Alistar Jungle?

Sad Robot Amumu·9/20/2015, 5:05:05 AM·1 votes·1,053 views

I've been trying Alistar jungle recently in teambuilder and normals, and it's been yielding good results (3 wins, 1 loss (from afk), all with 5+ KDA), and was wondering if I've just been getting lucky with this off meta pick or if it's actually something that could work in ranked and put time into refining. He seems to have decent clears with his passive and Q, and terrifying ganks with the W Q lockdown. With my setup (6/21/3, AS marks+quints, scaling armour seals, MR glyphs), I can do krugs + 2 buffs without a leash, which I consider exceptional from an off meta jungler, even with the somewhat inefficient rune page setup.

So, is Alistar jungle something worth playing more and possibly putting into ranked, or is it just another troll off-meta pick that shouldn't work and is a waste of time?

6 Comments

MisterHealYoGirl9/20/2015, 5:12:37 AM1 votes

Ali jungle isn't off-meta; it's been pretty good for a long time now. The only issue is that it doesn't offer anything on its own; if you really want a tank with a lot of CC, Nautilus or Sejuani would serve you better, and if you really want an Alistar on your team, he's probably better support. That said, if you want to do it, go nuts.

RogueWill9/20/2015, 5:22:39 AM1 votes

He is good (definitely not off meta) but he is not the best at what he does (locking down) and neither his clears are the best (they are just decent). Nautilus, Sejuani, Amumu and to some extent Rammus will do the same job but considerable better.

Secondly he has no scaling whatsoever besides AP so his late game is going to be bad even with the extra gold since your CC is circumstantial and you have no way to scale damage (unless you go trinity force, AS ali but still will only be single target)

Xantak9/20/2015, 5:44:48 AM1 votes

I go 21/9/0 with him. Full AP. build the chilling smite, challenging smite(since it has the mini-ignite/exhaust) or the Ranger's Trailblazer, Rush Luden's Echo first. You can either go Runeglaive/Cinderhulk, or for Lichbane after that, Deathcap, Hourglass, Banshee's Veil...I go with either CDR boots, or Sorc Shoes with Homeguards, because then you can ask the opposing team if they step into your base, "I can reach the fence in 3.4 seconds. Can you?" And his AP scaling is actually not bad. Make them remember....UNLEASH THE CATTLECLYSM!!! IT'S THE COWPOCALYPSE!!!

Kouga9/20/2015, 5:46:38 AM1 votes

Ali actually used to be a very common (and very strong) jungle/roamer pick. Riot didn't like how much he brought in that role so over time they pigeonholed him into a Support pick. But if you can get it to work, it isn't even a troll pick, its a totally viable, worth while option.

GetSisselnite9/20/2015, 10:17:45 AM1 votes

He can work, but his main problem is the damage. Unless you are building him AP or something crazy, straight-tank Alistar will not do as much damage as other tanky junglers. His early game clearings are awful. Whenever i tested him without leash, i was able to start Krugs, and have the smite ready for Red. During that time, while i'm clearing two camps, most junglers are clearing 3.

Then, in 1v1, he's pretty much useless. He can't kill an enemy jungler, so he can get bullied/counter jungled easily.

The CC is all he have to offer. But that's the thing, you offer the same CC as support too, so i don't see too many reasons why it would be more effective to play him jungle. Even as support, you can roam early on and gank mid or top lanes. And those ganks are as effective as they would be if you are playing jungle. Even more effective if you can plan an 3-man gank, with your jungler.

tr8terburns9/20/2015, 10:23:26 AM1 votes

Is it viable to go with AD? I take Ali top lane and rush tri force and absoultely dominate my lane. Your Q W combo plus sheen proc does so much dmg to people and from there I just build a titanic hydra, black cleaver, ionian boots, and two tank items (usually one armor and one MR but if they have AD heavy team you can go two armor items) and im an unkillable cow to be reckoned with.

And than you can spam "moo" in all chat.