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Need help from Platinum and Diamond jungle mains

beastkitty·10/28/2015, 4:44:22 AM·1 votes·880 views

Hi guys,

I recently made it to Gold IV while pretty much only jungling Rammus, Akali, Malphite and Nocturne. It seemed like I could do no wrong and every game was going very well. With Akali, Malphite and Nocturne, I would try to farm up really fast so I can hit 6 and then provide quality ganks. I would typically hit 6 one camp behind the solo lanes (sometimes earlier with Nocturne). However, recently, my games with nocturne have been going really poorly, and my team was very behind by the time anyone hit six. This was mostly due to lvl 3-4 jungle ganks by the enemy jungler. (this cause me to drop to Gold 5) When I get my ult I would gank a lane, but by then in the past few games, it has been too late. I feel that with certain junglers like Nocturne, Akali and Malphite you are better off waiting until you are six, but then run the risk of having your team be way behind. I'm conflicted on whether I should try to gank earlier, run the risk of a fail gank and lose on farm and experience, or if I should continue waiting to gank at 6 with a higher chance of success.

I could try to get the scuttle crabs every time to help my team not get ganked, but as far as I know, you can walk around those wards with very little effort (correct me if I'm wrong). Thanks!

5 Comments

Blue Collar Bear10/28/2015, 4:58:22 AM1 votes

You can't walk through the river without being seen by a scuttle crab ward, so you must divert which is generally easy to do.

Top lane is usually decided between levels 2 - 5. You have to be there for that. If you have not already tipped the balance by that point and your laner has been ganked, there usually is no coming back until mid-late game. You should be around top lane by level 3 to preempt the gank from the enemy jungler, or to gank the lane yourself. Even if it is just a flash burn, the lack of an escape summoner forces the laner to play more passively.

Mid lane is generally a farm fest in the current meta, but you should be trying to gank this lane closer to around the time both laners will be hitting six. Mid laners generally are level and/or item dependent, so tipping the scales at this point or before this point will ensure a safer, easier lane for your laner.

Bottom lane should only be fighting, if they have a favorable match up. You should be there, if they do. If not, focus on saving your ultimate for the countergank. A little note on favorable match ups: If your laner has a matchup that they should be winning (e.g. Renekton beats Riven) and they're not, they probably will not be able to comeback, even with help since they misplayed the laning phase. Take this into account when deciding where to gank.

Don't worry so much about failing ganks. Worry about being efficient. If you're blue side and you go krug-red-blue and you have >3/4 hp, check to see if you can gank top. You're already there. If you can't, proceed to do another clear. Back. Look for another gank somewhere along your jungle pathing. I will say that you should always do your best to turn a gank on your lanes. The second you see them, check if they can survive. If they can, drop what you're doing and run to them. Twenty seconds and a handful of gold is investment on potential kills and experience that you deny the enemy team, and may gain for yourself.

To talk for a second on your picks, only Akali has poor pre-6 ganks and that's because of her lack of cc. She sticks to her target very easily, but the current meta for junglers demands that they have at least a single target cc and be a moderately good tower diver through either dropping aggro or displacements (see Elise, Gragas, and Lee Sin in Worlds). You could easily do what I mentioned above.

Why should you listen to me, though? I peaked at Plat I 90 LP this season, and I've been maining top/jungle since season four.