This guide is still under construction. Lacks chapters about mind and end-game, and tips and tricks on how to gank properly.

First things first: Dont choose a champion just because its a counter to some other champion. Choose because you are comfortable/good with him.

A cheap trick, well known to diamond players, is to stick to just one champion, master it and use it to go up in the ranks. Althought i dont like this (makes me feel really sad about the game) I encourage those who are trying really hard to climb.

My strategy: I pick a relatively small champion pool on which i try to be good at.

Currently, my champion pool is: Olaf, Zac, Xin Zhao and Vi - built through 2 or 3 seasons playing as a jungler.

The reason behind it is: Olaf is perfect against CC-oriented teams. Zac and Vi (in case there is a super hard-carry, like Jinx or Viktor, in the other team). All of those junglers also have another characteristic in common: they can easily solo dragon after the return to base.

This is actually when game begins. I know i'm being enphatic, but this is a guide to teach you how to think, and not an easy recipe to climb. Let the thinking begin!

Start by analysing the lane matchups. There are some sites where you can easily counterpicks, but I think that reasoning and practice can be better friends.


Use this information to create a simple plan of action to the first 5 mins of the game. For exemple, if your top lane has been countered, while bot is in a good position, try starting your jungle on the bottom side of the map, so your first gank can be on the top lane.

Here are some questions for you to answer during the loading screen:




When the game loads, buy your stuff quickly and head to the next step, that is

Before the jungle camps spawn, the game gives you 1:38s to do stuff. In this time, go to the river and gather some info. If there is a big chance for you to be invaded, i'd recomend you to save your ward for the second buff (where most of the invades happen). If you are going to invade, make sure your teammates know it, so they can help if you are caught in a bad position.

It is important to figure out where the enemy jungler started his route. This can be noticed spoting the minimap, and noticing which laner helped with the leash.

I strongly recommend a first full clear and I only deviate from this if a laner is being ganked, or if i’m really sure i can score a kill. This first route is really important, and you should be lvl 4 and a half by the end of it. My full clear route are:

1. Blue - Gromp - Wolves - Birds - Red - Kruggs.
2. Red - Kruggs - Birds - Wolves - Blue - Gromp.

Sometimes i try to do scuttle crab if i ended by there, and if i’m in good health.

Both routes ends around 4:00 mins, being the blue start a bit quicker and healthier.

Level 3 powerspike:
At the beginning of season 7, you can get to lv 3 by killing any 3 camps in the jungle. This happens at ~2:30 mins into the game, when most laners are still lv 2. You may want to take advantage of this, especially if enemy laners are heavily trading damage or are overextending.
While clearing the 3rd camp, take your time to look at the lanes. Check if your ally have enought HP/mana and if they have damage/CC to help. I’ll cover more of this in the “How to gank properly” section.


The main reason why I find risky to gank before returning to base:
Doran's. Most laners have already spent ~400g in combat items while you have something that helps you clear the jungle. In numbers, Doran's items are somewhat as if they were 1 lvl ahead of you. On the other hand, after your first return, you get an improved smite that can be the difference between your laner fed or their laner fed.

Thought process during this phase:

Establish a general plan, but be prepared to react accordingly.
If you planned a lv3 gank, but the oponent is full health, still have his escape and isnt advancing much, just leave him and go back to your farm. Dont loose too much time waiting on the brush. Every ~25 secs you can clear a camp (including moving between them), so dont lose your time (and gold/XP) waiting inside a brush.

On the other hand, if your plan was to do a full clear, and a laner gets ganked early, react and go help him (assuming you can turn the fight).

Notable Mentions:

Be aware of the gank timers:
Lv2 gank - ~2:00 to ~2:10
Lv3 gank - ~2:40 to ~3:00
Lv4 gank - ~3:40 to ~4:00
Make a quick search on your minimap by this timings to find some cheesy gankers.
Be aware that Lvl 3 gank usually happens on the mid laner, especially if he is overextending, low health or is someone who you would want really ahead. It is really important for you to read what the enemy jungler may be thinking.

Ending your first route wit more HP:
The healthiest clear is achieved by, in every camp, killing the small creatures before the big ones, no known exception.

Buy your jungle item, improve your smite (or dont, if you think vision is better) and go back to your job. This is a good time for a gank, since most laners, by this time, have not returned base for shopping. If you are an early ganker, this is your time to shine!

In this phase, recommend the following priority list, ordered by importance from top to bottom.

1. Are there allies in need of help? (also, can i really help?)
Generally, when a teammate needs help at this time, he is under his tower, under hard pressure. This means the oponent(s) are probably overextended. Give them some help, but before doing it check their HP/mana stats. If they are in a bad position, tell them to go base, that, when they come back, you will help. Remember to place a ward in the path behind you to avoid counter-ganking.
Important note: If by this time, some enemy laner has already, like, 2 kills and is lv6 when you hit the lane, it may be a bad idea to pick a fight. I’ve seen it happen over and over: a

2. Is any laner a hard snowballer?
Some champions, when given a small advantage, tend to crush enemy laners, and even games. Each elo has his terrors, but i can list some of them, like Riven, Irelia, Katarina, Yasuo, etc. It is always a good idea to gank this lane, being the snowballer in your team, or not.

3. All my laners are in a good spot, not pressuring too much, not having a hard time?
Go for an early dragon, especially in solo queue. Buy a ward and do it. Early dragons are the single most impactive help you can give your teammates.

Cloud Drake gives them 25 movespeed, which can be translated as giving them Boots of Speed. It means 300g, and more control over when to fight or run.

Ocean Drake gives them lots of sustain. Roghtly 1 potion per minion wave if they dont take any damage for 8 secs.

Inferno gives them 8% increased damage, which is really good end game, but not that meaningfull early.

Note: not every champion can solo dragons this early. I’ve not tested too much, but here a small list that i know can do it: Xin Zhao, Vi, Warwick, Fiddlesticks, Master Yi, Udyr, Olaf and Elise.

4. Some of my teammates are overextending:
There are 2 main possibilities here. You can attempt:

Farming around the overextender, including enemy camps, if you have vision, or your matchup is favorable. This grants you map presence if the teammate is ganked, keeps the enemy laner from farming, deny some gold and XP to the enemy jungler. This method is a really good one for invades, since you can get some help if you are caught in a bad spot.

Attempt a tower dive. To do so, in all lanes, is a good idea to go from behind the outer turret, but (as always) ward the path behind you. This can be gamebreaking, because it denies the enemy laner the XP/Gold from the minion wave, while giving gold/XP to your laner, who was already in advantage (assuming he wasnt stupid and overextending while in low health in a bad matchup).

There are some champions that often just survive until lvl 6, when they have a really strong All-in. Zed, Fizz and Kassadin quickly come to my mind, but there are some more. Sometimes, as a countermeasure, its good to be around when that happen. This may prevent someone's snowball, and usually hurts that player's confidence.

Now we enter the time window when most laners build their first item, and start taking turrets. Also, now you have a better picture to where the game is going.

Thought process:

All the concepts from the early game still apply. You will still be helping allies, making your ganks, snowballing people (or yourself), taking dragons and counter-ganking. Whats new now is that turrets become a big part of your focus.
Have in mind that every time you have a good gank, you should be taking an objective. Your jungle routes and timing should be reasoned around Dragon timings, Minions waves crashing to towers (for dives or counterganks) and sometimes to Herald.

Important mention:
Vision Wars: As a rule of thumbs, if you and your team are ahead, focus on dewarding. This gives a huge edge, because you can setup traps and may extend your advantage. If you are behind, focus on warding more, and dont walk around alone too much. Even your jungle is a threat if some enemies are missing. Dont go random warding before checking the minimap for missing players. This can be a huge help avoiding enemies to extend their advantage, and taking you to the late game.