the fights where your edge shows.
Against Fighters
Strong54 ahead · 5 even · 0 behind of 59
- True or percent-health damage cuts through their armor and magic resist.
- Your hard crowd control stops their dashes.
What to do: A good pick when the enemy has several fighters. Play for the fights where your edge shows.
Against Assassins
Strong44 ahead · 2 even · 0 behind of 46
- Your hard crowd control stops their dashes.
- You clear waves faster and can push the lane.
What to do: A good pick when the enemy has several assassins. Play for the fights where your edge shows.
Against Mages
Strong64 ahead · 11 even · 0 behind of 75
- You can lock down squishy targets that have few escapes.
- Your healing or shields outlast their poke.
What to do: A good pick when the enemy has several mages. Play for the fights where your edge shows.
Against Marksmen
Strong29 ahead · 4 even · 0 behind of 33
- You have early pressure while they need time to scale.
- Your healing or shields outlast their poke.
What to do: A good pick when the enemy has several marksmen. Play for the fights where your edge shows.
Against Supports
Strong41 ahead · 2 even · 0 behind of 43
- You can lock down squishy targets that have few escapes.
- Your healing or shields outlast their poke.
What to do: A good pick when the enemy has several supports. Play for the fights where your edge shows.
Source: Nexus Lab rules over the official ability text, League of Legends patch 16.21.1. Each champion of the class is compared with Jarvan IV one by one; the counts come from those rules, not from match results, so they are not win rates. Strong, even and weak compare the number of champions ahead and behind. Lanes are the lanes each class usually plays (Riot ships no lane data per champion), not play rates.
Building against Jarvan IV
Analysis: answers to what Jarvan IV's own kit does.
Jarvan IV brings shields, so a shield-breaking item is worth a look. Golden Aegis: "Demacia to shield him from"
Who Jarvan IV is good against
The same rules, read the other way.
Kassadin
You pressureJarvan IV has hard CC (Dragon Strike: "knocking up enemies") that can stop Kassadin's dashes (Riftwalk: "Kassadin teleports to a").
Locke
You pressureJarvan IV has hard CC (Dragon Strike: "knocking up enemies") that can stop Locke's dashes (Ashen Pursuit: "location before dashing to attack").
Lucian
You pressureJarvan IV has hard CC (Dragon Strike: "knocking up enemies") that can stop Lucian's dashes (Relentless Pursuit: "Lucian quickly dashes a short").
Quinn
You pressureJarvan IV has hard CC (Dragon Strike: "knocking up enemies") that can stop Quinn's dashes (Vault: "Quinn dashes to an").
Ahri
You pressureJarvan IV has hard CC (Dragon Strike: "knocking up enemies") that can stop Ahri's dashes (Spirit Rush: "Ahri dashes forward and").
Counter picks are Analysis: rules over Riot's ability text, each with the words it rests on. They are not win rates, and no League of Legends matchup list has been reviewed by hand yet.
Official story
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An occasional e-mail when we publish a new champion story or update the champion guides. No automatic e-mail for every article.
Champion video guide
Video by 3 Minute League of Legends · Watch on YouTube The player loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only after you press play.
Measured numbers
Numbers published or counted by a named source. Each row names the source and the patch.
| Stat | Level 1 | Per level | Level 18 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Health | 640 | +104 | 2408 |
| Mana | 300 | +55 | 1235 |
| Armor | 36 | +4.6 | 114.2 |
| Magic resist | 32 | +2.05 | 66.85 |
| Attack damage | 64 | - | 64 |
| Attack speed | 0.658 | +2.5% | 0.938 |
| Attack range | 175 | - | 175 |
| Move speed | 340 | - | 340 |
| Health regen per 5 seconds | 8 | +0.7 | 19.9 |
| Mana regen per 5 seconds | 6.5 | +0.45 | 14.15 |
Riot data Riot's Data Dragon, patch 16.21.1. Level 18 is calculated from Riot's growth formula on the same numbers.
Editorial estimates
Our reading of the data. These are not measured rates and they change when the rules or the data change.
- Counter picks
- 0 Editorial estimateNexus Lab rules over Riot's ability text, patch 16.21.1
- Good against
- 5 Editorial estimateNexus Lab rules over Riot's ability text, patch 16.21.1
- Typical lanes
- Top, Jungle Editorial estimateLanes of the class; Riot ships no lane data per champion
What no source gives us
- Win rate, pick rate and ban rate. Riot publishes none we may print (the Riot API cards are switched off) and no third-party statistics site is read, so none is shown.
- Popular builds. Riot publishes no builds: the items and runes in Build & Runes are a fit to the kit, not a popularity ranking.
Sources
- Riot Games Data DragonOpen
Names, ratings, base stats, ability text, cooldowns, costs, range, items, runes and art.
Patch 16.21.1, file generated 2026-10-26 - Riot ability preview clips
Played from Riot's own server when you press play; never copied here.
Each clip checked with a request before it is offered - League of Legends WikiOpen
Release dates and skin prices in RP (CC BY-SA).
Committed data, see the skins page - Nexus Lab rules
Counters, matchups by class, item and rune fit: rules over Riot's ability text, each with the words it rests on.
Patch 16.21.1 - Riot UniverseOpen
The official story of Jarvan IV (a link, nothing copied).
