Get Rek’d - The Void Burrower
Riot·12/31/2014, 10:40:16 PM·0 votes·17,873 views
Rek’Sai Rushed onto the Rift equipped with unique mechanics that could make her a boon to the right team - but require a unique playstyle.
However, a few junglers, most notably Shyvana and Nunu - typically called control junglers. They struggle with ganking due to their low CC and lack of gap closers. Rather than trying to match the enemy jungler’s pressure on lanes, their goal is to control the enemy jungler and minimize their impact. They do this by abusing their mobility to place wards deep in the enemy jungler, and counter every move the opposing jungler makes by predicting - and preventing or countering - their ganks, while counterjungling them to keep them behind.
Rek’Sai is completely unique as a jungler, in that while she is built more like a standard jungler (complete with gap-closer and CC), she has the capacity of a control jungler built straight into her kit.
Map Control
A jungler’s most important tool in game is their mind; a jungler who can predict where the enemy jungler will be can outplay them, always making plays around them. This is especially true of control junglers, who rely on countering enemy plays rather than making their own. Rek’Sai’s Tremor Sense gives her a heightened ability to track the opposing jungler and escape collapsing laners, providing the information she needs to control the map, even when unwarded.
This makes her counter-jungling extremely safe, as she is hard to catch unawares. While she cannot detect stationary champions, Prey Seeker can be used to scout ahead into common trap spots, granting vision of any targets hit.
Rek’Sai can also tunnel across short distances, even traversing walls. Once her tunnels are placed, she can return to them, allowing her a level of mobility and map presence that few junglers can rival. Void Rush, amplifies and extends her ability to traverse the map by allowing her to travel to any of her tunnels from anywhere on the map.
Stick Power
Like Shyvana and Nunu, Rek’Sai is capable of sticking almost indefinitely to a target, thanks to her increased movement speed when burrowed and knockup upon surfacing. If anybody manages to elude her, her tunnels allow her to give quick pursuit, even over walls.
While most control junglers suffer from a lack of pressure on lanes, Rek’Sai, brings lite versions of their CC, with her tunnel ability serving a similar function to Jarvan’s flag and drag.
Rek’Sai lacks any strong specialties, but makes up for it with a number of near-unique tools that function as weaker versions of other junglers’ tools.
Void Rush may not have the same teamfight power as Paranoia, but it still fills laners with terror when activated. Tunnel and Unburrow may not be as responsive as Jarvan’s flag and drag, but it still makes for strong ganks.
On the other hand, Rek’Sai has a lot of room to backfire thanks to her lack of specialization. If the other jungler gets to determine the terms of engagement, she may find herself looking to fill a void in her options.
This style should best appeal to aggressive junglers who like to play games with the enemy jungler and burrow into their minds: living in their jungle, eating their camps, and bullying them around before turning their eyes back towards the lanes, now uncontested.
Dandy is a clear choice for Rek’Sai, as his jungling style at Worlds saw him corralling the enemy jungler away from all possible ganks before executing a precise, uncontested gank. If anybody can use Tremor Sense to supplement his already solid vision control, it’s the jungler of the Season 4 World Champions, Samsung White.
In the NA LCS, Cloud9’s Meteos has always played a heavy counter-jungle style, and is known for his ability to shut down the enemy jungler in addition to making plays of his own. He has already expressed misgivings about Rek’Sai’s scaling after level 9, but he is also known for a pressure-heavy style.
Gambit Gaming’s Diamond pioneered counter-jungling in Season 2. With Rek’Sai on the field, could he make a return to his former glory? Much will depend on the team that is built around him, but if anybody has ever dared innovate with a new jungler, it is Diamond.
Whoever takes up the mantle of Rek’Sai, they will have to be careful not to fall into old jungling habits, as new Nunu players often do. She is not your average jungler, and failing to respect that can only yield subpar results. However, the versatility of her kit could pioneer a unique style for whichever jungler arrives first on the scene.
Standard vs Control junglers
Jungling is about pressure. Take away the jungler and you simply have laners fighting for cs. Most junglers apply pressure when they leave the jungle, by applying pressure on opposing laners. As such, what makes a good jungler is typically gap-closing ability and CC for strong ganks.
However, a few junglers, most notably Shyvana and Nunu - typically called control junglers. They struggle with ganking due to their low CC and lack of gap closers. Rather than trying to match the enemy jungler’s pressure on lanes, their goal is to control the enemy jungler and minimize their impact. They do this by abusing their mobility to place wards deep in the enemy jungler, and counter every move the opposing jungler makes by predicting - and preventing or countering - their ganks, while counterjungling them to keep them behind.
Filling a Void in the Jungle
Rek’Sai is completely unique as a jungler, in that while she is built more like a standard jungler (complete with gap-closer and CC), she has the capacity of a control jungler built straight into her kit.
Map Control
A jungler’s most important tool in game is their mind; a jungler who can predict where the enemy jungler will be can outplay them, always making plays around them. This is especially true of control junglers, who rely on countering enemy plays rather than making their own. Rek’Sai’s Tremor Sense gives her a heightened ability to track the opposing jungler and escape collapsing laners, providing the information she needs to control the map, even when unwarded.
This makes her counter-jungling extremely safe, as she is hard to catch unawares. While she cannot detect stationary champions, Prey Seeker can be used to scout ahead into common trap spots, granting vision of any targets hit.
Rek’Sai can also tunnel across short distances, even traversing walls. Once her tunnels are placed, she can return to them, allowing her a level of mobility and map presence that few junglers can rival. Void Rush, amplifies and extends her ability to traverse the map by allowing her to travel to any of her tunnels from anywhere on the map.
Stick Power
Like Shyvana and Nunu, Rek’Sai is capable of sticking almost indefinitely to a target, thanks to her increased movement speed when burrowed and knockup upon surfacing. If anybody manages to elude her, her tunnels allow her to give quick pursuit, even over walls.
While most control junglers suffer from a lack of pressure on lanes, Rek’Sai, brings lite versions of their CC, with her tunnel ability serving a similar function to Jarvan’s flag and drag.
Queen of All Trades
Rek’Sai lacks any strong specialties, but makes up for it with a number of near-unique tools that function as weaker versions of other junglers’ tools.
Void Rush may not have the same teamfight power as Paranoia, but it still fills laners with terror when activated. Tunnel and Unburrow may not be as responsive as Jarvan’s flag and drag, but it still makes for strong ganks.
On the other hand, Rek’Sai has a lot of room to backfire thanks to her lack of specialization. If the other jungler gets to determine the terms of engagement, she may find herself looking to fill a void in her options.
What’s Yours is Mine
This style should best appeal to aggressive junglers who like to play games with the enemy jungler and burrow into their minds: living in their jungle, eating their camps, and bullying them around before turning their eyes back towards the lanes, now uncontested.
Dandy is a clear choice for Rek’Sai, as his jungling style at Worlds saw him corralling the enemy jungler away from all possible ganks before executing a precise, uncontested gank. If anybody can use Tremor Sense to supplement his already solid vision control, it’s the jungler of the Season 4 World Champions, Samsung White.
In the NA LCS, Cloud9’s Meteos has always played a heavy counter-jungle style, and is known for his ability to shut down the enemy jungler in addition to making plays of his own. He has already expressed misgivings about Rek’Sai’s scaling after level 9, but he is also known for a pressure-heavy style.
Gambit Gaming’s Diamond pioneered counter-jungling in Season 2. With Rek’Sai on the field, could he make a return to his former glory? Much will depend on the team that is built around him, but if anybody has ever dared innovate with a new jungler, it is Diamond.
Whoever takes up the mantle of Rek’Sai, they will have to be careful not to fall into old jungling habits, as new Nunu players often do. She is not your average jungler, and failing to respect that can only yield subpar results. However, the versatility of her kit could pioneer a unique style for whichever jungler arrives first on the scene.
