Tanky Jungle Bummer
I really am not sure what can be done about this, but tanky junglers just don't seem to work very well in the new jungle. I play Lee Sin pretty exclusively this season because of his jungle sustain being exceptional when you use his kit well. One game, he got banned, J4 got picked by the other team, and I got forced into the jungle with my third jungle pick, Sejuani. There seems to be a common problem with picking a tanky jungler in solo queue... You're useless. If you get a lane thats having a bit of trouble from a bad matchup, maybe you can make a difference, but if your team is really struggling, and get 2 people to 30%, good luck getting those kills. On lee or J4 it would be no problem because they have some burst built in, but even WITH the recent buffs, sejuani, along with some of her other jungling tank friends, just feel so worthless if there's not somebody there to mop up off their plays. Now I don't know if I would have won this game on another champ, but tanky junglers I believe are WAY TOO DEPENDENT on teammates to function properly as damage carries, which isn't always going to happen. At least on Lee or J4 I can pick people off when they're low and get out. Sejuani has a great kit for getting out and helping other people get kills, but it seems like she, and many of the other tanky junglers just struggle too hard when people aren't taking advantage of your big plays. With one of the stated goals of the new jungle to make tanky junglers more viable, I think something things should be re-tuned in their favor. It would be nice if you could have that tanky teamfighting advantage AND also make some decent plays if your team is struggling, so YOU can get fed and carry, instead of having to rely almost entirely on teammates to bring the heat. I just see no reason to go sustain tank in solo queue. In ranked you must carry HARD, on 70% of your games to increase your rank. I find this virtually impossible without playing somebody who can mop up kills, and if needed, build tanky for the lategame to also fulfill that role decently. I do actually really like the new jungle, it's MUCH more interesting, but it seems like the same junglers that succeeded before continue to do so.
and
main, so I know tank, and if they worked I would happily play them again. This is the bottom line, tanks are not weak. They are just as strong as they have ever been. The issue is rock, paper, scissors. Just because everyone is playing paper doesn't mean Riot needs to buff rock.