As I continue my romp down the League of Legends meta, I find myself encountering something odd. The jungle, a place full of tanks and brutes now has guns and missiles swinging from the tree vines. Season 6 brought a whole slew of crazy jungle options, with the ward trinket item and keystone masteries changing the whole landscape. Here are the top junglers in the League pro scene.
Nidalee
Nobody fights like Gaston, except for Nidalee. She would have thrown a spear straight through the Beast, ending that movie within the first 15 minutes. On patch 6.2, Nidalee is the best jungler. Her kit is built for speed and damage, two of the best strengths to have in a fast –paced, assassin meta.
Nidalee plays as aggressive as possible, invading the enemy jungle to gain a farm lead. Rush, Cloud 9’s Jungler, is known for his aggressive style on the cat which sometimes gets him into trouble. Poke compositions use her well, with Corki and Braum having great over all synergy. Better not let her get ahead or you’ll regret it.
Graves
With the marksman update, Graves got his entire kit overhauled. He has a unique auto attack, which reloads after two shots. Each auto sprays in front of him, dealing insane amounts of damage combined with his new abilities. If End of The Line hits a wall and then an enemy, the enemy will most likely die. Nobody can output as much damage, while also being mobile.
Yomuu’s Ghostblade is a first must buy for Graves, because it makes him move and reload faster. A Graves gank wants to be quick and deadly, using Smoke Screen to slow and confuse the enemy. If they get away with a silver of health, fear not for his ultimate, Collateral Damage, will burst them into oblivion. It also knocks Graves back, allowing for some fairly impressive mechanical plays.
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Kindred
The double ADC meta’s queen, Kindred is a utility/jungler/marksman. Her passive applies marks to enemy champions or jungle creatures on the map. Each mark she gets increases the damage she does, where late game she can solo anyone. Her ultimate puts an area around her that keeps all allies and enemies inside from dying. There’s a reason she gets banned in most LCS matches. The ability to turn a fight like that is to useful. Your squishy is about to die? Not anymore!
The thing that separates her from the pack is how well she combos with other meta picks. Poppy and Alistar are great to combo with. They can both knock enemies out of a Kindred ultimate, most likely killing them on impact. Her build isn’t as important as team composition. You can build full AD on her, but if you have champions with little peel, you’re going to have a bad time.
Elise
Riot has a problem finding balance when it comes to the spider queen. Elise was the best jungler of Season 4, until she was (rightfully) hit with the nerf boot. She was barely seen for a while, allowing other unique jungle champions to come and get some spot light. Then she was buffed again and is now the best (again.) Her high range stun, ability to escape, and speed allow her to gank often with success. Want to dive a tower to finish off an opponent? When you’re playing Elise you can, just Rappel up and lose that tower aggro. Not only will that tilt the enemy, it will also allow you to buy more Ability Power!
Elise can follow a few different build paths. If you need damage or are super ahead, going Runic Echoes into a Rylai’s Crystal Scepter is the way to go. If you’re struggling a bit Righteous Glory is a great buy to pick off pesky squishies. Her damage ratios are through the roof, so buying more AP can’t hurt. Just remember if you go full damage, you will die very easily. Elise has awful base stats, making her easy to squash like the bug she is.
Notice: I’m not mentioning Rek’sai or Quinn because I am better than that.
