Why You Should Put Time Into Ganking Top Lane Early On.

Hello Junglers! This is a post just for you because in my last 20 games 2 things have happened that have a huge impact on how the game unfolds.

• My Jungler ganks my lane often getting me ahead, I carry that lead into dominating my opponent then going to different lanes.

• My Jungler ganks once and then never again, or never ganks at all, and I either don't dominate my lane as hard or the enemy jungler ganks and I straight up lose.

Now I know that the second one looks like my fault, and to a small degree it is, but at the same time it isn't. Technically speaking we are suppose to be locked in a stalemate (assuming of course no one is making mistakes and respecting the others abilities) and that is where the Jungler comes in to make the difference. Not always the case obviously with champion match-ups and skill of each player making the largest of impacts, but that is why i took the time to spell out "technically".

So what happens when you gank my lane early on, like level 2-3? Well hopefully we kill the enemy laner, depending on how much HP I have I can stay in lane and continue to farm, gaining a lead over my opponent. At this point the enemy laner is forced into using their Teleport or lose out on several waves of Gold and Experience. You, the jungler, can either go off to farm, gank, OR you can wait for them to Teleport and gank them immediately again. Now if you decide not to stay, that is ok too as long as you come to gank again at least 1-2 more times. What happens is, with my lead, I can pressure them and possibly bully them out of lane. Whether I force them out of lane or not isn't a big deal because I still have teleport and can keep up the pressure but with better items and at least 2 levels on them.

So with 1, maybe 2, ganks I have basically won the lane assuming no outside forces interfere in our 1v1. You as the Jungler are now basically free to go to any lane at this point and not have to worry about Top lane anymore, although I highly recommend ganking again, possibly getting a kill or a few assists. Maybe come up for Rift, but other than that, Mid and Bot are where you can focus all your attention.

Now the enemy Jungler is the one feeling pressured, Top is most likely raging at them for not ganking and you are giving mid and bot hell with your "camping". They will feel obligated to come Top, most likely I am pushed pretty far up and their Top is spam pinging. Depending on how fed I am, I can probably 2v1 or at least kill 1 of them before retreating/dying. Maybe I will just back off and the enemy Jungler will feel the pressure to make a big play and they will dive me? Doesn't matter the point is, the enemy Jungler is being forced to make plays they did not want to make by a tilted Top laner. Once that fails, they will never go Top again.

What you should be doing while they are Top, is securing Dragon and getting Bot lane Turret, if Mid needs help go ahead and gank for them, you have the freedom to go wherever you want. Mostly though, you want them Drags and you want that juicy Bot lane Turret First Blood gold, these will further help your Top laner with their lead without you even needing to go up there. From there it becomes a game of "who makes the best decisions" which will decide who wins the game.

All of that, because you put some of your time into Top lane, a lane everyone believes is an isolated island not to be touched.

Now I am sure, if you have played Jungle at all this season, you have felt the pressure of not being as present as the enemy Jungler. That is because most likely, this is what the enemy Jungler did. They went Top lane a few times then focused all their attention on Mid and Bot. So their Top is dominating yours due to a gold and experience lead all because of one early gank and now you need to worry about Mid and Bot being camped. Spare yourself the trouble and take action first or counter their Top lane pressure with Bot lane pressure and get them ahead as quickly as you can. A similar situation can happen bot lane, but the chances of 4 people bot happening and cancelling their lead is highly likely. That is why its so nice to do it Top, that will remain a 1v1 or 2v1 for majority of laning phase.

I am a lowly Silver, and perhaps these tactics don't work in high elo. That is fine, they do work in low elo, we are bad and for the most part don't know how to play when behind. Why not always get yourself ahead?

Oh and just a note, if you get the kill that is fine, but just remember that the Top laner doesn't get as much Gold and you might need to come Top several more times in order to get them a real lead. If you keep getting the kills, that is also fine, just remember that you are putting yourself in a position to be the carry and you need to fulfill that position. You can't blame your laners for losing when you are so fed, you are taking the kills and are getting the gold.

EDIT: Just to clear things up, this is merely a suggestion, an argument that Top lane is worth ganking. As with any strategy in League, there are different variables that go into whether this strategy is valid or not, for example your Jungler, how fast you can clear, the enemy Jungler, your Top laner, and your Bot lane. I am not saying "GANK MY LANE NOW!!" because no Top laner should expect their jungler to gank and should expect the enemy jungler to camp them. However I am saying that it can be worth ganking Top lane, specifially early game, which can snowball your Top lane very quickly. They are then free to push or roam which allows them to create more pressure and relieve some of the pressure on you. For the last time, this is just a suggestion not a demand.