This unique role tasks you with exerting your influence across the entirety of the battleground, from farming neutral minions hiding within the trees, to assisting your teammates with ganks in order to help them achieve superiority in their lanes, or just hassling the Jungler on the other team by messing with their side of the map. For newcomers in particular this is not an easy role to grasp. Regardless of whether you’re new to the game or a seasoned veteran though, we wanted to highlight our pick of the best Champions that you can make use of in this role. We’ve also got a few tips for getting started with each of these Champions, and in our latest update we’ve added in video guides to help you get a better look at what to expect in each case. This more than anything should give you a good idea of what to expect.
Ekko
Ekko ranks as the very best jungler in the game right now, and that’s because he’s an all-rounder whose gradual buffs over the last few months have granted him some ridiculous strength. Essentially, he’s only grown in power, while others have been nerfed. Not to mention, he’s got the kit to be a seriously effective ganker and teamfighter. His Timewinder allows him to enter lane, get off a slow, and deal a little damage, which can then be followed up with his other two abilities for increased execute damage. If things go pear shaped, or if there are further kill opportunities, Chronobreak allows him to regain his health and deal some serious burst damage if his enemies are caught in the arrival zone. Get the chance to play Ekko? Definitely lock him in. Video by Virkayu
Elise
Elise is a champion who’ll always stay relevant in the jungle thanks to the versatility of her kit. It’s her ability to switch between spider form and human form which effectively gives her two different skill bars, so you’ve got a seriously wide range of skills to choose from whenever you’re ganking or entering a fight. Her Cocoon/Rappel is easily one of the best things about Elise. Rappel enables her to close the distance, tower dive, or escape from threats. And if you hit enemies with a Cocoon they’ll be stunned for a good 2 seconds, which means you can follow up with burst damage from your other abilities. Neurotoxin/Venomous bite gives her long range, and short range damage, while her Volatile Spiderling/Skittering Frenzy allows her to scout ahead in brushes, deal damage and even gain attack speed for a short while. Of course, this depth makes her skill ceiling particularly high. We’d recommend practicing with her a fair amount before heading into solo queue, but once you’ve mastered her playstyle she’s a brilliant pick. Video by Foxdrop
Master Yi
Master Yi’s a great place to start if you haven’t been playing the game for long. He’s relatively simple to play, and even if you fall behind in the early to mid game, you’re still able to bring things back in the late game. If you can get there, he’s a formidable force whose able to 1 vs 1 practically anyone. His Alpha Strike gives him great jungle clear and allows him to close the gap between his opponents when going for a gank. It’s also a great tool for avoiding damage for second or two, granting him more time to reset his cooldowns. Meditate isn’t great in a fight, but it gives him much needed sustain when jungling early, and can give him the edge in a duel if timed correctly. Wuju Style, and his ultimate Highlander give him outrageous damage output, as well as gap closing capability too. Build him with attack speed and crit in mind, and you’ll have a Yi who can pick off priority targets in seconds. Snowball early and you can solo carry a team! Video by Cowsep
Olaf
We’re big fans of Olaf right now and that’s because he brings a lot of value to most team compositions. He’s beefy, yet does plenty of damage, has a lovely slow, and can charge into the backlines and destroy squishy targets. Oh, build him the right way and you’ll have serious sustain in the jungle and in fights too. In a way, he’s similar to Master Yi in this sense. His kit is quite simple to use, and centers around landing those Undertow axe throws, before following them up with big auto attacks and the Reckless Swing for execute damage. As Olaf hasn’t got any dashes, you’ll want to catch your enemies off guard with well timed ganks. It’s then a case of hitting your targets with Undertow for the long range slow, before closing the gap, following up with some autos, perhaps a Reckless Swing depending on how long they are, picking up your axe and hitting them with yet more slows. If you manage this, most enemies won’t stand a chance. Once you’ve hit the late game, it’s more about decision making. You’ll want to pick out the vulnerable targets and charge headlong at them, or flank around and take them by surprise. They won’t be able to escape if you’ve popped your ultimate Ragnarok. Video by KingStix
Evelynn
Evelynn has a strong start in the jungle through her heavy ability damage, but it’s her ganking potential when you gain Camouflage at level six that truly makes her one of the top picks. Therefore, you’ll want to spend most of the early game just clearing camps and farming experience as fast as possible. You can go for a gank when you have the additional slow from red buff but chances are opponents will see you coming. Once you hit level six, though, and Camouflage comes online, that’s when you’ll want to start to aggressively roam around the map finding picks. Opponents will have had to invest in pink wards to see through your invisibility, which many definitely do not do. If all looks clear, your best bets for a successful gank are top or bottom lane, where there are fewer avenues for escape. It’s important that you land the initial hit of Hate Spike on your priority target so you can more easily recast the ability on the same target. Whiplash is also a key skill to land so you can pull yourself to a target, gain bonus movement speed to stick to opponents. Lastly, with Evelynn’s Allure ability, it might be tempting to wait the 2.5 seconds after casting it to ensure the charm effect lands, but that’s usually too large of a window for your opponent to make an escape – the slow should usually be enough. As you transition to the late game, you’ll want to look for opportunities where you can flank targets to get the drop on them, or enter team fights late to clean up whoever remains standing. Exploiting that ability to surprise using Camouflage will be your priority, so you can assassinate key targets. If you want to master Evelynn, the video we’ve embedded below goes into great detail about how to jungle with this champion. It’s well worth watching the whole thing.
Kha’Zix
Similarly to Evelynn, Kha’Zix is perfect as a jungler because he can not only clear neutral minions with ease, but he also excels at assassinating isolated targets, making him ideal as a ganker with some impactful burst damage. A lot of Kha’Zix’s kill potential lies in his passive, Unseen Threat, which causes his next basic attack to deal bonus damage, and slow a target if he isn’t visible to the enemy team. You can reset this by dipping into the fog of war, slipping into the brush or using Void Assault. The last of those three is the most viable if you’re already in the middle of a fight. On the initial cast, Void Assault will make you invisible, grant a move speed bonus, and allow you to pass through units. You can then cast it once again within a ten-second window to repeat that effect. You’ll want to avoid using Void Assault too liberally, but instead, weave it in between other abilities or as you’re dodging attacks to stick to and burst down a target. This is essentially your role in the mid-game: roaming between lanes, deleting isolated targets and snowballing a lead for your team. Mastering this champion is all about learning when to takes these fights, so as to ensure you’re getting the full use out of his powers. It’s all about saving your Leap for when you know you can confirm the kill on a target, or engaging strongly with Void Spike to prevent an enemy escaping. Played well he’s extremely deadly. The following video will give you a great deal of insight in how to play Kha’Zix. Give it a thumbs up if you found it useful!
Kayn
Kayn is one of the most interesting and unique champions in League of Legends, as most of the early game will be spent building towards one of two forms you can take in the mid-late game. Whether you end up as the Shadow Assassin or Rhaast variant, your abilities will remain more-or-less the same, but some will get neat modifiers that help you fulfil slightly different roles within the team.
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Essentially, you’re starting off like any other jungler: gather buffs and plot your route through the camps to get yourself up to level four quickly. Then you can start making a decision as to which path you want to take for your late-game form, where you’ll focus on dealing damage to ranged champions or to melee champions. Choosing the former will push you towards Shadow Assassin, while the latter will unlock Rhaast. The Shadow Assassin path is generally better at dealing with squishy targets and will draw you more towards the role of an assassin. With this, Kayn’s Shadow Step will open up even more opportunities for some very unique ganks, as you slip into the terrain to catch opponents off guard. The Rhaast path makes you more of a terror in team fights, and better at dealing with high health champions. You’ll gain some extra displacement tools with a different version of Blade’s Reach, significant percentage-based damage on Umbral Trespass, and a lot of extra healing from your attacks. That’s at its most basic level, and there are a number of variables that may need to be considered game to game. Either way, Kayn is an undeniably strong jungler that advanced players looking for something different will enjoy a great deal! YouTuber Metaphor has put together a great guide on how to play Kayn as a jungler. It’s well worth watching the whole thing if you need an overview of how this champion plays.
