Call of the Wild: A Boar, a Blob, and a Demacian Standard!
Gone are the days of spiders falling from the sky and monks roundhouse kicking you into your enemies’ awaiting arms. No, for quite a while now, we’ve been graced with the same chicken killers game after game. While there were a plethora of offseason changes, with entirely new runes, rosters, and a franchise to boot, the jungle stayed practically untouched.
In the NA LCS Week 1 games, Sejuani and Jarvan IV each had a 50% presence, with Zac right behind at 40%. While this number may not seem too incredibly high at first glance, those champs won 80% of their games when opposing any other jungler. It seems clear that the tank/utility junglers have a much bigger impact in competitive play than some of those solo queue freelo junglers (Evelynn, looking at you).
League of… Jungle Diversity?
Most of the pros I spoke with define the current jungle meta as tank + utility dominant. Those specific few champs are just a clear cut above the rest. However, Dennis “Svenskeren” Johnsen completely disagrees, stating,
“The jungle meta is pretty fun… Even though there are a lot of memes about Sejuani and Jarvan … you can counter them as well.”
Not ironically, Sven was the ONE jungler to pull off an upset against these top tier tanky champions, playing Evelynn into Juan “Contractz” Garcia’s Jarvan IV.
But don’t get too excited! Even though he is having a bit of fun picking from a more diverse pool of junglers, he isn’t planning on playing Lee Sin any time soon.
“I’ve been trying Lee Sin in scrims … but I have to play twice as good as my opponent… It’s not really worth the effort.”
So if you are looking for some Insec’s in 2018, head over to the LPL (who happen to pick Lee pretty often and play 6 days a week)!
Defining the Meta-os
William “Meteos” Hartman is less impressed with the current viable jungle options, even though Zac is an old Meteos special.”The meta now is looking still pretty similar to how Worlds was with Sejuani, Jarvan looking good.” He hopes “more junglers get balanced into the mold that champions need to have.”
He simplifies this jungler mold down to champs that “have some level of early game pressure and then transition into a more vision control, tanky, utility champion as the game goes on.” He backs this up explaining that “jungle just doesn’t have the guaranteed income that other roles have.”
Therefore, champions with high baseline values – or those that can survive placing deep wards and provide some protection and cc for their scaled up carries – do better in competitive where vision control and team fighting rule the Rift. He explains that some of the drop in the Gragas pick/ban rate is due to him receiving multiple nerfs and “it’s hard to pull him off because he just can’t kill jungle camps.” When asked about Lee Sin, he explained that while he can provide the early pressure, he doesn’t provide the same utility late game for the carries, just an ult and a couple shields.
He finishes up by explaining why the other terror of solo queue – Kha’Zix – doesn’t perform well in competitive eiter. In solo queue, the bug is constantly “going around getting a million kills … and teams aren’t coordinated… But in competitive, you’re probably being tracked most of the game. So even though they can’t see you when you’re invisible, they probably have a general idea where you are.” All in all, “not offering a frontline is pretty hard for your team.”
Final Thoughts
I have to say I side with Meteos. The highest rate of success for junglers comes when they cover for their carries in the late game. Yes, they often spend more time fighting wards than wolves, but a win is a win. Even in the one jungle upset that Sven had as Eve vs. Jarvan IV, he had more than half of the team’s deaths, while Contractz only had 1/8th of his team’s. Sven did have almost 90% kill participation, but he quite possibly could’ve had a similar impact on kills and a smaller impact on deaths by playing Sejuani, who went unbanned that game.
But, don’t take my word for it! These two masterminds face off this Sunday at 3pm PST. Who has a better read on the meta? Will Meteos focus on protecting his carries? Or will he take Svenskeren’s advice, play aggro, and betray his beloved Sneaky? Tweet me your predictions @parkeso! I want to see what you guys think. Thanks again for tuning in! See you on the Rift! 😉
Hey guys, thanks for checking out my debut article! Throughout the season, I’ll be attending the NA LCS and talking to all your favorite pros to bring you some inside thoughts and opinions on the meta, runes, and offseason changes. Whether you have been following the scene for years or just started recently, I hope to find some meaningful content for you! For requests, comments, or words of affirmation, please tweet me @parkeso. For pictures and stories, follow my Insta @parqueso. If you’re not big into social media, email me at parkesotwo@gmail.com. =)
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