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The Jungle Creed

Lysdexic1··231 votes·10,884 views

Hey guys, I am a jungle main, and recently played a game in mid lane while watching our Lee Sin. Our top laner (ranged) fed a few kills to the enemy (melee) and then proceeded to complain all game and troll to the point we could not win (going to all three lanes, feeding them by just standing there doing nothing while the enemy killed him, revealing our positions in /all chat ect.). He blamed the jungler for not ganking for him after he fed a little bit and that really annoyed me so i decided to make this list of rules that most jungler mains have, and share them with you to give you guys a little bit of an idea of why we do what we do (or don't do).

  1. Giving away buffs. Usually we have a couple rules of thumb for this: Is your mid laner losing? How badly? Could they get back into it by getting this buff or will it just go to the enemy laner as soon as it happens? If the laner is resourceless, we will normally not give the buff away if we have mana. If we are ALSO manaless however, it comes down to who can use the CDR better (usually the midlaner in this case unless the jungler's main ganking tool is gated by high cooldowns (Rammus Q and Zac E for examples).

  2. Ganking. This is normally just a situational thing but there are a few cases where we resolutely won't gank for you. For example if you have been raging and flaming at us all game, even if you are ahead. We don't like you, you are insulting us, why would we help you? If you have fed 3+ kills to the enemy without a jungle gank in a short period of time, we will normally consider that lane lost and try to help the other lanes get fed to compensate. What's going through our minds at this point is "better one lane loses than they all do." I assure all you laners that it is nothing personal, it happens to everybody and we are not mad at you (well, I can't speak for everyone but I still love you), but we would still like to win and not bandage your ego a little bit. If you are over extending and pushing to their tower despite being way behind, we are not going to help you. That is just a free kill waiting to happen. In an even lane or one you are winning in, sure; because that can easily be turned into a successful countergank. Also (Thanks Hentai Messiah) junglers tend to prioritize mid lane for the snowball pressure and dragon control that their damage gives us. So if we are ganking for them instead of your lane please be patient with us, we cannot be on every side of the map at once.

  3. We are not your personal slaves. We are not going to do whatever you want, whenever you want. We have our own job in the game which we have to make sure we are doing, and it is only one part ganking. We have to worry about objective control, farming, warding (my weakness .) and keeping track of their jungler. If we see a good opportunity, or know that the enemy jungler is on his way, we will make a beeline for your lane, but it will be on OUR terms. Pings are still helpful to let us know you are ready for a gank; but please, do not automatically assume that we will.

I hope this clears up some confusion between laners and junglers and helps to make this community just a little bit stronger. :)

133 Comments

FiendOfOne44 votes

As another jungle main, all the upvotes!

GanksLikeGast0n28 votes

As a fellow jungle main it is really cool to see someone lay this out for the standard laners. Thank you much!

pinkyblossom16 votes

Right on the spot!

Half of the summoners i play with expect ganks from a jungler so early that he only has a machete and one potion left, while the lane asking the gank is safe under the turret just cant afford aggressive counter attack and make a kill at that moment; They dont take note in what position the jungler is and don't consider if they are actually going to get an advantage or if they are gonna give 3 kills to the enemy.

And for some reason they all think that the jungler has 560 movement speed!

All non-jungelers; if u cant keep track of the jungler do ur job as if the jungler is AFK , if he is any good he will keep track of u and the other lanes, and when opportunities arise he will gank for sure he, needs those kills and assists as bad as u do.

iamthegoatofwar14 votes

I'm an ex jungle main. This is a good way to tell people our rules imo. I used warwick a lot and people get angry at me pre 6 for no gank but love me post 6 when I got them 3 kills -_-

Lysdexic18 votes

That's always the way isn't it?

iamthegoatofwar8 votes

Wanna know what's nice about being ex jungle main? Since I main top and mid now I know when I'm probably gonna end up getting jumped by who. At level 2 I can expect lee and rengar to sometimes show up. At level 7 I can start expecting people like warwick to say hello.

I Main Swain5 votes

and then theres those guys who literally gank nothing but you and youre just like:

Lysdexic16 votes

Unless you out-play them and come away with a double kill :D

khmarican8 votes

As a jungle main, I agree with EVERYTHING. One of my biggest complaints about some laners is that they think that they own you. It's fine if they ask you to gank, but I have been yelled at SO many times because I didn't gank top...because I was ganking bot. Or, because I was clearing a buff and I don't think the gank would succeed (meaning either save your life, burn a flash/ult, or get a kill/tower) and I'd rather have the buff able to respawn. There is 1 jungler and 3 lanes and many objectives. THE JUNGLER CANNOT BE EVERYWHERE.

Boobs N Bourbon7 votes

Oh and warding your river entrances and sweeping our river bushes isn't mandatory on my part. All laners should ward their own river bushes, or at least keep track of where the enemy wards are.

Oh and a jungler buying a pink and stealth ward with a sweeper isn't noob early game.... :)

LordCabbage137 votes

Also, also, please don't blame junglers for overextending and dying to an enemy gank--that action of being greedy without wards is entirely the laners fault. This is like an adc blaming the support after he loses a 1v1 to the enemy adc.

Wynsl6 votes

I don't main jungle but the few times I do jungle and see ragers blaming me I really wish I had the time to explain why I am doing what I am.

DSRM Mobius3 votes

so true I have the same issues, I usually always have a rager when im jungle idk why, I mean im pretty good jungle I think. I gank mid alot unles there doing bad in which case I try to get my adc fed.

Exadian6 votes

I main Mid lane. Nidalee

However if that role is taken due to pick order I alt as a Jng. Pantheon

Most of my jng games have been successful usually pull around 10 - 20 assists and 7 - 12 kills. I know I am a successful jungler, but this does seem to be an issue every time I jungle. People want to blame me for their own mistakes and expect me to babysit their lane the whole game. Fact is the more time I spend in your lane the weaker I become. Sure I'll guard your tower if you have to go recall, but you can't expect me to be there every single time their jungler shows up. Place a ward, be prepared, don't over extend, don't constantly be trying to kill their champs instead of worrying about CS. Poking is important but if you go too far out of your way to poke you give them openings and I can't protect you when you're not protecting yourself.

I just want to add to your post that you shouldn't flame your jungle for taking kills. I ALWAYS pull more assists than kills as a jungle, I'll stun damage and walk away with them having 5% life left so you can finish the kill. However some times I will completely destroy them and get the kill, you still got an assist and I had good intentions. When I play mid if a jungle finishes the kill, hey at least I still got the assist which is more than I was about to have before the gank.

My last point goes out to mid laners, since I main this and play jng I hope my word carries some weight. When a jungler is getting ready to gank try to set it up for them, they can't do all of the work. Just as an example, if they're not aware of your jungler use a long range ability, purposely throw it slightly to the side of them making them side step toward your jungler, rotate around the minions and lure them closer to the jungler by them trying to avoid LoS of your abilities, small things like this help lead to successful ganks. walking over to the bush your jungler is in usually doesn't get the job done, you can't just hope for them to dive you. Think above that.

ZaneWolfe3 votes

This is so very true. Mid will actually be MORE helpful walking to the OPPOSITE side of the lane from the jungler if prepping for a gank. That will make the enemy mid move toward the jungler, rather than away from him.

HOWEVER! If you are in bad shape and trying to run away, RUN TO ME. If you run away from me and then ask why the hell I didn't help you, don't expect me to be ready to try to help you later on either... I find so many people run away from their jungler, so I have to chase behind. They die and I either have to run away, or risk dying to get a kill.

littleblupenguin5 votes

Great post. I try to warn my team when I see lanes pushing too much, specifically telling them that I can't do much for them, but the enemy jungle can.

I think everybody should play the jungle some(every role, tbh), cause when you learn what to look for as a jungle, you learn what not to do as a laner.

Lysdexic16 votes

Highly agreed. Whenever i go back to laning i now NEVER push past the middle of the lane unless i know exactly where their jungler is.

littleblupenguin4 votes

Although, playing in bot lane and being a bit fed, it's really fun to bait the jungler, at least at the level I play at. He runs into the warded bush, we close in on him and blow him up, then turn on the enemy adc/support as they come to help and get 3 kills.

TheRainInSpain2 votes

Or have some way to guarantee escape. I love to tie up the enemy jungler's time. Especially if I've got an annoying, oppressive champion under my command such as Teemo, Heimerdinger, or Kennen.

Fury Golem5 votes

I am a jungle main and this, all this. Seriously, if laners think they know best how to jungle, why aren't they jungling?

2pudge1cup1 votes

Because you called jungle first or were higher in the pick order and the other person (who might be used to jungling and suck balls at laning for all you know) was being nice?

Fury Golem2 votes

Ohgod, you're adorable. XD Yes, what you're saying does happen sometimes, but the vast majority of the time laners like to give advice to jungle on how they're supposed to play. Especially if that laner is losing. I'd say that at least 80% of games one person will feel the need to pester the jungler about what they should be doing. About 50% of games every single lane will tell the jungler what to do. I guarantee 50% of players aren't junglers who just can't call fast enough.

Ztoka5 votes

Then you get those folks who yell at you for "stealing" their kills when you come to gank.. Good stuff :)

Malix Farwin1 votes

Then you get those folks who yell at you for "stealing" their kills when you come to gank.. Good stuff :)

You can say that but and i both know there are situations when the jungler did nothing but auto attack and steal the kill

iamthegoatofwar3 votes

I think it depends on who you ganked for and who you're playing as. If you're a tanky jungle and you feel the laner is reliable no matter who they're playing as give them the kill. If you're ganking for say a fiora/darius/irelia ect who need damage and lifesteal to be effective then give them the kills regardless if they're reliable. If you're playing as say an assassin jungle kha zix, yi, warwick (I build my warwick for late game instant kill deal with it), and they laner is tanky and doing just fine in farm compared to the enemy laner take the kill

ZaneWolfe3 votes

KS = Kill Secured. Each time and every time. Even if all you did was get one hit in that took the kill. It spreads out the gold. And its NEVER a bad thing when an enemy champion dies, no matter who killed them. I would rather give up every single kill, even as Yi, than have the enemy get away just barely alive.

Nightmarian5 votes

As a jungle main since beta I greatly approve of this message, though sadly most laners simply don't care.

IT IS NOT THE JUNGLE'S JOB TO WIN YOUR LANE.

ZaneWolfe3 votes

I agree. If you are losing your lane, and the enemy jungler is not the reason... THAT'S NOT MY DAMN FAULT.

HappyFunTimeHour5 votes

Ok. well here's us to junglers.

  1. listen to your team when they as a unit decide we need to get an objective, or contest one.
  2. Know the timers of dragon/baron so you can be there and not farming birds/wolves while the enemy is taking it.
  3. Communicate
  4. Gank for lanes that are having trouble, this doesnt mean GO ALL IN AND FEED KILLS, it means make an appearance to pressure the lane a little.
  5. If a jungler ganks 5 times in 10 minutes and you've ganked 0, understand youre doing something wrong.
  6. Stop lane taxing after you get a kill.
  7. Stop taking entire waves of farm.

:D

Lysdexic14 votes
  1. We will listen to the smart calls. If the enemy team is two levels ahead, we have no vision, and their jungler is still up, we will not do dragon and risk the team getting aced and dragon stolen, better to just let them have it.
  2. Every jungler worth their salt does this.
  3. Same to you.
  4. As long as you are not over extending, dying as soon as you get to lane or instigating fights you have no chance of winning, sure.
  5. Situational. If I'm a WW/ Fiddlesticks/ Master Yi and I'm not 6 yet, ganking will do absolutely nothing anyway and will definitely be counter jungled/ killed for it.
  6. No. Especially now in the new jungle, we are going to lag behind in farm and taking one or two minions is going to help quite a bit.
  7. If you aren't in lane and all that juicy farm is going to go to waste I'd rather take it.
blubabby4 votes

I would also like to add something to rule #2 about ganking. Mid lane (unless it's someone with zero snowball potential) will generally almost always take priority over every other lane assuming no one's struggling. While you may be Riven or Gangplank having fun up top, ganks mid exert a lot more dragon pressure and if snowballed enough can help contribute to bot ganks or even turn around and help you out at top. So, be patient if jungler isn't coming up to murder your lanemate.

LordOfTheLeague4 votes

People who need this advises don't read forums :o

HeadHonchkrow4 votes

Yes, that all seems great to me as a Shaco main. Hopefully others will see this and stop being like IHazNoLife457(Caitlyn): y no gank bot jungler u noob IHazNoLife457(Caitlyn): why u fight dragon alone u noob IHazNoLife457(Caitlyn): gank bot you f***ing shaco IHazNoLife457(Caitlyn): noob IHazNoLife457(Caitlyn) is asking for assistance

Toothierosprey34 votes

Dear Bot lane, I don't want to gank you when you are two levels behind their bot lane and they can easily 3v2. Please stop asking.

PL553 votes

YESSS so many people don't understand that junglers generally don't want to gank losing lanes. If the laner is like 3 levels behind, it's too risky to gank and more than likely the other person will get at least one kill. Some people also assume that junglers need to gank to give the laner a kill. Well if you are mechanically bad or just getting outclassed, giving kills to you will just be a waste when the jungler would be better off with it.

OblongOtter3 votes

I was considering starting to sort main jungle. My current mains are top and adc, and whenever I get fed top bot feeds (I got went 5/0/0 in lane with almost no friendly ganks, at the end of the game bot was a combined 0/18/0 with a fed enemy full tank Leo and a fed enemy Cait) and when I get fed as ADC top feeds hard. Jungle seems like it allows me to actually take my carrying, and push it somewhere else. Also, I love Jax Jungle, so much fun.

Basically this was really cool and helpful. I'm the guy who will say "no don't give me blue I could feed it" since I'm usually a bad mid so I understand this. Junglers are people too, but as someone who wants to really learn jungle, this seems super helpful. Thanks.

I'm a very wordy person.

Lysdexic14 votes

I'm glad my post could be of some help :D. Jungle really is one of the best roles if you want to consistently carry your games, as it allows you to be the one getting ALL of your lanes snowballed. A good jungler can decide the course of most games as much as -or more than- an adc.

I Main Swain3 votes

the one problem I have with your #2 is that if someone has given 3 kills in a short period of time chances are they will feed their opponent a pretty good amount, potentially getting them fed enough to carry unless you are REALLY successful in getting your other lanes snowballing. what I prefer to do is get mid fed then roam to the other lanes with them, especially if the other lanes are doing badly.

Lysdexic14 votes

While i do like this approach sometimes, I feel it has a major drawback of letting the lane you shut down to catch up via free farm without any sort of pressure. If you are absolutely sure you can close out the game early this is a good method but it is (like any strategy) risk vs. reward. If their top lane Jax is the one being fed to high heaven i actually prefer this, while if you shut down a Veigar mid and it is say a Renekton top i feel you have more to lose by doing a roam gank than by actually letting Renekton chew on the bones of your top laner a little

patmax177 votes

If one lane is feeding, i usually tell them to play safe and don't engage: let the other laner push and stay near the turret. Ward, and wait for a gank (or for some roaming). I would gank such a lane only if the gank is really easy, which means warded access paths, healthy allied laner, pushed enemy laner.

You can't expect to win a trade if you are 3 kills behind, and you can't expect me to gank you if you still 1v1 someone who is that far ahead

mind, i'm not saying I consider your lane lost or you useless, many champions are still useful in mid-late teamfights even if they fall behind (the so-called "fallback strategies"), just bite the bullet and wait for lane phase to be over, when you can target other enemy champions, or just do peeling for your fed teammates (hey, sometimes you just don't get do be the superstar even if you are playing carry ^^)

Malix Farwin2 votes

the one problem I have with your #2 is that if someone has given 3 kills in a short period of time chances are they will feed their opponent a pretty good amount, potentially getting them fed enough to carry unless you are REALLY successful in getting your other lanes snowballing. what I prefer to do is get mid fed then roam to the other lanes with them, especially if the other lanes are doing badly.

The problem is, after a while they are worth no gold gold to the enemy and if u can get the other 2 lanes ahead then it doesnt matter how much that 1 person fed. You ganking a fed lane will give them more gold then the laner who fed

I Main Swain2 votes

not if you gank with your fed mid and yourself. they would only kill you in that situation if one of you was incredibly low (which would just be dumb on that person's part) or if they were insanely fed already. what I said I do is to counteract their snowball before it gets too out of hand, I do it way before they get to that point.

League of Potato3 votes

First off I agree with all of the above,

I would want to be a jungle main as I would enjoy the freedom that comes with it except for the fact that I suck at jungling...the reasons as to why is because every time I am forced to jungle (before team builder <3) I would, one, pick probably the least meta jungler DrMundo Olaf ...I really don't know why... or I would get constantly flamed at for being a "bad jungler" even though I told everyone before the game started and at the start of the game that I was a noob at it, yet every single time I got stuck with jungle they still flamed me...they would also blame me for them dying in lane when I was on the other side of the map because they decided to dive the enemy under their turret when they had basically no health

(any tips on being a better jungler, and what your favorite jungle champs are would be appreciated :), also what type of jungler one should pick with different team comps, etc)

so lessons to learn from this...don't play like an idiot. There are times when you should be aggressive and times when you should back the fuck off, be able to know the difference.

Also people make mistakes, no one is perfect. if you see someone beginning to feed their lane instead of talking shit and making them feel like shit/purposely pissing them off, maybe give them advice in a constructive way. I'm a support main, when my adc isn't doing to great and we are continuously pushed to our tower I'll say something along the lines of "we would appreciate a gank bot whenever you can :)" compared to "fuck this jungler never ganking lanes, worst jungler na, etc" Now if the adc is flaming I apologize for that...nothing I can really do, but please don't ignore our lane if we are getting rekt bot because I would still like to win the game even if our adc is an asshole, just don't give them the kill, you take it, and then take some extra insurance farm. When my jungler comes to gank when the adc is a whiny bitch...I support the jungler and let the adc die. I got you.

The only way for the game to really be more enjoyable is for people to stop being such dicks to each other. We are all in this together. Thank your teammate when they take a bullet for you Caitlyn , congratulate a teammate on a good play, don't be so bossy, remember teamwork wins games. The only time you should really ever tell someone what to do is if you're playing with a bunch of people who have literally never played the game before. If someone could use advice, give it to them. If someone is struggling with a champ that you know very well, suggest possible strategies and combos that would help them. The more competitive the game the more fun it is. I understand in ranked tensions can get a little high but there's no reason to bitch at your teammates for your own mistakes. Just keep calm and carry on...and carry the game if you have to lol

Biffolo2 votes

Im a support/Jungle main. VI, She is the champ for me. I love her, i live and die by that champ in the jungle. I find you can pick her in damn near any comp and be effective. Early damage, late tank. She can clear the new jungle really well with her passive, and the fact that warrior gives ar pen makes me quite happy. If im not playing her, im running warwick. People just dont seem to know how to deal with him. Also, so long as you gank with your ult, it tends to get quite a bit of kills. Beyond that Im also a fan of rengar, although not as much in the new jungle. This is MOSTLY because skirmishers warwick is the funniest thing XD

Lysdexic13 votes

I just want to say thank you to everyone for spreading this around, i did NOT expect it to become this popular xD

Generalist3 votes

Rest in peace. League jungle died 11/19/2014. Now is a snowball game exactly what a famous rioter said they didn't want to happen in the game.

Takazaki3 votes

upvote this man to the heavens

Cale0173 votes

As a fellow jungle main, I can confirm that all of this is 100% true. Although I would make one small addition to ganking:

If we're obviously coming up to your lane for a gank, or if you've asked us to come up to you for one, set us up for a successful one. Chasing the enemy toplaner halfway down the tribushes does NOT help us get close enough to do any amount of damage or land enough CC to keep them from getting to safety. If you see your jungler coming down of their own volition or at your request, let the enemy laners push up for a bit. Help us help you.

And for the love of god, when you see your jungler having to fight someone in the river near to you go help them.

LuckyReden2 votes

I feel like a lot of Junglers have seen this and agree with it, but too few laners see this and understand this. The main issue is Laners being too reliant on junglers and expecting them to always sway their lane.

majorashash2 votes

My first pvp as jungle two nights ago, I went 10/10/18 all our lanes won and we won the game. Guess who still got bitched at? <----- this guy because it seems to always be the fault of the jungler in everyones eyes. Oh really? You overextended in lane to someone who counters you, I'm across the map helping top and its my fault you died? Muted. LOL jk. But seriously jungle is a difficult role and it seems like everyone blames them for losses of lanes/games etc its sad.

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