With the top laner compared and ranked, it’s time to move on to another position, the junglers. While the roles has been nerfed quite a bit in the history of League of Legends, they’ll have a huge role to play this season considering how important dragons have become. So, with that in mind, which LCK jungler will take the top spot going into the Spring Split?

10. Kim “bonO” Gi-beom (KT Rolster)

As far as recent play at KeSPA Cup is concerned, it does seem that KT plan on running bonO as their main jungler as he only missed the first game of the tournament for KT. While bonO had a great showing during the promotion tournament to help his former team in Hanwha Life Esports avoid relegation, his overall play last season left a lot to be desired. Although bonO is clearly capable of having some great showings throughout the LCK, he’ll soon find out that the competition has gotten a lot stronger. As a result, bonO will likely struggle to make an impact in matches and finds himself at the bottom of the rankings as a result.

9. Kang “Haru” Min-seung (Hanwha Life Esports)

Taking the ninth-place spot on the power rankings is a jungler that hasn’t seen a consistent amount of play since 2018 in Haru. While he saw some minimal play on T1, his debut as a jungler for Hanwha Life Esports will mark the first time he’ll play a split as the primary starter since his time on Gen.G. While he looked decent, Haru is still fairly inconsistent. Along with that, how he’ll perform in a long split will once again be tested, especially with all the strong jungler that have joined the scene since 2018. If Haru is able to the consistent ability to perform as he did during the KeSPA Cup, he’ll likely be able to find himself higher in future power rankings. But for now, he’ll have to prove himself once again.

8. Sung “Flawless” Yeon-jun (APK Prince)

Returning from the LPL, Flawless will have a tough task ahead of him as he takes over for Lee “KaKAO” Byung-kwon, who played a big role in APK qualifying for the LCK. While Flawless is capable of matching the amazing results of KaKAO, it’ll be tough to do consistently. Along with that, Flawless will suffer as the most inconsistent jungler in the LCK as well. While he is capable of dominating a series and carrying his team to victory, he’s is equally as capable of being a liability and being the reason your team is at risk of being relegated. For APK, that difference could make the difference in the long run.

7. Hong “Pyosik” Chang-hyeon (DragonX)

Pyosik’s placement in the power rankings may carry the biggest asterisks out of any player. While his performance during the KeSPA Cup was lackluster at times, especially in high-pressure situations like contested smite fights, he showed a lot of potential and promise. His placement at seventh is assuming the worst case in which his lackluster play becomes the norm. However, if he’s able to prove himself through an entire split and show that his struggles at KeSPA Cup was only a result of nerves, then Pyosik can easily shoot up the rankings. Out of all the young players on DragonX, it does appear that Pyosik was the biggest gamble coach Kim “cvMax” Dae-ho may have taken. Will it pay off? Only time will tell.

6. Lee “Dread” Jin-hyeok & Lee “Spirit” Da-yoon (Afreeca Freecs)

One of the few times that both players will be represented in the power rankings, the Afreeca jungle tandem of Dread and Spirit takes the 6th spot. Through parts of last season and the team’s recent win at KeSPA Cup, it has been clear that they’re more than happy to run with the hot player as they both have their own strengths and weaknesses. With Spirit in the roster, Afreeca has a reliable and solid shot caller that greatly improves their team play in the later stages of the game. Meanwhile, with Dread, the team is able to have a much stronger early game that translates into some quick victories (as long as they don’t screw up too much).

In an ideal world, Afreeca would have a jungler that can provide both, however that’s not the case. As a result of this clear issue, the tandem is only able to take sixth in the rankings. 

5. Kim “OnFleek” Jang-gyeom (SANDBOX Gaming)

While he may have one of the best names in the LCK, OnFleek only takes fifth in the power rankings after a disappointing end to 2019 and an average performance at KeSPA Cup. While OnFleek was often one of the best junglers at times throughout all of 2019, his recent performances have left a lot to be desired and play a large role in his relatively low placing. Now that he heads into a new season with some new faces on the team, OnFleek will have to show that he can return to his previous level of play and dominate once again. If he does, he could find himself much higher in the rankings in the future.

4. Moon “Cuzz” Woo-chan (T1)

Much like his former DragonX teammate Kim “Rascal” Kwang-hee, Cuzz finds himself on a new team after his best season as a pro player. However, the pressure will truly be on for Cuzz as the new T1 roster will rely on him to be a key playmaker in the early stages of the game. While his brief showing at KeSPA Cup was solid, he’ll need to maintain his current level of play if T1 wants any chance at defending their title. If he struggles at all, T1 could be finding themselves playing from behind more often than not. With all the pressure on him, will Cuzz be able to live up to the task?

3. Kim “Canyon” Geon-bu (DAMWON Gaming)

Taking the third spot on the power rankings is the 2019 Summer Split MVP, Canyon. While Canyon plays a large role in DAMWON’s success, he can also be inconsistent. Although his bad games are fairly rare, he is still prone to some games where he’s an average jungler. While it’s enough to get by against some weaker teams, against top teams it has proven to be the difference in a DAMWON victory or defeat. Overall, Canyon can usually be relied upon to have a good performance on champions like Lee Sin and Sejuani, he’ll have to show that he can be consistently great if he wants to take the top spot.

2. Lee “Tarzan” Seung-yong (Griffin)

Taking the runner up spot for the junglers is a Tarzan. While he was always in contention for best jungler in Korea, this season he’ll likely have to finally reach that status for Griffin to contend. With huge roster changes throughout the roster, Tarzan will be a key player that will decide the level of success that Griffin will be able to experience. In the end, if Griffin is able to find themselves back in the playoffs by the end of the Spring Split, a large reason for it will be the play of Tarzan and it may be enough to even land him the MVP honors. With a lot of pressure on him to perform, Tarzan will be the most exciting player to keep an eye on for the Spring Split.

1. Kim “Clid” Tae-min (Gen.G)

Taking the top spot and the title of best jungler heading into the 2020 LCK season is Clid. After dominating most of 2019 with T1, Clid will be expected to do more of the same on Gen.G now. With weaker solo laners on paper, Clid’s role in creating an early game lead will be more important as ever. If he does struggle like he did against his former team during the KeSPA Cup, Gen.G won’t look as dominant as they can be and struggle against some top teams. But if Clid can remain consistent as he always is, Gen.G will still be the early favorites to win it all during the Spring Split.

To watch League of Legends tournaments, visit watch.na.lolesports.com. For more information on the Split, teams, standings and players, visit www.lolesports.com. Recaps of former weeks and other LoL content can be found at https://thegamehaus.com/league-of-legends/.

Featured image courtesy of y.w kim (Kenzi) Flickr.

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