Preseason Changes Will Adversely Effect Jungle Tanks

Before getting to the addition of plants, we first have to look at the system they are replacing, Smite Buffs, and to be fair, the removal of these buffs will have a much larger impact on jungle balance than plants will.

Undoubtedly the largest buff to go will be the Razor Sharp, granted by the Raptors (Chickens). And this is a direct nerf to the amount of control every jungler can exert on the game, so why am I including it here, in a post ~~whining~~ discussing how the preseason changes will effect jungle tanks? Because without the damage and split push potential offered by AD, AS and AP junglers, tanks rely on being able to fall back into supportive position for their team, and clearing vision is a main way they stay relative throughout the game.

The next largest will be Gift of the Toadstool, granted by Gromp. Not only does Gift of the Toadstool's damage scale with max hp, it also requires enemies to auto attack you, and is inherently and explicitly designed for tanks, losing it will result in slower clears of course, but also a diminished team fight presence, as the damage affects champions as well as minions and monsters.

The Wolf Spirit, losing the wolf spirit isn't so much a nerf to tanks, as it is a buff to invaders, the wolf spirit is often enough to deter even the most aggressive invaders, and stay with me here, who do invaders love to see on the enemy team? That's right: slow, low damage, tanky junglers. Just as chicken smite will be a net loss to the higher tiers of play, I believe losing the Wolf Spirit will be a net loss for lower tiers. And many junglers will once again be largely susceptible getting decimated by early invaders like Shaco, Kindred and Lee Sin, especially at the lower spectrum of play.

Now I'll gloss over Kruggs' stun and Blue's mana as there's a strong case to be made that losing these will be a nerf to other junglers more so than tanks, but in my opinion, these losses pale in comparison to those listed above. But no kruggs stun will mean (especially AS) junglers will take more damage clearing, and champions without readily available cc will have a harder time clearing the scuttle crabs, which lose a large amount of Armor and MR, when CCd.

Red, instead of red buff exclusively granted a burst of healing, now every Smite vs a monster will grant a slightly smaller heal, and Smite's recharge time will be increased by about 20%. First, more available healing throughout the jungle is a buff to champions who build damage as opposed to tank stats, as they can do more damage, and clear more camps with that health, in addition, the increased cooldown is more punishing to tanks, because they rely on smite to clear camps more than other types of junglers. In any given game, you can expect a greater portion of a tank's damage to monsters to come from Smite, than you would expect from a champion who builds, say, AD.

With all this in mind, we come to the implementation of Plants, There's been a lot said, both in favor and against on these, but I'm going to abstain from judgement, at least until I get to try them for myself. Suffice to say, Riot believes these are a better system to balance the game around than Smite buffs. You may disagree, but it seems we'll be facing this system no matter what, and I'm more interested in providing feedback on the system, than I am in criticizing it.

The most explosive (pun intended) of the three pants is unsurprisingly the Blast Cone. Obviously, every situation will be different, but I think in general these will be of more use to the invaders than the invaded (and again, who do invaders love to see on the enemy team?) Assuming the Blast Cone spawns where it does in the video, just North of red buff, let's imagine I'm a poor little Amumu chipping away at my red buff, when out of the bushes jumps a big bad wolf (Kindred) now my most reliable escape route is instead blocked off by a knockback my enemy can reach (with ranged autos) before I can. Every situation will be different, but in general I believe these will be a buff for early aggressors, and so, a nerf to tanks.

Next, the Honeyfruit Again, more healing is better for champions who build damage, spending your gold on health becomes less attractive every time you add healing to the game, lighter characters are simply balanced around being able to do more with that than tanky ones are.

Finally, we have Scryer's Bloom Without knowing the spawn locations and sight duration, it's difficult to tell how these may effect the eternal struggle between the hunters and the hunted, but I'd like to say, part of what made the Wolf Spirit so effective, is how deep it was in the jungle, It can be very difficult and dangerous for aggressors to Smite it, atleast before the outter mid lane turrets fall. Aside from that, it's also worth mentioning that these will provide true sight, allowing you to squash wards in the effected area, I'm unsure if it will provide sight on either Invisible (Shaco, Kha'zix, etc) or Camouflaged (Eve, maybe Twitch, maybe Rengo?) units, to use Riot's new terminology, although if I were a gambling man, I'd go with yes on the ladder, no on the former.

I'm not saying there's no potential for counter play with any of these systems, or that this will be the death of tank junglers, only that, I believe this change will be slight buff to invaders, and a slight nerf to tanks, so I suspect we'll see jungling tanks fall out of style, and be pushed, by and large, into support and top lanes, atleast for now.

Thanks for your time, please let me know how you foresee these changes playing out, and whether or not I'm talking out my ass.