Musings on the Jungle: 1

So there's a couple things that I want to talk about in this first issue. Firstly, I need to say that tanky utility junglers aren't completely back yet. Even if Riot decided to give them a little love, they still aren't to the point where you should take them over champions like Lee Sin and Elise. Secondly I want to say a few words about how junglers should go about making decisions on patch 4.11. And finally I want to say a little bit about who I am and why you should actually take my advice.

1. Patches 4.10 and 4.11 saw Riot giving some major concessions to the tanky utility junglers who had fallen out of the meta since season 3. While a couple champions in particular got quality of life changes to their kit (here's looking at you Maokai), the biggest changes came in the form of a reworked Spirit of the Ancient Golem, and it's new build path. Here are the changes:
   1. Hunter's Machete no longer grants 10% bonus damage to monsters, and no longer restores 5hp with basic attacks against monsters. Instead it grants 5 reduced damage taken from monsters (similar to a Doran's Shield or Tough Skin ), and 10 bonus AD when attacking monsters.
   2. Instead of building out of the Spirit Stone, Spirit of the Ancient Golem now builds out of the new item Quill Coat (the recipe is Hunter's Machete + Cloth Armor + 75g). Quill Coat itself is an outstanding item, granting 20 armor, a hunter's ward (like Wriggle's Lantern), and a new unique passive,
      sapping barbs. The passive is basically an amped up version of Bladed Armor , but also grants the wearer +40hp/5 and +30mana/5 when attacking monsters.
   3. The final change was that Spirit of the Ancient Golem took on upgraded versions of the sapping barbs (60hp/5 and 45mana/5), had the bonus hp reduced to 200, and had a +25% bonus hp passive added. If you've read my Maokai guide (which just hit top rated for the champion on Mobafire *self clap*) then you know how I feel about this change. For those of you who don't, it is extreeeeemely broken. Riot basically made Spirit of the Ancient Golem into an hp version of Rabadon's Deathcap that also happens to give a free 180s ward, deal 5% max hp damage to attacking monsters, and grants the wearer massive regen when fighting monsters. Can you say 4.12 nerfs incoming?
   While most of these changes seem to be great for tank junglers, and I have to admit the new Spirit of the Ancient Golem is too good to pass up, they also benefited pretty much every assassin jungler too. Lee Sin and Rengar both make great use of the +10 AD versus monsters, and Elise (who already averages around 3-4.5k hp a game) is just as happy with the new spirit of the ancient as any full tank is, if not more. You might start to see more Maokai as high elo players like me start to play him more, and definitely more Volibear once people remember that he never stopped being good (and that +25% bonus hp is the same as +25% damage on his W).
2. So this next topic is something that bugs me every time that someone else jungles in my ranked games. People really still haven't adjusted to how you have to play jungle to be successful in season 4. Here are my main complaints:
   1. People who think it's okay to start at their topside buff and not follow up with a late top side invade. Just no. This screws over at least your top laner because it keeps them from getting to lane in time to compete for the early level 2. For people who don't know anything about top lane, the person who gets level 2 first and is able to start bullying their opponent usually wins the lane really really hard. Starting at your top side buff also denies your top laner a gank after your first clear, which means that even if they manage to win the level 2, they can't press their advantage because they know they won't have any support from the jungle if they get ganked. Bot lanes never receive ganks well pre level 6 (the exception is when they have Thresh, and even then they need level 3) and so it's a huge waste to start top side and then head bot. If you're gonna start top side, invade the enemy's top buff right after, otherwise start at bot where you get a faster leash and don't screw over your top laner. Strong top lanes win games, they just do.
   2. People who think it's okay to build for Feral Flare and then never gank. Doing this angers me more than anything because it's not the jungler's job to carry. If you watch professional streams they always play a more supportive role, even on assassin junglers. You still get stacks on your Wriggle's Lantern when you get a kill or assist so coming out of the jungle every now and then is something you should ALWAYS do.
   3. Junglers who camp losing lanes instead of snowballing winning ones. Like please just stop with this nonsense already. Everyone stopped doing this after season 2 because you can carry a bad lane but not an underfed team.
   Junglers are the players who get to make the biggest impact on the game. They are directly responsible for their lanes winning or losing, and are the main catalyst in making big pushes for objectives throughout a game. Unlike when a lane loses, when someone jungles poorly their whole team suffers. If your jungler isn't doing their job then you're most likely going to lose the game. If junglers don't stop with the selfish and/or mind numbing decisions I listed above, then they're never going to get better. I can't tell you the number of players I've seen who have amazing mechanics but still can't win because they have such poor decision making. Mechanics count for a lot, but decisions win games. If you're new to Jungling, the sooner you learn that, the sooner you can play at platinum or above.
3. So now for a little bit about my gaming career. I've been playing videos games since I was 4. I originally played Pokemon, and then I moved to console shooter games in middle school. I've been playing League of Legends since the Lulu release patch in season 2, and started playing ranked in October 2012. Since then I've played roughly 2900 ranked games from bronze to diamond tier in solo queue and teams. About 2000 of these games were at the jungler position. I don't "main" any champion, but I tend to become proficient on groups of 2-3 champions at a time. I also try to work in a few games here and there at other positions so that I can have a better understanding of how well certain champions/lanes receive ganks, and their strength at certain points of the game.
   
   League of Legends is my sport of choice, and I do my best to keep up to date on competitive play, and any patches and hot fixes that Riot releases. I haven't managed to hit diamond yet, however, I consider myself to be fairly knowledgeable about the game. I want to use this blog and the guides that I'll be releasing to help new players get into League, and help current players learn from my experience.

As always, happy ganking <3