How to Play Xin Zhao: 5 Essential Tips for Dominating Jungle

Overview

Learning how to play Xin Zhao effectively requires mastering his aggressive early game potential through optimal jungle pathing, strategic ganking, and leveraging his strong dueling capabilities. His straightforward yet versatile kit makes him accessible to beginners while offering enough depth for experienced players to dominate through proper item builds, teamfight positioning, and objective control that can translate early advantages into decisive victories.

Introduction to Xin Zhao

Learning how to play Xin Zhao effectively can transform your jungle experience in League of Legends. As one of the most versatile and aggressive junglers in the game, Xin Zhao offers a perfect balance of damage, durability, and crowd control that makes him a formidable force from early to mid-game. His straightforward kit makes him accessible to beginners while offering enough depth for experienced players to master.

Xin Zhao excels at early game pressure and can easily turn the tide of a match with well-timed ganks and objective control. Whether you’re just picking up the champion or looking to refine your skills, understanding how to play Xin Zhao properly will significantly boost your climbing potential. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore five essential tips that will help you dominate the jungle with this Demacian warrior.

Before diving into specific strategies, it’s worth noting that professional coaching sessions can accelerate your improvement with any champion. Now, let’s break down what makes Xin Zhao tick and how you can leverage his strengths to carry games.

Understanding Xin Zhao’s Abilities

Before mastering how to play Xin Zhao, you need to understand his ability kit thoroughly. Each of his abilities complements the others, creating a cohesive package that rewards aggressive play and proper target selection.

Xin Zhao’s passive, “Determination,” empowers his every third attack to deal additional damage and reduce his other ability cooldowns. This mechanic encourages an auto-attack-heavy playstyle and provides substantial sustain in the jungle.

His Q ability, “Three Talon Strike,” enhances his next three auto attacks, with the third strike knocking opponents airborne. This is your primary damage tool and provides crucial crowd control for ganks.

The W ability, “Wind Becomes Lightning,” is a two-part attack that first slashes in a cone before thrusting forward in a line. It deals significant damage and slows enemies caught in the thrust portion, making it excellent for clearing camps and engaging enemies.

E, “Audacious Charge,” is Xin Zhao’s gap closer. He dashes to a target and slows all nearby enemies, making it perfect for initiating ganks or diving into teamfights.

Finally, his ultimate, “Crescent Guard,” knocks away enemies not challenged by Xin Zhao while granting him bonus armor and magic resistance against champions he has damaged recently. This ability creates a zone where Xin Zhao can duel his chosen target without interference, making him a terrifying threat to isolated opponents.

According to Riot’s official champion page, Xin Zhao’s abilities are designed to reward decisive action and proper positioning, making him an excellent choice for players who enjoy a proactive playstyle.

Tip #1: Mastering the Early Game

The early game is where Xin Zhao truly shines, and learning how to play Xin Zhao effectively during this phase is crucial. His strong dueling potential and healthy clear make him one of the most feared level 3 junglers in the game.

Start with a standard path of Red Buff → Krugs → Raptors or Blue Buff → Gromp → Wolves, depending on which side of the map you begin. This will get you to level 3 quickly while maintaining high health, setting you up for an early gank or invade.

When clearing camps, use your abilities efficiently:

• Start with E to apply the attack speed bonus
• Use W immediately for the AOE damage
• Apply your Q last to maximize damage and reduce cooldowns with your passive

After reaching level 3, look for ganking opportunities or consider invading the enemy jungler. Xin Zhao’s early dueling power means you can often win 1v1 fights against most junglers. If you spot the enemy jungler on the opposite side of the map, don’t hesitate to take their camps and establish jungle dominance.

Remember that your early game strength comes with a responsibility to create advantages. As experienced jungle coaches often emphasize, failing to capitalize on Xin Zhao’s early power spike can lead to reduced effectiveness later in the game. Be proactive and look for plays around the map.

Set up deep vision in the enemy jungle whenever possible. This will help track the enemy jungler’s movements and enable you to counter-gank or make plays on the opposite side of the map. Early game map control is essential for a snowball-oriented champion like Xin Zhao.

Tip #2: Effective Ganking Strategies

Ganking is where Xin Zhao truly excels, and mastering different ganking approaches is fundamental to understanding how to play Xin Zhao effectively. His combination of gap-closing, crowd control, and burst damage makes him a terrifying ganker from the early minutes of the game.

When planning your ganks, prioritize lanes with good setup or follow-up CC. Lanes with champions like Leona, Nautilus, or Ryze can easily follow your engage with additional crowd control, making these ganks nearly guaranteed successes.

For optimal ganking execution, follow these steps:

• Approach from unexpected angles, using terrain to hide your approach
• Save your E (dash) until the enemy uses their escape ability or until you’re sure you can connect with it
• Lead with W for the slow effect before following up with E and Q
• Position yourself between the enemy and their escape route

One of Xin Zhao’s greatest strengths is his ability to tower dive safely. With proper coordination, you can use your knock-up from Q and the protection from your ultimate to execute dives that other junglers couldn’t attempt. However, be mindful of the tower aggro and ensure your laner is on the same page before committing.

Remember that map awareness is crucial when ganking. Check the minimap for the enemy jungler’s position before committing to a gank, as getting counter-ganked can quickly turn the tide against you.

For higher-ranked play, try incorporating lane ganks into your repertoire. Hide in the brush while the lane is pushing toward your ally, then emerge when the enemy is overextended. This approach is particularly effective against opponents who ward the river but neglect lane brushes.

Tip #3: Optimal Item Builds and Runes

To truly master how to play Xin Zhao, you need to understand the optimal item builds and rune setups that complement his playstyle. Xin Zhao is relatively flexible in his build paths, allowing you to adapt based on game circumstances and team composition.

For your mythic item, there are three primary options:

• Eclipse: Provides burst damage, sustain, and mobility, making it excellent for snowballing and assassinating priority targets
• Divine Sunderer: Offers sustained damage and durability, ideal against tankier compositions
• Goredrinker: Perfect for teamfight-heavy games where you need to survive longer in the middle of multiple enemies

After your mythic, prioritize items that enhance your durability while still providing damage. Death’s Dance, Black Cleaver, and Sterak’s Gage are all excellent choices that help you transition into the mid and late game without falling off too hard.

For boots, choose between Plated Steelcaps against AD-heavy teams or Mercury’s Treads when facing significant magic damage or crowd control. The extra tenacity from Mercury’s can be crucial for maintaining your threat in teamfights.

Regarding runes, Conqueror is the most versatile keystone for Xin Zhao, providing both sustained damage and healing that scales well throughout the game. Pair it with Triumph, Legend: Alacrity, and Last Stand for a well-rounded primary tree.

In the secondary tree, consider Sudden Impact and Relentless Hunter from Domination for enhanced burst and map mobility, or Nimbus Cloak and Waterwalking from Sorcery for stronger objective control and river skirmishes.

As coaches for lower-ranked players often recommend, don’t blindly follow pro builds. Instead, understand why certain items work well with Xin Zhao and adapt your purchases based on the specific match you’re playing.

Tip #4: Teamfight Positioning and Execution

As the game progresses, knowing how to play Xin Zhao in teamfights becomes increasingly important. Unlike some junglers who can easily access the backline, Xin Zhao thrives as a disruptor who creates chaos and isolates key targets.

Your primary role in teamfights will depend on your team composition and the state of the game:

• If ahead, look to dive the enemy backline and eliminate high-priority targets
• If even or behind, focus more on peeling for your carries and disrupting enemy engages
• In objective fights, use your ultimate strategically to zone enemies away from contested areas

Timing your ultimate correctly is perhaps the most crucial aspect of teamfight execution. Use Crescent Guard when you’ve isolated a target you want to duel or when you need to temporarily disengage while cooldowns refresh. The knockback and defensive stats can be game-changing when used properly.

Remember that Xin Zhao isn’t designed to be the primary engage in most compositions. Ideally, let your tanks or support initiate, then follow up with your combo once major crowd control abilities have been used. This approach maximizes your survival chances and impact.

Position yourself to utilize terrain effectively during skirmishes. Fighting near walls limits escape options for enemies and can funnel them into your W ability. According to OP.GG statistics, proper positioning significantly increases Xin Zhao’s win rate in extended fights.

Late game teamfights require extra caution, as Xin Zhao’s effectiveness diminishes compared to scaling champions. Focus on finding flanks or picks before major objectives rather than front-to-back fighting. An online League coach can help you master these nuanced positional decisions.

Tip #5: Map Control and Objective Dominance

The final key to mastering how to play Xin Zhao lies in controlling the map and securing objectives. As an early game powerhouse, Xin Zhao can establish vision control and objective dominance that translates into wins.

Prioritize objectives in this general order:

• Herald (pre-14 minutes) for early tower plates and snowballing advantages
• Dragons for long-term buffs and potential Soul
• Baron after winning teamfights or picking off key enemies
• Enemy buffs when you have lane priority and tracking on the enemy jungler

Xin Zhao excels at securing early Heralds due to his strong dueling potential. Try to time your pathing to be near top side around the 8-minute mark to contest this objective. A single Herald can break open the game by accelerating tower takedowns and unlocking the map.

When it comes to dragon control, improving your objective timing is essential. Xin Zhao can solo dragons relatively early, but it’s usually safer to coordinate with your bot lane. Sweep for vision and set up control wards before starting the objective.

Counter-jungling should be a regular part of your strategy when playing Xin Zhao. If you spot the enemy jungler ganking on the opposite side of the map, don’t hesitate to invade and steal camps. This creates a jungle gap that can quickly snowball the game in your favor.

Late game, your role shifts more towards vision control around Baron and Elder Dragon. Use your early advantages to establish deep wards in the enemy jungle and deny them safe access to their own buffs and camps. This stranglehold approach is particularly effective when coached by professionals who understand macro dynamics.

Remember that objective control isn’t just about taking objectives yourself—it’s also about denying them from the enemy. Sometimes, the correct play is to force a teamfight near an objective rather than rushing to secure it, especially if your team has a power spike advantage.

Conclusion

Mastering how to play Xin Zhao effectively can significantly elevate your jungling performance in League of Legends. His versatile kit, strong early game pressure, and objective control capabilities make him a valuable pick in any elo. By following the five tips outlined in this guide—early game dominance, effective ganking, optimal builds, teamfight execution, and map control—you’ll be well on your way to becoming a formidable Xin Zhao player.

Remember that practice is key to internalizing these concepts. Don’t be discouraged by initial setbacks; even experienced players continue to refine their Xin Zhao gameplay. Focus on one aspect at a time, whether it’s improving your clear efficiency, ganking patterns, or objective control.

For players serious about climbing with Xin Zhao, consider investing in coaching sessions for beginners or more advanced players. A coach can provide personalized feedback on your gameplay and help you identify areas for improvement that aren’t immediately obvious.

Ultimately, Xin Zhao rewards proactive play and decisive decision-making. By leveraging his strengths and understanding his limitations, you can use this Demacian warrior to carve a path through the ranks and dominate the jungle role. Good luck on the Rift, and may your ganks be successful and your objectives secured!

Frequently Asked Questions