Hello. I am Pure Panphobia. I am a jungle main of 3 years and have spent a lot of time at the beginning of each new season, as Riot constantly changes the role I love to play, learning how the jungle has changed and the best ways to clear it. What follows in the next sections is an overview as to how to efficiently clear the jungle, navigate the jungle, set up plays, react to plays, where to ward and where to look for wards, efficient ways to gank, out-of-the-box gank ideas, and a few other tips as well. The current patch at the time I am writing this is 7.7, on the cusp of 7.8. I will update this guide with each change to the jungle as it occurs patch by patch.

A Little Background

As stated before I've been a jungle main for 3 years. I play on a few different servers: NA and PBE, though not under this name. Jungling is by far my favorite role, with my secondary being mid lane. My main 3 champions change fairly regularly depending on the patch, jungle changes and some other factors, but I'll give you my current main 3 that I play. I'll also have a section below where I give a top 5 overall, as well as a top 3 per champion role. I'll also make a list of strong junglers for low ELO.

My Tier List For Jungle Champions

The camps in the jungle all have stats and level up to gain stat increases. To help you better understand these camps and how they work, I'm going to break down each camp based on the side they are grouped on.

*NOTE* For every level lower than a camp you are when you clear it, you get an additional 30 experience per level, per monster in the camp.

Blue Buff Side

Blue Sentinel:
The Blue Sentinel is the jungle monster on the blue side which gives you a buff. That buff is the Crest of Insight buff, which gives increased mana and energy regeneration as well as +10% cooldown reduction. Blue Sentinel stats are:

Health: 2100 - 3675 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 2100
+ Level 3-4 - 2363
+ Level 5-6 - 2625
+ Level 7 - 2940
+ Level 8 - 3150
+ Level 9-10 - 3360
+ Level 11-18 - 3675

Attack Damage: 82 - 303 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 82
+ Level 3-4 - 115
+ Level 5-6 - 127
+ Level 7 - 139
+ Level 8 - 152
+ Level 9-10 - 172
+ Level 11 - 189
+ Level 12 - 205
+ Level 13 - 221
+ Level 14 - 238
+ Level 15 - 254
+ Level 16 - 271
+ Level 17 - 287
+ Level 18 - 303

Attack Speed: 0.5 (does not increase)

Armor: 10-20 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 10
+ Level 3-4 - 15
+ Level 5-6 - 18
+ Level 7 - 19
+ Level 8-18 - 20

Magic Resist: (Negative Values - Based on Level)
+ Level 1-2 - -15
+ Level 3-4 - -22
+ Level 5-6 - -26
+ Level 7 - -28
+ Level 8-18 - -30

Killing the Blue Sentinel grants 200 experience without a jungle item (i.e. Hunter's Machete, Hunter's Talisman, Tracker's Knife, Skirmisher's Sabre, etc.) and grants 250 experience with a jungle item, and Blue Sentinel also grants a flat 100 gold. Blue Sentinel spawns at 1:40 and respawns 5 minutes after it is slain.

Gromp:
Gromp is a giant frog-like jungle monster who sits directly across from the Blue Sentinel . No buff is granted by slaying Gromp . Stats are below:

Health: 1800 - 3150 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 1800
+ Level 3-4 - 2025
+ Level 5-6 - 2250
+ Level 7 - 2520
+ Level 8 - 2700
+ Level 9-10 - 2880
+ Level 11-18 - 3150

Attack Damage: 45 - 167 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 45
+ Level 3-4 - 63
+ Level 5-6 - 70
+ Level 7 - 77
+ Level 8 - 83
+ Level 9-10 - 95
+ Level 11 - 104
+ Level 12 - 113
+ Level 13 - 122
+ Level 14 - 131
+ Level 15 - 140
+ Level 16 - 149
+ Level 17 - 158
+ Level 18 - 167

Attack Speed: 1.0 (doubles at the beginning of the fight, decaying over 5 attacks)

Gromp is a ranged attacker.
Attack Range: 250

Armor: 0 (does not change with level)

Magic Resist: (Negative Values - Based on Level)
+ Level 1-2 - -15
+ Level 3-4 - -22
+ Level 5-6 - -26
+ Level 7 - -28
+ Level 8-18 - -30

Killing Gromp grants 200 experience without a jungle item (i.e. Hunter's Machete, Hunter's Talisman, Tracker's Knife, Skirmisher's Sabre, etc.) and grants 250 experience with a jungle item. Gromp also grants a flat 86 gold. Gromp spawns at 1:52 and respawns 1 minute, 40 seconds after it is slain.

The Murk Wolves and Greater Murk Wolf:
The Greater Murk Wolf is a camp on the blue side which sits behind a curved wall, across a path to the right of the Blue Sentinel . No buff is gained by slaying the Greater Murk Wolf or the smaller Murk Wolves. Both sets of stats are listed below:

Greater's Health: 1300 - 2275 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 1300
+ Level 3-4 - 1463
+ Level 5-6 - 1625
+ Level 7 - 1820
+ Level 8 - 1950
+ Level 9-10 - 2080
+ Level 11-18 - 2275

Attack Damage: 42 - 155 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 42
+ Level 3-4 - 59
+ Level 5-6 - 65
+ Level 7 - 71
+ Level 8 - 78
+ Level 9-10 - 88
+ Level 11 - 97
+ Level 12 - 105
+ Level 13 - 113
+ Level 14 - 122
+ Level 15 - 130
+ Level 16 - 139
+ Level 17 - 147
+ Level 18 - 155

Attack Speed: 0.63

Armor: 10-20 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 10
+ Level 3-4 - 15
+ Level 5-6 - 18
+ Level 7 - 19
+ Level 8-18 - 20

Magic Resist: 0 (does not change)

Killing Greater Murk Wolf grants 100 experience without a jungle item (i.e. Hunter's Machete, Hunter's Talisman, Tracker's Knife, Skirmisher's Sabre, etc.) and grants 150 experience with a jungle item. Greater Murk Wolf also grants a flat 68 gold. Greater Murk Wolf spawns at 1:37 and respawns 1 minute, 40 seconds after it is slain.

Little Murk Wolves:
Health: 380 - 428 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 380
+ Level 3-4 - 428
+ Level 5-6 - 475
+ Level 7 - 532
+ Level 8 - 570
+ Level 9-10 - 608
+ Level 11-18 - 665

Attack Damage: 16 - 59 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 16
+ Level 3-4 - 22
+ Level 5-6 - 25
+ Level 7 - 27
+ Level 8 - 30
+ Level 9-10 - 34
+ Level 11 - 37
+ Level 12 - 40
+ Level 13 - 43
+ Level 14 - 46
+ Level 15 - 50
+ Level 16 - 53
+ Level 17 - 56
+ Level 18 - 59

Attack Speed: 0.63

Armor: 0 (does not change)

Magic Resist: 10-20 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 10
+ Level 3-4 - 15
+ Level 5-6 - 18
+ Level 7 - 19
+ Level 8-18 - 20

All of the following information is per wolf. There are 2 wolves. Double this information for the total:
Killing the little Murk Wolves grants 40 experience without a jungle item (i.e. Hunter's Machete, Hunter's Talisman, Tracker's Knife, Skirmisher's Sabre, etc.) and grants 90 experience with a jungle item. The little Murk Wolves also grant a flat 16 gold. The little Murk Wolves spawn at 1:37 and respawn 1 minute, 40 seconds after the Greater Murk Wolf is slain.

Red Buff Side

Red Brambleback:
Red Brambleback is a jungle monster on the red side which gives you a buff. Killing Red Brambleback gives the buff Crest of Cinders which grants bonus health regeneration and causes your basic attacks to slow the enemy while also dealing true damage over time.

Health: 2100-3675
+ Level 1-2 - 2100
+ Level 3-4 - 2363
+ Level 5-6 - 2625
+ Level 7 - 2940
+ Level 8 - 3150
+ Level 9-10 - 3360
+ Level 11-18 - 3675

Attack Damage: 82 - 303 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 82
+ Level 3-4 - 115
+ Level 5-6 - 127
+ Level 7 - 139
+ Level 8 - 152
+ Level 9-10 - 172
+ Level 11 - 189
+ Level 12 - 205
+ Level 13 - 221
+ Level 14 - 238
+ Level 15 - 254
+ Level 16 - 271
+ Level 17 - 287
+ Level 18 - 303

Attack Speed: 0.6 (does not change)

Armor: (Negative Values - Based on Level)
+ Level 1-2 - -15
+ Level 3-4 - -22
+ Level 5-6 - -26
+ Level 7 - -28
+ Level 8-18 - -30

Magic Resist: 10-20 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 10
+ Level 3-4 - 15
+ Level 5-6 - 18
+ Level 7 - 19
+ Level 8-18 - 20

Killing the Red Brambleback grants 200 experience without a jungle item (i.e. Hunter's Machete, Hunter's Talisman, Tracker's Knife, Skirmisher's Sabre, etc.) and grants 250 experience with a jungle item, and Red Brambleback also grants a flat 100 gold. Red Brambleback spawns at 1:40 and respawns 5 minutes after it is slain.

Raptors
Raptors is a set of jungle monster which sits to the left of the Red Brambleback . There is one big Crimson Raptor and 5 little Raptors . Killing the Raptors does not grant a buff. Stats for them are below:

Health: 700-1225
+ Level 1-2 - 700
+ Level 3-4 - 788
+ Level 5-6 - 875
+ Level 7 - 980
+ Level 8 - 1050
+ Level 9-10 - 1120
+ Level 11-18 - 1225

Attack Damage: 20 - 74 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 20
+ Level 3-4 - 28
+ Level 5-6 - 31
+ Level 7 - 34
+ Level 8 - 37
+ Level 9-10 - 42
+ Level 11 - 46
+ Level 12 - 50
+ Level 13 - 54
+ Level 14 - 58
+ Level 15 - 62
+ Level 16 - 66
+ Level 17 - 70
+ Level 18 - 74

Attack Speed: 0.67 (does not change)

Armor: 30-60 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 30
+ Level 3-4 - 45
+ Level 5-6 - 53
+ Level 7 - 56
+ Level 8-18 - 60

Magic Resist: 30-60 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 30
+ Level 3-4 - 45
+ Level 5-6 - 53
+ Level 7 - 56
+ Level 8-18 - 60


Killing Crimson Raptor grants 20 experience without a jungle item (i.e. Hunter's Machete, Hunter's Talisman, Tracker's Knife, Skirmisher's Sabre, etc.) and grants 70 experience with a jungle item. Crimson Raptor also grants a flat 62 gold. Crimson Raptor spawns at 1:37 and respawns 2 minutes, 30 seconds after it is slain.

Raptors :
Health: 350-613
+ Level 1-2 - 350
+ Level 3-4 - 394
+ Level 5-6 - 438
+ Level 7 - 490
+ Level 8 - 525
+ Level 9-10 - 560
+ Level 11-18 - 613


Attack Damage: 16 - 59 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 16
+ Level 3-4 - 22
+ Level 5-6 - 25
+ Level 7 - 27
+ Level 8 - 30
+ Level 9-10 - 34
+ Level 11 - 37
+ Level 12 - 40
+ Level 13 - 43
+ Level 14 - 46
+ Level 15 - 50
+ Level 16 - 53
+ Level 17 - 56
+ Level 18 - 59

Attack Speed: 1.0 (does not change)

Armor and Magic Resist are both 0 and do not change.

All of the following information is per wolf. There are 5 Raptors . Multiply these values by 5 for the total:
Killing the Raptors grants 35 experience without a jungle item (i.e. Hunter's Machete, Hunter's Talisman, Tracker's Knife, Skirmisher's Sabre, etc.) and grants 85 experience with a jungle item. Each Raptor also grant a flat 9 gold. The little Murk Wolves spawn at 1:37 and respawn 2 minutes, 30 seconds after the Crimson Raptor is slain.

Krugs:
Krugs are the most complex jungle camp. Located on the red buff side, across a path and over a wall to the right of the Red Brambleback . Initially there is an Ancient Krug and a normal Krug , but killing Ancient Krug breaks it into 2 normal krug s and killing normal krug s breaks them into 2 mini krug s. for a total of 10 various different krug s. Stats for each are below:

Ancient's Health: 1250 - 2188 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 1250
+ Level 3-4 - 1407
+ Level 5-6 - 1563
+ Level 7 - 1750
+ Level 8 - 1875
+ Level 9-10 - 2000
+ Level 11-18 - 2188

Attack Damage: 80 - 296 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 80
+ Level 3-4 - 112
+ Level 5-6 - 124
+ Level 7 - 136
+ Level 8 - 148
+ Level 9-10 - 168
+ Level 11 - 184
+ Level 12 - 200
+ Level 13 - 216
+ Level 14 - 232
+ Level 15 - 248
+ Level 16 - 264
+ Level 17 - 280
+ Level 18 - 296

Attack Speed: 0.61

Armor: 10-20 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 10
+ Level 3-4 - 15
+ Level 5-6 - 18
+ Level 7 - 19
+ Level 8-18 - 20

Magic Resist: (Negative Values - Based on Level)
+ Level 1-2 - -15
+ Level 3-4 - -22
+ Level 5-6 - -26
+ Level 7 - -28
+ Level 8-18 - -30

Killing Ancient Krug grants 62.5 experience on the first clear and 125 on each subsequent clear without a jungle item (i.e. Hunter's Machete, Hunter's Talisman, Tracker's Knife, Skirmisher's Sabre, etc.) and grants 87.5 experience on the first clear and 175 on each subsequent clear with a jungle item. Ancient Krug also grants a flat 70 gold. Ancient Krug spawns at 1:50 and respawns 1 minute, 40 seconds after it is slain.

Normal's Health: 500-875 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 500
+ Level 3-4 - 563
+ Level 5-6 - 625
+ Level 7 - 700
+ Level 8 - 750
+ Level 9-10 - 800
+ Level 11-18 - 875


Attack Damage: 25 - 93 (based on level)
+ Level 1-2 - 25
+ Level 3-4 - 35
+ Level 5-6 - 39
+ Level 7 - 43
+ Level 8 - 46
+ Level 9-10 - 53
+ Level 11 - 58
+ Level 12 - 63
+ Level 13 - 68
+ Level 14 - 73
+ Level 15 - 78
+ Level 16 - 83
+ Level 17 - 88
+ Level 18 - 93

Attack Speed: 0.6 (does not change)

Armor and Magic Resist are both 0 and do not change.

Normal Krug s grant 35 experience without a jungle item, and 85 with a jungle item. Normal Krug s also grant a flat 10 gold each. (there are 3 normal krug s per clear).

Mini's Health: 60-105 (based on level)
+ Level 1-3 - 60
+ Level 4-5 - 68
+ Level 6-7 - 75
+ Level 8 - 84
+ Level 9 - 90
+ Level 10-11 - 96
+ Level 12-18 - 105

Attack Damage: 17 - 60 (based on level)
+ Level 1-3 - 17
+ Level 4-5 - 24
+ Level 5-7 - 26
+ Level 8 - 29
+ Level 9 - 31
+ Level 10-11 - 36
+ Level 12 - 39
+ Level 13 - 43
+ Level 14 - 46
+ Level 15 - 49
+ Level 16 - 53
+ Level 17 - 56
+ Level 18 - 60

Attack Speed: 0.61

Armor and Magic Resist are both 0 and do not change.

Mini Krug s grant 7 experience without a jungle item, and 57 with a jungle item. Mini Krug s also grant a flat 10 gold each. (there are 6 mini krug s per clear).

Rift Scuttler:
Rift Scuttler is a unique jungle monster and not technically a camp, but I'm listing it here. Rift Scuttler will not attack anything, but instead runs up and down the river, away from whichever champion attacks it. Whenever Rift Scuttler receives damage from any source, Rift Scuttler gains +100 movement speed and only runs from the champion who inflicted the first source of damage.

Rift Scuttler has a unique relationship with crowd control:
Crowd control effects against Rift Scuttler last twice as long.
When affected by crowd control that stops movement, Rift Scuttler permanently loses 50 armor and magic resist. This can only happen once after each spawn.
While Rift Scuttler is under the effect of crowd control that stops movement, it takes 125% damage from all sources, including true damage.

When Rift Scuttler is killed, it moves to the entrance to the pit of Baron Nashor or Dragon (depending on the part of the map) and will burrow into the ground, creating an untargetable, 500-radius movement speed boost at that location, granting a 525 sight radius to the killer's team and a decaying movement speed boost to the killer's allies that cross it for 75 seconds.

Scuttler's Health: 800-4040 (based on level)
+ Level 1 - 800
+ Level 2 - 1060
+ Level 3 - 1120
+ Level 4 - 1239
+ Level 5 - 1364
+ Level 6 - 1495
+ Level 7 - 1700
+ Level 8 - 1917
+ Level 9 - 2146
+ Level 10 - 2387
+ Level 11 - 2640
+ Level 12 - 2905
+ Level 13 - 3440
+ Level 14 - 3560
+ Level 15 - 3680
+ Level 16 - 3800
+ Level 17 - 3920
+ Level 18 - 4040

Armor and Magic Resist are 60 and do not change.

Base move speed before being attacked is 155. 255 once it takes damage.

Killing Rift Scuttler grants 10 experience without a jungle item (i.e. Hunter's Machete, Hunter's Talisman, Tracker's Knife, Skirmisher's Sabre, etc.) and grants 60 experience with a jungle item. Rift Scuttler also grants a flat 70 gold. Rift Scuttler spawns at 2:25 and respawns 3 minutes after it is slain.

All Drakes Have These Stats In Common

Gold: 25 to killer
Experience: 75-300
Health: 3500 (+ 240 / min)
Attack Damage: 230
Range: 350
Armor: 21 (+ 13 / level after level 9)
Magic Resist: 21 30 (+ 5.85 / level after level 9)
Critical Strike Chance: 0%
Attack Speed: 0.299/sec
Movement Speed: 330
Initial Spawn Time: 2:30
Respawn Time: 6:00

Cloud Drake

Grants bonus 25/50/75 (based on stacks) additional movement speed while out of combat.

Infernal Drake

Increases damage versus champions for 8/16/24% (based on stacks) increased Ability Power and Attack Damage.

Ocean Drake

Restores 10% missing health and 10% missing mana every 18/12/6 seconds (based on stacks).

Mountain Drake

Grants 10/20/30% additional damage (based on stacks) as true damage to epic monsters and turrets.

Elder Dragon

Grants a 50% bonus to elemental drake buffs and 45 + (45 for every elemental drake stack) true damage on all spells and basic attacks against non-turrets over 3 seconds. This buff lasts 150 seconds (2min, 30sec).

Baron Nashor

Stats:
Gold: 300 (Global)
Experience1: 1400
Health: 6400 (+180 per minute when the match stars)
Attack Damage: 240 (+8 per minute when the match stars, capped +310)
Range: 955
Armor: 120
Magic Resist: 70
Critical Strike Chance: 0%
Attack Speed: 0.75/sec
Movement Speed: 0
Initial Spawn Time: 20:00
Respawn Time: 7:00

When Slain:
- The whole team who landed the last hit gets 300 gold and 600 experience.
- Teammembers of the team who assisted the last hit gain 800 experience (shared)
- The champ that landed the last hit gets 25 additional gold.
- Every living member of the team gains the Hand of Baron buff, which grants Attack Damage, Ability Power, improved Recall and a minion aura.

Disclaimer

This section is not champion specific. This is a set of generalized clears and information so that you can take a new champion and safely clear the jungle without being executed by a jungle camp and falling behind. If you already have a route or multiple routes that you enjoy using, this is by no means something you should use to overwrite a way that you already know is working unless you find this more efficient. This section will be particularly helpful for new junglers.

Some Basic Information

+ The side with Blue Sentinel is the easiest set of camps. The overall damage output is the lowest and the camps do not need AoE damage to safely clear at a low level.
+ The side with the Red Brambleback is the side which grants the most experience, as it simply has more monsters.
+ You should always start at your Red Brambleback or Blue Sentinel except in a few very specific cases. If you are new to jungling, just start one of those camps first.
+ Do not Smite your first camp. The increased cooldown on Smite after the last big jungle change means that you will likely not have it when you later need it if you do. The only exception is if you are being invaded or invading, in which case you will likely want to use Smite to secure the camp.

The Low Risk, Low Reward Clear

This is easily the safest clear, though it doesn't yield a ton of gold or a ton of experience. It's just a simple level 3 clear to get you to a point where you can start clearing whatever camps you want. Just follow the numbers on the chart and then recall. Afterward, you can pretty much clear whatever you want.

You are blue team:

The Level 3 Gank Setup (Blue Start)

This clear is a quick level 3 clear, in which you start on your Blue Sentinel , then go to the Greater Murk Wolf camp, and then Red Brambleback . This sets you up for level 3, gives you double buffs and puts you in a prime position to gank either mid lane or whichever outer lane you are near. Again, just follow the numbers and afterwards you can either decide to gank or clear the Rift Scuttler and Krug camp.


You are blue team:

The Level 3 Gank Setup (Red Start)

This clear route will put you at level 3 and set up up to gank with double buffs, just like the previous clear route. It's the same camps, in the opposite order. Just follow the numbers and then you can decide to gank or clear Rift Scuttler and Gromp .

You are blue team:

The High Risk, High Reward Clear

This is a clear in which you clear every camp on the red buff side first. This clear yields the highest experience, and the highest gold payout, but it cannot be done by all junglers. If you attempt this clear and you begin to get into low health, you will want to either recall or transition to one of the easier camps on the blue buff side of your jungle. If you finish this clear at 40% or greater HP, you can likely do a full clear and take all of your blue buff side camps too. Just follow the numbers if you wish to attempt.

You are on blue team:

Overview

This is true for all of League of Legends, not just junglers: Vision control is important. Having good vision and good vision denial can win games. It allows you and your team to know what is happening on more of the map and takes away the enemy's ability to do so. The more you can see, the more you know what you can and can't do. Particularly in low ELO games, the difference in victory and defeat is the black-and-white screen that happens when that one teammate is split pushing and cannot see any of the enemy team. Here is a chart to show you where, as a jungler, to place wards and where to look for wards to be placed.

Counter jungling is largely based on your own self confidence as a jungler and as the champ you're playing, in this case Lee Sin. Some keys to counter jungling are vision control, map awareness, communication, and knowing the jungle timers. I'll go ahead and address each of these.

Vision Control

Counter jungling is always best done when you can ensure your safety in the enemy jungle. The best way to do that is to ward, usually with a Control Ward or with a Tracker's Knife charge, and sweep with Sweeping Lens/ Oracle Lens to eliminate enemy vision. If you see the enemy jungler at his Blue buff and you're near his Red side jungle, then you can safely assume you'll get away with taking a camp or 2 from his Red side. Likewise, if you see the enemy jungler at his Blue buff and notice he's low HP, you can typically get a kill and take the buff if you're nearby. So anytime you venture into the enemy jungle, try to put out some sort of vision.

Map Awareness

So how do you know it's safe if you don't have vision in the enemy jungle yet? Part of it is knowing the typical route of the enemy jungle champ, but if you don't know that, then you can wait for them to show on the map. If they show bot lane for a gank, you can assume safely that his top side is open for invasion and vice-versa. If you see the enemy jungler gank mid from the top side, you can assume he's going to head to his bot side after the gank and you can then ward his top side to gain vision control. You can also counter gank if you're nearby the lane the enemy is ganking, and then if you kill the enemy jungler, his entire jungle is open for business until about 12 seconds after his respawn timer. You can also get a good look at the enemy jungler's HP if they show on the map, and if they're low you can likely invade them for a kill and a free camp.

Communication

If you want to invade and you're unsure about it, but you have a laner who could use a buff, especially if their enemy laner is dead, communicate for them to come with you and try for an invade on the buff of choice. This will give you a 2v1 advantage if you encounter the enemy jungler and even if you don't get the buff or a kill/assist, you can at least get some vision down so you can keep an eye on that spot. You can also communicate with your team to learn the location of the enemy laners. For example, if you notice the Orianna mid went missing, find out if she backed and what her HP/Mana was like. If she had a good amount of either and she didn't recall, she's likely getting Blue from her jungler, meaning red side is free.

Know Your Jungle Timers

Knowing jungle timers is very important when you're thinking about counter jungling, especially since it can play into the other tips I've talked about. First buff will usually respawn around the 7 minute mark. If you know what buff they took first, you can use that knowledge to your advantage. Example: The enemy Master Yi took Red buff first. It's 6:53 on the timer and he's ganking bot lane by his Blue buff. This means in about 7 seconds, his Red buff is gonna be yours for the taking. Likewise, if it's 6:53 on the game clock and you don't see Master Yi, it's safe to assume he's on his red side, so you can probably take Gromp or a non-buff camp from his blue side. If you're super sneaky and already have vision of his Red, you can move to it as it's about to spawn and cheese him out of his red buff.

Overview

Ganking is very hard to generalize, but I am going to give you as much general help as I can. Ganking is very essential to gameplay in League of Legends, as it allows you to put your lanes ahead, get experience for both you and your laner(s), and allows for your laner(s) to help take an objective(s) such as a tower, Rift Herald , or Elemental Drakes. It is important when you are looking to gank, that you make it as unpredictable as you can, unless you are reacting to a play that is already happening, but I'll get into that in a moment.

Proactive vs. Reactive Ganking

We'll start with the definitions here. Proactive ganking is done when you communicate with your allies to set up a play, such as telling your mid laner to bait the enemy Yasuo
into using his Wind Wall so he has no protection from your Elise Cocoon or from your Amumu Bandage Toss. Reactive ganking is when you gank as a result of seeing something happen in a lane, such as seeing the enemy mid laner start going aggressive and pushing your mid laner under tower, effectively leaving the enemy mid laner overextended. Reactive ganking does not leave a lot of room for planning or setup, whereas proactive ganking leaves time to set up a more calculated approach.

Vary Your Gank Paths

One key to successful ganks, other than good vision control, is to always change it up. Try not to gank from the same location very much. If you're playing Vi and every time you gank, you run straight down the river and use your fully charged Vault Breaker to smash into the enemy top laner, he's going to eventually expect it and coordinate with his jungler to counter your pressure. The reverse of this is if you go the long way, say behind the Baron pit and then come through the enemy's tri bush for one gank, and then the second gank on that lane comes from the river bush, and afterward you wait in the bush top lane and gank the enemy top laner when they come back to lane, that's a lot harder to expect or predict.

Don't Burn Through Your Gap Closers

I see this ALL the time in new or inexperienced junglers and in low ELO games. Your gap closers are important, and if you use them all in the beginning, you won't be able to guarantee a kill if the enemy saves their gap closers. Using Vi as an example again, you have 3 gap closers in the typical loadout: Flash, Vault Breaker, and Cease and Desist. With this many gap closers, you have a ton of options. Obviously you don't want to use Flash immediately as it's your most reliable escape, so you want to use this offensively as a last resort only. Also important though, is that you don't want to use Cease and Desist immediately as an engage. Vi's ultimate is 99% of the time guaranteed to hit them as long as you're in range when you cast it, so using it as an engage instead of saving it for a kill secure will often lead to the target actually living in a situation where you could have secured a kill.

The Difference Camping And Glamping

We've all seen it if we haven't done it, the enemy jungler just repeatedly ganks your mid lane over and over and over, and just when you think he's gone, BOOM, he ganks mid again, and effectively makes your game a 4v5 in their favor because of how far behind and how tilted your mid laner is. As a jungler, camping can be effective, but you can also make it very ineffective for the enemy jungler if they're trying it. Once again I come back to vision control for my first point. It's hard for the enemy to camp your laners if they have ample vision in the jungle. The same goes for you if you're trying to camp; you have to sweep for wards and deny the enemy vision. Aside from that, you can ruin the camping strategy by counter ganking continuously.
Counter ganking can even out the odds, making either an even trade occur when the ganks happen, or render the ganks completely neutral and stop the enemy team from gaining advantage. Times to look for counter camping opportunities include: the enemy jungler ganks your mid laner twice in a minute and thirty seconds, the enemy starts ignoring his outer jungle camps ( Gromp and Krug s), the enemy jungler only counter jungles one side of your jungle, or the enemy keeps showing in the river or jungle near a particular lane. You want to counter camp as much as you can, because if you don't the enemy won't be camping anymore, they'll be glamping. Remember that camping is painful and rough, and glamping is soft and plush. Don't let the enemy jungler glamp in a lane.

"Counter Ganking" is when you gank the same lane as the enemy jungler to even out the odds, making the fight a 2v2 or a 3v3 depending on the lane. This is used to stop an enemy laner or jungler from snowballing and boosts the morale of your teammates because they know you are watching out for them and that you have their backs. You should always counter gank when you see the opportunity. Using the "Vision Control" section's chart, you will be able to have eyes on the enemy jungler at most times in the game, so you'll be able to easily see/predict the jungler's intended actions. Best times to counter gank are when you are stronger than the enemy jungler and will render his gank completely useless, your laner(s) has a distinct advantage over the enemy laner(s) and will be able to make up for the ground you can't cover on your own, or when your laner is higher HP than their enemy laner and the enemy jungler is ganking to try turning the tables because this will almost always end up with at least one of you killing one of them.

Objectives Are Not Always Worth It

It's a common misconception that objectives are always worth it, because League of Legends is an objective based game. That's not true though. Objectives vary in worth based on what the objective is, what you're trading to get the objective, and what follow up can you do after the objective. An example that is all too common is contesting Baron Nashor . It's true that Baron Nashor is a massive buff for the team who takes it and it will definitely give advantage to that team, but it is not always worth it to contest. If you're ahead, and have taken out 1 or 2 enemy inhibitors, but you still have inhibitor towers standing on your side, contesting Baron Nashor might only backfire. Here's why:
If they have all 5 of their team alive and at Baron, and you have 2 teammates down, you cannot usually win a team fight at the Baron. This means that if you go over alone, even if you take the buff from them, if you die it means only 2 members of your team have the buff and they can't effectively use it, or else they'll be in a 2v5 situation. You have to learn the value, and the lack thereof, in taking and contesting objectives. This isn't something I can teach with words, but it's something you should look out for in your games.

As promised, here is a list of my main 3 jungle champions: Lee Sin, Wukong, and Elise.

Assassin Junglers

5 - Master Yi
4 - Evelynn
3 - Shaco
2 - Rengar
1 - Kha'Zix

Fighter Junglers

5 - Olaf
4 - Xin Zhao
3 - Jarvan IV
2 - Wukong
1 - Lee Sin

Tank Junglers

5 - Nunu & Willump
4 - Hecarim
3 - Amumu
2 - Shyvana
1 - Warwick

AP Junglers

5 - Nidalee
4 - Evelynn
3 - Fiddlesticks
2 - Gragas
1 - Elise

Top 4 Ranged Junglers

4 - Nidalee
3 - Fiddlesticks
2 - Elise
1 - Graves

I hope you find this guide to be a useful introduction to the jungle and that it helps you gain LP in your upcoming games. Mostly though, I hope it helps you to have more fun in League of Legends. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments. I will reply. Thank you for taking the time to check this out and happy jungling! :)