Vel'Koz Jungle, viable in higher elos? Not trolling.

CaribbeanCask·Apr 7, 2016·2 votes·772 views

What do you guys think about Vel'Koz jungle? I've had lots of success in lower elos (bronze,silver) and normal games, would it work in higher ones? I've gone legendary multiple times with it. Its a legit question cause he has great clear speeds with easy kiting to stay pretty healthy. He has awesome ganks with a knockup, a hefty slow, and a long range ult that is very hard to escape not to mention all of the above are AOE. People play Aurelion Sol jungle and Fiddles and it seems like he'd be even better than both. Its also hard to invade him with his E/Q combo.. Obviously he is entirely skill shot oriented so he is hard to play as a champion, but if you have good mechanics and can land your skill shots, he seems like he has everything you need to be a solid jungler. Most people's knee jerk reaction is to say it sucks until they actually think about it or see it played.. but i seriously think its a very viable choice if your team comp can accept an AP assassin jungler.

Any actual thoughts on why it wouldn't work compared to other ap assassin jungles?

My normal build is or Runes are AP quints, magic pen marks, armor seals, 6 CDR/LVL - 3 MR/LVL glyphs Masteries are 12/18 thunderlords-45%cdr

12 Comments

Live2LetDieApr 7, 20161 votes

I would insta gank him after my first side clear with any jungler and just stay in his jungle. If he doesn't rage quit before 6 minutes then that opponent is just a bad jungler.

So squish, no escapes, poor clears, dies to most junglers easily.

The DeckownerApr 7, 20161 votes

1.early clear is too weak due to how squishy he is 2.gank can be hard because his abilities can be dodged/enemy laner goes all in on u and murders u 3. enemy jg can easily counter jg/invade and kill u due to u having no mobility.

Vanic998Apr 7, 20161 votes

Yes! He's VELKOZ jungle does work! I've tried it myself. Here are some videos as proof: Velkoz Jungle

CaribbeanCaskApr 7, 20161 votes

i usually go crugs for stun, then raptors, then red since ill get life from the smite, then ill see if crab is up or look for a gank

CaribbeanCaskApr 7, 20161 votes

ok but he doesnt have poor clears... you are just assuming that possibly? he has better or as good of clears as most assassin junglers.. legit. if you are decent with velkoz, go into a custom game and jungle starting crugs with no leash, you can do a full clear. start W, then go E, kiting properly you take very little dmg. less dmg than rengar which i play a lot.. who also has no escapes and no mobility

CaribbeanCaskApr 7, 20161 votes

you can try to insta gank a velkoz thinking hes weak until you get hit with his E and two Ws and have to run away getting nothing out of your invade.... then once he hits lvl 3, youll never get to him if he has decent skill shots with most other junglers. you are knocked up, slowed, and taking tons of dmg for free before you get to him. you would need someone with extreme mobility and you would HAVE to dodge his skill shots in order to successfully invade...

theonlyaustinApr 7, 20161 votes

No. You will get counter jungles and invaded so fast your tentacles will spin

Sariat1Apr 7, 20161 votes

I don't think so. Vel'koz needs consistant income to make it to lategame, and once you pass the first few clears, jungle camps start to take a serious toll on his health. Add this to the fact that in order to contest objectives with summoner 11 , you have to be very close, and usually right in the middle of the fight, which is a terrible idea for Vel'koz.

Vel'koz also has no mobility, absolutely no sustain whatsoever, and very little dueling potential, which most of the meta junglers bring in tons (Lee, Nid, Kindred,Udyr).For these reasons, he is very vulnerable to early invades and can easily be solo-killed by almost any other jungler.

Vel'koz is all about positioning, and proper positioning requires adequate vision, and vision is very poor in the jungle. He also lacks reliable CC (Amumu, J4, Rammus), and I disagree that he brings good ganks, as all of his CC is relatively short in duration.

Finally, Vel'koz is a utility-poke mage, and that is something that belongs in the Mid/Support roles. In no way is Vel'koz an AP assassin. If you want an AP assassin, play Diana, Fizz, or Ekko. If you try to play Vel'koz in the jungle higher than low ELO, you'll be in a world of pain.

Sincerely, A Vel'koz Main

CaribbeanCaskApr 7, 20161 votes

well i mean, he has all the sustain he needs from item 2031 since after you get your first item you take no dmg in the jungle. i usually dont even need item 2032 unless i do get invaded a lot and then i just want to stay healthy for trades. you can kite every camp easily with your kit. everything youre saying goes the same for aurelion sol and fiddles so how come they can work but velkoz wouldnt?

Sariat1Apr 7, 20161 votes

1: Do you ever see Aurelion Sol and Fiddlesticks played in the jungle anywhere above gold?

2: Fiddlesticks has amazing sustain from his W and a targeted CC ability, and Aurelion Sol has an Amumu ult sized stun and insec-style ult that can be flown in from the brush.

3: These champions do get regularly invaded and usually fall behind as a result. They also suffer from being relatively bad at contesting objectives due to lack of escapes/tankiness.

I'm not bashing your idea for Vel'koz jungle, it's fine for lower elos, but once you face an organized team, or a jungler that invades properly, or people who can dodge skillshots with ease; you'll feel like you hit a wall with the viability of your idea.

CaribbeanCaskApr 7, 20161 votes

well, yes i do see them played in challenger/master/diamond streams that i watch.. which is why i thought up Vel'Koz. fiddles has decent sustain but zero escapes in any way except a fear. he is just as susceptible to being invaded. Sol's stun if made that big is extremely easy to dodge since you will have had to charge it up far away and theyll just see you coming... anyone who plays sol in higher elos never "spirit bombs" cause it doesnt work with a remotely decent team. that being said, when sol uses his Q like hes supposed to, its as easy to dodge as a vel'koz E if not easier since you can watch it as it slowly comes to you. im not saying hes going to be a top tier jungler ever... im just saying hes as viable as fiddles and aurelion. And if youre a vel'koz main then you must lose every game cause of people dodging your skillshots with ease? that argument would go hand in hand with playing any skill shot champion including a mid laner. if you could hit your skill shots as a mid laner, you could hit them as a jungler. its even easier as a jungler because every time you show up, its by surprise and they will be simply running away. being turned on is a problem for every jungler but if youre decent, you arent ganking when they can effectively turn on you... ie when they have high health or your laner isnt already engaging or right with you. https://youtu.be/sKydfvMqSkk he has some pretty sweet clears.. better than a sejuani for instance.