Hello! I'm someone who loves playing off-meta roles that have the potential to be viable. Ekko JG is one of these roles. I discovered this build after discovering Arcsecond (a player in Challenger) essentially one-tricking this build and having some success with it. This guide is to spread awareness of Ekko JG and it's potential. After all, Ekko Jungle is a ton of fun and is great when done correctly.

Arcsecond's op.gg: https://na.op.gg/summoner/userName=arcsecond
Arrsecond's second acc: https://na.op.gg/summoner/userName=arcminute

DISCLAIMER: This guide will be favored towards the bruiser build since I personally find it to be the more viable one. Of course, the carry build does a lot of damage and is prefered by other people, but this is just my opinion.

Pros:
Decent Sustain
Great Ganks
Great Teamfight Potential
Great Objective Fighter
Fun to Play

Cons:
Early Clear is Meh
Have to Avoid Early Game Junglers without Items
Difficult to Play
Not as much DMG when playing Bruiser

Normally, you want to avoid getting into fights with the enemy jungler in the early game since Ekko isn't really the best at early 1v1s. To account for this, try to start on the bottom buff, but feel free to switch to the other buff if you feel that the enemy jungler is going to try to ruin your day.

BLUE PATH: Blue>Gromp>Wolves(smite)>Chickens>Red(save smite for a possible scuttle)>scuttle if possible>Krugs.


RED PATH: Red>krugs>Chickens>Wolves(smite)>Blue(Smite or save for scuttle)>Scuttle(if possible)>Gromp

NO-LEASH MINI-PATH: Chickens>Red>Krugs>gank

When you are clearing your first buff, Activate W on the camp at 1:27 so that you get the stun and the shield right when the camp spawns.

Of course, scuttle crab is a very situational clear since it's never guaranteed that you will get it as there are a ton of early game enemy junglers that will outduel you for it. If this is the case, try to look for a lane to gank around this time.

Ekko is pretty good at ganking. When you gank a lane, do not throw your w on the enemy laner. Use your W as a zoning tool by placing it where the enemy will head towards to. It doesn't even have to be next to them, but as long as there is a force field in their path, the enemy laner has to try to go around it or risk getting stunned.

Meanwhile, use your e to engage on the laner and Q to slow the laner down for your teammate to inflict damage on them. Try to save Q until they flash so that it doesn't go to waste.

One useful mechanic that high-level ekko players use is animation canceling his q and w by casting them during his e.

To do these, simply cast your q or w during the e rolling animation. This will save you the trouble of having to wait for the q and w animations to play and can help with fighting.

One of the greatest things about Ekko Jungle is that he is great at stealing Baron/Dragon. If you're careful enough, you can actually E into the Baron/Dragon pit, smite it and steal, then ULT to get out. With the bruiser build, you typically have 40% Cooldown Reduction, so using your ult like that shouldn't be too much of a problem. Be very careful when doing this as getting CC'd in the process will probably lead to your death.

Since this is an off-meta build, please practice this before you take this into ranked and try to climb with it. Ekko Jungle is different and requires some practice and some jungle knowledge before getting good with it. Don't risk ruining games for people who want to climb.

Otherwise, if you're playing norms, have fun!

****HuaP made a video a while back about Arcsecond and does a pretty good job explaining Ekko JG. Check it out!
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