I am Hazardis, a master level player from the Latin America North server who is a Skarner jungle OTP. Since it became a strong pick in season 11, Morgana jungle has been one of my favorite pocket picks as she feels more natural to play there compared to support or mid, and despite the modern issues with her kit she's a situationally strong option and, most importantly, a fun one.

With this guide I hope to provide you with some fundamentals on how to pilot her there, as well as guidance over what items to go for and know how to adapt to the different situations you might encounter across your games.

Pros

+ Fast and easy jungle clear + Feels rewarding to play well + Works well both when ahead and when behind + Complete and versatile kit + Great for picking off enemies + Good into most meta junglers

Albeit one of the most well known champions in the game, Morgana jungle is bound to catch most enemies off guard these days who won't know how to deal with the matchup properly, giving you an easy advantage. Besides, her kit is really simple and her job is straightforward, meaning you won't have a hard time picking her up and seeing success in game.

Cons

- Oustcaled easily - High mana costs, weak in lanes - Too reliant on landing Q and timing E properly - No mobility - Naturally squishy

Morgana trades a decent early and mid game potential for weak late game, meaning you're always on a timer to close off the game as quickly as you can. She also requires you to aim properly at all times as almost all of her damage comes from skillshots, and her squishiness makes her complicated to play into assassins.

Dark Harvest is the best keystone available for several reasons: the damage scales well off of the AP from your build, it helps offset Morgana's weak scaling, and it's easy to proc thanks to the long range of her abilities. Cheap Shot will always proc on enemies you have landed Dark Binding on, or even slowed with the Crest of Cinders buff. Eyeball Collection offers a safe way of scaling your damage as the game progresses, though Zombie Ward is a solid, yet less natural option. And the extra gold from Treasure Hunter will help you come online sooner into the game, which is vital for any AP jungler and especially for those with better early than late game.

Magical Footwear is an easy way of saving 300 gold for more important items and most junglers nowadays have gotten used to running it, so it's a good recommendation for when you're picking up this playstyle. Cosmic Insight helps have your Flash as well as actives such as Zhonya's Hourglass or Oracle Lens up more often.

Please read the notes on the Ability Order section at the beginning of the guide for more detailed and situational information on the order you should level up your skills.

As jungler you should always prioritize the highest damaging ability that you use the most, which in Morgana's case is Tormented Shadow. Each point will make your clears faster and also help in any skirmishes or duels you might get involved in the jungle early on. Leveling Dark Binding second is standard most of the time though there are occasions where prioritizing Black Shield second instead is smarter. This said, it's also a valid option to rotate the skill points you earn after level 9 on these two abilities as you see fit.

Flash helps you angle a Dark Binding better, blink to an ally for a life-saving Black Shield, dodge important enemy skillshots, keep the tether range from Soul Shackles going... it simply provides too much usefulness to even think about not taking it in all of your games. Then as a jungler, you obviously will always complete the pair with Smite.

As for which jungle pet to take, Scorchclaw Pup is a solid choice as the slow, which is easy to proc for Morgana, will help you land your Dark Bindings more easily during your ganks and skirmishes. Alternatively, the Gustwalker Hatchling is, in macro terms, the better option as boosting your tempo through the jungle after the mid-game is an insanely strong option if you know how to make proper use of it. If so, take it instead of Scorchclaw Pup.

First back purchase options

Grabbing Lost Chapter after your first clear will be the ideal route on most games, although you would need either a successful early gank or an extended first sequence in order to amass the 1300 gold required for it. If you're not aiming for any early ganks, it's alright to full clear twice in a row before backing to ensure you can afford it and hit the first important powerspike as early as level 5.

After the changes to the item in patch 13.7, Catalyst of Aeons now faces the same cost issues as Lost Chapter described above, but for obvious reasons this is the component you want to rush if you're planning to build Rod of Ages as your mythic. Despite the lack of ability power, its stats are worth its cost and it will get you through the early game more safely than its counterpart.

If you have 300 gold to spare after your first purchases for whatever reason, taking Boots is fine as the 25 speed have quite some value in the first minutes of the game, and it will help you complete your next sequence and move towards ganks or counterganks more fluidly.

A Dark Seal among your first back sets you up for a quicker and easier snowballing process in the early game. Take one if your laners seem to do well in the first minutes of the game, or if you're feeling confident that you won't be at the risk of dying too much in the game.

Tear of the Goddess is a necessary evil sometimes for Morgana jungle due to her high mana cost. Luckily, it converts into Archangel's Staff so the gold and the stats don't go to waste in the long run.

Boots options

The extra magic penetration from Sorcerer's Shoes will be useful on every instance of damage you apply, even to jungle monsters, which means it effectively increases all of your outgoing damage and is an optimal purchase in games where you are ahead and playing on the offensive.

Take Ionian Boots of Lucidity instead if you either feel like playing a more supportive playstyle for your team, want your W available more often during your clears, or find yourself with enough gold to buy them but not Sorcerer's Shoes right before a key moment in the game is coming up.

Mercury's Treads are the most defensive choice available and is particularly useful against AP junglers or team compositions, even more so if you're behind in the game, and particularly if they have AoE crowd control and want to depend less on Dark Shield so you can save it for a teammate instead.

First item options

Liandry's Anguish is the most popular mythic on Morgana and in the jungle it's more than justified, especially in season 13 when all camps have higher max HP. It's the go-to for an offensive playstyle, but bear in mind that it offers zero survivability and has also a high cost.

As of patch 13.7, Rod of Ages is undoubtedly the strongest mythic for mages outside of the artillery class, and building it as a jungler is just as viable as it is for any midlaner given its nice build path, low cost and safe yet insane scaling. Besides, the synergy with Archangel's Staff is nothing to scoff at and makes for a dangerous midgame setup.

Everfrost is a safer option compared to Liandry's Anguish which sacrifices DPS for a bit of durability, 400 gold, and a tool to set up CC chains by yourself. It's particularly optimal when you're up against a team with low range that will be within dive range of you to accomplish their champion's goals.

Second item options

What I personally believe is the most underrated item in the game at the moment, Evenshroud offers both durability and utility at the cost of a support item, and blends in very well with any build that wants to mix damage with survival. This said, I don't recommend to rush it and instead purchase any legendary item with AP first.

If you picked a Dark Seal early as suggested, turn it into Mejai's Soulstealer after you're done with your mythic to snowball harder and add a free mythic passive stack very early on.

If you have been stacking a Tear of the Goddess, and especially if you're building Rod of Ages, turn it into Archangel's Staff as soon as you can to hit the crucial powerspike as there is no point in delaying it for other items.

Almost a must in every game when you're playing Morgana, Zhonya's Hourglass is a requisite to succeed in mid and late game teamfights since you have no other tool to survive long enough for your ult to go off, and it also buys you enough time to do another spell rotation even in the cases where your team is losing it.

Shadowflame is an item that is neither great or bad, but it offers good and straightforward stats for 3000 gold and is particularly good against enemy squishies or team comps with strong shielding. With the magic penetration being capped at a mere 20 however, it means that you either pick it second or you would be better off skipping it for the rest of the game.

Third item options

Running the Rod of Ages build turns Demonic Embrace into a very efficient purchase due to the guaranteed scaling with HP, and at this point of the game most enemy targets have high amounts of health which make the passive burn feel good for both direct encounters and poke damage.

The perfect item to round out any AP build, Rabadon's Deathcap is the go-to choice to finish your core build in games where you are ahead; although it is adviseable to delay it if both teams are even, or if you're in need of the durability or usefulness that other items may provide to you in the mid game.

Cosmic Drive greatly increases the fluidity of your spell rotations and also provides a considerable amount of AP, and a nifty burst of move speed during fights to help secure the full channeling of your ult, and kite back if needed.

Void Staff is one of the best answer to enemy team comps that have been stacking magic resistance items during the game or have a few naturally tanky champions, such as Rammus. For its relatively low cost, it's a solid mid game purchase that can prove valuable in difficult games.

Sub-optimal but viable items

While it doesn't have the best of synergies with Morgana's kit, Rylai's Crystal Scepter is a cheap purchase that offers good stats and shines against champions that have short range and/or few dashes or blinks, making you hard to catch and stick to.

Recent changes and adjustments to Grievous Wounds have rendered Morellonomicon in a bad state where it costs too much for the little it provides, but it's still a necessary buy on games where the enemy team has heavy healing and you would rather not rely on your team to provide the debuff.

Banshee's Veil is a good balance between offense and deffense especially against AP threats, which starts becoming necessary after your first three items. Be wary not to let the enemy team bring down the spellshield before a fight through poke though.

Abyssal Mask is an underrated tank item that you can purchase as soon as your third item, and is ideal if you are not the only AP champion on your team and especially now that it received a nifty buff in 13.7. But remember that you're not allowed to build it at the same time as Rod of Ages.

HOW TO GANK: Learning the blind vision spots is of utmost importance when it comes to approaching a lane quickly. Stick to the walls or other terrain if you're approaching from the river, and pop your Oracle Lens as you're approaching the bush; if you spot a ward, don't waste time clearing it and just keep going before the enemy has too much time to react. Always make sure to ping your laners (responsibly) 5-7 seconds before you go in.

WHEN TO GANK: Morgana has a very decent strength pre-level 6 so a level 3 or 4 ganks is never off the cards, and you should consider pulling at least one before backing for the first time in most of your games. With the Crest of Cinders buff, slow the enemy laner first with auto attacks before attempting to land your Dark Binding to increase your chance of success, or to at least burn their Flash successfully.

WHOM TO GANK: I advice you to not waste any time ganking any laner that seems to be losing their lane considerably early on (for example, if they have died before 4 minutes, or by the 10 minutes mark has at least 3 deaths); that's all the proof you need that they don't know how to lane properly and that they're not worth trusting with any resources. You're better off focusing on lanes near live objectives who are also even or not losing by too much, and especially in volatile matchups (melee vs melee, etc).

JUNGLE TRACKING: In this season, tracking the enemy jungler properly is more important than ever due to how much priority objectives have at all stages of the game. A good rule of thumb to follow the enemy jungler in the first minutes of the game is: if he started on the same side of the map as you for the first clear, he will remain on the same side as you for most of the first 10 minutes of the game, assuming that A) you have focused properly on farming, and B) he doesn't seem to be camping any of the side lanes or hovering around mid for too long.

The best camp to begin your route from at the moment is the blue buff for several reasons. First, it allows you to path towards both for the first gank which is ideal in the current meta, and the Crest of the Ancient Golem buff will allow you to spam Tormented Shadow without delay for the sake of maximizing your clear speed. The best order to clear from this point is Blue Sentinel -> Gromp -> Murk Wolf -> Raptors -> Red Brambleback -> Krugs -> Rift Scuttler as displayed on the image below:



The alternative route is to begin on your red side quadrant for the sake of pathing towards top, and to possibly contest the first scuttler to the enemy jungler. The order of your clear will be Red Brambleback -> Krugs -> Raptors -> Murk Wolf -> Blue Sentinel -> Gromp -> Rift Scuttler instead:



Outside of that, your other choices are three camp clears into a level 3 gank either on the side you started on, or on the same side. If it's the first case, follow the regular order for the first three camps as you normally would then skip the second half and head directly to the desired lane; if it's on the same side instead, adjust the route a bit by either leaving Krugs or Gromp for last so you level up to 3 at a closer distance to the nearest lane.

If the Drake is alive or the next one is coming up, move to the bot side to establish vision and zone control around the pit and nearby bushes. Use your Oracle Lens and Control Wards to scout for enemy vision, and try to prepare a surprise ambush from a bush if possible. If the Rift Herald is alive, play around top side on your next camp sequence.

If you are at a disavantage and your team lost all of the Tier 1 towers, go into your own jungle more carefully from there on. Regardless of how risky it gets to go into the jungle, it is really important that you do your best to keep your CS numbers as high as possible to prevent being outscaled and phased out from the game too early on.

If your team has lost two or all tier 2 towers, be cautious of staying behind and helping control the vision line for your team to avoid picks from the enemy. Inversely, if your team has taken down the enemy's tier 2 towers you have several opportunities to look for picks in the side lanes or in the jungle bushes that will help secure nearby objectives or structures, or even the game at this point.

Outside of that, Morgana has decent agency during tower sieges as she can help depush minions from a safe distance in case of defense, and poke plus threaten with Dark Binding in the offensive tower sieges.

In late game teamfights, your squishy nature means that you should probably not frontline and focus on peeling your carries or locking down the enemy's. Save the Black Shield for key moments without holding onto it too much, and try to kite away from any nearby threats while your spells are on cooldown.