Rek'Sai Build Guide by TheSinnohScrolls

Introduction

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Hello there, Summoner! My name is TheSinnohScrolls and this is my Rek'Sai guide! She's a top rated jungler ever since her release and mastering her can be quite rewarding because of her strong presence in-game and her really effective ganks.

Items

After testing with the different smite options available, the 2 that are most effective are Stalker's Blade and Tracker's Knife, the first one because it slows down enemies and makes it easier for you to Unburrow. However, choosing this upgrade makes you either keep your Warding Totem throughout the game or buy a Sightstone, since the role you'll be filling in your team is almost the one of a second support. At first, I though it would be worth it to get this smite over Tracker's, because I didn't like the limitation of only being able to place 2 wards.

Later I realized that, not only the Sightstone would set your build back by 800 gold and fill up a slot in your inventory, but Stalker's Blade falls off really hard late game. That's why you see pros buy Tracker's Knife every time.






If you noticed earlier, Dead Man's Plate, along with Boots of Swiftness were present in every build. They both serve the same purpose and each one has its own benefits. Dead Man's Plate gives you a bit more tankiness (health and armor), more damage with the Crushing Blow passive and, most importantly, gives you Movement Speed.

The reason I buy Boots of Swiftness is because it's part of the cheapest tier boots available and gives more Movement Speed in combat than Boots of Mobility. The Movement Speed stat is so important on Rek'Sai for an easier Unburrow, seeing as how you'll be able to out-speed your opponent and land a longer lasting knock up.







These items are great for making you tanky and at the same time make you a threat because they have a good balance of tank stats and damaging stats. Combine that with the perks from the Resolve Skill Tree and you'll do a lot of damage and still be a damn good front-liner!

Abilities

Passive: Fury of the Xer'Sai Rek'Sai does not use a resource. Instead, her passive generates Fury that regenerates health while burrowed. It is a great tool for long clears as it provides some sustain while in the jungle.

Q: Queen's Wrath This is Rek'Sai's main damaging ability, it resets her auto-attacks even against structures, so make sure to keep that in mind for maximum damage efficiency.

W: Burrow Use this to change between burrowed and unborrowed state, giving you tremor sense. Pay attention to your surroundings to see if there are any enemies nearby, it will even show invisible enemies. Keep in mind that champions will have a larger indication than monsters (don't get scared of the Rift Scuttler, hahahaha).

E: Furious Bite Rek'Sai's E ability is also a great damaging tool, since its damage increases by the amount of Fury available. An interesting note is that, at maximum Fury, Furious Bite will deal True Damage.

Burrowed Q: Prey Seeker Since this ability deals Magic Damage, it won't be used as a damaging tool. Instead, since it reveals enemies, it is used as a long range Scouting tool, since, while burrowed, Rek'Sai has reduced sight. It is also good for finishing off low-health stragglers from a distance.

Burrowed W: Unburrow This ability is probably the most important ability while ganking along with Tunnel, because, besides putting you back into unburrowed state, it also knocks up enemies who are near the unburrow radius. The closer the enemy is, the longer the knock up lasts. NOTE: Enemies who have been knocked up have a cooldown shown around them indicating when they can be knocked up again. I recommend practicing with this skill in a custom game since it may take some time to get used to. NOTE: You can use Unburrow and Flash quickly for a really unpredictable knock up!

Burrowed E: Tunnel Rek'Sai's unique mechanic of setting down tunnels is a vital part of her kit. It has many uses: gap-closing, escaping, crossing terrain and vital for Void Rush. While ganking, try to position Tunnel behind the enemy for an easier Unburrow. Keep in mind that when enemies destroy a Tunnel it is shown on the minimap, so pay attention! Here are some good locations for you to use your Tunnel: -Base (for easy escapes) -One for each jungle quarter -Baron / Dragon -As many near lanes as possible for easy counter-ganks

R: Void Rush Rek'Sai's ultimate is mostly used as utility, since it has no direct offensive capabilities. It is a double-edged sword, because at level 3 she has all ganking tools at her disposal, but at level 6 falls short to most junglers who have a more impactful ultimate ability, like Rengar, Lee Sin, Nocturne, Vi, etc. Using this ability correctly relies on having many Tunnels across the map for global pressure. It is mostly used to get back to farming after a Recall, but can be vital for cross-map plays, returning full-life to a teamfight, escaping (it's super fun to do), and many other uses.

Pros and Cons

PROS + Resourceless + Great ganks pre-6 + Great sustain + Global presence + High mobility

CONS - Reduced sight - Melee - Level 6 gank isn't as strong - Must have many tunnels - Reliant on teammates

Invading and Clearing

Since Rek'Sai is resourceless, it isn't necessary for her to have a Blue Buff, so, you should always start at the Red Buff side, right? Not necessarily, because Rek'Sai benefits from a very cheese technique that can lead to many easy First Bloods, especially in low elo, but I'll talk about this later.

Because of our void mistress's passive, it is really easy to clear jungle camps if done correctly. Try to reset you auto attacks using Queen's Wrath, and always knock the jungle monsters up whenever possible. If your first clear isn't the smoothest, do the Rift Scuttler, since you can reduce its armor and MR by unburrowing beneath him and generate some Fury as well. If you don't plan on invading, start opposite to the side of the lane you want to gank. For example, if you're planning to gank Top lane and you're in blue team, start at the Kroogs.



As I was saying earlier, Rek'Sai is great at invading. To do this properly, you should know how good the enemy jungler's first clear is. Examples of junglers with a bad first clear: Nidalee, Rengar, Sejuani, Evelynn, Kindred, etc. and also know which side they start on. You can ask for your laners to ward Kroogs or Gromp, if necessary (you should keep your trinket). If you manage to get into their respective buff's bush while they are clearing, wait for them to get low on HP and quickly Prey Seeker Unburrow Queen's Wrath. Try to knock them up for as long as possible so they don't Flash and use your Queen's Wrath as soon as you Unburrow, it should be enough to finish them off.
NOTE: ALWAYS look at your minimap for any suspicious moves by the enemy laners. Even if you do blow the enemy jungler's Flash, try not to chase for too long as you might get ambushed.
As Rek'Sai, you always want to keep pressure on the opposite jungler, so ward often (more on this later) and steal their camps when possible, and always scatter the map with Tunnels.

Ganking

As I've previously mentioned, Rek'Sai's kit is great for ganking as soon as level 3, but it is necessary to learn her mechanics in order to maximize the effectiveness of the gank. Engage the gank always in burrowed form, Prey Seeker them for vision, tunnel behind the enemy (you can cross terrain and make for really interesting ganks, pics below) and when the time is right, unburrow and use your damaging abilities. Your laner should follow-up while they're knocked up. So, recapping:

Burrow -> Prey Seeker -> Tunnel -> Unburrow -> Queen's Wrath -> Furious Bite

Here are a few tunnel locations to help you get into position to gank really easily. Keep in mind that there are endless possibilities of tunnels.
(Note that I've only taken pictures from the blue team, but can be applied to the opposite lane, example, the top tunnel can be used in red team bot lane and vice versa).

> Top Lane






> Mid Lane







> Bot Lane

Warding

Note: These wards are only covering enemy or your own jungle, not things like the River or lane wards.

Teamfighting and general playstyle

If you're following any of the build I've shown above, then your job in the team is to either peel for your carries if there are any other champions who engage in your team or to engage a fight and knock as many people up as possible for your team to follow up on. You should be taking most of the damage during team fights and let your carries deal damage. If there's a fight in the jungle, try to flank through a wall with Tunnel and engage. If not, just Tunnel straight into the enemy team and engage the fight that way.
Note: Maybe the most effective method to engage or pick someone off is to Burrow Flash onto your target. It'll leave them with no time to react whatsoever and they won't be expecting the knock up since you'll be far away.

Conclusion

This is it. I hope you enjoyed not only the guide, but the champion as well. Please comment, as this is my first guide and I'm curious to see what the MobaFire community has to say about it :)
Any suggestions to add to this post or for me to make a guide for another champion (as long as I can play it, of course, hahahahah), let me know. I'll do my best.