How do you learn to jungle?

GummyBearWookiee·2/18/2015, 5:19:43 PM·1 votes·4,660 views

Ok...so jungle is the only role I've never played...and I need to play it obviously. Not only does it sound and look enjoyable...but I obviously can't just play more ranked etc without ever having played a role. But here's the thing...how and where do you learn? Sure you can make a custom and learn your clear routes etc..but without a leash you're not exactly getting the jump that you would in a normal game and that would just slow down your clears etc.

You can't just do a bot game...sure that gives you a precursor knowledge...but without an enemy jungler for counter ganks, camps, etc, and the fact that you tossed someone into a 1 v 2 lane and this doesn't give you the experience you need once again to learn the position the way it's meant to be played.

The logical move is to simply jump into a normal game or a team builder as jungle. Here's the problem...the flaming trolls of doom. When you're learning the position for the first time...or even the 20th time...you're going to make some pretty severe basic mistakes. This means there's about an 88% chance you're going to be reported by a troll for being unskilled and them flaming you etc when you're only doing what you're supposed to be doing...learning the damn role.

So what's people's opinion? What is the best way for me to go about learning jungle? I already know "how"...it's the matter of getting the experience of actually playing it and letting the muscle memory work its way up to make me a better player with better map awareness etc. Do you start with a custom and work your way up? Or just jump into a team builder? How did you all do it?

20 Comments

Seth Lightheart2/18/2015, 5:25:03 PM2 votes

http://www.lol-coaching.com/coach.php?id=14291

I coach people for free because I enjoy it. Pick a time and I'll help you out.

FHMarshy2/18/2015, 5:42:44 PM1 votes

Find 4 other people(Non raging friends) and queue together. Would even be better to have a jungle main in the 4 to give you tips. :)

Linna Excel2/18/2015, 5:52:16 PM1 votes
GundayMonday2/18/2015, 5:54:27 PM1 votes

Jungle is the hardest role to pick up right now. You have to understand the entire game really well (not just a single lane) and a lot of it will come with experience (and getting stomped so you can learn from mistakes). This is exacerbated now that the new jungle's first clear is pretty brutal for newbies compared to what it was last season.

Best advice I can give is to watch streams of good junglers who explain their thought process. That is, "I'm doing this because of reasons X, Y, and Z."

Watch them, learn from them, use the knowledge in your own games. League is an interesting game since you can improve by watching more than playing. Especially with jungling since there's a larger focus on strategy and planning.

Here are my favorite jungle streams:

Nightblue3: http://www.twitch.tv/nightblue3 (Challenger jungler with a focus on efficiency)

TheOddOne: http://www.twitch.tv/tsm_theoddone (Former Pro Player with a focus on map control and planning)

Trick2g: http://www.twitch.tv/trick2g (Very entertaining personality with a focus on calculated aggression)

GundayMonday: http://www.twitch.tv/gundaymonday (Noob streamer that likes to play tanks like Sejuani)

SgtHorse2/18/2015, 6:02:57 PM1 votes

Doesn't team builder have some sort of built in compensation thingy now? I see it when i que up on champs i haven't played too often.

AikidoLawnNinja2/18/2015, 6:30:18 PM1 votes

A custom game with bots will do for learning the optimal first clear on any given champ... just think of your potential leash as some bonus health that may allow you to gank once before your first back (as opposed to a necessary component of your first clear).

I'd recommend using Team Builder to practice jungling if you don't have any friends online to team up with, especially considering that jungle is an unpopular role right now (so you won't be waiting nearly as long to get into a team).

The mechanical, muscle-memory aspect that you're speaking of really isn't as important as you think it is. Honestly, it only matters for your first clear or two, because once you have a few points in your skills and your first jungle item upgrade, you won't be in any danger from jungle camps anymore.

What REALLY separates a good jungler from an ineffective one is map awareness. So long as you're constantly checking the state of your lanes, you'll know where you should be heading next, and you can clear the camps along the way while you move towards your next gank destination.

Balderdash10002/18/2015, 6:30:45 PM1 votes

Fist off, starting a custom game to learn beginning clear routs on any jungler you want to use is a must. Leashes are nice, but they're never a given. If you can clear what you need without a leash, you can clear with one. Second off, map awareness is a must for a jungler more then for any other roll. You are potentially everywhere when you jungle, so knowing where you should be at any time for the most impact is the real difference between a good jungler and a bad one. That's not something you can learn from bots though, all bots games will ever give you as a jungler is bad habits. Third off, it doesn't matter how good or bad you do in the jungle, if someone in lane is having a bad game, chances are they're going to blame it on you. I've been 6 and 2 in the laning phase before and had laners tell me I never gank. That means there's no reason not to jump right into some normals right after you get the basic routes down for your jungler and see what you do, preferably with some friends. Listen to any constructive criticism, and mute any ragers. Just remember that you need to farm too, and that's probably the last thing anyone in lane is going to realize you're missing.

Other then that? Randomly stealing farm is bad. Helping push a lane to the tower after a successful gank is good. Ganking is good in general. Forgetting to farm because you focus too hard on ganks is bad. Warding key points is good. Not reacting to the information those wards give you is bad. Ganking is good (again). Dieing to a failed gank and giving your opponent double buffs is very very bad.

Remember, the jungle is yours. It's your choice whither or not to give a laner your buffs. If your mid has 3 deaths by the first time your blue is back up, it's probably not a good idea to give it to him. Conversely, the jungle is yours. It's your responsibility to secure jungle objectives and make sure the enemy team doesn't get them. Remember timers, ward neutral objectives, and if you think the enemy team is going to try for any neutral objectives or anything in your side of the jungle it's your responsibility to make sure your team is ready to punish them for it.

More then any other role, Jungling is about strategic thinking and balancing several different things at once. Just remember that you can't be everywhere at once, keep your cool, and remember to focus on what you can do, while letting go of the things you can't. Good luck learning jungling, and I hope you have a blast doing it.

Skia Asteri2/18/2015, 7:10:04 PM1 votes

{quoted}

but without a leash you're not exactly getting the jump that you would in a normal game and that would just slow down your clears etc.

You need to be able to clear without a leash, because some games you need to for one reason or another. Whether it is to keep the enemy jungler from figuring out where you started your first clear or an early invade prevented you from getting a leash. And not all leashes are as good as others, so if you can manage without then the quality of leash will not competely throw you off course.

GummyBearWookiee2/18/2015, 8:25:18 PM1 votes

Thanks for all the info. I'll start up some custom games and practice doing my first several clears...getting the timing down etc. After I get more comfortable..sounds like I should jump into a team builder for the most part.

I do realize the need for clearing without a leash btw...it's just that I don't know what to do without it. With a leash...on Vi for instance...you generally clear golems, then red, then raptors. But without that leash...that shouldn't be possible. So do you just port back immediately after red?...doesn't that leave you without the gold necessary to upgrade your jungle item?...It's things like that I'm struggling with...as you'll never see a video of a jungler dealing with those issues.

Jiggy2G2/19/2015, 2:22:00 AM1 votes

Ok jg is most important role in soloq basically because you help every lane and make plays. Always secure the kill when ganking lanes if you can. I reccomend op gankers because your ganking is really op and you either get you or your ally fed. Op jg with good ganks this season are j4 shaco lee sin(hard to master) vi. Honestly just practice practice pracitce and main 2 champions in jg. I main Udyr in jg but i have a better score with shaco in ranked just because his ganks and hes really op which everyone underestimates. Also take drag when you either kill both bot lane or enemy jg. Just have the number advantage. Check guides on lolking, mobafire, and solomid for the jg your trying to master.

Only Play Darius2/19/2015, 5:11:10 PM1 votes

That's the problem with jg. You don't learn how to jg in bots and there are no legitimate jungling tutorials.

Your just gonna have to call jg in blind pick and hope your teammates don't get too mad at you.