A Challenger Jungler (NA) and Youtuber

Hello, I'm KingStix. I'm a challenger jungle main on NA and I play a variety of jungle champions in challenger. Many of you know that I used to play a lot of Twitch JG. He was insanely fun to play and I loved the cheese level 2 gank after red buff. Unfortunately, nearly everyone knows that level 2 gank from Twitch is coming and they play safe early to avoid it. However, people don't expect it from Ezreal JG and I actually find it to be quite a lot stronger than Twitch JG as well. Even though Ezreal is not invisible, he does have a gap closer with his E Arcane Shift and of course the red buff auto attack slow for his level 2 gank. It definitely brings some fun into the jungle and it's not only early game cheese but also scales like a monster. Try it out and let me know what you think! Good luck on the rift summoner.

I'm passionate about improving at the game and helping other people improve as well. So, I make guides and other educational content for League of Legends on my YouTube channel .

Ezreal JG Pros
Strong level 2 ganks after red buff
Scales really well
Amazing kite ability

Ezreal JG Cons
Struggles when behind
Bad early clear against AOE camps

Lay a ward on the enemy red buff by the 0:55 second mark and recall to pick up your Oracle Lens. Start with your red buff no matter which side of the map you are on. You will need the red buff for your strong level 2 gank. Then you have a few options after red:

1. Either gank mid or top lane. (If you're on bot side of the map, obviously don't run all the way top lol) To gank, if the enemies are pushed up far you can auto attack first to apply your slow so you can land your Q Mystic Shot more easily. Then you can use your E Arcane Shift when needed to stay on top of them. If they aren't pushed up far, you'll just need to E Arcane Shift right away instead of autoing first. Your E is a blink but also fires a bolt that will apply the red buff slow if you E on top of the enemy. The E bolt/red slow cannot be flashed. (Ganking bot lane isn't near as optimal because it pulls you away from the map. However, if you know bot lane happened to blow summoner spells already then it would be a good option).

2. Your second option is to go kill the enemy jungler if you know where they are.

3. Take the enemy jungler's blue buff if you started on your red top side.
**TIP** Kite the blue buff towards your side of the map so you can easily escape if an enemy shows.

Right after your level 2 gank, you can go straight for another gank which will be unexpected. So if you ganked mid, you can head top or if you ganked top you can hed mid if the situation permits. Your other option would be going to the enemy's buff to kill them there and steal their buff. If that is too risky, just go to your own buff then get scuttle crab and gank again.

Don't forget to help push the wave after successful ganks for the minion XP.

In conclusion: in the first few levels on Ezreal jungle, you should be focusing on red + blue buff (including the enemy's), the scuttle crab(s), and ganking. Clearing the other camps are too difficult at this point and will just force you to back early when you could be getting kills and map pressure instead.

Once you back, you will be able to take the other camps as well. It is better if you are able to take the enemy jungler's camps instead. Ezreal has relatively safe invades with his E Arcane Shift to hop over walls when needed. Also in the early game, focus on helping your teammates take turret plating after you gank. Ezreal is really fast at taking his turrets and don't forget that you can use your W Essence Flux to help take the turret faster. (Unfortunately this ability cannot be used on monster camps). The first Rift Herald is also a great option- use it to before the 14 minute mark to get turret plating. It's especially great on Ezreal because he can easily stay to help take the entire turret unlike some other junglers who are much slower at taking turrets and at risk doing so because they have no escape.

I prefer going Q, E, Q level up before putting a point in my W because Q deals a lot of damage and W, like mentioned above, can't be used on camps. But once you are level 4, you should have your W Essence Flux. Autoing or landing any of your abilities on that target will deal a lot of damage. You don't want to miss your abilities, so if you can- slow the enemies first with either your red buff or later in the game with your Q Mystic Shot if you build Frozen Heart or Blade of the Ruined King active. You won't be building Stalker's Blade so you will not have a slow from Chilling Smite because it is not necessary. Instead, you will build Skirmisher's Sabre which gives Challenging Smite. This allows you to take 20% reduced damage from the enemy you smite and deal bonus true damage on your autos for 2.5 seconds. So, don't forget to use your Smite when you gank if needed.

**TIP** Ezreal has a strong level 1 so try to get your team to invade with you at the start of the game.

I hope you enjoyed this written guide, thanks for checking it out! Below you will be able to find information on itemization choices. If you'd like to see how this is all done in action, you can check out the video above or this one here:
Play Video

Starting & Core Items
Always start with Hunter's Machete, Refillable Potion, and a Stealth Ward. You can lay your ward on the opposite side enemy buff by the 0:55 second mark then recall for an Oracle Lens.

Always go Skirmisher's Sabre - Warrior as your first item.
Your next item will be either Trinity Force or Iceborn Gauntlet but NOT both. If you are behind, the enemy team is full AD, or they have a 1 shot AD threat like Zed, Talon, or Qiyana then go for Iceborn Gauntlet. If that's not the case, then Trinity Force is the better option.

After you choose between the above 2 items ^^ you will build Blade of the Ruined King which offers lifesteal, improved kite ability, and it's strong against tanks.

After these 3 core items, the build path becomes much more optional. Here are the optional items with following explanations:

Armor Pen Options
Mortal Reminder is great against enemy comps with healing- especially if your teammates aren't building healing reduction items.
Lord Dominik's Regards is the better option when the enemy team does not have healing champions because for the same price it gives 10% more armor penetration.
Black Cleaver is heavily situational. I would only build this item if the entire enemy team was stacking armor.

Safety Items
Maw of Malmortius is a good buy into AP champions that deal a lot of damage. The passives on this item are super strong. Not only do you get a shield if you take magic damage that leaves you low health but when you do go the shield- you also get extra attack damage, spell vamp, and lifesteal for as long as you remain in combat.

Mercurial Scimitar is purchased primarily for the Quicksilver Sash. If your reaction time is slow, this probably isn't the best item for you lol. It's good against a Lux or Morgana snare, a Veigar cage, a Malzahar ultimate and any many other CC abilities. However, you can't QSS everything including knock ups like from a Malphite ult or a big Gragas belly flop and even a Bard ultimate. Against these abilities, you will want Edge of Night instead (which btw, is considerably cheaper as well- 2900 gold vs 3500)

Bloodthirster is pretty expensive at 3500 gold but it does give 80 AD, a shield, and 20% lifesteal. This would be a strong purchase whenever you are able to effectively kite and you're not having issues with getting bursted by the enemies. If you are behind, it might be a better idea to save this for last item and go for a cheaper item first.

Boot Options
Mercury's Treads or Ninja Tabi are your two options. Ninja Tabi with Iceborn Gauntlet can be really good into full AD team comps while Mercury's Treads is strong into heavy CC team comps. A good build combination into mixed damage teams could be Edge of Night with Ninja Tabi.