Welcome to the jungle: Ambition and Score
From a complete visual rework, to new items, to smite buffs, 2015 upended the previous jungle meta. The new jungle landscape initially levelled the playing field a bit for those who had never jungled, but may have wanted to give jungling a try. Naturally, this included professional players.
The Korean professional landscape dealt with their own upheaval at the start of 2015, as the majority of their top-tier jungle talent left the region towards the end of 2015. Some teams, like Samsung Galaxy, had to start completely over from scratch. Others, like CJ Entus and KT Rolster, role swapped veteran players within their organizations to fill the jungle vacancy.
KT's Jungle Conundrum
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No stranger to position swaps, the KT Rolster Bullets fielded a roster with former mid laner Ryu "Ryu" Sang-ook in the jungle in Summer 2014 with little success. After Ryu parted ways with the Bullets, they alternated throughout the Spring 2015 Preseason between Yoon "Prime" Du-sik and AD carry Go "Score" Dong-bin in the jungle position.
Score's opening match was against long-time KT Rolster rival, SKTelecom T1. Most notably, he played Rengar and was so excited during the match that he forgot to buy Bonetooth Necklace, although he still finished with an impressive score of 1/2/11. Afterwards, the former AD carry admitted that he had wanted to move into the jungle position for some time, but that the role had previously been occupied. Score's role swap was a risky move from KT, based on Score's surprisingly successful results in the Champions Spring 2015 Preseason.
Almost Doesn't Count
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A legacy AD carry for the KT Bullets, Score had earned the nickname "The Immortal" from his near-impeccable ability to position on the backline of a teamfight, rarely dying. However, the jungle role has unlocked Score's unbeknownst aggression. His jungling style is dynamic, vastly different than his safe and patient AD carry play.
Due to his presence and map movement, Score boasted over an 80 percent kill participation for the majority of the season. He attacked when possible, and picked mobile champions like Lee Sin, Jarvan IV, Rek'Sai, and Vi. Unfortunately, he was often stymied by losing lanes, so his overall effectiveness was limited. His pressure was allocated to reactively stem the bleeding rather than proactively ganking or warding.
Only late in the season -- after Jung "Fixer" Jae-woo became the starting support -- did KT begin to look cohesive. Winning or even lanes gave Score better early gank opportunities, permitting him to exert more early pressure. This trend carried over into the Summer, additionally allowing KT to flex more of their creative muscles.
KT Rolster kicked off Champions Summer 2015 strong, but has stumbled in recent sets, looking inconsistent and lost. The worst thing for a jungler is a lack of presence, and Score may have well been non-existent in their recent 0-2 loss to the KOO Tigers. He additionally lacks the experience that former Arrows jungler Lee "KaKAO" Byung-kwon would have had to salvage a losing situation. As a jungler, Score has vast room for improvement, but occasionally has flashes of brilliance. His inconsistencies mirror KT Rolster's performance as a team.
CJ's Collapse and Rebirth
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Known for his intellect, Ambition was once hailed as one of the best mids in Korea. On CJ Entus Blaze he was cited by many players as a leader within the team. With the departure of both Baek "Swift" Dae-Hoon from Frost and Kang "DayDream" Kyung-min from Blaze, CJ recognized Ambition as a veteran who could guide their newly merged roster and swapped him into the jungle role.
Unlike Score, Ambition had been heavily criticized due to his lackluster mid performances. Going into Champions Spring, many doubts followed Ambition into the jungle. CJ as a whole was criticized for sticking with so many aging players rather than searching for solo queue talent.
But surprisingly, both Ambition and CJ Entus have prospered within the new Champions landscape. The team finished 3rd Place in the Playoff gauntlet, and pushed eventual champions SKTelecom T1 to five games in a hard-fought series.
Ambition, Or Lack Thereof
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CJ Entus' loss in the Playoffs was largely due to the spectacular revival of SKTelecom T1 career jungler Bae "bengi" Seong-ung. Bengi used Rek'Sai to jungle circles around Ambition in their postseason set, showing a vastly superior understanding of pathing and vision. This exposed a glaring weakness in Ambition's jungle play.
Contrary to his in game handle, Ambition's pathing lacks zeal and inventiveness. Often passive, Ambition has a straightforward style that works well with CJ's plodding nature which can be severely punished by other junglers. In their most recent match against SKTelecom, bengi once again predicted Ambition's pathing, pushing him off of buffs.
Additionally, CJ Entus have cultivated a reputation for playing with their food. They often lose their first game before adjusting and storming back to take the match 2-1. Ambition's best tool in the jungle is his steadiness and calculation. Given time to study his opponents in game, he usually adjusts well. However, when up against better jungle talent like bengi or Jin Air's Lee "Chaser" Sang-hyun, Ambition still struggles to be relevant and lacks the creativity to change his gameplan accordingly.
Ambition's straightforward style guides CJ Entus to victory, but can easily be exploited by smart teams and junglers. And when Score's creativity shines through he pushes KT Rolster -- but like his team, he lacks consistency. Neither jungler has become a star yet, but it's to be expected as they are both easing into the position.
In League of Legends history, nothing has affected the global competitive landscape quite like the aptly-named "Korean Exodus." Much like sprouting fauna rising from the ashes of a volcanic eruption, the jungle of Korea shows life. It isn't anywhere near its former glory, but progress is apparent.
