How to win the jungle race as Jarvan IV against Locke · Matchup data reviewed on patch 26.15
Read from Jarvan IV's seat: the race windows this plan plays for against Locke.
| Stage | Read | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 Clear | Jarvan IV Favoured | Dragon Strike's flag-toss poke chips anyone holding a buff pit. The margin is thin: Q nail volleys clear camps at range while banking marks for the first scuttle fight, and one slow camp on your side hands the window straight back, so keep the trade short. Fight him at full marks-zero and punish the ten seconds after his blink — E is his only exit. |
| Level 2 Skirmish | Jarvan IV Favoured | The E-Q knock-up gives a clean engage-disengage trade most kits can't answer. The blink-auto mark consume chunks hard, but spending E in a duel spends the escape too, so this is an edge and not a blowout — take the level-2 skirmish only with the HP and cooldown lead. |
| Level 3 Route | Jarvan IV Favoured | The full flag-drag combo plus Golden Aegis shield is a flexible level-3 duel, but W's grey-health refund makes his short trades cheaper than they look — full clears cost him real HP. You still win the straight exchange at the opening scuttle; keep it short, keep it decisive, and keep the scuttle line yours. |
| Levels 4-5 Macro | Jarvan IV Favoured — Take Duels | Through levels 4-5 you remain the stronger duelist — keep taking short, decisive trades vs Locke, but only with the HP and cooldown lead. |
| Level 6 Breakpoint | Cataclysm Favoured | Cataclysm cages the duel on your terms — flag-drag in and wall them off. Purgatory executes anyone who fights below the floor inside his totem — 'almost dead' becomes dead — respect that one window, but the six-spike comparison favors you: take the post-6 duel whenever HP bars start even. |
| First Item Spike | Lich Bane / Shadowflame Spike | His Lich Bane spike is real: the blink-consume chunk one-shots chipped squishies. Respect the first-item window, then note his E is still a one-way door — punish every spent blink. Locke's first item makes the mark consume hit for a real chunk, which is when the blink stops being a poke tool. |
| 2+ Items Scaling | Even Scaling — Prep Decides | Late-game Locke scales with his seal count, not his items — deny executes and his floor never rises. Focus him when E is down and never let "almost dead" linger inside Purgatory. |
Standard start — his level-1 clear is ranged but mana-hungry and his duel is honest at best; you dictate the early tempo, not him. Locke clears at range with Ritual Nails and banks marks while doing it, so his first scuttle arrives with stacks up.
Ranked by the race windows in Jarvan IV's plans — the jungle race carries no win-rate sample.
The full Jarvan IV vs Locke report continues with scuttle & dragon rules, invade windows and safety boundaries, the top-side objective fight, macro rotations and the win condition — plus the live enemy-jungle tracker that shows their start, clear and gank timers in game.
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Jarvan IV's race plan controls 6 of the 7 windows — Jarvan IV holds the tempo advantage in this jungle matchup.
Not exactly — Jarvan IV's race plan controls 6 of the 7 windows, so Locke is playing catch-up and has to lean on the map.
Playing the other side? Locke vs Jarvan IV guide →
All Jarvan IV jungle matchups →
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