Introduction

Who Am I?

Pro's/Con's

When to Pick Ivern?

Runes

Masteries

Items

Spells

Playing Ivern

Matchups

Change Log

Welcome to my Ivern guide! Ivern is the latest addition to League of Legend's champion roster, and I've been a big fan of him ever since he was released. The Green Father has a unique feel and playing style, which makes him very fun and quite tricky to play at the same time. While I was browsing Mobafire, I noticed there weren't many guides written on Ivern. To fill this hiatus, I've tried to put my experience playing Ivern into words, resulting in the guide you are reading right now! My plan is to keep adding to the guide as I play more games and my experience grows, as well as making the visual aspect of the guide as appealing as possible. For questions, comments and additions, feel free to make use of the discussion section! Let's get started!

Introduction

Who Am I?

Pro's/Con's

When to Pick Ivern?

Runes

Masteries

Items

Spells

Playing Ivern

Matchups

Change Log

Maybe you are thinking: who is this guy? I've never heard of him before. That's probably true, since I'm not a pro player or streamer. My name is Aelorn, and I'm an Ivern enthusiast from The Netherlands. So why should you trust what I have to say about Ivern?

I've been playing Ivern since his release, having 50+ games on him in Ranked this season, and more in Normals. I've been playing the game since Season 3, and I'm currently in my promo's to Diamond IV. My main role is (of course) jungling, but I also enjoy playing midlane every once in a while.

Introduction

Who Am I?

Pro's/Con's

When to Pick Ivern?

Runes

Masteries

Items

Spells

Playing Ivern

Matchups

Change Log

Pro's [+] Unique playing style [+] Very versatile jungle pathing [+] Difficult for opponents to get a read on your position [+] Extra Buffs! [+] Offers great teamfighting utility [+] Daisy is often underestimated

Con's [-] Hard to get the hang of due to unique playing style [-] If you get caught in the jungle early on, you die [-] Dependend of teammates to close out the game [-] Daisy is difficult to micro-manage [-] Can barely recover when falling behind [-] Falls off lategame

Introduction

Who Am I?

Pro's/Con's

When to Pick Ivern?

Runes

Masteries

Items

Spells

Playing Ivern

Matchups

Change Log

As far as I'm concerned, Ivern fits nearly every team composition. However, some compositions suit Treebeard better than others.

Optimal Composition

Ivern is a support focused Jungler, who needs his teammates to do well. On your own, you can't really do much with Ivern. Therefore, Ivern does best in a team that has multiple carries. In the current meta, carry champions are dominating in every role except Support. According to OP.GG's statistics, these champions have the highest winrates (patch 7.2):

Toplane

Midlane

Botlane

Support

In my experience, Ivern thrives when having three damage dealers on his team rather than two. A tank Toplaner is not bad to have, but it puts extra pressure on the Midlaner and Botlaner to perform well. If one of them does not perform well, the team probably lacks the damage output to be able to win fights. When the team consists of three carries, there is less liability. You and the Support will have the means to keep at least two of the carries from dying, so ideally you'll want at least two teammates to do some damage. Having three carry champions on your team gives you a better chance of this happening than when the Toplaner plays a tank. If you are duo queueing, teaming up with a Janna or Soraka is ideal. The lategame shields and heals will be crazy, keeping the carries alive for long enough to win every teamfight as long as you're not too far behind.

Introduction

Who Am I?

Pro's/Con's

When to Pick Ivern?

Runes

Masteries

Items

Spells

Playing Ivern

Matchups

Change Log

Ivern's clear speed is not influenced by his runes, so that gives you a lot of freedom in the Runes department. I choose to run Movement Speed Quints, so I can get around faster. Reds are where you can personalize your page. I go for Attack Speed Reds, with 1 Critical Strike Chance Red because I put some faith in RNJesus. You can also choose to opt for Ability Power Reds, because Daisy!'s stats are increased by Ivern's Ability Power. Ivern will not take damage from jungle monsters, so I go for Scaling Health Yellows to optimalize for lategame. I follow the same train of thought when choosing Blues, and therefore use Scaling Magic Resist Blues.

Introduction

Who Am I?

Pro's/Con's

When to Pick Ivern?

Runes

Masteries

Items

Spells

Playing Ivern

Matchups

Change Log

There isn't a lot of freedom in the Masteries department when playing Ivern. Windspeaker's Blessing is by far the best keystone for him, so we should build towards it. Ivern is essentially an extra Support, so we want to choose the Masteries that compliment this playstyle. In the Cunning Tree, everything other than the ones I included are therefore disqualified and should not be used. In the Resolve Tree, Insight is what we need most. Insight reduces the cooldown of Smite, which allows Ivern to instantly clear camps more often. Runic Armor has great synergy with Triggerseed, and the extra Movement Speed offered by Explorer is very helpful as well. Since it costs Ivern health to set up a grove, we can also use the health regeneration we get from taking Recovery .

Introduction

Who Am I?

Pro's/Con's

When to Pick Ivern?

Runes

Masteries

Items

Spells

Playing Ivern

Matchups

Change Log

One of the things making Ivern strong is that he doesn't need that many gold to be effective. The build I use is very cheap and cost-efficient.



The better starting choice over Hunter's Machete since the only thing you're interested in is the Mana Regeneration.


Picked over Health Potion because it can be used throughout the game.




Hands down the best item to get on Ivern. Every single one of the offered stats is of use to Ivern: Ability Power empowers Rootcaller and Triggerseed while also providing extra stats to Daisy!. Cooldown Reduction is what we want, and the 20% given by Athene's Unholy Grail is quite a lot. Magic Resistance always comes in handy (except versus Full AD Comps of course). The passives are what makes Athene's Unholy Grail extra strong on Ivern. The Blood Charges synergyze with Triggerseed, while the added Health and Mana Regeneration helps you clear more easily.


We want to get to 45% Cooldown Reduction as early and efficiently as possible. Getting Ionian Boots of Lucidity second provides Ivern early Movement Speed as well as the much needed CDR on Smite.


Even though Redemption got nerfed last patch, it is still a very strong, cheap item to get on Ivern. It gets our CDR up to exactly 45%, and synergyzes with Triggerseed. The raw stats are pretty good on their own already for what Redemption costs, and using the Active properly can be game changing.


Another Support item that offers great raw stats for the gold it costs. The active, like Redemption can turn the outcome of a fight, especially when optimally combined. If the opponent's team is heavy on magic damage, get Locket of the Iron Solari as your third item, and get Redemption fourth.




This is the item I get fifth in most games. The base stats are good against mixed teams, and if Guardian Angel is up it allows you to play more like a tank if the situation calls for it. Keep in mind that even though you are pretty tanky at this points, you are not Dr. Mundo.


I don't get this item very often, since the Cooldown Reduction is wasted with the rest of the build, but the other stats suit Ivern's kit nicely. You should get this if you feel like your carries need just a bit extra to be able to survive during teamfights.


The Abyssal Mask is a situational buy which works well if both your and the opponents' team consists primarily of magic damage dealers. A drawback to this item is that the CDR is wasted with the build we are running.


This is the item I get to complete my build in most games. Solid defensive stats, Movement Speed, and the ability to slow enemies with an auto attack. You should get this versus heavy AD or balanced teams.


Zz'Rot Portal is also a solid last item. The base stats are strong versus every type of composition, and the active allows for pushing or neutralizing a sidelane, which can be of very high importance lategame.


Boots of Swiftness should be bought instead of Ionian Boots of Lucidity if you are going for a build that already has 45% CDR without the CDR offered by Ionian Boots of Lucidity


Knight's Vow is a very good item on Ivern. It is cheap and offers a ton of base stats fitting the supporting playstyle we are going for. The two passives makes both you and your carry even harder to kill.

Mejai's Soulstealer can be very powerful on Ivern. The stacks can really pile up when using Triggerseed in a teamfight. However, it can also be a completely wasted buy if you can't get or keep the stacks. High risk, high reward! This item can be bought if you are winning, or if you have good reason to believe you won't be dying (much). Ideally, you pick up Mejai's Soulstealer after finishing Chalice of Harmony. You can also opt for an early Dark Seal and see how the game develops over the next couple of minutes. If things go south, you haven't wasted that much gold.


With Ivern's build being quite cheap, it will happen that you have leftover gold before the game ends. Elixir of Sorcery is the best Elixir to get on Ivern and get rid of your extra gold.


Note: Ivern doesn't need to build a Jungle Item. He does not "fight" with the jungle monsters, so most of the stats aren't of use to him. It is more gold efficient and it offers more benefits to skip the Jungle Item and go straight for Athene's Unholy Grail.

Note: I always keep Stealth Ward because I prefer having extra vision myself than taking vision away from opponents when playing Ivern, but of course you can swap it for Oracle Lens if it suits your playstyle better.

Introduction

Who Am I?

Pro's/Con's

When to Pick Ivern?

Runes

Masteries

Items

Spells

Playing Ivern

Matchups

Change Log

Friend of the Forest is Ivern's passive, and what makes him unique. Ivern is not able to attack jungle monsters like other champions, but instead marks a camp by right-clicking on it, leaving a grove. It takes 40 - 6 (based on level) seconds for the grove to mature, after which Ivern can right click on the camp to gain gold and experience. Placing a grove costs Ivern 174 - 161 (based on level) health and 135 - 67 (based on level) mana, and Ivern cannot place a grove if he lacks these resources.

Using Smite on a camp within a grove will instantly free the monsters, regardless of its maturity or the monsters' current health.

If the camp's large monster has already been slain, Ivern will free the camp upon completing the channel at no cost. Similarly, the grove will instantly mature if the large monster is slain.

Starting at level 5, freeing the Red Brambleback or the Blue Sentinel leaves behind a sapling that can be picked up by an allied champion to gain the camp's buff, consuming it in the process. If at least one allied champion is nearby, Ivern can pick up the sapling to transfer it to the nearest one in range. If an ally kills either monster, they also leave behind a sapling that only Ivern can consume.

This passive makes it possible for Ivern to start anywhere on the map. Therefore, Ivern is probably the most difficult Jungler for the opponents to track. I will explain more about Jungle paths and options in the section "Jungle Pathing".

Note: Having an extra Buff for your allies is not only powerful because of the extra stats it offers, it also eliminates possible irritations (looking at you Midlaners!) of "never getting Blue Buff".




Active: Ivern throws a vine in the target direction, dealing magic damage to the first enemy hit and rooting them for a short duration.


Magic Damage: 80 / 125 / 170 / 215 / 260 (+ 70% AP)
Cost: 60 mana
Range: 1075
Root Duration: 1.2 / 1.4 / 1.6 / 1.8 / 2
Cooldown: 14/13/12/11/10


Ivern and his allies can target enemies rooted by Rootcaller to dash to them, placing themselves at their attack range from the target.

Rootcaller is Ivern's ganking tool. Being a quite slow projectile with a narrow hit-box, it might take some practice to master. Rootcaller has different uses. First of all, it can also be used on jungle camps. Casting Rootcaller on a camp and dashing towards it over a wall can increase jungle clear speed, and also provides you with a tool to escape enemies chasing you into the jungle.

When ganking, Rootcaller functions like most other jungler's skillshot projectiles, such as Lee Sin's Sonic Wave or Elise's Cocoon. However, since Ivern does not have any means of dealing damage to an enemy on his own when ganking, it is even more important to hit Rootcaller than it is to hit Sonic Wave or Cocoon. Walking towards the enemy to cut of his escape path, or even making him use his flash, first and then using Rootcaller oftentimes works better than casting Rootcaller straight away. Remember to not dash towards the rooted enemy straight away, because that takes away the opportunity to dash for your teammate. Let your teammate grasp the vine to get in range, then pull yourself towards the enemy.

In teamfights, Rootcaller can be used either to peel for your carries, or to catch high priority targets. What to choose depends totally on the situation you are in, but a rule of thumb is that it will be easier to peel than it is to catch. If you are still trying to get used to Rootcaller, it would be wise to start with peeling. When you get better, you can start to try making plays.




Passive: In brush, Ivern's attacks are ranged and deal 20/30/40/50/60(+0) bonus magic damage.

Active: Ivern grows a patch of brush for 30 seconds. For 3 seconds the area in and around the brush is revealed.

Brushmaker is another unique tool in Ivern's kit. It essentially lets you create brushes anywhere on the map for you and your teammates to hide in. Of course, these brushes can also be used by opponents, so misplacing them might backfire. There are a lot of different uses for Brushmaker. Ivern's attacks become ranged and deal bonus damage when in brushes, so putting some extra brushes when ganking might give you that extra range and damage to secure the kill. While this is handy, in my experience brushes become more important as the game gets to teamfighting stages. Brushmaker can be used to give your carries a way to break line of sight in teamfights. Putting them just behind where the fight is likely to break out gives your team an edge over the opponents. When taking down objectives, Brushmaker can completely obscure Dragon or Baron. If the opponents do not have a Vision Ward nearby or a Stealth Ward inside the brush, they will not be able to see the objective, making it way harder for them to steal it.

Misplacing brushes is something that may cost you or your teammates more than it may seem. Imagine you are ganking a lane, the opponent runs away and you put down a brush 3/4 down the lane trying to get some auto attacks in on him. Now there will be a brush in the middle of the lane for the opponent to hide in for the next three minutes, making your teammate's lane harder. As a rule of thumb, I will not use Brushmaker in the opponent's half of the lane, unless I'm pretty sure that we can secure a kill or force a summoner spell because of it.




Ivern shields an ally, absorbing up to 70/100/130/160/190(+0) damage. After 2 seconds, the shield bursts dealing 60/90/120/150/180(+0) magic damage and slowing enemies by 40/45/50/55/60% for 2 seconds.


Cost: 70 mana
Range: 750
Cooldown: 12/11/10/9/8


Triggerseed is one of the most overpowered skills in the game if you ask me. This is what makes Ivern so good in teamfights, and what will make enemies hate you more than Janna. When you follow the build in this guide, you will have 45% CDR pretty soon. This results in a cooldown of 4.4 seconds on Triggerseed. A shield, AoE damage and AoE slow all in one, every couple of seconds. It's a pretty straight forward skill to use. Just use it on the carries if they are getting attacked, or use it on the frontline to slow and damage the enemies they are attacking.

Note: You can also use Triggerseed on Daisy!.




Ivern summons his sentinel friend Daisy. If Daisy attacks the same champion three times in a row, she will create a shockwave knocking enemies up for 1 second (3 second cooldown). Daisy gains additional damage and defenses based on Ivern's Ability Power. Recasting this ability will direct Daisy to a new target or position.


Cost: 100 mana
Range: 25000
Cooldown: 160/140/120


I love Daisy!. It's like having a sixth member on your team. Unfortunately, this team member is even more stupid than the average guy on your team! Micro managing Daisy! at all times is key to optimalizing her potential. If you don't, she will just stand still on the edge of a fight like a shy, mentally challenged version of Blue Buff.

Again, Daisy! can be used in various ways. She can be used to tank turrets in combination with Triggerseed, she can tank enemies, she can disrupt enemy movement by attacking the same target thrice, and my personal favourite: she can be sent into the middle of the enemy team as an extra frontliner, while you spam Triggerseed on her. Daisy! will survive for quite a long time if not focussed. The damage she deals isn't that great, but she disrupts, slows and irritates the enemies in such a way that it becomes a lot harder for them to focus on what they should do in the fight. If they do focus her, they cannot use the resources they spent killing her on your teammates, which makes it easier to win the fight. A win-win situation!

Note: Daisy! has incredibly high range, so you can still contribute to the fight or even kill people while Ivern is not even actively participating in the fight. For instance, when you have only a sliver of health left, you can stand at a safe distance and keep micromanaging Daisy!. Just make sure to stay in range, and keep an eye on Ivern too!

Note: Using Rootcaller will automatically pull Daisy! towards the target that was hit.

Introduction

Who Am I?

Pro's/Con's

When to Pick Ivern?

Runes

Masteries

Items

Spells

Playing Ivern

Matchups

Change Log

As mentioned earlier, Ivern has the most freedom with regard to jungle pathing of any jungler. He can start anywhere on the map, and take any route he wants. Still, I feel there is a certain path that is optimal. This path is indicated below for both Blue and Red side:

[1] Start with placing a grove on Wolves at Blue Side, or Raptors at Red Side.
[2] Move towards Blue Buff at Blue Side, or Red Buff at Red Side.
[3] Go straight towards the remaining buff, and Smite it.
[4] Place a grove on Raptors at Blue Side, or Wolves at Blue Side. You should just have enough HP and Mana left.
[5] Release the fully grown camps.
[6] Now you are level 3, look for ganking either Toplane or Midlane.


Note: This path will make sure you hit level 3 earlier than any other champion in the game, allowing Ivern to gank first. Keep in mind though, that Ivern is incredibly weak in a 1v1 or 2v2 early on. You should be wary of getting counterganked, since the 2v2 will probably be in the opponent's favour.

Note: Ivern does not need a leash! Because of this, you can start at the opponent's unguarded buff. Smite will allow Ivern to clear it instantly and get out of the enemy jungle. This is a high risk high reward strategy, since being that squishy Ivern will likely die or at least need Flash to escape when caught.


During the early stages of the game, it is important to avoid the enemy jungler. Use Vision Ward to try to spot him, and make use of Scryer's Bloom to either spot the jungler, or see which camps are still up or already taken. This will give you insight in where he can be on the map. Keep ganking, but avoid setting yourself up to be counterganked.

The enemy Raptor camp is very interesting for Ivern to steal. It gives a lot of value, and because Ivern even more so because it doesn't take Ivern half of his HP to clear them like it does other junglers. Keep an eye out for a quick Smite steal whenever you can. The same thing applies to the enemy Buff camps. If for instance, the enemy jungler is spotted away from his Buff that you know is up, go to take it straight away (if you have Smite available).




Midgame is where Ivern shines. The build I suggest using is very cheap, which allows Ivern to be powerful earlier. On the flip side, his power stagnates when being full build, and other junglers will catch up with him and/or surpass him when the game goes beyond 35 to 40 minutes. The tactic to winning in the early parts of midgame should be focussing botlane. Ivern is very reliable at taking Dragon with Brushmaker and a Triggerseed empowered Daisy!. Forcing the enemy botlane back to base, or even killing one or both of them, is the easiest way to set up and secure Dragon.

In the later stages of midgame, Ivern should be grouping with his team. Ivern's kit make him a very good teamfighter, and with the added powerspike of your items and hopefully Dragon you should try to push your advantage. If you can't get a fight to happen, you can use Daisy! to siege and chip away at the tower. The Cooldown Reduction should be stacking up at this point in the game, so Daisy! has quite a low cooldown. Do not be afraid to summon her. Use your Ultimate liberally, but of course do not waste it!





Ideally the game will be won before reaching 40 minutes, but unfortunately that won't be happening every time. Lategame, Ivern's role isn't much different from the midgame team fighting. Your job is to keep the carries alive for as long as possible, while disrupting the enemies by micromanaging Daisy!. It is important to notice that it has absolutely no use getting in range of enemies. Sometimes teammates will flame me because I am still "Full HP" after a teamfight while everyone else died. In my opinion, this is exactly what you should be aiming for. This is why:

[*] Your auto attacks don't do any damage at all at this stage of the game. Unless you can safely auto without taking damage yourself (for instance from inside Brushmaker), it is not worth it.
[*] You do not have any damaging abilities that require you to get in range.
[*] Daisy! can and should be micro-managed from a distance, putting herself in harms way so Ivern doesn't have to.
[*] You can still do damage from a distance by placing Triggerseed on frontliners or Daisy!.
[*] If you're dead, you can't protect your carries. Simple as that.
[*] Even though you aren't that squishy lategame anymore, Daisy! is the primary tank, not you.


Note: Do not forget to use the actives of Redemption and Locket of the Iron Solari in teamfights. If used well, it can be the difference between Acing or getting Aced.

Introduction

Who Am I?

Pro's/Con's

When to Pick Ivern?

Runes

Masteries

Items

Spells

Playing Ivern

Matchups

Change Log

Change Log

Introduction

Who Am I?

Pro's/Con's

When to Pick Ivern?

Runes

Masteries

Items

Spells

Playing Ivern

Matchups

Change Log

31 Mar 2017: Updated Item Section

20 Mar 2017: Fixed Broken Images

11 Feb 2017: Updated Item Section

03 Feb 2017: Minor cleanup fixing mistakes

03 Feb 2017: Guide release