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Champs that shouldn't jungle but can:Guide for bored people
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Choose Champion Build:
Spells:
Flash
Smite
Ability Order
Void Shift (PASSIVE)
Malzahar Passive Ability
Introduction
What is so funny about putting champions in situations they don't really fit in? Knowing that, with practice, some of these builds are actually viable and can be used and yet are completely unexpected. While other champions could easily outwork these unorthodox junglers, these champions make some of the hardest junglers to predict or counter, and it is incredibly satisfying to have a great game with a jungling Mordekaiser and imagining the looks on random stranger's faces from around the world.
So if you are a low level or low-ELO player looking for a fun challenge, or a high-end player and have reached most of your LoL goals and are looking to screw around and see if you can win a game with an AD Malzahar jungler, have fun with this guide!
March 6, 2012: Alistar added! Also added some code to existing guide (thanks to JhoiJhoi)
March 10, 2012: Swain added! also added a pros/cons subsection to each jungler, and did a brief spell check. Changed Talon and Alistar builds slightly.
March 16, 2012: Pantheon and Urgot Added! More coding, more spell checking, and changed Malzahar's build slightly.
Coming up soon:
Zilean! (For the Lols. But seriously, this could be hilarious in PvP solo matchups.)
Wukong! (I still need the IP)
Xerath! (Stacking AP ups armour... an interesting theory)
If you have any suggestions, or want to recommend an unusual champion that you want me to test in PVP matchups, leave a comment please! I'll get back to you ASAP and work on seeing if your suggested champion works (and if so, how) in the jungle!
Malzahar being squishy as he is, an enemy jungler can really bring him down quickly. When playing in lower levels/ELOs, it is uncommon for other people to jungle. This usually means lots of space for you, easy farming, and two of each buff to work with. At higher levels, there is usually a jungler on the enemy team, and he will mess with you hard. This build also gives enemies a surprise when you emerge to gank, as they will expect an AP build and will likely ignore your voidlings thinking you are the one dealing the damage. Jungling also gives you room to get some of your core items ( Manamune, The Brutalizer) up to make spamming spells more effective before engaging enemies frequently.
Routes: After intitally purchasing your items and potions, you should put 1 rank in Call of the Void, your ability with the slowest cooldown at early levels. Sit in the starting area and use it 3 times (will take approx. 27 seconds). This will charge up your Summon Voidling, so when you cast your 4th spell later, a voidling will spawn at the start of the fight.
I changed Malzahar's item build around. Starting with cloth 5 is more useful than a Meki Pendant if you get blue to start, and Youmuu's Ghostblade wturned out to be unnecessary, as your 40% CDR is already maxed with Ionian Boots of Lucidity, Frozen Heart, and utility masteries. Sell The Brutalizer and pick up a Hexdrinker for more MR, AD, and an amazing passive.
I have found that Malzahar's best start is at blue, If you can get a leash. Without a leash, blue is tricky for the squishy Malzahar and he should get a couple of levels from Wolves/wraiths/mini golems before taking on either of the buffs.
For now, assume you get a leash. You have blue (So your mana problems should be taken care of, and have an extra 20% CDR), and now you are level 2 with one rank in Malefic Visions. Go wolves, wraiths, and golems, making sure to spam your Call of the Voidwhenever possible, and to cast Malefic Visions on the large monster first, so your voidlings will focus on them and leave the small fish for later. I usually have to recall after one full run (minus Red), and should have enough gold for a Tear of the Godess. The maximum mana increase is incredibly useful, and it builds one of your core items, Manamune.
Redo your wolves/wraiths/ mini golems and repeat, recalling only if neccesary until you hit level 5. Recall to prepare for a gank. Buy Boots and if you can afford it, your Manamune.
Now go get the Red buff, and that should bump you up to lvl 6. Gank if necessary, and repeat the route.
Speed: Around level 4 Malzahar starts to pick up speed in the jungle. By level 9 (and if you have your Brutalizer) Your jungle speed is actually really good. Malefic Visions is powerful enough to wipe out the camp and the voidlings speed thing along nicely.
Ganks: If you have ever jungled with Warwick, you know how most of this prcess will go. Like Warwick, Malzahar's pre-6 ganks aren't good and his post-6 ganks are great. Gank if necessary using Null Zone/ Nether Grasp combo, followed with a Call of the Voidto silence and prevent escape mechanisms and a Malefic Visions to attract the attention of any Voidlings you may have (If you use this combo, there will be at least one!) If you have Red early on and you have teammates with some decent CC laning, then Malzahar can help with a gank slightly better than Warwick pre-6 because of his long spell range.
Late Game: If fed, left to farm without trouble, or if you have teamates with good CC capable of keeping people away from you in teamfights, Malzahar can wreck the squishier champions on a team and leave your opponents with their tanks and no strong damage dealers, letting your team clean up the remains. However landing Malefic Visions in a teamfight is not only more difficult compared to 1v1, but dangerous. Having to cast over the tanks into the back row of squishies can leave you the target of an initiation move, like a Nautilus Dredge Line or Jarvan IV's E+Q combo, and leaving you as the first to fall.
Good teammates to have:
When playing with friends, it's good to have tanky CC to play with when trying Jungle Malz. A good team comp for this build would be: Udyr solo top, Veigar mid, Taric and Ashe bot, you as AD Malzahar in the jungle.
Tips:
Remember your voidlings all focus on those afflicted with Malefic Visions. Put the DoT on whoever you want to do the most damage to.
Even if there is nothing to target, spam your Null Zone and Call of the Void. Your main damage output is your minions, not your spells, and you want the voidling to spawn as soon as the fight begins so you can work towards summoning another one.
Your voidlings do the most damage and are the most resilient to damage at the 14-21 second mark of thier lifespan. Try to keep the voidlings around for those crucial seven seconds to maximize your damage and be a contributing force to your team.
Keep in mind: When playing AD Malz, your Nether Grasp is no longer a nuke. It is best used for ganking a lane so your partner(s) in lane can have an easy target, and for keeping someone out of a team fight and immobilized for a few seconds. Nether Grasp also keeps them from running from your voidlings, so be sure that Malefic Visions is on your target before using Nether Grasp.
Why max Call of the Void before Null Zone if not building AP? AD Malzahar is good for eradicating squishies, so a % damage spell is less useful than if used against a tank. Also, the main utility of your CotV is the silence, and the silence duration increases as you put ranks into it.
Pros/Cons
Pros:
Unexpected. No, really, you kill people from sheer surprise
Voidlings stack 1:1 for AD and ArmorPen.
If left unchecked, voidlings wreak havoc the 7 seconds they frenzy
Lack of ability power can be made up by doing the base damage of the spell in almost 40% of the usual time, plus the voidlings.
Cons:
Squishy
Voidlings uncontrollable (save for Malefic Visions)
Spamming spells= no mana, blue dependant
Takes a while to get a feel for the unorthodox timing and strategy
Routes:
Starting with Cloth Armour and 5 health pots are the best beginning for jungle Talon. Otherwise Talon gets beat down by the jungle creeps rather easily. He can get a leash or solo blue on his own, the leash just helps you keep more of your health. Move on to wolves, wraiths, and then golems. Usually you have to use a health pot before golems and if you didn't get a leash on blue. After golems, you can get Red, get wraiths again and then go for a gank (you should be level 4 now). To help with the gank, after level 4 recall and get some boots and your Madred's Razors. Since Talon is very good at ganking, I suggest you do it often.
Speed:
Talon actually clears the camps pretty fast. His clearing is average and his survivability is great after picking up Vampiric Scepter for your Wriggle's Lantern. After putting a few ranks in Rake and picking up a couple of items, clearing camps will be a breeze for you. Open up with a Rake and beat down any survivors with Noxian Diplomacy, move to next camp, repeat.
Ganks:
Talon shines in this category, providing a teleport to your target's location, a brief silence, a slow, and a DoT. With Red buff and a decent and well-positioned ally in lane, the sight of Talon appearing behind a player usually translates into a successful gank. To initiate a gank, activate Noxian Diplomacy and then use Cutthroat to flash to your target. Your first attack will trigger Noxian Diplomacy, and as soon as they turn their backs or begin to run, hit them with a Rake to slow thier escape. If they still might get away, or if they try to stay and beat you down, use Exhaust if you have it. Exhaust is incredibly useful for Talon, and I usually use it instead of Flash.
Late Game:
If you have played laning Talon, jungle Talon doesn't feel too different. Laning talon has a little more damage and does great when fed, and jungle Talon loses a bit of punch in exchange for a little more CDR and survivability. If you had success in your early ganks, you can be a team-killing machine if they do not focus you. Unfortunately, Talon is one of those champions that can demolish one target, but then have to wait for his abilities to cool down and reapeat his combo. A little CDR can go a long way for Talon.
Good Teammates to have:
Talon fits well on most teams, it is the enemy team that usually determines Talon's effectiveness. Talon can be CC'ed down and jungle Talon does not win fights against tanky characters. A team that has worked consistently for me: Gangplank solo top, Ryze mid, Nautilus and Ashe bot. Talon's Mercy ability is used to a fuller potential with this comp, with the slows from Ashe, Nautilus and GP.
Tips:
Master the Noxian Diplomacy/ Cutthroat combo, and be sure to activate your Q before flashing onto the enemy. This gives Noxian diplomacy the bonus from cutthraot and gives a hefty swipe to initiate combat.
Your R, Shadow Assault, can be double tapped quickly to shoot out your blades and return them quickly. Try to position your R so more blades can pass through and return through your enemies, maximizing the damage done.
Remember that Noxian Diplomacy causes a bleed effect that allows you to see your target. Keep both of these effects in mind when choosing whether or not to chanse someone.
Pros/Cons
Pros:
Great ganks
Good Clearing speed
Good utility champion.(Fits well on most team comps)
Ultimate useful for finishing a kill or escaping
Cons:
Still kind of squishy
Loses some of the burst capabilities of a laning build
Early game sustaining problems
CC destroys him
In theory, it looks so perfect: A shield built off of damage that goes down before your health, AoE abilities, armour increase with his W, and no dependancy on blue whatsoever. So why does Mordekaiser miss the mark?
First off, he can dominate a solo lane, and jungling seems very lackluster in comparison. Plus, his ganks are some of the worst of all champions, and his early game has some bad survivability problems. After that, though, Mordekaiser had other stronger points in his jungling. His late game can be formidable, and around mid game his clearing speed and survivability problems vanish. Neither buff is useful to him, so he can clear his camps in almost any order he wants, and can intervene and take over any lane if your teammate has to go back for any reason.
Routes:
Mordekaiser can be quite versatile in his routes, but usually you should try to get a leash at blue. The 20% cooldown reduction is nice, and it gets you to lvl 2 right off the bat. If not, I've found that starting at golems and using smite on the big one is a good place to start, then move on to wraiths and then wolves. You can take the buffs at any time you see fit, because they don't really do anything for Mordekaiser except blue's CDR. Repeat the route, and you will usually have to recall back at least once for health. As soon as you hit 1200 gold, recall and get your Hextech Revolver. Your survivability problems should begin to go away now, as the spell vamp makes up for the health cost to use Mordekaiser's abilities. If you pick a route and cycle through it, Mordekaiser should be able to keep up with xp and gold.
Speed:
Mordekaiser has a pretty good start in the jungle. Siphon of Destruction has an okay CD, and does decent enough early damage, so your clearing speed isn't too bad. The only hinderances here are waiting for your Regrowth Pendant to make up enough health, and that you will usually have to recall a couple of times before getting your Hextech Revolver and resolving your health problems.
Ganks:
This is THE main reason people do not jungle with Mordekaiser. He has no CC at all, and all of his abilities are multi-target, so red buff doesn't even work unless you walk up and hit them with a basic attack. He isn't very fast, even with boots, and cannot catch up to anybody. The only way you can sport a successful gank as Mordekaiser is if they are crazily overextended, or if you have Rylai's Crystal Scepter and some hard CC from your allies.
Late Game:
Mordekaiser can have a great game if he is fed and farmed well. He ends up doing enough damage with his Siphon of Destruction to fill his shield and survive most combats. His Ult, Children of the Grave, can turn a 5v5 into a 6v4, and if left unfocused can bury an entire enemy team. While you may be more successful getting to this stage with solo lane Mordekaiser, it can also be done in the jungle, which is great if no one else wants to jungle and you can give one of your allies that extra lane that they need (like Nasus), as well as getting your own independant farming base.
Good teammates to have:
Heavy CC. Mordekaiser needs a lot of slows/stuns from his team to gank properly. Nasus solo top, Morgana mid, Alistar and Sivir bot, you as Mordekaiser in the jungle.
Tips:
If you capture a soul buddy with your ultimate, you can control it by holding the alt key and right clicking where you want it to go.
Your soul buddy ultimate, Children of the Grave,keeps the passive of the enemy champion enslaved, and also gives you a % of their AP. Use this knowledge to decide who to use your R on.
Pros/Cons
Pros:
Your enemies never expect jungle Mordekaiser
Good late game
Ult makes a soul buddy. Enough said
No mana, therefore no dependancy on Blue
Cons:
Your allies also never expect jungle Mordekaiser
No dependancy on Red, either... because it is useless on Mord
Terrible, terrible ganks
No, really, his ganks are THAT atrocious
Routes:
Getting a leash on blue is important with Alistar, so starting there is your first priority. After hitting level two, get your E, Triumphant Roar. With blue, your health will never be too low with this ability. Head to wolves, then wraiths, and golems. Go and get Red, and then get wraiths a second time. You should be level 4, have 2 ranks in Pulverize, 1 rank in Headbutt, and 1 rank in Triumphant Roar. Gank if nessecary, If not, go back to wolves and repeat the route as many times as you need.
Speed:
Alistar doesn't pick up too much speed in the jungle, and his Headbutt isn't an effective farming tool and should be saved in case of a gank oppurtunity or escape mechanism. Your passive Trample, however, makes it so your Triumphant Roar also does damage. This and an AoE ability in Pulverize leads to a consitent and decent jungle speed.
Ganks:
Holy CC, Batman. An AoE knockup and a knockback lead to some strong ganks with Alistar. Red buff makes this guy an absolute monster, and Headbutt moves the enemy out of position, allowing you to mess with duo lanes hard. Initiate the gank with a Headbutt, and Pulverize your target into the air. This should do some good damage, but the person in lane needs to be a significant contributor if you want a gank at early levels. Plus, Unbreakable Will allows you to towerdive like nobody's business, ensuring you can finish the kill.
Late Game:
Alistar is a great utility guy, but his late game doesn't transform into anything special. His disruption and initiating abilities are always useful, but don't scale amazingly off of AP. Despite being a strong mage, Alistar is always expected to be the support or the anti-assassin, and his abilities are made to be used as such. All in all, his late game is very so-so.
Good teammates to have:
High damage output team. Your disruptions are used to their highest potential and a well-placed ability leaves one of their team eliminated right off the bat. Nasus solo top, Veigar mid, Graves and Nautilus bottom lane.
Tips:
If you have an ally who uses a channeled ability (Malzahar's Nether Grasp, Warwick's Infinite Duress) or combo-starting skillshots (Almost any carry of any kind),for goodness' sake, don't headbutt the target out of the way. Find the right place for a teamfight Headbutt, which can either lead to an easy kill or a disrupted combo for your teammate.
If you time your W and your Q, you can rush up to the tagret, hit them with Headbutt, and still have time to knock them up with Pulverize BEFORE they get knocked back! It takes a while to master but is well worth the practice it many cases.
Your Unbreakable Will reduces crazy amounts of incoming damage. You can tank a turret without creeps, and if you find yourself with enough teammates to take out a turret, don't worry about waiting for the next wave.
Pros/Cons
Pros:
Can gank at level 2
CC up the Ying-Yang (and Wazoo)
Self-heal that also affects creeps and Allies
Insane towerdiving and survivability with Ultimate activated
Cons:
Everybody on your team thinks you will build as a tank/support
Without ultimate, you die rather quickly as mage Alistar
In jungle, abilities used for Trample more than anything else
Mana problems early game
Routes
Leashing blue is needed for Swain's jungling speed and sustainability. Even if the enemy team doesn't have a jungler, as soon as a Swain with Smite (Or just Swain, for that matter) appears on the loading screen, the enemy usually will plan on ganking blue to start the game. If they don't, get a leash on blue and have fun. The usual route (Blue/wraiths/mini golems/red/wraiths again) is your best bet as Swain, and it gets you to level 4 and ready to gank. Gank frequently with Swain, as it gets you the feed you need and help win your lanes (Whose 150 gold tower destruction bonus benefits you as well). A good indicator of when to be ganking and when to be farming is your possession of blue. If you have blue, especially post-6, don't save it to farm creeps. Near-Infinite mana= monster Swain with smammable, powerful spells. When you do not have blue, and blue has not respawned, is a good time to farm camps, as you can be more "mana light" than when trying to gank.
Speed:
An AoE spell, a useful damage ramp and excellent post-6 survivability, Swain is pretty good at clearing the camps. The constant recalling to base before you get mana regen and when you don't have blue is frustrating, but short-lived. A Nevermove followed by a Torment demolishes the large monster in a camp, and cleaning up the small ones only takes a few basic attacks.
Ganks:
Landing the Nevermove can be tricky, but if it lands, the target is in for some serious pain. A Decrepify slows their escape, and Torment ramps any more damage dealt by tour spells. If they haven't died by then, either you tried to gank Galio or the teammate in lane didn't help you at ALL. If you can land that initial skillshot, Swain has some tremendous damage output. The only problem with Swain's ganks is that you usually need both Red and Blue to be fully utilizing them.
Late Game:
I try not to laugh when recalling my exploits with late-game Swain. People forget that Swain is a deceivingly tanky mage with Ravenous Flock up, and your lifegain bonus from it. A full-built Swain (which usually means decently fed) shreds enemies like a wheat thresher, and while everyone on their team tries to focus you, you walk away gaining life and spamming spells while your team gets free reign with them. Swain is nigh unkillable when he has blue late game, and even without it he can deal out some devastating CC-infused blows with Nevermove and Torment.
Good Teammates to have:
AP and CC light teams benefit well from a jungling Swain, and preferably teammates that don't ramp too much with blue and therefore try and get you to give it to them. Renekton solo top, Annie mid, Shen and Graves bot, with you as Swain in the jungle. This comp has two champions that don't use mana (Shen and Renekton), as well as a champion in every lane with some okay CC and good damage to give you some easy kills.
Tips:
Don't put your Nevermove directly underneath an opponent. Anyone with a good enough reaction time will have time to dodge it, and your ganks become much less potent. Position the skillshot to give them the choice of displacing themselves horribly or getting caught in your Nevermove.
Expect that opening game gank on blue. Seriously, if they take your blue, you're screwed. If they kill you and take your blue, you're more screwed. Get a ward, a teammate, whatever, but be very cautious about it. And if you can see they are ganking it, go get the enemy's blue (Yes, it's possible without a leash, although painful to you). Recall, and go about your business, having wasted most of the enemy team`s time at the start of game. Or, get a teammate with good poking and yourself to throw a couple of long range skillshots at them to either get them to bugger off or chase you back to the saftey of your tower. To be honest, the first idea can be much, much safer.
Without blue, you CAN gank, but you become much more effective with the insane mana regen and CDR. Judging when you should jungle and when you should gank is important for Swain, and take into consideration the current duration\respawn time of blue buff.
Despite blue`s ridiculous mana regen, Ravenous Flock still drains your mana pretty quickly, find a good time to activate it in a teamfight where the enemies can't simply back away from you.
Yes, you start with a Cloth Armor, but sell it later. Nearly all of the items that build from Cloth Armor are not nearly as effective on Swain. Most games are over before this build is finished, unless you get ridiculously fed early in the game. However if you finish the Rod of Ages, Archangel's Staff and Rabadon's Deathcap, that should be sufficient for Swain to demaolish anything in his path. If money is tight, I regrettably cut Rod of Ages from the list to make way for one of the later, cheaper items if the game needs that one final push (like Will of the Ancients or Deathfire Grasp).
Pros/Cons
Pros:
Scary late game
Good ganks
Great damage
Doesn't die
Cons:
Incredibly Blue buff dependant
Expensive build
Wants early feeding too much
The enemy team always goes to gank your blue
However, Pantheon plays a lot like Swain, surprisingly. You like blue (you don't need it as much as Swain, thank goodness), have strong ganks, and need an early game feed to become a map-hopping monster in the late game.
Routes:
Leash blue, move on to wolves/wraiths/mini golems/Red/wariths to get to level four. Recall, get some boots and a Long Sword to prepare for a gank. Repeating wolves/wraiths/mini golems keeps up the farming for Pantheon when he is not ganking
Speed:
Efficient. Pantheon has good early game damage, and Heartseeker Strike is a nice AoE that helps clear the camps. Has some early game sustainability problems that are only solved with blue and lifesteal.
Ganks:
A consistent ganking pool makes this a strong category for Pantheon. Initiate with a Aegis of Zeonia, use Heartseeker Strike while they are stunned, and as they start to run chuck a javelin at them with Spear Shot. Pantheon has a great base movement speed (330)so if they survive the first round of attacks, chasing them down is not much of a problem. If you time your Aegis Protection charges, you can even towerdive to secure a kill and get out alive. Your Grand Skyfall allows you to be a threat from anywhere on the map, like Nocturne's Paranoia or Gangplank's Cannon Barrage. However the range on Pantheon's ultimate does have limits (especially after his nerf).
Late Game:
At later levels and better items, anyone who gets caught in your Heartseeker Strike will not survive. The tricky part is making the opponent play by your terms, and keeping yourself in the fight director's chair. The title "Artisan of War" fits with this description rather nicely. A well-farmed Pantheon can simply walk in and choose who to start a fight with and where. If they try to initate against a Pantheon, they will be dealt with swiftly. Pantheon needs a good start to transition effectively into the later portion of the game, where he usually drops off.
Good teammates to have:
Pantheon fits on a lot of team compositions, and fits the tanky DPS role of a team well.
However Pantheon is not meant to be the only tanky player on the team. Having a good Damage-soaking Tank helps Pantheon tremendously in team fights.
Gangplank solo top, Morgana mid, Alistar and Sivir, and you as Pantheon in the jungle.
Tips:
Your stun can be used for more than ganking. If you see an enemy (through wards or other means) coming towards you for a gank, or if escaping a team fight, use your Aegis of Zeonia to quickly hop to the enemy farthest from the fray and walk out. The one-second stun gives you time to put a little distance between you and your 330 base movement speed really helps here.
If you cast your Grand Skyfall, it will take you 3.5 seconds to get where you are going, and a bright red circle will give your enemies plenty of warning. Place your circle behind the enemy a little, to force them to choose between facing your damage+slow or getting caught between you and whatever they were pushing towards.
To JhoiJhoi, for her guide on making guides that I use constantly to upgrade my guide.
To Willowisp, for introducing me to LoL, Mobafire, and AD Malzahar
To Hahano, who inspired me to jungle and whose formatting I slightly ripped off (His guide is so good, how could you not when talking about jungling??)
If you have any suggestions for champions\builds that would fit in this guide, leave a comment!
Ill give your champion jungle idea a test and I will post if it is remotely viable!
I look forward to any ideas that you can give me, and I wish you all the best in your league endeavors. Thanks for reading.
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