IDC if its likely not gonna give you a kill, gank the lane anyways for the pressure alone is worth

JavelinJoe·Feb 5, 2017·26 votes·1,326 views

Just having the presence of the Jungler is sometimes enough to win lane. But just never going to one is a near guaranteed way to ensure they lose that lane because likely the other team's Jungler is showing up and is adding that pressure. If the enemy Jungler has been to one of your lanes a few times, and you have gotten nothing positive to show for it (counter-jungling, ganking another lane at the same time, taking Dragon/Rift, etc...), and you have not even been to that lane once, then you are partly to blame for why that lane lost.

19 Comments

NidkenFeb 6, 201710 votes

I have to disagree.

Its not generally about getting the kill or not, its about trading positively. If a jungler knows there is no way to gank a lane without trading equal summoner spells, ultimate spells or damage the gank is usually not worth it. It is better in terms of the entire team to gank a lane where you can burn the enemies flash or ultimate because you give an advantage to your lane that way anyway.

Ganking for the sake of ganking and coming out behind or equal in the trade is almost never worth the time or effort, so I dont think ganking for the sake of ganking is a good strategy.

Supreme Senpai69Feb 6, 20171 votes

Getting them low and forcing them to play defensively or having to back is almost as good as a kill though. What you said is true but I promise 99% of players don't think "If I go into this lane it's probable that both sides will equally blow summoner spells." If you're that good at jungling this post isn't for you tbh. This post is for the numerous junglers that go "I can't get a kill so there's no point."

Relieving pressure just feels so damn good, and reminding them that they can be ganked so they don't just double flash on you with no repercussions. I honestly can't tell you how many times I get flashed on in lane when I'm hugging tower just because they know they won't be ganked in the next 5 minutes.

NidkenFeb 6, 20171 votes

If you see your laner burn flash alt-ping it for the jungler to see. If they continue to play aggressively it's generally a free kill at that point.

If they are holding their flash and you are being pressured don't get too discouraged, especially if you are losing out on farm. As long as you aren't giving kills to your enemy you aren't doing any harm to your team. Most junglers will gank once they see you pushed into your tower, otherwise they risk being counter-ganked. Being counter ganked in a losing lane is very risky because you are more than likely to lose the trade/give away kills and this puts you and your team even further behind. Simply put, it is unwise to gank a losing lane unless you have a read on the enemy junglers relative location or other enemy tp cooldowns.

Your jungler may opt to gank other winning lanes in an attempt to gain a lead for other members of your team. There is a higher chance of success if ganking a lane with a lead. If you survive the laning phase you have done more than enough. YOU ARE NOT THE LESS SKILLED PLAYER IF YOU DON'T WIN YOUR LANE.

(junglers may be desperate enough to gank a losing lane if it is unwise to let that lane win) eg letting vayne win lane without ganks can cost you the lategame.

Ganking for the sake of dealing damage and relieving pressure is only something I would recommend if the jungler has no better options, otherwise its a waste of time. Sometimes having your jungler farm is better for your team then them ganking because they trade gold and xp from neutral camps.

I hope this helps some get a better grasp of a junglers thought process when they get spam pinged from a losing lane.

Supreme Senpai69Feb 6, 20171 votes

Very well-written post! I actually jungle quite a bit and agree with some points here. A lot of times though the junglers are just brain dead. It's like when you jungle and the laners are brain dead? But if you decided to play mid lane one game, you'd probably notice your jungler is now brain dead. It's sorta weird.

Like in my example, almost every game I have people without flash that we ping, under our turret, and we still don't get ganks in the bot lane. Usually it's because the jungler is premade with the top laner and they tower dive nonstop, forcing ganks and usually dying. Sometimes they just like to invade instead of gank... and usually end up dying lmao.

You're totally right, and I totally get that... it's just not what actually happens is all. I feel like this topic was made more as a way to vent for those situations when people are braindead than legitimate advice.

Spaceman5pffFeb 6, 20171 votes

As a jungler who likes to think he has a pretty good understanding of LoL: Lower elo players simply do not know how to capitalize and snowball off of pressure. If the opponent doesn't die, they WILL NOT snowball.

It really just becomes a gamble on how competent the laner is. I usually feel much better about looking for lanes where I have good combined CC and damage, having them push to tower, then diving the enemy. Most lower ELO laners don't know to expect the dive when they get suddenly pushed in, so it works pretty well if you know how turrets work!

Supreme Senpai69Feb 6, 20171 votes

Isn't it enough to prevent the enemy from snowballing though? Sometimes all it takes is one back, letting your laners back as well or push and getting some CS

I know more often than not no matter what the laners are gonna feed, but still haha

Spaceman5pffFeb 6, 20171 votes

I mean, it will only be good for anything if the laner can capitalize on it.

JoeMGFeb 6, 20171 votes

{quoted}

I have to disagree.

Its not generally about getting the kill or not, its about trading positively. If a jungler knows there is no way to gank a lane without trading equal summoner spells, ultimate spells or damage the gank is usually not worth it. It is better in terms of the entire team to gank a lane where you can burn the enemies flash or ultimate because you give an advantage to your lane that way anyway.

Ganking for the sake of ganking and coming out behind or equal in the trade is almost never worth the time or effort, so I dont think ganking for the sake of ganking is a good strategy.

What this guy said. It's really not worth it for the jungler to show up to a lane if there's no positive outcome from it - especially now that the jungle exp got toned down. It's a much wiser use of their time to either continue farming/warding or try to help lanes where there is a higher potential for success.

ValyrianBladeFeb 6, 20174 votes

{quoted}

Just having the presents of the Jungler is sometimes enough to win lane. But just never going to one is a near guaranteed way to ensure they lose that lane because likely the other team's Jungler is showing up and is adding that pressure. If the enemy Jungler has been to one of your lanes a few times, and you have gotten nothing positive to show for it (counter-jungling, ganking another lane at the same time, taking Dragon/Rift, etc...), and you have not even been to that lane once, then you are partly to blame for why that lane lost.

THIS. THIS EXACTLY.

This is pretty much the sole reason I lose top lane sometimes.

Have a lead in lane, bullying them out, applying pressure. Enemy jungler ganks, I survive (maybe use flash, maybe don't). Enemy laner now has wave pushed in. They have good waveclear / good zoning control in the matchup (e.g. ESPECIALLY Illaoi). Can do fine against them if the lane is reset but can't stop them keeping me pinned under turret. Jungler NEVER shows up to help, eventually enemy jungler comes to dive.

Sometimes you just need a jungler to show up in order to get you back on your feet...

ThorHammerzFeb 6, 20173 votes

Pfft, gank your lane? Gimme 20 minutes, dem krugs (and raptors and wolves and gromp and blue and red and scuttle crabs) be looking mighty tasty right now. Just hang on for a bit while I afk-farm mmmkay?

[slayer-pantheon-thumbs]

Unlucky47Feb 6, 20172 votes

If the other team jungler is continuously ganking your lane and your jungler is in the other two lanes and they win because of that its worth. Simply putting pressure doesn't do much if there's opportunities to win other lanes.

JavelinJoeFeb 6, 20172 votes

and you have gotten nothing positive to show for it (counter-jungling, ganking another lane at the same time, taking Dragon/Rift, etc...)

I know it is worth for 1 lane to fail while 2 to succeed. Read the post before you comment.

Shuyin178Feb 6, 20172 votes

A few things, while I don't disagree with what you're saying though 1st

presents

presence (yes I'm that guy)

2nd : When a jungler goes to gank, we have to weigh how worth the gank is. We do gank to help pressure, but at the same time we need to weigh how much time and resources we throw away when we do it. "What can we get from the enemy laner if anything? (kills, summoner spells, general damage, etc)", "Where could I be on the map right now that would be more of a benefit to the team? (ganking an easier lane that could score objectives, counter engages, etc)", and when ganking a behind lane "How strong are the laners right now? Can my teammate back me up when I go in? Will the enemy laner be to strong killing me and/or my teammate without dying?" Junglers go through these questions (and more sometimes) each time we go to gank a lane. If we just showed up in a lane because we felt like it, would very possibly could end up giving up more important pressure on other parts of the map that could have needed us more than a simple, "Gank this person so I can get 5 CS" deal.

Troll for TrumpFeb 6, 20171 votes

"jglers shouldn't gank lanes that are behind"

enemy laner snowballs out of control

"noob top"

byakugan123Feb 6, 20171 votes

{quoted}

"jglers shouldn't gank lanes that are behind"

enemy laner snowballs out of control

"noob top"

this happened to me when i was playing poppy into ap varus(wtf?) in norms. he pokes me out of lane, kills me right after i tp (not first blood), and his jungler ganks for him multiple times... my jungler came top once at lvl 3. It got so bad that our support annie was like "OLAF HELP TOP YOU ******" and walked to top lane from bot lane to help me. At the end of the game everyone was like we lost bc poppy fed varus (even though they fed a freaking smite ignite caitlyn)

VectrosFeb 6, 20171 votes

One thing you should keep in mind though is how far ahead the enemy lane is in this case. I've had lanes die 3 times before 10 minutes, then question why I never came up. If you're dying that much, chances are when I go to gank it probably won't succeed, and there's a chance we're both going to die anyways, particularly against someone like Darius. I'll help by holding the turret while they go B or something, but an actual gank isn't likely to happen unless we have assistance from mid/top to ensure a positive outcome.

Gregor GysiFeb 6, 20171 votes

{quoted}

If the enemy Jungler has been to one of your lanes a few times, and you have gotten nothing positive to show for it (counter-jungling, ganking another lane at the same time, taking Dragon/Rift, etc...), and you have not even been to that lane once, then you are partly to blame for why that lane lost.

It really depends though. Just showing on the lane may increase the pressure on said lane - but it decreases the pressure for the other lanes. Just showing without doing anything means that two lanes of the opponent can play aggressively while two of your lanes can't. A jungler applies pressure without even showing - but if he does show then he really needs to do something.

Sure, a gank doesn't always have to result in a kill. Sometimes getting control over the wave is enough (eg: if Nasus freezes you can help your laner to reset the wave; if enemy botlane pushes in with BC you can reset the wave so your botlane can push him in etc.), but just showing is generally a bad idea.

Spaceman5pffFeb 6, 20171 votes

Well this doesn't really apply to low elo, since most laners can't snowball off of pressure. They just don't know how.

Ultra Rapid FyreFeb 6, 20171 votes

this coming from laners who not only usually refuse to ward, but also dont DEWARD... its amazing what dewarding can do for a junglers gameplay, sadly laners think 75 gold and checking tribush / river bush is a mountain of a challenge to do... god forbid you miss literally 1 CS to check them