This may be why your jungler is not ganking to help you while you lose lane.

Weathered·Jul 22, 2016·101 votes·9,321 views

I've had too many games where the laner is either tilted or furious that their team's jungler isn't helping them catch back up by ganking. They think that if they can just get a gank, they might be able to get that lead they need to turn the tide and win the lane for their team.

Well yes, that is possible. But from a junglers standpoint, a terrible idea.

Let's say top is two kills down. Mid is even. Bot is a kill up. From a jungler's standpoint, mid is holding their own, bot has shown they can out play their lane, and top seems to be losing a 1v1. A gank top might help them get back to even ground, but in the end that would mean every lane would be about even, with a slight chance bot might be ahead. If the enemy team has a better team comp or late game, this is a shit idea.

Now, if the jungler ganks bot, it's almost guaranteed that they will snowball. Now, you have one person behind, one doing ok, and one (or two counting support) ahead. If the person behind builds tank, this means you have the advantage.

TL;DR It's usually more beneficial, especially in low ELO, to try to put one lane ahead to carry than scramble around trying to help losing lanes.

Edit: A lot of you are saying things along the lines of "but in this situation you wouldn't", or, "If it's this champ matchup gank them". Yes. I realize you don't follow this post blindly into a game and never gank a lane who dies. There are a lot more things to being a jungler. I just wanted to point out this specific case.

157 Comments

RaeyxxJul 22, 201646 votes

Kinda carries a cold, dick-ish logic to it.

And yet, I approve. Whole-heartedly. Not sure what this says about me.

EDIT: Oh my god, people. I didn't say it to be critical. XD Quit flipping out on me.

james121234Jul 22, 20161 votes

Oh yeah its totalllllly dickish to play the game the right way fuck us huh. Might as well go help feeding timmy and lose the game instead of winning for the 4 other players! XD

Troll for TrumpJul 23, 201612 votes

Master Yi main?

jaymc1130Jul 23, 201635 votes

As a diamond jungler I'd just like to point out that in your OP example what you lay out is a situation where one lane is already ahead (bot lane, likely due to your intervention) and one lane is even (mid, the most important laner in the mid game stages, which the game ought to be approaching) and your advice is to ignore the losing lane...

When this is the complete opposite of what should be done. Bot lane is ahead, they should be able to stay ahead for another minute or two and take that tower on their own. They don't need any immediate help and are already applying a tactical and strategic advantage. Going to that lane is a mistake in this situation, a strategic one, by the jungler. What the jungler SHOULD do is gank mid asap, force the opposing mid laner to back or die, then take their mid laner top with them to gank and take the tower.

THIS is the ACTUAL solution to the problem you present. Do not ignore a lane that is having trouble when you first realize its having trouble. That's a sure fire way to put yourself in a bad spot later down the road and likely to cost you the match. Create a situation where you can alter the circumstances for your top laner by altering the cicumstances for your mid laner. A mid laner who is ahead can roam. Having two champions roaming the map and helping side lanes applies greater pressure. Greater pressure wins games.

This is the proper solution. This is they way to get your entire TEAM ahead. Play the role correctly please, or don't queue up for it. If you are offering advice about said role at least offer valid and correct advice.

Chumpzi11aJul 23, 20162 votes

TO me the correctness of the answer depends on the local conditions. What are the matchups, what neutrals are available, what time is it. If it's early, and ocean drake is up, the best move might be to take drake. If your mid is a bully, and hasn't (say, ziggs vs kassadin), step on mid asap, if you think you can (Is kass already 6? still got flash?). Is herald available? Will that be enough to swing the matchup? maybe get that for your top. Has the top laner died to ganks, but is ok in farm and xp? maybe ward for them, and sweep out the other laner's wards. Maybe the bad guy backs off some if their vision is gone, especially if they see you clearing it. Is your top down not just 2 kills, but 30 cs and 2 levels? maybe gank bot, push the tower and swap the duo to the top lane. Let the displaced top laner take the jg farm(or have them gank mid) and invade their top side yourself. What I like about league is it's too complicated for a one paragraph scenario to have a one paragraph solution.

jaymc1130Jul 23, 20165 votes

{quoted}

TO me the correctness of the answer depends on the local conditions. What are the matchups, what neutrals are available, what time is it. If it's early, and ocean drake is up, the best move might be to take drake. If your mid is a bully, and hasn't (say, ziggs vs kassadin), step on mid asap, if you think you can (Is kass already 6? still got flash?). Is herald available? Will that be enough to swing the matchup? maybe get that for your top. Has the top laner died to ganks, but is ok in farm and xp? maybe ward for them, and sweep out the other laner's wards. Maybe the bad guy backs off some if their vision is gone, especially if they see you clearing it. Is your top down not just 2 kills, but 30 cs and 2 levels? maybe gank bot, push the tower and swap the duo to the top lane. Let the displaced top laner take the jg farm(or have them gank mid) and invade their top side yourself. What I like about league is it's too complicated for a one paragraph scenario to have a one paragraph solution.

For the most part this is correct. The situations you find yourself in are fluid and dynamic. What I provided was an ideal response to a particular and specific scenario given the information on hand. The bottom line though is this: Do not, ever, under ANY circumstances, ignore an aspect of the game simply because a player is playing poorly and you don't want to try to assist them. Its a team game, it requires team work, be a good teammate and find a way to put your other teammates in a position to succeed. Whatever solution, whatever problem, always, always, ALWAYS, be willing to do what is needed to put your teammates in a position to succeed. Players who refuse to do this will never achieve any degree of success.

One of the most classic topics on the boards is the misconception that has been floating around for years that a jungler should avoid helping a laner who is behind. First of all, a proper jungler, playing the game in a proper fashion, would not have allowed his laner to get so far behind in the first place (If one of my laners dies, that lane becomes my priority. I want to reset the advantage in that lane ASAP.) and tends to happen for one of three reasons, 1) the jungler is ignorant of the matchups and does not understand what lanes are at an advantage or disadvantage based on the champions selected and chooses to ignore a laner that is countered allowing him to fall massively behind when that lane SHOULD have been his first priority and probably received a gank in the first 4 minutes of the game, 2) the jungler is ignorant of how to play jungle, particularly in the current meta, and has spent the majority (or entirety) of the first 15-20 minutes of the game afk farming the jungle (usually allowing all the lanes to fall behind) leading to a 90% chance of a loss, 3) the jungler is ignorant of how and what to prioritize in the match and consistently fails to anticipate where he will be needed, when and cannot compete at the game on a strategic level which consistently causes him to lose. If a laner gets down early, help them. Don't let the oppositions lead become so large that you are INCAPABLE of helping them.

Yes, you should want to snowball a strong lane and give them an opportunity to create and apply a strategic and tactical advantage. But what you do not want to have happen is for a game to drag along, the time comes for a pivotal and crucial 5v5 teamfight for the win, and your team basically only has 4 players because one is so badly hamstrung, while the opposing team basically has 6 because one is so strong they practically count as 2 players. This is one of the most common mistakes I see low level players making and I understand many a high level player has guided them onto that path because, for us, we know how to apply an advantage on an opposite side of the map when things are going badly on the other side. But that's a totally different thing than allowing one laner to become useless... We ARE using that laner. We have made him a distraction that draws attention away from our true focus while we win the game in a different fashion. So many high level players forget to include this strategy aspect when they give that piece of advice and it absolutely gives lower level players the complete wrong impression of what to do in game. A low level player will see a laner that is down and go "I can't help you, you're playing badly, nothing I can do" and then proceed to do ineffectual things until the game ends in a loss. A high level player will see a laner that is down and go "Yo, I can't help you yet until x, y, and z, happen and I can swing by with some other members. Either we do that or you draw as many people to you as you can, stall those fights out as long as you can, and we will group on the opposite side and hard push to the inhibs to force them off you." and then proceed to employee an effective strategy that catches the opposition off guard en route to a win.

Point being, its a team game, make use of your teammates, find a way to strategize a solution to a problem that has a high chance of success rather than do nothing at all and allow an opposing lead to snowball away until you lose. Don't ALLOW the opposing team to build on an advantage when they gain the upper hand, stop that advantage in its tracks by emplying a counter strategy.

DavarrilJul 23, 20164 votes

The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.

Pale PirateJul 23, 20162 votes

What people NEED to know, is that they should focus on snowballing their laners, and not on saving losing lanes. That's the simple main goal of this thread, so while your advice seems cool, you shouldn't try to invalidate the OP.

jaymc1130Jul 23, 201611 votes

{quoted}

What people NEED to know, is that they should focus on snowballing their laners, and not on saving losing lanes. That's the simple main goal of this thread, so while your advice seems cool, you shouldn't try to invalidate the OP.

No, this is wrong. What a proper JG should do is prevent a lane from losing in the first place.

Its the same type if misguided thinking that has a significant portion of the community playing the game improperly.

As a JG, your FIRST priority is to acquire a lead for all your laners in the first 8 minutes of the game. That is your job, that's the function of the role, that's how you are supposed to play. If you cannot get all your laners a lead, which will happen some times, a laner will die before you get a chance to get to them, what you need to do is assure that lane stays even so they can continue to farm up and remain viable as a threat later in the game so you CAN work on snowballing the lanes that managed to acquire a lead. A lane that is losing badly frees that opposing laner up to start making strategic and tactical adjustments that counteract what you will be doing as a jungler. This is bad news. You want to be the team that frees up a lane to roam before the opposing team does. You want to deny the opposing team an opportunity to do the same. This is part of controlling the map and pace of play. Its basic fundamental stuff.

I Go Pew Pew PewJul 23, 20165 votes

As a JG, your FIRST priority is to acquire a lead for all your laners in the first 8 minutes of the game. That is your job, that's the function of the role, that's how you are supposed to play.

According to most junglers, this is false. Most junglers say shit like, "your lane isn't my job" (even when I'm still up 20 cs after being out ganked 3-0) when asking for help. They are under this false notion that their only job is to farm the jungle and help take a couple dragons...but only if we're already ahead and don't have to fight for said dragon.

Now that being said, if I'm jungler and I have a laner that is feeding by being stupid, I'm not ganking for him. If you want to continually run and try to fight your lane opponent after 2 deaths, you're on your own. I'm going to camp other lanes and hope that the fed ass top laner stays top so we can fight 4v4.

Pale PirateJul 23, 20162 votes

What the heck? This guy isn't even diamond, he is silver. Last ranked game played at 2014? Silver according to lolking? If you are diamond, please use your diamond account here.

jaymc1130Jul 23, 20162 votes

{quoted}

What the heck? This guy isn't even diamond, he is silver. Last ranked game played at 2014? Silver according to lolking? If you are diamond, please use your diamond account here.

Its a lot more fun to post on JayMC and see who is new to the boards. Any one who has been on the boards for a long time (I've been posting here for 6 years now) knows me and my various accounts. I have always chosen to post exclusively on JayMC every since I became known for this name. It makes things simpler when people don't have to constantly keep track of 16 different account names for me and many of my accounts are publicly known for several years now, including my best ranked account. It's even posted in this thread.

In any case, hello there Mr. New To The Boards Guy! Time for you to get your education on. Have a read and learn to become a better league player.

BIue MonkJul 24, 20161 votes

This is clearly your own vision of the role, biased by your own experience. To me, as a jungler, your main role is to make the good macro strategic choices that will increase your chance of winning the game, and that doesnt always necessarily involve acquiring a lead for "all" your laners in the first 8 mins. This is very situational, and there is nothing better than understanding the game as a whole, knowing the match ups, and estimating the risks and taking the best decision according to your own knowledge.

jaymc1130Jul 24, 20162 votes

[{quoted}](name=BIue Monk,realm=EUW,application-id=3ErqAdtq,discussion-id=jRO5HUVp,comment-id=001e000200000002,timestamp=2016-07-24T02:07:28.964+0000)

This is clearly your own vision of the role, biased by your own experience.

It's actually not. I'm merely repeating what superior players have shared with me when I was looking for assistance on how to play the role properly. So while it is biased (in the sense that the principles I outline are are exclusive to highly successful players who achieved that success by adhering to said principles, be they professional players or merely diamond level na talent), it's biased based on the level of success other want to also achieve in the role.

To me, as a jungler, your main role is to make the good macro strategic choices that will increase your chance of winning the game, and that doesnt always necessarily involve acquiring a lead for "all" your laners in the first 8 mins.

This is correct. Acquiring a lead for all the laners in that time frame is the ideal scenario, it cannot happen every game. What the point of this thread was is how to handle the situations where the ideal scenario was not achieved, and poor and incorrect advice was given as to how to deal such a scenario. Granted, there are circumstances where it could be more valid, say, if your top laner is a mao facing a teemo. The Mao will still be useful to his team later in the game even if he is significantly behind because of his design and function in team fights and the overall strategic aspect of his play style. The teemo will, as all temps do, become a useless team member for the opposing team and the longer that game goes on the greater the chances for a win for mao's team because of the fundamental elements of those champions and how they function.

Contrarily, in a scenario where your top lane fiora is getting whipped by the opposing nasus it is absolutely vital you shut that nasus down, empower the fiora to be able to fight him and threaten him so she can zone him off of cs and prevent him from stacking to the point he becomes a late game monster that cannot be killed who can also one shot towers.

This is very situational, and there is nothing better than understanding the game as a whole, knowing the match ups, and estimating the risks and taking the best decision according to your own knowledge.

Correct again. Except for the part about ones own knowledge. Particularly for low level players their own personal knowledge is so poor that it should be eschewed in favor of the knowledge more successful players provide.

What is important is that a jungler realize his role is the most difficult role in the game because it requires an extreme amount of knowledge, awareness, and anticipation to be able to play the role effectively. A laner may only need to know the matchups for his specific lane intimately. A jungler must know every matchup in the game intimately.

Pierce The VealJul 23, 20161 votes

{quoted}

As a diamond jungler I'd just like to point out that in your OP example what you lay out is a situation where one lane is already ahead (bot lane, likely due to your intervention) and one lane is even (mid, the most important laner in the mid game stages, which the game ought to be approaching) and your advice is to ignore the losing lane...

When this is the complete opposite of what should be done. Bot lane is ahead, they should be able to stay ahead for another minute or two and take that tower on their own. They don't need any immediate help and are already applying a tactical and strategic advantage. Going to that lane is a mistake in this situation, a strategic one, by the jungler. What the jungler SHOULD do is gank mid asap, force the opposing mid laner to back or die, then take their mid laner top with them to gank and take the tower.

THIS is the ACTUAL solution to the problem you present. Do not ignore a lane that is having trouble when you first realize its having trouble. That's a sure fire way to put yourself in a bad spot later down the road and likely to cost you the match. Create a situation where you can alter the circumstances for your top laner by altering the cicumstances for your mid laner. A mid laner who is ahead can roam. Having two champions roaming the map and helping side lanes applies greater pressure. Greater pressure wins games.

This is the proper solution. This is they way to get your entire TEAM ahead. Play the role correctly please, or don't queue up for it. If you are offering advice about said role at least offer valid and correct advice.

Yes, I agree with this. This tactic would get you ahead, the other tactic would put the enemy team's snowballing top vs your snowballing botlane. It's entirely a gamble because the enemy toplane could be a late game champion getting fed, which would actually guarantee a loss.

The issue with the strategy is that it seldom works. In low elo, that is. In silver (where I, the filthy casual, am), people don't know how to gank, and people don't know how to respond to ganks. Likely what will happen is (a) you miraculously kill enemy laner/force him back (b) the jungler, the midlaner, or both die trying. So while your strategy is the best, and more likely to work than the OP's, and also more effective than the OP's, any strategy overall is not likely to work in low elo. At the moment, low elo wins are entirely determined by attitude is what I have noticed. Morale wins games here all by itself.

jaymc1130Jul 23, 20161 votes

I win games there all by myself. The strategy not only works, its so effective that it should be what you do every time.

https://i.gyazo.com/7cbb5b3d2d3813b5e6cad4a774a042ac.png

Pierce The VealJul 23, 20161 votes

{quoted}

I win games there all by myself. The strategy not only works, its so effective that it should be what you do every time.

https://i.gyazo.com/7cbb5b3d2d3813b5e6cad4a774a042ac.png

Unfortunately I'm not much of a jungler player haha. I'm more of a toplane island player, but when I play jungle I'll keep what you said in mind.

I'm also a bit too casual to improve honestly. But I do like speaking tactics and theory, and that's why I'm here.

jaymc1130Jul 23, 20162 votes

{quoted}

I do like speaking tactics and theory, and that's why I'm here.

Same, tbh.

The reason many low level players play the game improperly is they are poorly instructed or educated on how to do things right. Threads like this tend to be a cause for confusion and is why I say something any time one like this pops up.

Pierce The VealJul 23, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Same, tbh.

The reason many low level players play the game improperly is they are poorly instructed or educated on how to do things right. Threads like this tend to be a cause for confusion and is why I say something any time one like this pops up.

Yeah it definitely helps for you to go around doing this. Do add me, and maybe we can talk some strategy.

I just wish that I had the time to play more and rank up, because I don't have anything to back up my claims when I'm silver x.x

Me: "do xyz" Other people: "haha nope you know nothing you're silver" Me: ... Some diamond player: "do xyz" Other people: " yessir! Thank you very much for your advice sir!"

For good reason, but still, makes me wish I wasn't a casual sometimes.

Spicy RiceJul 24, 20163 votes

The people who discredit you because you are silver are idiots. You could have perfect game knowledge but not the skill to carry it out. Sort of like a coach

WeatheredJul 23, 20161 votes

I'm not in Diamond, and in the land of Gold ELO it's actually more reliable to get one lane very fed that already has shown they can carry and do well. I agree that there are smarter options, but for the broad number of games I've played doing what I said above works.

{quoted}

No, this is wrong. What a proper JG should do is prevent a lane from losing in the first place.

For this comment also, yes, it is the jungler's job to quickly apply pressure and help their lanes get the upper hand. However, again with the ELO difference, there will almost always be a laner who dies in the first 5 minutes and possibly dies again. Most of the time, trying to save that laner causes YOU to die in the process also.

And you aren't currently diamond.

jaymc1130Jul 23, 20161 votes

{quoted}

And you aren't currently diamond.

I'm not?

http://na.op.gg/summoner/userName=likeamaws

News to me... Guess my info is bugged or something on the client, op.gg, lolking, etc.

WeatheredJul 24, 20161 votes

You might want to log into that account to post then, right now you are "jaymc1130"

GundayMondayJul 23, 20161 votes

It really depends. More often than not, this line of thinking will lose you the game. But depends how good/bad your top laner is, what match up they're in, when their powerspikes are, etc. Generally a player that is losing 1v1, will continue to lose 1v1, even if you come top and feed them gold from a gank. Smarter is to take towers with your competent teammates and feed them global gold, then rotate top with your team and a numbers advantage.

Best way to help a bad laner is to end the laning phase and group. My $0.02!

ReshaosJul 23, 20161 votes

{quoted}

It really depends. More often than not, this line of thinking will lose you the game. But depends how good/bad your top laner is, what match up they're in, when their powerspikes are, etc. Generally a player that is losing 1v1, will continue to lose 1v1, even if you come top and feed them gold from a gank. Smarter is to take towers with your competent teammates and feed them global gold, then rotate top with your team and a numbers advantage.

Best way to help a bad laner is to end the laning phase and group. My $0.02!

Not always the case. An example would be your laner is Akali. Akali has a horrible laning phase most of the time. You basically pray you hit 6 and get your gunblade asap with as few deaths as possible.

The jungler should focus that lane in order to help Akali snowball easier.

GundayMondayJul 23, 20162 votes

Right, and if Akali was 0-0 and playing safe, I am happy to come top and help her out! Once she gets that powerspike at 6, that's easy streak! I want to give her rift herald too, that will snowball her further. But if she's trying to fight 1v1 before her powerspike, and losing, she's bad. This tells me that I need to focus elsewhere because she's going to make bad decisions and not carry. Regardless of playing a lategame champ.

jaymc1130Jul 23, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Right, and if Akali was 0-0 and playing safe, I am happy to come top and help her out! Once she gets that powerspike at 6, that's easy streak! I want to give her rift herald too, that will snowball her further. But if she's trying to fight 1v1 before her powerspike, and losing, she's bad. This tells me that I need to focus elsewhere because she's going to make bad decisions and not carry. Regardless of playing a lategame champ.

Completely the wrong line of thinking. Akali is a champ that is only viable in a game if she gets ahead. Much like a Fiora or a Riven. These lanes MUST gain an advantage EARLY or they will be useless for the duration of the game. It is vital to assure they acquire a lead that allows them to be a 1v1 threat because each of these champs is extremely lackluster in terms of team fight potential.

GundayMondayJul 25, 20161 votes

I just said what you said? Are we even talking about the same thing anymore?

If Akali is down 0-2. It's going to be hard, if not IMPOSSIBLE to snowball her. If she's 0-0, then yeah, I will go top and snowball her. Because she needs to get to that level 6 powerspike, and loves having extra gold for more damage and assassin burst.

This is a lot harder to do if the laner is playing badly and not waiting for smart moments to fight. Waste of time to gank for this kind of player.

ReshaosJul 26, 20161 votes

And what if she is 0-1 because that fits the "1v1 before powers pike and dies"? Just because Alkali has a bad landing phase doesn't mean you don't harass or attempt to cs when the opportunity arises.

I have personally gone 0-4 in lane but come out 16-7 at the end winning the game. That is how Alkali works. When she gets the revolver, usually around level 6-7, then gank her lane. It doesn't matter if she died 3 times. If that enemy laner is stupid and didn't buy any MR or very little MR then Alkali can at least burst them to 1/5 health, which should be enough for you to kill.

Sorry, I just disagree with if the laners dies in a 1v1 then they will continue to do so mentality. If they are an early game champ then you're probably right, but some Champs hit their power spikes later (Alkali, Gang plank, etc). When those Champs hit their power spike then it most likely won't matter what happened during landing phase.

As Akali, there is always someone to pop ;).

GundayMondayJul 26, 20161 votes

Yeah for sure. I'm just saying it's harder when you're 0-2, versus 0-0, versus 2-0. It's an easier sell to me as a jungler if you haven't fed the enemy team gold already. That's all.

jaymc1130Jul 23, 20161 votes

{quoted}

Best way to help a bad laner is to end the laning phase and group. My $0.02!

This is ANOTHER common mistake lower level players make, they turn Summoners Rift into an ARAM match starting at 15 minutes. That's NOT how the game is supposed to be played. There are a number of reasons.

Constantly having every team member in one area is extremely inefficient. If all 5 players are in one lane there is only one wave of minions for them ALL to share the gold and XP from. Meanwhile, due to the minion changes in preseason, any lane you were losing is now being pushed in by the opposing teams minions which applies more pressure and allows the enemy team to rotate to force take objectives simply by moving from lane to lane.
A team that has an ineffectual player is handicapped in a 5v5 fight. The player will likely be timid, not want to commit because they are on the weak side (which is bad news if its a carry or a front line unit, you won't be able to deal the damage needed to win or absorb the damage needed to win a teamfight), and generally retreat at the first sign of adversity instead of performing their team fight job function (you ever seen a 0-5-1 malphite run away from the engage even when the enemy clumps for a perfect 5 man ult that could turn the game around? Yeah, happens all day long).
You often sacrifice a strategic advantage when this occurs. If the opposing top laner used tp and its on CD and your top laner has tp and yet you are all grouped up you are wasting a SIGNIFICAT strategic advantage that you could be applying to create a situation where you have a 5v4 fight that can be won more easily than a 5v5 fight.
Particularly in low level play teams that constantly group never, ever, ever, take objectives. They just force fights over and over and over until one team gets fed enough to ace and push mid for an inhib and a significant strategic and tactical advantage.

Do not turn Summoners Rift into Howling Abyss. This might actually be the MOST COMMON mistake low level players make.

GundayMondayJul 25, 20161 votes

Hi, I've been a diamond player since Season 3. What rank are you again? If you'd like some coaching to learn how to play the game properly, happy to help you out. I'm currently in the top 20 coaches on lol-coaching. Sign up for a session and I can teach you how to play optimally. Most of what you're saying is just wrong, because of math, and logic. Happy to walk through it, but would rather do it over voice so you can understand better. Feels like you're completely missing the point in this thread. Want to help you out!

billxxJul 22, 201616 votes

Junglers can recognize when a laner is terrible. If you keep engaging renekton when he has full fury, we are going to let you burn

Captain AishiJul 22, 20163 votes

omg the number of times I facepalm after killing someone as renekton when they do that is unimaginable (you'd think that a plat 1 fiora who's at half health wouldn't use her W to last hit a minion under tower when renekton has full hp and fury and is standing right in front of her)

Ariel the CruelJul 23, 20162 votes

I can honestly say I've never had that issue. I play primarily mages top (Lissandra, Ziggs, Morgana, Zyra, and Soraka). More than happy to to just farm and poke people from half a screen away.

And before someone asks, I play a lot of tanky champions mid (Nautilus, Illaoi, Galio, Malphite). Freaking assassins almost every game.

TequilaZombieJul 22, 201615 votes

I'm a former jungle main and this post speaks to my hearth.

A few tips for laners so you don't get forgoten:

1- Please stop thinking we're the ones supposed to engage and hold the target until you can follow up. Some junglers have that potential, most don't. Engage first, make the enemy try to fight you and even if you start to lose the 1v1, we will be there to turn the tides. If we have two failures trying to gank your lane because you fail to engage, forget about any other ganks. A gank is made by two team mates working together, not by a jungler bringing a kill in silver platter for you.

2- If we give you a kill and you are not behind, expect some tax. Ganking takes time and is overall worst than powerfarming when it comes to gold and exp. Specially if you are the assholish top laner who's on the red side, pushes past the middle of the lane and wants a lane gank. To you might not seem like too much, but for us those feel like an eternity.

3- If the enemy is capable of towerdiving you, a 2v1 in the middle of the lane means a double kill for the enemy. The best I can possibly do by myself in such a scenario is pick a revenge kill after a dive. At least wait until another lane is able to come help so we don't feed the enemy harder. Rush your tanky items and wait, we will help you as soon as we convince our mid laner that he actually needs to help you.

4- Follow our lead in the gank. If the target went under his turret and we got the aggro and are furiously pinging the enemy, it means that you should follow us to get the kill. If we're desperatly pinging for you to back away it is because something went wrong and we need to back away as well or because diving will be a bad idea. Just trust us (unless we proved to have stupid ideas, bad junglers are a thing).

If you are able to do those 4 things we're much more likely to gank your lane. If you are unnable to do one of them, use the chat and let us know. Actually, let us know if you CAN do those things as well. A gank is two or more teammates using the ~~power of friendship~~ numeric advantage and teamwork to overpower an enemy. Without communication things won't work properly in the vast majority of the cases.

Supreme Senpai69Jul 22, 20162 votes

Upvoted just for #1 honestly. If they wait for the jungler to engage then it's basically a failed gank. Because nobody is just going to fight the jungler when they gank, they're going to run. But if the laner starts a fight the enemy will think nothing of it and commit to the fight, which at this point the jungler will come to gank and make it a 1v2, ensuring your victory.

That's what a gank is.

Not the laner spamming 'assist me' ping as the jungler comes into the lane, begins fighting the laner as you farm minions and start to walk to the fight, and the jungler is forced to flash away after 1v1'ing.

Edit: Also unfortunately you can be the perfect laner and be camped to hell and back and still not get any ganks, and that happens actually quite a bit for me, but you should still act as if the jungler is a good jungler

UlriahJul 22, 20168 votes

Also, if the enemy jungler is nearby while you try to gank for your losing lane, then you're pretty much screwed because they will have a stronger 2v2.

Serpents EmbraceJul 22, 20166 votes

I've lost more games because we had a tilted lane get pummeled that only gets worse after they ask for ganks and the jungler refuses, than I have when all of our lanes are pretty even.

Even just showing your face in the lane and not using any abilities can take off a lot of pressure and help even the scales out. I've noticed a lot of junglers in my games seem to go far too hard with their ganks, busting flashes and wasting smites at times when all they needed to do was put the fear in the opponent that they're being watched.

YuGiHoJul 22, 20164 votes

i dont know about this, i know not evey game is the same but if either top is a carry top lane like Irelia Riven Jax Malphite its worth going top. these champions have the ability to near instantly marksmen and mages so its worth it to make sure they dont ruin your winning lanes.

all it takes is summoner 12 and now the fed enemy top is even more fed an your previously winning bot lane is dead. what im saying is that its not correct to abandon a lane without thinking of the impact it can have on the rest of the team.

FantasySniperJul 23, 20164 votes

I usually just look for good opportunities to gank. That's really the only thing that defines who gets it.

Are you pushed to your tower and just waiting to CC them? Sure! Let's do it! Are in the middle of the lane with an escape artist? If I don't have anything better to do, I'd love to burn their flash for you. Are you asking me to dive their tower just to gank? Only if you can guarantee that we win the fight so hard we can grab turret afterwards. Are you capable of facilitating a gank at all? If the answer's no, go to hell.

briss8Jul 22, 20163 votes

{quoted}

I've had too many games where the laner is either tilted or furious that their team's jungler isn't helping them catch back up by ganking. They think that if they can just get a gank, they might be able to get that lead they need to turn the tide and win the lane for their team.

Well yes, that is possible. But from a junglers standpoint, a terrible idea.

Let's say top is two kills down. Mid is even. Bot is a kill up. From a jungler's standpoint, mid is holding their own, bot has shown they can out play their lane, and top seems to be losing a 1v1. A gank top might help them get back to even ground, but in the end that would mean every lane would be about even, with a slight chance bot might be ahead. If the enemy team has a better team comp or late game, this is a shit idea.

Now, if the jungler ganks bot, it's almost guaranteed that they will snowball. Now, you have one person behind, one doing ok, and one (or two counting support) ahead. If the person behind builds tank, this means you have the advantage.

TL;DR It's usually more beneficial, especially in low ELO, to try to put one lane ahead to carry than scramble around trying to help losing lanes.

Until you realize that the enemy top laner is a fed Nasus with 600 stacks and then 1 v 5 steam rolls your entire team. This is why even if behind top lane can still be important to gank regardless.

Witch of BabylonJul 22, 20163 votes

I thought it was good to gank the losing lanes so you don't always have to rely on the fed person in case they die in the teamfight.

ValyrianBladeJul 23, 20161 votes

{quoted}

I've had too many games where the laner is either tilted or furious that their team's jungler isn't helping them catch back up by ganking. They think that if they can just get a gank, they might be able to get that lead they need to turn the tide and win the lane for their team.

Well yes, that is possible. But from a junglers standpoint, a terrible idea.

Let's say top is two kills down. Mid is even. Bot is a kill up. From a jungler's standpoint, mid is holding their own, bot has shown they can out play their lane, and top seems to be losing a 1v1. A gank top might help them get back to even ground, but in the end that would mean every lane would be about even, with a slight chance bot might be ahead. If the enemy team has a better team comp or late game, this is a shit idea.

Now, if the jungler ganks bot, it's almost guaranteed that they will snowball. Now, you have one person behind, one doing ok, and one (or two counting support) ahead. If the person behind builds tank, this means you have the advantage.

TL;DR It's usually more beneficial, especially in low ELO, to try to put one lane ahead to carry than scramble around trying to help losing lanes.

Only applies if top is behind 1v1. If top is getting camped and tower dove, it doesn't apply at all.

Especially when mid is even, bot is a kill DOWN, and top is like 3 or so kills down, but has been ganked 7 times already.