Hi guys! I am currently a Gold player on the road to Platinum and I wanted to share one of my favorite combinations to play in ranked. Gragas jungle brings a lot to the team that people don't expect from the pick. The potential to make plays with Gragas is insane and while I do not claim to be the best League player out there, I wanted to showcase Gragas as the badass jungler he is!

Runes

greater mark of hybrid penetration X9: Greater penetration of enemy and minion defenses. I prefer these over something like attack speed/damage as it will be much more useful for the later stages.

Greater Seal of Armor X9: Great for survival in the jungle and in fights. If you think you'll be fine without them (I do not recommend this) you can swap them out for mana regen.

Greater Glyph of Magic Resist X9: While not particularly useful in the jungle, they will come in handy fighting champions, especially since the tweak to Gragas' Body Slam encourages him to get up close and personal.

Greater Quintessence of Ability Power x3: Great for getting some damage early on. If you prefer you can swap these out for health, but I prefer having the starting AP over that advantage. The health potions you start with should be used to make sure you're healthy enough to safely engage enemies if used wisely.

Masteries

While you could argue putting 9 points in the Utility Tree is worth it for the extended buff duration, I believe that the extra durability for the jungle is paramount to your success. Because I opt for AP Quintessences, the extra tankiness from the Defense Tree is well worth it in my opinion.

Otherwise, 21 in Offense is fantastic for blowing people away with your barrels. It's always fun to try and use Dangerous Game to make some plays and escape that pesky Ignite as you make your escape after wrecking a lane!

Items

So most of my items are fairly common picks for AP carries, but here's why I chose to build the way I did early/mid game. My goal early is to always have enough resources to get a successful gank off. That may mean you need health, mana, or both. Rushing Spirit of the Spectral Wraith helps infinitely in this regard. Not only does it help with health/mana regen, it has regen from damage dealt in the jungle, helps clear speed, AND is a great source of gold income via conservation that will help you get those big ticket items that much faster.

Essentially, I like my builds with gragas (assuming I have been using abilities efficiently) to constantly have my resources where I need them to be to be able to make plays!

Abilities

Happy Hour - This is one of those hidden gems. One of the tools to keep you healthy and ready for engagements. I cannot stress enough how the health from this can be the difference between a painful death and slipping through the enemies' fingers.

Barrel Roll - Your bread and butter... cask and...crate? Err... nevermind. Anyhow, this is what will poke, nuke, harass, and kill your enemies. In addition, the attack speed debuff from this will help you out in so many situations. It will reduce damage from creeps, and take their AD carries down a notch. Versatile, high damage, long range.

Drunken Rage - Surprisingly underrated skill. Damage reduction (useful for jungle and fights), mana regen to keep you fueled up, and attack damage to help you clear the jungle. Not bad at all!

Body Slam - A dash that nukes, slows, and is on a fairly short cool down. Slide over walls, or crash into enemies, this one is what makes Gragas so fun to play.

Explosive Cask - Now. The ultimate. The shining star. There are a few ways to capitalize on all this skill has to offer. If you get an enemy by surprise, aim the cask ahead of where they're retreating to, in order to not only nuke them down, but to push them back into your and your team to secure a kill. This requires some practice timing, and using Body Slam to position yourself before using it may come in handy. Additionally, if you know your enemy is low enough to die from it, use it as an execute if necessary. However, BEWARE, there's many a feel bad moment in store if the enemy has too much health to be killed by it as you may just end up saving their life.

Regardless, with a little practice, this monster of an ability is what you use to make plays and crush the oppposition.

Spells

Smite - Standard fair for your jungler. I do not recommend using anything else when playing Gragas in the jungle as while it may help you in a small amount of situations in fights, giving up the ability to secure dragon, baron, or even buffs is too much of a trade off not to take Smite.

Flash - Make plays. Get out of sticky situations using flash and Body Slam if necessary, or charge in to secure the proximity to opposing champion(s) for kill(s).

Pros / Cons

Pros:

1. Great damage and utility to bring to your team.

2. Not the most common jungle pick which may throw off the enemies' picks, especially in ranked.

3. Great gank potention and AOE damage for fights and clearing jungle camps.

4. Great burst damage

5. Great skill set for making plays for your team

6. Built-in attack speed recution with Explosive Cask

Cons:

1. Mana hungry

2. Not the tankiest

3. Requires some practice to nail the delivery of the ultimate

Summary

I hope this guide makes you want to be the difference in winning those ranked matches using the King of Drink himself! Get out there and make those plays people! Look forward to hearing what y'all think and this guide will always be improving!

Thanks for coming!