Don’t let this team be yours; learn when to gank properly and appropriately and stop the massacre. One of the many decisions a jungler has to make is deciding when to gank. However, there are many factors when it comes to determining when to gank. The biggest difference between a low ELO and high ELO solo-queue junglers is the ability to recognize gank potential. Gank potential is the potential for a jungler and laner to successfully execute a gank. The ability to recognize gank potential will result to gank effectively and efficiently. Everyone has played with or against a jungler that appears to kill every lane he walks in and is constantly everywhere; this is not luck. In this article, I hope everyone can learn to be the jungler that is everywhere and nowhere at once.
A lot of people have been wondering about the changes to the S2 jungle and what it means for junglers, clear times, etc. Here is my personal chart on detailed clear times in S2 and S3 with notes. I hope people can use it to learn when and who to counter-jungle effectively and understand how the jungle has changed. I really tried to create a benchmark for champions in the jungle.
As per my other posts, Season 3 jungle changes have implications towards junglers. One can not simply go about the Season 3 jungle playing the same as they did in Season 2. However, I feel like the overall consensus of the change is more of a quality of play and viability change than a complete re-work of the Jungle. In short, there are no major changes in the upcoming patch. Moreover, these changes represent the direction that Riot wants to take for the game.
My initial thoughts on current meta champions who can be, will be, or are played in the current or future jungle and how they have been effected by the Season 3 jungle changes or how they will be played.
Season 3 Jungle Changes has, obviously, adjusted the camps. Although there are no physical changes such as removing, adding, or moving camps (personaly, I feel like switching wraith camp and golem camp would be a good idea in the S2 jungle), the proposed changes on PBE are still relevant and not without implications.
Current changes for PBE, and eventually live, on season 3 in regards to movement speed and starting items for junglers will have a huge impact on optimal decision making for junglers. First, let’s take a look at the changes in store.
If you haven’t heard, jungle changes are going to be implemented in Season 3 in an attempt to change the stale meta of support junglers. Currently, the changes are on PBE pending to go live. I won’t post too much until it’s actually on live, but here is my first glance on the new changes.
One of the most common issues that many new players will find is the confusion of a jungling position. When players start playing LoL, laning is the first aspect of the game they see. Laning is very straightforward - you see creeps, towers, and enemies to kill; so you kill them, get gold, and build items to kill them faster. That is how players up to level 30 learn, practice, and play the game. However, suddenly they are thrown into a jungle with no clear defined goal to work towards. Most beginners will instantly revert to a mid-game play style where they clear creeps in the jungle to farm and, with their basic knowledge of ganking, attempt to kill others who are still laning in an uneven fight.
The game of League of Legends, hereby known as LoL, is simply described as a love-hate relationship. When the end of season 2 neared, I was one win away from platinum; however, I was never able to achieve my goal. I tried desperately to achieve platinum playing close to 12+ hours a day to try and climb the ladder; as Season 2 ended, I was still stuck in gold. I was frustrated, and angry at myself and everyone, everything around me. I was so close to platinum, to become the top 1% of players in the world that I forgot everything that I worked, strived for.
