The more I play, the more I feel the scuttle change isn't that bad

I want to kinda share this opinion that grow in me more and more as I play the jungle role.

If you guys want some context, I mained jungle for many season (S3 to S5/S6) and if I am always a player who play all roles (with a main play in mid lane), I always felt at my best in the jungle. I always hated invade and basically how some early jungler would go yolo in your jungle to punish you, so I am not an early jungle lover by any mean. I ward defensively as a reflex when I am an amumu main having to handle freaking agressive lee-sin player wanting to bully my as* (rightfully so).

We all know that the scuttle change made it so very agressive/early jungler were the top meta and how any jungler that couldn't stop them were doomed to be bullied out of their jungle (ESPECIALLY if the opponent mid laner is an agressive one, their duo would make your own unable to help you), which increased the gap and the snowball, etc etc.

I really didn't like this change. I could, like many, see the problem for any slow clear jungler or weak early jungler as they were kinda 'doomed' to hope the ennemy wouldn't know how much of a leverage they got so they wouldn't invade or just bully you out of the scuttle. Worse, I even got a game when I played a weak early jungler and got destroyed by an agressive Udyr with a responsive midlane in his side, so you should know that I would LOVE to hate this change and say to riot that they destroyed their game, my life, that certainlyT is responsible, that you need Ghostcrawler back because blablabla.

Then time pass, and I began to adapt (Yeah I know, the famous "ADAPT NOOB")... And I find actually this scuttle objective... Very interesting to play in a mental way.

First of all, depending of where I start, I would either put a ward near the scuttle side where I think the ennemy jungler start or just near my side. Depending of my match-up and my pick choice (along with my botlane/mid pick), I will already decide if I want to take that scuttle, if I want to contest it or if I let it alone.

If I see the ennemy jungler go toward this scuttle (NOTABLY if their clear is quicker), I would change the way I prepared my road and rush toward the opposite side to get the other scuttle so I can always be 'even' up in term of objectives. I would use my wards in ways that allow me to know what my opponent is doing.

Then if the opponent would go for an early gank, being mid or bot for example, I would ping premptively my teammate for a potential gank and if a gank happen or a good ward show the ennemy jungler want to put pressure, I would either use that time to clear my jungle faster (if he goes mid) or to do a countergank if the MU is good for my laner/me OR to go into the ennemy jungle to either maybe steal their other buff or a camp quickly.

Then come the usual scuttle respawn, and it is actually when I began to also really like the dynamic in it. Scuttle provide a lot (some regen, exp, a strong amount of gold and vision) and depending of my state in the game (Above or below my opponent, the MU become good or bad for me in the jungle, my laner being fed or behind, wave state), I would plan if I want to take that scuttle quickly or if I let it to my opponent, ward it and go for a gank or even an invade in his opposite side of the jungle (depending of his clear).

Basically... Yes, I feel the scuttle allow for a strategy and an adaptation from my side. I feel the scuttle change bring an objective based dynamic that is interesting because I can make future plan, and work on giving me the tools (ward, anticipation, use of my inner knowledge of the game or of the opponent type of play) to react toward what happen.

But what about the jungle diversity?

I want to have a very honest talk about it, especially since many people talk about tank being too weak or how jungle diversity is killed. The jungle was never truly diverse in term of top pick, the top pick were always the same because a jungler who can bring a high impact early and transitionnate smoothly will always be better than an other off meta pick. Jungle is about being the best in it, it is all, it is an abusive role that wrap the way League is played. The jungler has the leverage to go 'anywhere', he is the one that can make a situation be a number disadvantage, he is the wild card.

Top jungler were often the same, depending of what the meta asked of the jungler. Want gank? Lee sin, J4, Elise, Reksai. Want control? Trundle, (old) Reksai, Want initiation/frontline? Sejuani, Zac Want early power? Graves, Xin (post mini rework)

Then other top jungler were always abuse case (yi feral flare, nasus jungle back in S3).

Jungle diversity is a myth, because it isn't like a laning phase with two tower and a minion wave. If anything, the scuttle changes just showed that very good jungler would prevail and that it is the rest that is too weak (either because they don't clear quick enough or can't dual or don't have a healthy clear).

Which mean jungle diversity wasn't killed by the scuttle change in my eyes, it just showed jungle was always not balanced and that you either need to tweak numbers in such a way anyone has a good clear or dual (which is impossible) or you need to add bonus damage from some spell into monsters (which Riot want to avoid if possible).

So what? We shouldn't say this change suck?

I don't think it is as easy as a black/white kind of stance. I think that what Guinsoo said about the jungle is true, it is a bad role for the game because of its inherent nature and the impact of it. But I truly feel that the scuttle change just showed how much the jungle was always an abuse case (people saying tank were good before forgot that good meant 'Better than everyone else', if not there wouldn't be any tank) and that Riot will need a LOT of work (and I don't blame them personnaly, it is just a true f*ck up thing to manage) to be able to tune a champion as a jungler while not gutting it up as a champion.

See what happened about Kindred or Graves even? Yeah, there is the meta (it is why Trundle rise from the dead in the jungle if sejuani/zac become good again in the meta) but it is more like "Are you good? Ok it is nice, but do you do the jungle better than everyone else in what it is ask? Now you are hired".

TL:DR

I do feel the scuttle change made me do and take more strategic decision and brought an interesting mental game about how to manage the jungle pathing and the decisions. I feel the scuttle changes just showed all the problems that come with the jungles roles and impact. I feel the lvl 3 needing 4 camp (or the krugs) must stay.