Pros talk the new jungle

It's been a few weeks since we first got our hands on the new jungle, as part of the pre-season overhaul that completely changed the way we play on the Rift. With different items to build, a plethora of new buffs, and new champions taking to the jungle in each professional match, Lolesports decided to talk to the experts for some analysis. We sat down with IEM San Jose champion William “Meteos” Hartman, TSM's new jungler Lucas “Santorin” Larsen, and Alliance's returning jungler Ilyas “Shook” Hartsema to talk all things jungle in this brand new world.

Tougher than they Look

All three players immediately pointed to how much more difficult the new jungle is to clear, with nearly every jungle monster stronger than before. Comparing it to the previous season, Santorin explains, “The jungle was really easy, so it was easier to get Level 3 and then do a gank, so Lee Sin and Kha'Zix were really good. But now, it's harder to sustain in the jungle, so you have to back earlier.” Shook agrees, adding, “Right now, you need sustain or a skill that can block damage in the jungle.” This has brought new junglers to the fray, most notably Warwick. His sustain and synergy with the new jungle items pushed him from obscurity to a nearly guaranteed pick/ban on patch 4.20. Shook in particular feels Warwick's strength at IEM was a bit much, saying “He does too much damage for how tanky he builds just because of one item.” Though Meteos disagreed, describing how Warwick’s lack of early pressure options gives laners the freedom to play as aggressive as they want, he nonetheless saw significant damage reductions in 4.21. Whether the re-tuned Blood Hunter will remain the terror he was at IEM remains to be seen. Warwick isn't the only sustain-focused jungler seeing some love, however. When asked to name their other top-tier picks, both Meteos and Santorin named Nunu for his crippling counter-jungling potential. Meteos also points to Pantheon as a “top-tier champion,” and suggests that even Zac may see a comeback in 4.21. Additionally, while Shook wants to play Vi but feels the camps' difficulty rules her out, Meteos isn't so sure. Calling her a “better version of Warwick,” he points out that Vi's ability to do a full clear before backing combined with her lane pressure options compensates for her ult’s cooldown. For now, it looks like it may take a bit longer to nail down exactly which champs will come out on top by the time LCS starts up again. And of course, it’s impossible to talk about viable junglers without addressing the most memorable game of the tournament: Unicorns of Love’s victory over TSM featuring a jungle Twisted Fate. Though impressed by their guts, neither Santorin nor Meteos are looking to copy the strategy, as both agree it was a surprise pick that relies on building your team around it. We just published a detailed analysis of the pick, but in short: think twice before you bust it out in your promotion series.

Sharing the Love

The new jungle has brought back an old tactic: bottom lane taking the Krugs or the Gromp to come to lane with a fast level 2, which many have pointed out as problematic for red side's jungler. With the Gromp camp unavailable, which Meteos suggests as the ideal start in most cases, the jungler’s pathing becomes limited and predictable. Even worse, Santorin says, the jungler’s movements are immediately telegraphed. “You'll see if the bot lane starts the Gromp because they'll have taken damage, and if they come later and they didn't take damage then you know the jungler just got the buff.” But if the alternative is starting the game with a severe bottom lane disadvantage, it may be a necessary sacrifice. By contrast, Shook doesn't feel this is a problem. “I do think it makes jungle's start predictable,” he explains, “But you can change your pathing throughout the jungle. If you start one side, you can just change up the camps, and still get a different pathing than what they expected.” In planning that path, he says you just start such that you come out at the lane you want to gank. Either way, this tactic shows no signs of going away any time soon, so we can expect to see teams continuing to adapt as the pre-season develops.

Developing Diversity

The pre-season buzzphrase is “strategic diversity.” In introducing all of these new buffs and options, the design team hopes players will find more strategies viable than ever before. Unfortunately, so far Shook isn’t convinced this is the case. “I think right now the only thing they changed is you basically only smite the Raptors for their smite buff...and Warwick is viable,” he laments. Meteos is more optimistic, but isn’t entirely satisfied. Compared to junglers like Lee Sin and Jarvan IV who can gank effectively at level 3, he feels that junglers with a weaker early game aren’t able to compete without tools to apply pressure. However, he also insists that early game pressure is an important part of the game. “I like the option of being able to do stuff early game. I think if everyone was forced to farm the jungle until 6 like Warwick every game, it would be a lot more boring.” Instead, Meteos continues to hope these weaker early game junglers will be able to find ways to be competitive and apply that pressure. Patch 4.21, the first major update to the pre-season, just hit. Major nerfs to Ranger’s Trailblazer and Warwick alongside huge buffs to Sejuani and Zac, among other exciting changes, just might push the game closer to the the “strategic diversity” 2015 aims for. We’re still a ways away from the start of the new season, and there’s sure to be more tweaks along the way. In the meantime, we’ll be able to watch the new meta develop right before our eyes. Change is good, after all, and there’s no time for it quite like the pre-season.

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