Jungle Start Parity

I really like the way the jungle has changed this season, but in its current format the parity between red and blue sides doesn't really exist. Even for mana-intensive champions like Amumu or Fiddlesticks, starting on the red side is always superior to the blue side because of health mitigation and health returns afforded to the red-side.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Gromp buff. The poison armor really does add a lot of passive AoE damage that helps clearing the wolves and raptors (especially the raptors). But when it comes to damage mitigation, the Krugs stun is king. It simply can't be beat. Being able to stun the big monster in a camp reduces an immense amount of damage, especially for champions who good attack speeds or attack resets.

Then, we have the red buff smite... Frankly, the blue buff smite is neat-ish... But it's not great. Actually scratch that... It's very limited in practical uses. You get a chunk of mana back, but let's think about this for a moment. On the first clear, mana champions are about to get blue buff. No need for the extra mana there. On all subsequent clears, most champions have their mana issues sorted out. No real need for the extra mana there either. And if you don't have mana, it's completely worthless to smite blue buff unless you're just wanting to be extra safe in securing it.

That red buff smite bonus though? That is a TON of health back. Smiting red buff, along with the Krugs bonus, allows you to completely clear the other side of the jungle even if you use all your potions on the red side. For blue side starts, it's just not the same. There's no mitigation and damage and this season, jungler health is at a high premium.

I love the poison armor from Gromp, but it needs to have some sort of mitigation attatched to it (for neutral monsters only) if the blue side is ever going to reach parity with the red side. And figure something else out for the blue buff smite bonus, please...