ChaiPod LoL Blog

Holiday Hearthstone Key Give Away!

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Mon, 23 Dec 2013 04:03:00 +0000

A friend of mine gave me a Hearthstone Beta key and I finally received one through another round of key releases. I thought I would just share this one with my readers! Happy Holidays and thank you for supporting my blog! First come first serve :)

Key: 8912255150847385312959563

By the way, if you take the key please do everyone else a favour and comment that it has been taken. Cheers.

League of Legends Season 4 Jungle Preview

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Sat, 14 Dec 2013 10:32:00 +0000

Finals are over. Season 4 patch has been released. Yasuo is now on summoners rift. And I am now back from my ridiculously long hiatus with promised content. I'm sure a lot of you, maybe like two people, are interested in what I feel about the new jungle and game changes in general. In this article, I will go over the general theoretical changes that can be applied to most games due to the new patch.

Check it out after the jump!

Please use the following patch notes for reference: 3.14, 3.15

After playing Solo Queue for two to three days in diamond 5 to 2 MMR zone, I feel that the jungles are in general, quite positive for the game and junglers alike. They made an active effort to create more variety in the jungle. Furthermore, they have explicitly stated that they want to create games that snowball less. While I feel that they have essentially achieved this, the problem is that it was at the cost of the jungler.

General Jungle Effects

The general jungle changes seem to have resulted to a shift towards creating a winning situation. The winning situation is not conditional for the victory of a team due to the reduced snowballing effect, but more conditional for the effectiveness of the jungler. The fact of the matter is that, while every other player has retained their gold income or received increased gold income, the jungler has essentially received a gold income based on the status of the game. This is due to many reasons. Primarily, based on the fact that income for the jungler is based on camps that are taken by other players when losing and the fact that GP5 items are now limited to a core jungle item part that relies on taking camps. Furthermore, there has been a removal of cheap, effective tank items as Locket is now less efficient.

More gold? Or another target?

As a result of the gold changes, item changes, and GP5 changes, junglers tend to fall behind in comparative gold very fast in a losing scenario. Along with more early vision due to trinkets, I feel that there has been a favour towards two styles. The first, being the a power jungler who farms the jungle more effectively and can attain the necessary items. This is the safer method of playing that attempts to attain a winning situation safely. The other method is choosing very strong ganking junglers who build damage in an attempt to snowball the game to victory in the early game to create a winning situation.

In the previous jungle, where a losing situation would be snowballed is actually different from the current jungle meta. A jungler who is losing in this current meta is actually more useless than in the previous meta as the enemy jungler, the enemy support, and the allied support is actually substantially stronger than you. Whereas, in the previous meta the disparity between the the four was far less. As such, picking a third style, a support-tank jungler style, is incredibly risky. A support-tank jungler is going to be a lot less efficient in the mid-late game when they are losing, a style that is risky causes a higher potential for a losing situation. Also, ganks are a lot more difficult to pull off without the additional power from bruiser junglers.

Effective Junglers

As such, the junglers that are strong at the moment are those that fit the two styles: the power jungler and the strong-bruiser jungler.

Power Junglers:
- Shyvana
- Dr. Mundo

These junglers can farm incredibly efficiently for big ticket items that can win team fights and create favourable situations.

Strong-Bruiser Junglers:
- Vi
- Lee Sin
- Elise
- Evelyn

These junglers are incredibly potent in ganks and maximize gank potential in a meta that doesn't cater to ganks. As such, ganks are still an alternative with these kinds of junglers to create a favourable situation.

I feel that these 6 junglers are the strongest at the moment. However, I still have no tested Olaf, much of Evelyn, Aatrox, Wu Kong, Volibear, or the many of the support-tank junglers.

As season 4 approaches, I will be testing more and hopefully do more articles. As my private life has become a lot more hectic, the frequency of articles will not be clear.

The One Year Solemn Update

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 23:36:00 +0000

Wow. I can't believe it's been a year. If you're reading this, I can't describe how much it means to me that someone actually reads this. Thank you.

There has been many positives of this blog for me. Especially the day when I got ~30k views on a single article thanks to Reddit traffic, the AMA I did back in September where I got a lot of good questions, and hitting platinum (not diamond) while playing against Destiny. It's been a very encouraging year for me, especially given the state of things a year ago for me. I still have a lot of things I want to write about, lots of articles I started and haven't finished, and a web series I would really like to find time for in Season 4.

However....

I'm not going to try to hide it, i've been really slowing down my posts for the past month. I didn't write anything for the month of October and I didn't write anything for Season 3 Finals. What a shame. However, nothing is without good reason. Unfortunately, like many people who find their hobbies aligned with eSports I have been dragged back into the real world. School, work, social life has really taken its toll on me. Furthermore, the disbanding of my team has removed a lot of my competitive drive that pushed me to write for this blog. Unfortunately, again, I don't have the time to work with another team.

This doesn't mean i'm going to stop blogging. Unfortunately, the prevalence of my posts are going to be seriously hindered (I doubt anyone is even going to care). Which might mean my popularity is going to go to other bloggers like, oh god forbid, stonewall the rambling, concept-less machine. However, I hope to continue three things in particular: Understanding series, State of the Jungle series, and, begin, my web-series. Of course, this is actually a daunting task for someone who aims to maintain Diamond division, finish his last year of university, works part time, and wants to retain a social life.

I wish everyone the best of luck in securing their Season 3 rewards. Hopefully I will meet a reader of mine in Solo Queue one day. I think I can successfully say that I have been a "real terror" this season.

League of Legends Season 4: Hopes & Suggestions

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Thu, 07 Nov 2013 23:16:00 +0000

Magma Chamber? A dream or possibility in Season 4?

With Season 3 coming to a close in the near future, I reflect on the season of the past. I can't believe it's been a whole season since I have started this blog. I have definitely achieved my goals, which is actually nothing I would argue this article, this season and am looking forward to playing and writing about League of Legends in the future. However, with Season 4 not quite here I thought I would write an article about my hopes for Season 4 in regards to this game, personally and technically.

See my hopes for Season 4 after the jump!
The Tier and Division System

If you've read anything about Solo Queue, etc. that I have written you'll know how I feel about this system. To be blunt, as someone who has played 200+ games of solo queue, I feel like this system is absolutely garbage in more than one dimension. Particularly, it fails to do two things that any ranking system of a game should do: ranking, and recognizing.

Take a look at the picture. The fact that this is even possible is INSANE.

A ranking system should be able to appropriately rank their players. This is the fundamental aspect of any ranking system (hell, it is so fundamental it is part of the name for fucks sake). That means that a player who is 100,000th should be higher, in terms of the system, than a player who is 200,000th and the system should accurately portray this. Unfortunately, in the Season 3 system what a player is seen to be is different from what they actually are due to how Tier changes are done. The fact that a player can't drop a division, given that they actually keep playing, means that a player who is in Bronze V can actually be higher on the ladder than a player who is in Diamond V but is not represented so. This. Is. Fucking. Garbage I am absolutely appalled at the fact that Riot thought this would make for a good ranking system. Sure, the Season 3 system is all nice and dandy to "encourage players to play more solo queue" but you don't sacrifice a ranking system's fundamental features for supplementary features. If you wanted to encourage players to play more solo queue, you should have given players more material incentive to play (I don't know, maybe give players a permanent border for the season when they reach a new division?) I'm not even going to mention how players in Challenger are getting fucked by Riot this season. These players have proven themselves to be the elite of the elite in their region and can still be denied Challenger rewards.

I'm not even going to go into the huge sociological mistakes Riot has made in terms of how they reward proper play in Division 5. The employee at Riot with the PHD in psychology (I'm very sure they hire these kind of people) should hand his degree back to the College he graduated from so his professors can shred it and use it to feed the undergraduates. If I was Brandon Beck I would fire the entire division who created this system; unfortunately, I am not because if I was this system would never be put in the first place. Anyways, enough with the rant. It is clear that the Season 3 system fails to properly rank players. Sure, players MMR properly ranks players similarly to the previous ELO system; however, a ranking has always been, and will continue to be in any competitive game, transparent. You don't see FIDE daring to tell Magnus Carlsen that he's "somewhere in the top 100" and that he can be dropped from the top 100 because he didn't play a match this week.

Not only has the Season 3 system failed to appropriately rank players transparently, but it's also failed to recognize it's players. As someone who has achieved the "best of North America" tier of Diamond, I actually feel like my ELO is worse this season than it was in the previous one. The fact is, Diamond is no longer Diamond. Diamond is Platinum, Platinum is Gold, Gold, is Silver, Silver is Bronze, and Bronze is <1200 ELO. I do not feel a sense of recognition just because the Tier system is so twisted and warped that it has actually changed the meanings of the Tiers. There are actually as many Diamond players this season as there are Platinum players. As such, the feelings of recognition are actually falsified to boost peoples egos. The diamond players this season, I would argue, are actually worse than the gold players from last season. I played with better players last season when I was grinding to platinum than I did this season when I had Diamond III MMR.

What kind of competitive game company sacrifices a traditional, transparent ranking system to stroke the egos of their players?

As such, my biggest hope for Season 4 is for Riot to abolish this system and create a proper, ranking system.

Jungle Balance

Despite the two week period where SoTLE Blue Build Ezreal was rampant, I would say that Riot actually created a very fun jungle meta this season. We saw a very large pool of champions played and used in competitive play from Volibear to Nasus to Zac to Elise to Evelyn to Lee Sin. Of course, a lot of this is due to the influence of yours truly, Diamondprox, but this doesn't take away from the fact that the structure allowed these champions to be played and gain traction in the game.

Whenever there are big jungle changes, usually during season switches, there is always discussion on creating a diverse variety of effective and efficient jungle champions that can be played. Of course, people always want to be allowed to "carry from the jungle." Personally, I have a huge feud to grind with these individuals who say this because that statement is, for the lack of a better word, retarded. First, how does one even define "carry;" the definitions of carrying different from every player and division. Second, I firmly believe that junglers can carry from the jungle now. Hell, even supports can carry. However, this is because I believe that carry doesn't imply that you have to be the one taking the kills and doing the damage. I believe that carrying is doing your role above and beyond what is expected from you.

With that being said, I feel like Riot will once again try to allow more junglers more diversity. However, without tackling the fundamental conditions that plagued the past seasons, Riot is going to find themselves with the same problems. Of course, one can't really say that Riot is actually trying to allow every champion in the game to be able to jungle effectively and play their defined role efficiently out of the jungle. Riot will always have pre-determined concepts that should be applied to the game.

I guess to answer my initial question, my hope is that this season Riot doesn't try to implement crazy changes to appease the crowds. Instead they work towards reforming the current system such that junglers have sustainable gold incomes without sacrificing incentive to apply map pressure.

Some suggestions include:

Increasing gold and experience from camps, however decreasing the respawn times

Make camps give more gold and experience over all. This gives junglers more incentive to clear camps but not give up all pressure they can create. A proper rhythm of jungling can be created with this method.

Make camp difficult scale with time, making camps more difficult overall

Camps are too easy to do at the moment. If i'm playing something like Kayle mid, I can easily clear the wave then take a camp before losing a single CS in the lane. This incentivizes junglers to gank instead of farm because the team doesn't lose money when they gank but the team loses opportunity cost when they farm.

Emphasis the damage given by upgraded Machete items

Increasing the percentage based damage on Machete will allow camps to be strictly jungle specific. Laners who want to take camps be punished such that the will lose lane CS for a camp.

Don't allow junglers to have a larger influence on the game than they already have

Junglers already have a very huge influence on the game. Don't give them more gold to allow them to control objectives, determine early game pressure, and be huge threats in team fights. Riot needs to remember there are four other players in the game too.

Make baron a reward, not an objective;

Too many times we see games are completely one sided because the defensive advantage of towers is mitigated by Baron baits, teams who want to press their advantage should have to do so dangerously.

Personal Goals

As for my personal goals for Season 4: I hope I retain my Damond and, finally, be able to play a game with or against TheOddOne. Hopefully, I can build my personality in the League of Legends community up. I am going to be focusing on studies and work for the majority of Season 4, so I probably won't have any eSports related goals.

Solo Queue Smurfing & Reddit AMA

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Tue, 24 Sep 2013 03:53:00 +0000

With the end of season 3 coming to a close, there are many individuals out there who are trying to make it past the Gold V border to get the victorious Elise skin. As I have already secured my Diamond rewards, I have been, errr.... (awkward, riot pls), smurfing to get gold rewards. I have always been very adamant about denying ELO hell, as with many popular bloggers, however, I think it's safe to say that in the short-term there are just some games that are absolutely un-winnable. This is especially relevant when players get to the DivisionX 1 -> DivisionY 5 border where many of the DivisionY 5 players don't really care about solo queue anymore. In addition, currently there is an influx of DivisionX 1 players who really don't belong in DivisionY 5 but still play a ton to get it; also, an influx of smurfs in this border. Regardless, I still hold to the fact that players who deserve to rise will eventually rise.

LolKing Statistics of my Bronze I to Gold V climb

As a player who struggled his way up from Bronze (1100 ELO) to Diamond V, I thought it would be a little more difficult than it actually was to bring accounts from Bronze / Silver to Gold V. Instead, I find it very easily climbing the ladder, even skipping divisions in between because my MMR was so high. Ironically, when I was playing solo queue I did not play jungle, my best role. Instead, I found it incredibly easy to carry from mid lane. Games would usually be over at the twenty to thirty minute marks when I would be incredibly fed and all the other lanes would be snowballed to all hell. Generally, I played Kayle because I found that her kit lets you presure lanes, clear waves, do consistent DPS, roam swiftly, and help your teammates who get caught out of position. I found it a little more difficult to carry from the jungle because players don't really know how to accommodate ganks and you don't necessarily get the same amount of farm as a mid laner. I remember one game specifically where I was laning as Kayle against an enemy Veigar. I was able to secure first blood within thirty seconds of laning just because of the raw mechanical skill disparity between the laners, then able to turn two versus one jungle ganks into one for nothing trades multiple times. At the end of the game, I feel like I violated the Veigar's confidence as a player (the Canadian me says sorry). Unfortunately, that is the true skill disparity between a diamond player and a silver player regardless of me being an absolute terrible laner. Albeit, even with the skill disparity in many games I did manage to lose 3 games on a specific climb from Bronze I to Gold V. Furthermore, I did not have a veil of invulnerability that I might be giving off as I did manage to lose lane or die to ganks several times; however, my superior mechanics, decision-making, and game flow knowledge managed to turn a losing game around frequently.

A closer look at the lolking graph shows my progress of two days in solo queue

Anyways, those are just my adventures and general thoughts on solo queue for silver players. Seriously, a good player would never be stuck in low ELO for long. It's only for those who are only a little better than their current division that would be stuck for a bit longer than usual. With that said, I managed to get approved for an AMA on r/summonerschool. I will be answering questions on jungling, arranged 5s, and solo queue which will be posted on Thursday, Friday, or the weekend. I will provide the link when available.

Also, here is a shameless plug to my friend's stream. He is a Diamond 1 support main who constantly appears on popular streams. I also played 5s with him from back when we were bronzers to when we became diamonds. He is a great guy and teaches proper supporting (not the solo queue shit) and has a great attitude. Check him out here.

Reddit AMA: Click here

Update: I had a great time answering a lot of the questions on my AMA! A lot of players were very responsive with my answers and took the time to really try to get to the core of their issues instead of focusing on circumstantial issues. I actually had a lot of people encourage me to keep doing things like this. Most surprisingly, some people offered to donate to me and ask me for lessons. I do not take donations, nor do I charge for my advice. My only hope at the moment is that I am able to help others with their jungle journey! Check out some of the cool responses I got from some friendly people, below!

Sorry! I'm here to help you not take your money; knowledge should be free

Glad to hear from the same person that my advice actually helped!

Nope. Not going to take your money. I'd be glad to help when I have time though!

Season 3 World Championship Thoughts - Fall of the Olympians, Birth of the Titans

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Tue, 17 Sep 2013 09:25:00 +0000

This article is going to quickly highlight my thoughts on the 2013 Season 3 World Championship Tournament where there has never been so many new teams playing and old teams disappearing. While I am aware at the time of this post there has already been two days of play, I feel like it is irrelevant to my post as I will be, most importantly, going over the reasons for my thoughts and not just calling it as it is. With that said, click the jump to see what I think of the S3 LoL WCs.

SKT1 and Faker are clearly the heavy favourites in the tournament, can they be stopped?

Without a doubt in most people's minds, SK Telecom T1 (SKT1) and Samsung Galaxy OZone (SSO) are the heavy favourites going into the Season 3 World Championships (S3 WC). Everyone and their Mom are already ready to submit to their Korean overlords in this international tournament; even professionals are willing to bet their life savings on the fact that Koreans are heavy favourites in this tournament. Everyone would have a very good reason for believing so, even I think that I would be naive to say that SKT1 and SSO don't have an incredible chance to win it all this season. However, with that being said I would say that the Korean immunity is most vulnerable this season. Furthermore, Korean teams actually have a very poor track record in large scale international tournaments. The Korean meta has shifted away from the high pressure, objective control, tower dive with intricate forced team fighting towards a more farm and late-game heavy meta. Korean teams show trends to pick towards late game champions like Ryze, Vayne, Singed, Tristana, Caitlyn, Zac, Nasus where their superior mechanics can completely dominate a game. In addition, they choose strong early game junglers like Lee Sin, Elise, and Jarvan to facilitate the early-mid game where they give up a lot of farm to put on a ton of pressure on the map so that these late game champions can make it out of the laning phase in good shape. However, while that is the more favourable comp that Koreans like to play, it isn't their only. Koreans are more than willing, as seen in the OGN, to play push comps and pick comps that don't revolve around those champions. So, why does this play style make Koreans more vulnerable to international teams? It's because late game champions are always able to be shut down in the early-mid game where teams who pick aggressive mid-game power spike champions are able to secure an advantage and snowball it into a win. However, with international teams potentially getting the best opportunity to take down the Korean titans I still believe a Korean team has a very high chance of winning S3 WCs. The Korean team fight in mid-late game is very distinguishably stronger than any other region. Their ability to pick players and completely dismantle teams in intricate team fights is unparalleled to any other region in the world. Perhaps this is the reason why the OGN region is perhaps the best region in any competitive area; new Korean teams are forced to play in this highly competitive team fight phase over and over again where they are forced to adapt or perish. The Korean team fight phase reminds me of when M5 exploded onto the scene; no longer are teams just farming and grouping when they have items to head on 5 v 5 fight.

OMG cool is said to be the 'faker' of China, will he live up to the name?

With Korean teams being heavy favourites in S3 WCs, I strongly believe that Chinese teams have the best chance against the Koreans. The LPL region is arguably just as competitive as the OGN region where the likes of previous power houses like World Elite and Invictus Gaming did not even qualify for worlds. Team OMG is perhaps the heavy favourites coming out of the Chinese region. The reason? A lot of people are saying that because OMG cool, their mid laner, and OMG san, their ADC, are some of the best at their roles. OMG cool is even said to be the 'faker' of China. However, individual player skill is usually not a good strategical reason for tournament predictions. Usually, skill level is very similar at such high level of play such that a strategical advantage needs to be created for a team to win. There are two reasons why I think China will do well in S3 WCs; one, OMG's track record, two, China's sporadic meta. First off, in order to analyze OMG's track record, as they are a very new team, we have to look at the previous giants of China - Team World Elite (WE). While Team WE did not make the S3 WCs, they are a very important analytical factor because just 9 months ago they were the top of the world. Team WE, after their abysmal showing at S2 Worlds, exploded onto the international scene at the IGN IPL 5 International tournament where they took first place in a brutal tournament with dominating fashion. Team WE beat out the likes of a very strong Fnatic, the seemingly invincible TPA, the intimidating Moscow 5, the once powerful Azubu Blaze, and the strong CLG EU squad of the past at IPL 5 to take first. Never has so many teams at the top of their game played in one tournament and Team WE beat all of them to take home first. Now, imagine this WE team who just defeated the best of the best in every region in one of the largest international tournaments outside of worlds. They go back into the LPL league and they are absolutely struggling against the Chinese competition. Teams like OMG, IG, Royal, and PE are playing on the same level as Team WE who just defeated the world's best of the best. In the end, Team WE doesn't even place in the top 2 of the LPL and gets knocked out of the regionals by OMG and Royal Club. What happened? Did team WE just lose their lucky cat? No. It's because the Chinese region is competitive and fierce. Secondly, OMG has an incredibly sporadic meta where they pick absolutely crazy things. There was a week where Shyvana was a first pick, first ban champion! Things like Yorick Jungle and Annie support, which would be called troll in the NA LCS (TSM and xpecial i'm looking at your Annie, Xin Zhao lane) are the meta in China. These off-picks, where other regions are going to have a very hard time practising against because players in those regions don't play these champions in these roles, are going have a very big impact on group stages as they are best of 1.

North America's Cloud 9 exploded in the NA region, will they implode at Worlds?

I can't be a NA player and not even talk about the NA region; however, I think most people can guess the angle i'm going to approach this topic. TSM and Vulcan have been very lack-luster in the region to a point where I don't think they will survive group stages. TSM has a very poor track record in international tournaments and their play has been slumping recently. Moreover, the NA region is playing an older version of the Korean objective meta slowed down. That being said, I actually think Vulcan has the biggest opportunity for NA to win worlds. Their aggressive play style is very much mirroring Koreans; however, they are essentially a underdeveloped Korean A-list team. As such, Vulcan actually has the best record against Cloud 9 in the NA LCS because of this reason. Now, I get to the topic of Cloud 9, NA's last hope at beating a Korean or Chinese team. While I personally would like to see Cloud 9 win worlds, show the non-believers, and be the first NA team to show Koreans that they suck, I actually think its going to be the complete opposite. Cloud 9, who plays a very passive, efficient, and objective based style are going to suffer at the hands of Koreans and, specifically, Chinese teams who punish junglers and laners at every corner. Cloud 9 who, I say shamefully, have been dominating the NA scene because they have been capitalizing at NA team's mistakes. Mistakes that Koreans and Chinese will probably be making a whole lot less. Furthermore, Cloud 9 has looked the most vulnerable to Vulcan who is, as I have said, is essentially a premature version of a Korean team. Unless Cloud 9 changes their play style completely I am not going to be betting money on them making it anywhere far despite coming in as NA's first place seed.

Will Fnatic be the world's first 2 season champion? Doubtful.

Finally, we get to the last of the 'big 4' regions - Europe. Honestly, I think Europe only has more of a chance than NA at winning worlds. Not only did they have an incredibly poor showing at All-Stars (ok, communication errors, etc.); however, their meta has been evolving very slowly. Whereas Koreans are playing lane control with emphasis on proper rotations, Europe has just evolved into a more aggressive season 2 meta where champions like Aatrox can exist. Of course, if I had to bet any money on a team in Euriope, despite not watching EU LCS frequently, I would have to put it on Gambit Gaming (GG). You can always count on Alex Ich and Diamond to completely dominate the pace of a game with their insane synergy and amazingly consistent play. However, Fnatic can't be counted out too as they come into S3 WCs as the number one seed for Europe. In addition, Fnatic has arguably the most success and experience in international tournaments than any other team in this tournament which may play to their advantage. I honestly have nothing to say about Lemon Dogs because I haven't seen much of them and of the play I have seen from them I have not seen anything revolutionary. My prediction is that Lemon Dogs will fall out with their lacklustre play and their lack of experience in large scale international tournaments.

As for which junglers to watch out for in S3 WCs, I honestly think none of the Korean and Chinese junglers are amazing. They are all mechanically fine, but they aren't high profile players who are willing to throw it all on the line on some insane strategy. You're going to see Korean and Chinese junglers stick to their roots and favourites like Lee Sin, Elise, Jarvan IV. North American, and European junglers are more likely to go out of the comfort three and play champions like Vi, Nautilus, Aatrox, Nasus and Evelyn. If you've noticed, I haven't mentioned any of the teams outside of the 'big four' regions because I honestly don't know anything about them. However, i'm sure teams are going to be a lot more cautious after last year's TPA scare.

With that being said, everyone should go watch worlds! It's going to be an amazing tournament where the world will get to see if the Korean hype train is actually a Japanese bullet train or an American colonial train out of coal. Regardless of the outcome, I don't think an international tournament has ever had so many new names playing and so many old names disappearing.

Site Over-haul & Update

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Sat, 14 Sep 2013 07:51:00 +0000

One of the best League of Legends videos I have ever seen

This is yet another small update post as I finally get settled and decided on what I want to do with this blog in the future. If you have visited my blog before you will recognize that it has been changed, hopefully, to something more visually pleasing. I finally got rid of the disgusting title at the top of the blog after a couple hours of working on the banner, and the HTML. I hope my readers find my blog more pleasing to look at now.

There are three main things I want to clarify here:

1. I will be continuing with my 'understanding series' which will now all be clumped together as jungle guides along with champion guides. I will, hopefully, release my ganking guides that I had incompleted for several weeks now in the near future.

2. I will be continuing my State of the Jungle series with the latest one covering the current competitive state of the jungle as we enter Season 3 Worlds.

3. I will be working on two new series. First, a jungle tier list which, for some odd reason, many viewers find to be fascinating. Second, a new video series named 'Mind of a Jungler' which follows different game modes of Summoner's Rift from Solo Queue, to Duo Queue, to Arranged 5s where I explain my mindset and thought-process of a jungle game.

With that said, I hope anyone who sees my blog will be happy to know that I will be getting back into the groove of things starting next week! Until next time, summoners!

Welcome to the Diamond Club!

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Fri, 13 Sep 2013 07:21:00 +0000

Obsession is nothing but a precursor to success. Those who succeed, brilliant; those who fail, insane.

Welcome to the Diamond club, North America's best. Home to those insane enough to play solo queue till they hate themselves and home to those who skilled to win enough games to be the top 1% of League of Legends. Where players have beat through the likes of ELO hell and risen to the glory of ELO heaven. You may be reading this post and think that I have had an easy path to diamond, let me assure you that I have had a very rocky path. While I can't speak for every diamond player out there, for me it has been a very long road. When many people see those who are "at the top" they simply see the result but not effort and sacrifice they put in. If you've seen my very first post you'll know that I have not always had such success in solo queue.

Yep. 8,800 hours is 366 days. I was kind of obsessed.

I am willing to admit something very personal that even many of my close, personal friends are not aware of. I have a very serious history of obsession. I immerse myself obsessively in games almost religiously to a point where it takes priority over everything else in my life. To put it into context I have over a year's worth of game time on Guild Wars, one whole year of game time over 3 years. I have been like this for a very long time such that even on my 21st birthday I thought of nothing but solo queuing to diamond. I think it boils down to the feeling of control games give me that other activities don't. Regardless, my obsession obviously transferred over to League of Legends where it consumed my everyday life. I did not casually play League of Legends to get to diamond, I casually went through life to live League of Legends. Even when I wasn't playing, I was looking at guides, watching streams, watching pro games, analysing games, reading r/leagueoflegends, theory-crafting, etc. I guess the point of this confession is that I want people to know that just because you may have the ability to play in a higher tier, it's something that is earned not given; especially to those who are not gifted at this game.

I feel like this post wouldn't be complete without my story the past two to three years in League of Legends. I began at the bottom; upon hitting level 30 I went into ranked and started at 1100 ELO. I'm not going to lie and say I have always had the attitude I have today, when I was at 1100 ELO I blamed trolls, bad players, afks, the whole nine yards. My friends can surely attest to my 'solo queue mentality' of the past (sorry, David). Eventually, I became better at the game and made my way through to silver. I think it was that moment where I realized I had the potential to become decent at this game. Upon watching streams of professional players, I realized that I could do very similar things to them and they were not some out-of-reach play style. As such, I slowly progressed my way to gold. When I reached gold, I hit a huge mentality spike. I was suddenly, as labelled by the community, not absolutely terrible at the game. I grew an incredibly large ego at the game and became a serious rager. I still don't understand how I haven't been banned to this date. I would purposely throw games when anyone on the team made a mistake and tell them they didn't deserve to gain any ELO whatsoever. In my mind, I was the greatest and I could win back ELO at any moment. It was at that moment when I had a serious sense of frustration when I failed to hit platinum because of my rage. For a huge period of time, I stopped playing solo queue entirely and focused on playing arranged 5s. My teammate, who is probably one of the nicest guys ever, managed to hit platinum before me. At the end of Season 2, I was the worst kind of rager in solo queue; I was the kind of guy everyone dreads to have on their team. Albeit I raged, I still believed, and believe to this day, I was good and deserved to rise at that time. Finally as Season 3 started, I duo queued with a friends who inevitably carried me to platinum by telling me to plainly "shut the fuck up."However, being obsessed as I was, platinum was not enough. I wanted to join the famous Diamond club and play with my jungle idol since bronze, TheOddOne. As such, I obsessively played solo queue again. It was around my climb to Plat II when I played around 30 games in that division before finally dropping back to Plat III. I couldn't sleep at night because I had reoccurring nightmares of failing to achieve Diamond like I failed to achieve Platinum last season. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't concentrate at anything outside of League of Legends, I didn't eat properly, and I hand constant pains in my hand from playing more hours in a day than i'm willing to admit. In hindsight, I think it's safe to say I lost many of those games because of my poor attitude over anything. That was when I looked at my friend who was now in Diamond 1 and thought to myself, why am I not there. What does he do that I don't. I as mechanically strong and strategically stronger player than him. It was also around this time where I got my chat limited for 5 games because of my verbal abuse. Finally, I decided that I would try to be an overly nice person in solo queue even though I firmly believed that it doesn't help solo queue. I would NOT type anything when I see mistakes and I would only type positive comments. I basically became a cheerleader for the team. To my surprise, it worked. I previously believed that no matter what you typed it would not effect the game because the outcome was decided by play. However, you can't deny results and 15 game win streaks to get me to plat I and 10 game win streaks to get me to my Diamond series are results. To be honest, a lot of people told me I have had an attitude problem but I didn't believe it. Rationality has a funny way of losing to anger; passion has a funny way of trumping logic. If anyone I have ever played with were subject to my rage, I am truly sorry and I apologize.

I ride motorcycles and, while this may be unrelated to League, this really helped pump me up and motivate me when I was doing my series. Just thought i'd share an amazing video!

So, that's my story. From Bronze to Diamond: a rager's story. To be honest, I have played with many diamonds during my Plat 1 Streak (many times pure diamond games) and I honestly don't see a difference in play. I can only say that Diamonds are just more consistent, level headed Platinum players. I hope anyone who sees this post and is trying to ladder takes away two things. One, believe in yourself. You are the only one who is going to help you win. You are the one consistent factor in every game you play. If you don't do well every game, chances are you are the reason why you are stuck in your league. Sure there are odd games here or there, but in the long run (i've played almost 600 games of solo queue) it's just you versus the world, you versus probability, you versus no, you versus can't, you versus afkers, you versus ragers, you versus them. Two, have a positive attitude. Seriously, a positive attitude goes a long way in terms of both in game moral and learning how to play better. Don't ever sit on a high horse and always take personal responsibility even if its something uncontrollable.

I wasn't even aware Nocturne was my highest performance champion

Hopefully, In season 4 I will be able to retain my Diamond and hit Diamond I. I won't be trying to climb any more in the ladder, outside of some odd entertaining games, as I am actually sick of solo queue in high ELO. I always try to convince people that high ELO is actually ELO hell and low ELO is actually ELO heaven. As such, I will probably be smurfing a bit (silvers beware!) Eventually, I will try to hit the legendary Diamond I and play with TheOddOne. Keep a lookout for future promised posts, updates on World Championships, and a jungle tier list!

On that note, I'd like to end with a really great sound cloud that really got me in the mood to play League of Legends! Thanks TwoFriends <3

Skill Caps & Update

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 10:26:00 +0000

I have finally beaten the 50 ELO / LP barrier that has plagued me in the past!

This is just another short update post. If anyone has been wondering why I have not posted anything in a while, it's because I have been desperately laddering to diamond. It has been a rough path, but I feel like I can finally do it. The past week I have played ~80 solo queue games with almost 60 of them irrelevant. I felt that I reached a skill cap that I couldn't overcome at Plat II ~0-40 LP. Eventually, I dropped down to plat III after several losses in a row after playing on tilt.

I was completely devastated, I felt like I was in the same situation as last season where I tried to get into platinum and was 14 ELO away. However, after taking a small break and discussing mentalities with a close friend, I managed to pull myself together. I told myself that I might be stuck at a certain tier like last season, but I wasn't going to give up until the very end.

Today has been incredibly motivational for me. I feel like I have defeated the skill cap that I hit at plat II. After watching several of Cloud 9's games, I paid close attention to what Meteos did and followed his more 'farm' heavy jungle mentality to some degree of success. Although I tried Meteos' style of jungling, I still played very aggressively and managed to snowball several of my games. Mostly all my games today have given me incredible KDAs as I made sure to prioritize avoiding death over anything else.

This is more of an update than anything. I will resume my regular posts probably after I hit diamond or the season ends. However, with this break in skill cap I feel like I have a real fighting chance at hitting the diamond club. What joy it would bring me if I could overcome two tiers in one season!

Edit: I am now plat I! Yay! Time for elo clamping and the final road to diamond!

Counter Jungling Guide

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Sun, 11 Aug 2013 00:00:00 +0000

You don't have to be a genius to figure out how dead that Amumu is; Chauster once told Doublelift something along the lines of "even jesus couldn't get you out alive because you were in that position to begin with, you just happen to have the mechanics to get out of it alive this time." While the quote directly refers to Doublelift's ability to survive terrible situations with pure mechanical skill, I feel like League of Legend players can really learn a lot from Chauster's wisdom especially when it comes to new junglers being counter jungled. Counter jungling is an application of knowledge and situational understanding of League of Legends; likewise, preventing counter jungling is the same.

Check out 'understanding counter jungling' after the jump. Warning: wall of informative text to follow

What is Counter Jungling?

Streamlined at IEM Kiev by Moscow 5, counter jungling is a strategy where you purposely take away jungle camps from the enemy team. Counter jungling can be as small as stealing the Wraith camp while the enemy jungler shows in a lane as big as a team strategy of taking the entire enemy jungle. While strategies for counter jungling are usually pre-mediated, reactive counter jungling is a hallmark of any good jungler. While many traditional jungling strategies are implemented in response to how lanes are forming or want to be formed, counter jungling is a proactive strategy regardless of lanes. One does not need to wait for lanes to push a certain degree or hit a certain level to counter-jungle; although this knowledge and control does assist in more competitive counter jungling. One fallacy that many players believe with counter-jungling is that it is a representation of a weak jungler. While that is true to some degree as more experienced junglers are quicker to react to counter jungling, counter jungling is actually a representation of weak lanes and a weak jungler.

Why is it Effective?

So, the question that now arises is why would one want to go with the strategy of counter-jungling instead of following traditional methods of gain such as ganking. First, counter jungling, as mentioned before, is a tactic that can be done even when traditional methods of gain cannot be done. Second, counter-jungling can put the enemy jungler extremely behind if he fails to respond properly or make use of his time effectively; essentially forming a 5 v 4 in late game scenarios if done properly. Third, counter-jungling can pressure the enemy jungler to base or reveal the location of the enemy jungler, thus allowing laners to play aggressively due to the fear of the unknown disappearing. When done in competitive play as a strategy, it allows laners to play extremely aggressively with very little consequence when they would usually be punished for doing so.

Proactive and Reactive Counter Jungling

There are generally two kinds of counter-jungling: proactive and reactive counter jungling. Proactive counter jungling usually entails two main goals: buff control, and constant invasion. The method of proactive counter jungling is to intentionally take away camps from the enemy jungler by beating the enemy jungler to the camps or fighting the enemy jungler for the camps. The method of reactive counter jungling is to reactively take away camps from the enemy jungler by punishing their decisions. While proactive counter jungling is more effective at shutting down and pressuring the enemy jungler, reactive counter jungling is a more safe alternative to proactive counter jungling.

What conditions can you counter jungle?

As I mentioned previously, counter jungling is not the fault of just the jungler as many would assume; it is the fault of the whole team. As such, conditions in which a jungle is able to counter jungle safely are not just limited to junglers but also laners. There are three general conditions which allow a jungler to counter-jungle - Strong Jungler Condition, Pushed Lane Condition, and Loss of Pressure Condition. Each of these conditions can independently or cooperatively allow a jungler to counter jungle to different extents. Of course, these are not every condition possible but simply the commonly known and recognizable ones.

Firstly, the Strong Jungler Condition is when a jungler has picked a champion that is mechanically stronger than the enemy jungler. Strength of a jungler can be judged in three ways - the ability to win a duel, the ability to escape from multiple enemies, and the ability to effectively kill the enemy jungler. Like the conditions, these abilities can work independently or cooperatively with each other. The ability to win a duel is simply the ability for the counter jungling champion to beat the enemy jungler in a duel. Most experienced junglers recognize which champions win duels (i.e., Udyr never loses a duel) and will do their best to actually avoid duels they can't win. The ability to be unchallenged when counter jungling by the enemy jungler allows the counter jungler to take camps in a more safe fashion. However, while the Strong Jungler Condition allows for temporary counter jungling, it does not allow a jungler to stay in the enemy jungle for an extended period of time. Eventually, the enemy laners will collapse on the counter jungler and be able to kill him. That being said, the counter jungler who invades under the Strong Jungler Condition looks to be able to escape from multiple enemies after taking the free camp. The ability to escape from multiple enemies (i.e., Shyvana during the IEM Kiev Era) wastes the enemy teams time when they come to punish counter jungling. Finally, the ability to effectively kill the enemy jungler refers to the potential for a counter jungler to simply kill the enemy jungle before the enemy team can respond properly (i.e., Lee Sin is very good at effectively killing the enemy jungler if they enemy jungler has no inherent escapes). When a jungler is able to effectively kilt the enemy jungler while counter jungling, it removes all ability to punish the jungler for counter jungling and being out of position.

Secondly, the Pushed Lane Condition is when a jungler can counter jungle because all the lanes are pushed. While counter jungling is an alternative option when ganking is not an available one, it can be said that counter jungling when the lanes are pushed is perhaps an overall strategy, not just one of desperation. Exemplified during the IEM Kiev Era, Moscow 5, currently known as Gambit Gaming, picked champions who all pushed lanes extremely hard at level one. By pushing all three lanes hard, it puts pressure for the enemy jungler to clear camps and punish lanes from pushing. However, a counter jungler who pressures at the right time, can prevent an enemy jungler from ever getting to lanes to begin with as he cannot clear properly. While it is possible that the enemy jungler could simply avoid camps and gank the lanes, an under farmed, under levelled, and buff less jungler is generally not able to secure ganks efficiently and effectively; there is even a possibility for teams to win a 2 v 3 skirmish with creep damage. Furthermore, laners who attempt to punish counter jungling by attempting to kill the counter jungler will find it hard to effectively make use of the game distance that gives the defending team the advantage. Laners will be behind in experience due to how the lanes are pushed, will sacrifice creep score to defend the counter jungle, and will be able to be followed easily as the counter jungler's laners are free to roam without losing anything. As such, laners who have their lanes pushed will find it hard pressed to find assisting a defend against a counter jungle appealing. Therefore, the Pushed Lane Condition is perhaps the most deadly strategy of counter jungling. However, teams who are quick to catch on will pick proper champions in champion select to ensure that lanes can push back.

Finally, the Loss of Pressure Condition is when a jungler chooses to assert dominance and pressure on one half of the map but loses pressure on the other half of the map. With the knowledge of the enemy jungler showing somewhere on the map, it becomes extremely safe for a counter jungler to waltz in and take the camps. If the enemy jungler fails to make a gank effective (i.e., he does not secure kills or summoner spells, essentially wasting time), then he will find that he is further punished by losing his camps. While this condition is more valid for reactive jungling, it becomes a good reason for junglers to recognize gank potential properly and not choose poor ganks. A choice in a poor gank can further punish an inexperienced jungler.

How do you deal with being counter jungled?

Great! You've just learned all these situations where you can punish the enemy jungler and counter jungle. However, what would happen if you're on the other side? What do you do when you are being counter jungled? If you have ever been counter jungled by a good jungler, it's possibly the most hopeless thing any player can feel. You are under levelled, under farmed, and you can't even walk into your own jungle without dieting. While this is a situational story that should not support general theories of counter jungling, I remember one situation when I was levelling up a smurf account. I was able to effectively counter jungle the enemy jungler so hard, that he was almost eight levels behind everyone else. Eventually, the poor soul just gave up and waited to surrender. The most important part of dealing with counter jungle is to recognize counter jungling and take steps to prevent an confrontation from ever happening or take steps to ensure that the counter jungler is punished effectively and efficiently. Once a counter jungle is successful, the counter jungler knows that it will work every time. Consider it like bullying - letting it happen once without punishment will only let it happen again, and more frequently. That being said, recognizing counter jungling comes with game experience of actually being counter jungled. However, there are some common indicators of counter jungling that anyone can learn.

What are some indications of counter jungling?

These indications of counter jungling come intrinsically from understanding the previously mentioned conditions - The Strength Disparity Indicator, Pushed Lane Indicator, and Loss of Pressure Indicator. When you are on the receiving end of these indicators, you have to consider the opportunity that the enemy jungler has to punish you, which good players will. Once you recognize the ability to be counter jungled, make sure you take preventive actions and balance out potential punishments with rewards.

For example, if the Loss of Pressure Indicator is relevant when you decide to show bottom lane for a gank when your buff on top lane has spawned, make sure you need to apply pressure in that lane, or secure kills / summoners in that lane. If you choose to lose pressure in top lane by applying pressure bottom lane, be prepared to lose your top jungle buff by a reactive counter jungle. If you can judge that it's not worth ganking bottom lane (i.e., an enemy Ezreal Janna and allied Soraka Graves), then securing your red buff should take precedence over applying pressure in bot lane to preventively handle being counter jungled.

Another example would be applying the Strength Disparity Indicator. If you are playing Amumu and the enemy is a Lee Sin, chances are they're looking to either steal away your blue buff or counter jungle your red buff. This is a very common strategy in low ELO play. One way to prevent being counter jungled this way as Amumu is to simply get your support to ward the blue buff, then start red buff. That way, against both counter jungle methods you could reactively secure a second buff or prevent being invaded upon. Another application would be to simply not pick weaker jungle champions against strong counter junglers.

What are some tips to handle being counter jungled?

Warding

Without a doubt, warding is the best way to handle being counter jungled. If you know the enemy jungler is coming you can avoid being counter jungled entirely. However, warding barely comes into play during the early stages outside of arranged play. Try buying your own wards to cover your jungle entrances or your buff after the initial spawns; you can catch the enemy counter-jungling and kill him if it's warded because buffs do a lot of damage early! Warding the brushes beside the buff is sometimes a better option than warding jungle entrances against champions who have free flashes (i.e., Shaco). Not only does warding warn you of the enemy counter jungler, but it also warns your team so that they can react before the counter jungle starts! Remember, when you die against the enemy counter jungler, the skirmish for your team is almost always unfavourable to continue.

Different routes

Used in a previous example, running a different route to be unpredictable is sometimes one of the best ways to prevent early counter jungling. This is why I almost always never recommend a certain route to start clearing the jungle; you don't have to start at any certain buff on any champion if you're going to die with it right after anyways. Being predictable in the jungle makes you vulnerable and extremely susceptible to counter jungling; try running different routes if you suspect being counter jungled.

Check and Pull Camps

This is one of the more simple tips. If you suspect that you might be counter jungled, take a couple seconds to walk around the brushes and the area and check for the enemy jungler. It's going to be a lot easier to escape a 1 v 1 duel than an ambush while you are doing a buff. After you have cleared the area, make sure you pull the camps into the brush so you get more vision and warning of an enemy invade.

Minimize Time

Again, this is a pretty intrinsic tip. Getting a smiteless pull on your first camp from your teammates so that you spend less time clearing is a method of minimizing time. The less time you spend clearing your jungle, the less time the enemy jungler has to counter jungle you. Another method to minimize time would be to time your buffs and do them as soon as they spawn. The longer you leave a buff up, the greater the chance of being counter jungled.

Communication

Communication is one of the best tools against counter jungling. The reason why counter jungling can only be done under specific situations is that your team is generally closer to your camps than the enemy camps. As a result, it puts the enemy jungler out of position when they choose to invade and counter jungle. It's always dangerous to counter jungle and theres always a risk of getting caught and killed. Communication with your team is one of the best preventive tools against counter jungling! Let your team know you are starting a buff by pinging so they pay attention to the mini map and ping furiously when you are being counter jungled so they can react right away! If your team can beat the enemy team to the skirmish, you'll almost always successfully defend against a counter jungle!

Conclusion

I hope reading this article has helped you understand a little bit more about counter jungling, thus understanding situations on when you can counter jungle or when you should be wary to defend a counter jungle. I always aim to help players with understanding concepts I have learned through experience and hopefully help players make better decisions that can apply to their individual games. Hopefully those of you who have read this article will not wind up like the Amumu in the picture above by making smart decisions and not put yourself in poor situations to begin with.

If you found this article helpful or not, please let me know! Everything I do is non-profit and I find opinions on my articles motivating.

Junglers, Gold, and Cost Efficiency

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 06:19:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j30SnAsSFg
(REST IN PEACE IN PEACE, RUNIC BULWARK)

Recently, it feels like Riot has been intentionally just nerfing junglers to the ground. Frankly, I am appalled by these changes to the jungle but, like every other jungler out there, been desperately finding ways to get around these changes. It seems Riot did not learn from the Udyr nerfs where they took away a part of his passive (dodge) and didn't replace it with anything else. While Riot has stated that they intend to find methods to give junglers more gold, I find it difficult to understand what they expect junglers to do at the moment.

Find my rant on Riot's jungle nerfs by clicking below.

To those who do not play jungle, nor understand the role very well, allow me to explain the predicament Riot has created. It should be a very known fact that junglers do not get as much steady gold as laners. There have been a myriad of discussions on methods to 'give junglers more gold.' While most junlgers simply just take on the initiation role and build tanky for team fights they don't exactly need a lot of gold to carry the game with. I find this situation perfectly fine. Junglers can positively influence games by getting good initiates off and using their abilities to the fullest like any support player to positively influence the game; however, in order for junglers to fulfill the initation role they need items that make them tanky that don't cost much. While laners have items like Sunfire Cape, Warmogs, and Randuin's Omen that make them all incredibly tanky, Junglers rely on items like Aegis, Locket, and Spirit of the Ancient Golem. These items, while inferior to the bigger items, are incredibly gold efficient. As such, the little gold junglers get do not go to waste. Moreover, these items are not over powered enough for laners to abuse them (see old Wriggle's Latern) as their strengths primarily lay in the ability to be cost effective when grouped up, when they actually need to do their initiation.

With patch 3.10, Runic Bulwark has been removed from the game and Locket of the Iron Solari is now built out of Aegis of the Legion. As such, junglers have lost two items they build as core items that made them effective without the easily secured income. While many would argue that these items created stale itemization within junglers, I do not think nerfing and removing them was the option to go. Instead, make new items that are cost effective for junglers to match already existing cost effective items. While the argument can be made that these items would be abused by laners, there are other ways to fix stale itemization such as a proposed jungle creep stacking item similar to Seeker's Armguard.

There are three main issues that I see with the 3.10 patch to Runic Bulwark and Locket of the Iron Solari.

1. Core Items on Junglers cost more than before

2. Aegis / Locket is no longer as efficient while alternatives provide itemization issues

3. Additional gold to cover issues 1 and 2 have not been provided

One of the biggest issue is that 'core' items on Junglers now cost a lot more than they did before. Previously, junglers built Ninja Tabi, Spirit of the Ancient Golem, Runic Bulwark, and Locket of the Iron Solari. Currently, while it has truly secured by competitive play yet, junglers are building Ninja Tabi, Spirit of the Ancient Golem, Locket of the Iron Solari, Randuin's Omen or Spirit Visage.

While the additional passive on Spirit Visage may provide the current build path with more cost effectiveness, my core argument is still valid. Furthermore, many junglers who don't need Spirit Visage opt for Banshee's veil which costs 2750, more than Spirit visage, and gives 2288 effective gold, 3908 effective gold when it's passive is being proced. With Banshee's Veil the total gold becomes 11250 and effective gold becomes 15591. Regardless, junglers are getting less gold efficiency in this patch than before and it is painfully obvious. An overlooked practical application factor when it comes to calculating gold efficiency is that the effective gold for items are only counted when the items is completed. As such, when items get more expensive, such as core items on current patch compared to core items on previous patch, it takes longer for them to be completed and make junglers weaker when they are not. As such, a jungler who would previously have Locket completed would not have Locket completed in the current patch. As such, it makes them weaker during that time period.

Secondly, the combination of Locket and Runic Bulwark has removed one of the most efficient items in a jungler's itemization. While the current Aegis upgrade boasts 5314g worth of stats for 2500g the previous Aegis upgrade boasted 7092 for 2950g. You don't have to do the math to figure out which one is more cost efficient (2.4 to 2.12). Furthermore, Locket, another cost efficient and cheap item for Junglers, has been removed entirely. No longer can you get the Aegis upgrade and then an additional cheap item. Junglers are now forced to get the Aegis upgrade and a big ticket item designed for laners. Junglers find it incredibly difficult to go back to base and have ~1000 to 1500 gold in their bank as they go back to base more frequently and need to be able to pick up small components. That was one of the biggest benefits of Runic Bulwark and Locket of the Iron Solari; being able to pick up a kindlegem on a back is enormous for a jungler who isn't fed.

Finally, the last problem. I would like to call this an Udyr Epidemic (something is taken away while nothing is given; thus unintentionally nerfing) but this implies that Riot will actually fix the problem. Riot has discussed giving junglers more gold for a long time, but nothing has ever been implemented to do so effectively. Their first attempt at giving junglers more gold through the spirit items (gold efficient jungle only items) were abused by laners again, courtesy to Blue Ezreal, and Vladimir. While later attempts were also abused by laners, courtesy of every bruiser who built wriggles in top lane. It seems Riot has to either create a truly dedicated item for junglers, or resort to making only tanky items cost efficient for junglers.

Anyways, it's been a long rant and a lot of people probably won't read this because it's incredibly long winded for those who actually don't understand why this is an issue and for those who do understand why this is an issue they probably already know the math behind it. The recent jungle changes are just incredibly discouraging for a jungler who enjoys playing the 'support' role and being the main initiator.

State of the Jungle: Article 6 - General Patch 3.9

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 06:11:00 +0000

State of the Jungle: Article 6 - General Patch 3.9

State of the Jungle is an article series that details current meta changes in the jungle. It is aimed to inform players of all skill levels on how the jungle is currently played when effected by tournament results and solo queue formalities.

See what the jungle camp changes and the best of the professionals have to offer to the jungle meta after the jump!

The recent camp changes is perhaps the biggest change in a long time to the jungle. Small jungle camps for as long as I could remember always spawned before the big camps, so change took a bit to get used to. I constantly found myself standing at a wolf or wraith camp for far longer than I am willing to admit. Regardless, in regards to the recent camp changes, there is actually little practical change to what junglers do. Most, if not all, competitive and high ELO junglers have simply been starting at similar buffs with a smiteless leash and going to the other buff as usual. What the changes to the small camps really did was limit blue side bot lane's ability or purple side top lane's ability to do double golems for experience and gold advantage. While the 3.8 patch slightly made it more difficult to do as you would miss 2-3 CS for the camp, it was still cost effective because it gave a significant experience advantage. However, in 3.10 where camps have been changed to 2:05, almost 10 seconds longer than the 1:55 spawn, it has become apparent that Riot wants to remove double golems advantage permanently.

As with all jungle camp changes to prevent laners from abusing additional income sources, this has had an unintentional effect to junglers. Junglers who don't get a smiteless or get succesfully invaded upon will have an even harder time recovering. Furthermore, junglers who choose to clear the small camps in between buffs are punished because of the extra camp they have to clear. I feel like the camp changes make junglers too reliant on laners to start. Furthermore, in restricts champion diversity in the jungle. Champions who would want to get level 3 before starting their other buff now find it extremely difficult because of the awkward time frame between wolf and wraith camp when not going from buff to buff. As such, champions who are weaker in the jungle and want to be level 3 to clear the blue buff are going to find it much difficult to do in the new jungle and will get counter jungled incredibly easily.

Check out the brilliant level 1 invade by iG during Season 2 World Championships that punished AzF's greedy camp opening without proper vision control.

While I do feel double golems gave an unfair advantage to traditional solo queue play, it takes away from competitive opening strategies. Camp control, vision control, and initial spawn buff control were all part of level 1 strategies that became part of the brilliant meta of competitive League of Legends. By taking away initial camp spawns you remove triple camp clear strategies that reward brilliant vision control or aggressive-quirky invades that Invictus Gaming executed in the first game of S2 worlds or brilliant double golem control coupled with lane swaps. Instead, it's been replaced with a stale level 1 opening strategies that take a direction of buff control. There is no reason to contest or do the small camps in the first two to three minutes anymore. In the end, it boils down to Riot's priorities for the game. Since Riot has always prioritized casual players, it is obvious that they would take the route that limited competitive ingenuity to remove casual player's conundrums.

Oracle's was nerfed at the start of Season 3 with a time limit which, along with the removal of Heart of Gold, completely destroyed conventional jungle build paths. Traditionally, every jungler went double GP5 into Oracles for vision control. However, the limit to Oracles made it an extremely unappealing option. Junglers who bought Oracles essentially made themselves a giant target and a ticking time bomb; there was no reward for careful play by junglers who bought Oracles now. However, with the recent changes of oracles now not being removed from death there may be more appeal to pick it up early. That being said, junglers in competitive play have not been picking it up unless they get a lot of extra gold early on in the game. On the flip side, supports have now been picking up Oracles a lot earlier than usual for vision control once initial towers go down.

Elise before the 3.10 patch (July 30, 2013) had a steady 8% pick rate and 49% win rate

Elise is the champion I want to talk about most in this State of the Jungle. While she has been nerfed, passive armor and magic resist on ultimate was removed completely, she is still an incredibly strong jungler. Her ability to do a ton of base percentage health damage to insta-gib targets with little to no AP built is insane. On top of that, her dueling potential coupled with her ability to do camps without taking any damage makes her an incredibly safe jungler. Frankly, I am amazed that no one in the competitive scene played jungle Elise, outside of NintendudeX, nor did they take it seriously. My guess was that she was just so amazing top lane that she went completely untested in the jungle. While she does get nerfed a little more in the 3.10 so that her jungle clearing is not free at level 1, she is still quite the strong champion. A little tip to Elise junglers that I learned from watching the Korean OGN league that makes her crazy in ganks: use Rappel to rappel to a minion and then switch to human form to get into stun range; it opens up insane gank paths that creates kill potential in the most absurd positions that brings her gank potential up to Lee Sin standards.

Nasus before the 3.10 patch (July 30, 2013) had a stable pick rate regardless of the LCS pick rates

Once again, Nasus has made a surprise showing in LCS. After his huge nerf to wither, cutting its effectiveness by 50%, people are surprised he is being picked again. However, as I pointed out in a previous State of the Jungle, Nasus was picked in LCS primarily for his E ability, which was untouched. Spirit Fire is the best wave clearing and pushing ability any jungler can have. As such, it is no surprise that Nasus is very much active in the presence of a tower pushing meta that NA is so fond of at the moment. Unsurprisingly though, his Solo Queue pick rate is not spectacular and very much stale.

C9's Meteos actually had a game in week 2, playing on patch 3.8, where he got both of his buffs stolen early on and still managed to positively influence the game on Nasus because he simply walked into lanes and pushed them with Spirit Fire.

Ironically, with the jungle camp changes there has been little to no deviation in the popular jungle picks for Solo Queue or competitive. Initially, I predicted that competitive teams would pick stronger early game junglers like Udyr who can clear their own buffs so that laners can do small camps without having to help the jungler; however, it has been proven to be false. While Udyr has been picked a bit in the EU LCS courtesy of DiamondProx, it was not for this reason. As such, the top conventional junglers to play still remain to be Zac, J4, Elise, and Lee with some Nasus, Nautilus, Evelyn, and Udyr mixed into it.

Stay tuned for the upcoming State of the Jungle Article 7 for patch 3.10 where pro players like Doublelift are calling it the death of Cloud 9 due to the nerfs of certain champions, introduction of Spectre's Cowl, and further camp changes to execute what remains of double golem advantage.

Post-Vacation Update!

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 07:03:00 +0000

I haven't been posting a lot recently, even with all the changes in the current LCS jungling meta due to patch 3.8, because I have been trying to get myself up to speed on my planned road to diamond. As you can see in the picture above, I have been climbing slowly over the past couple days with Elise and Lee Sin in the jungle to great success (66% win rate in the jungle).

Those looking at my blog can look forward to the upcoming articles!
- Understanding Ganking Mid Lane
- Understanding Ganking Bot Lane
- Understanding Counter Jungling
- Understanding The Jungler's Mirror
- State of the Jungle Article Series Continuation

I have wrote many of those articles already, they just need to be edited and posted. However, I have not had the time. Please look forward to these articles in the impending future!

ChaiPod's CHAIPOD Tips for Arranged 5s

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 09:34:00 +0000

Communication

Habits

Arguments

Itinerary

Patience

Ordinance

Discussion

These are ChaiPod's CHAIPOD Tips for Arranged 5s.

This is an article aimed to help amateur teams, and maybe their jungling leaders, to successfully build a team to play with. While most of my posts are aimed at jungling, this one focuses more on the team orientation of arranged 5s play. I have been playing in League of Legends arranged 5s teams for two years and I previously played in many top Guild Wars teams. While the games are different, many of the tips for playing in a team are the same and can be applied to many team games. Playing in arranged 5s is a completely different setting than from what most players are used to and brings a new experience to the table that is both rewarding and challenging. While many of us do not aim to be the next LCS team, we still want to play on a semi-competitive level in amateur tournaments. Similar to popular U18 or beer leagues of sports, amateur teams form the serious fan base of any competitive game.

Check out the tips by clicking below!

Communication

Upon entering any arranged 5s game, the biggest thing any player will notice is the communication possibilities available to a team in comparison to solo queue or normals. Communication is vital for any team, even in professional teams. Many professional players in interviews after big losses will cite communication issues in the game as the biggest reason for their loss; it's not a scape goat that players use. Most issues in game can be resolved by communication. Communicate everything with your team, and get your team to communicate everything with you. From how lanes are going, to summoner cooldowns, to what to do during team fights, to when you are going in and when you are leaving, every aspect of communication is important. Never assume that your team is going to know what you are going to do or what is happening, always communicate it. Even professional Korean teams communicate to their team that they are in trouble or getting ganked. The voice system available to arranged 5 teams is there for a reason, if a player did not communicate to their team they are at as much fault for the team not doing anything.

Habits

Set up habits within the team. Always follow a norm and don't leave anything unsaid. For example, if your team wants to get timers down, always make it known that its one persons job to get the timers down, another persons job to remind the team of the timer, and everyone else's job to remind the team to get the timer. Outside of the game, make sure there are habits on who saves replays, etc. The most important part is to make sure it is consistent so that it becomes a habit so that jobs get done; responsibilities should always be shared around the team, don't make one person do everything.

Arguments

As a team, arguments are bound to happen. Every team from the bronze amateur team to the LCS powerhouse TSM gets into arguments. It is a part of a team's problems and is part of the experience to get better as a team. However, remember to not get into heated arguments. Instead focus on the argument and attack it, not the person. If there is a serious disagreement, call it a day and wait till tomorrow to discuss it again when people have cooled off. Never, ever get into an argument mid-game. Always save discussion for after the game. However, always get a consensus and a resolution to the issue. If there no mutual resolution can be achieved, put it to a team vote for the resolution. After the resolution has been achieved, stick with the resolution until another argument arises. For example, if there is an argument between two players that a dragon attempt should have been done or not, discuss the reasons for and against, then come to a resolution within the team. Apply the resolution to every other similar situations.

Itinerary

Arranged 5s is different from solo queue when it comes to timing. Players should always be able to play at around the same times and a schedule should be set up with exact times. Similar to other team leagues, playing in an arranged 5s is a commitment. There are four other players waiting for you to play at the exact time who trust that you will be there on time. Don't be the guy who comes as he pleases, or you may find that your team will just replace you. Of course, playing League of Legends is not a major priority for many of us; that being said, exchange numbers and tell your teammates when something important arises. Moreover, try to set up an itinerary for your team with goals. No one likes playing randomly and not reaching any milestones, especially if they're putting in their hard earned time. Set goals within the team for team strategies, tournament results, or solo queue improvements. If everyone has a similar goal in mind, they will work equally hard towards it.

Patience

Following with the setting goals, being patient is one of the most important aspect of any team. Make sure your team sets realistic goals. If you're a majority bronze team, don't set an LCS goal within a month; instead, aim for something more realistic like Gold Ranked 5s with a top 32 in Go4LoL. Team, like trees, don't grow over night. It take a lot of time and dedication to see it grow into something as magnificent and when it does you will be glad you put in the effort. In a more player oriented application, make sure you are patient with people on your team. Don't expect players to be challenger tier just because you're in an arranged 5s game. Players will grow over time and working with the same person is much better than constantly replacing players for minor improvements. The best teams (i.e., M5, TSM) make very few roster changes and when they do it's for a big reason. Player synergy and learning from mistakes comes with time and experience, where patience is an obvious virtue.

Ordinance

Teams need leaders, every team needs one. Whether you're Reginald of TSM, SaintVicious of Curse, or Scarra of Digintas, being a leader is an important role. What's even more important is actually having a leader. Many teams try to go into arranged 5s where everyone gets a chance to make calls and respond; however, that is the wrong approach. Sometimes it's better to have five people commit to a bad call than it is to have five people not commit to any call at all. A leader has to be able to assertively dictate the pace of the game with the confidence that his teammates will listen and follow through. A lack of confidence in a leader and with the team is bound to have a game go sour. Make sure the leader makes calls with information input from the team, and the team listens to the call. That being said, leaders are only human and are bound to make mistakes; make sure they learn from the mistake, accept input by the team, and change future calls in similar situations. Of course, this is not a dictatorship. Everyone on the team is an equal and has equal say in terms of the teams actions; however, make sure you save it for after the game. Never blame a call or situation on one person. It is a team game and while calls are said by one person, they are the calls of the team as a whole. For example, if your team wants to do dragon, your leader would say call dragon, your teammates will immediately respond to the call and input information (i.e., I am low on mana, I have a lot of money saved up, I need to buy if we are going to fight, I don't think it's a good idea, I think we can fight after), then have the leader revise the call if needed. If the call is poor, after the game discuss it (i.e., maybe we shouldn't have fought after the dragon because I was low on mana) and make sure future decisions reflect the mistake previously made.

Discussion

Communication, arguments all have discussion in mind. However, true discussion of an issue should be done after the game with replays. It's important to remain calm, be on the point, and let everyone have a say. If you have a shy player on the team, make sure you proactively give them a chance to speak. Do not discuss what-ifs; get to the point and come to a consensus on what happened, what went wrong, and what should have happened. Make sure there is always a consensus, whether it be mutual or not. For example, if an invade happened that made a game snowball out of control discuss if it could have been prevented, did it really snowball the game, and how you won't let it happen again or how you could have made the best of a bad situation (i.e., not flashing after an obvious death).

Conclusion

At the end of the day, most people aren't looking to get into the LCS and make a living off League of Legends. Most people are just looking for an experience, a good time, and to make some friends. Playing an online game together brings people together similarly to playing in sport teams. Make sure you, and everyone on your team, is having a good time and enjoying yourselves. It won't always be fun and games, but make sure it's a rewarding and challenging experience for everyone. You'll enjoy the game and your team a lot more if you work with, not against, your teammates. So form a team with friends, family, or people you've just met online and good luck on the fields of justice! Maybe one day you can also own the prestigious Triumphant Ryze Skin that many amateur teams aim for if you follow ChaiPod's CHAIPOD tips for Arranged 5s.

Patch 3.8 Jungle Implications

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 08:16:00 +0000

Patch 3.8

This article goes through some of the changes for the recent version 3.8 patch and their implications on the current jungle meta. The recent patch has brought many changes to specific champions and, most importantly, changes to camps and jungle items that have serious implications to jungling. This is perhaps one of the biggest non-season patches for jungle changes I have ever seen; respectively, this article will be just as big.

Check my thoughts on the changes after the jump!

Jungle Camp Changes

Wolves
Initial spawn time increased to 1:55 from 1:40
Respawn time reduced to 50 seconds from 60

Wraiths
Initial spawn time increased to 1:55 from 1:40

Golems
Initial spawn time increased to 1:55 from 1:40
Respawn time reduced to 50 seconds from 60

Ancient Golem
Base Experience granted increased to 340 from 220

Lizard Elder
Base Experience granted increased to 340 from 220

Young Lizard
Base Experience granted reduced to 10 from 40

Okay. So here's the deal. Riot wants to keep the jungle for junglers and lanes for the laners. That much is obvious to anyone. However, what Riot has failed to see is the ingenuity that players have to funnel money to certain players in any stage of the game. While the camp timer changes was directly aimed at limiting a laners ability to take camps for an early advantage or level two cheese, I can see it being an indirect nerf to junglers. Conventionally, laners would take the 1:40 camps and then go to help the 1:55 spawn on the buffs for the jungler. As a result, laners still only get to lane at around 2:05-2:10 when the first minions start dieing. What Riot wants players to do is to help leash and then go directly to lane without any jungle camp advantage; however, what will happen in competitive play, and eventually solo queue play, is that players will do the camps instead of helping the jungler at the buff. Players will still be able to go to lane at around 2:05-2:10, when the first minions start dieing, and with an experience advantage. As a result, junglers will have to be able to solo their first buff and use smite. Therefore, jungle champion pool will favour stronger junglers who can safely secure their own buff and clear the jungle by themselves without a leash at all; thereby giving their team an early camp advantage for lanes. Also, junglers will take longer to come out of the jungle because they cannot save smite early without the risk of being extremely low in the jungle; furthermore, there is incentive to stay and farm in the jungle with camp respawn times being lower. I feel that the camp changes will bring a more stale meta to the jungle where only 'safe' jungle champions will be chosen and less lane pressure will be exerted in the early game. Competitive players have always found innovative ways to gain small advantages on the enemy team and jungle camps are no different even with this change. What Riot should have done was change it so that the small camps spawned at around 2:05, so that laners are forced to give leashes and go straight to lane to not risk losing a wave of experience and gold. There is little advantage for a jungler to start a small camp over a big camp as small camps won't give a level by themselves, so having them both spawn at the same time is pointless.

Hecarim

Devastating Charge
If Hecarim's target is beyond narrow terrain, Hecarim will now leap over the terrain to the target

Onslaught of Shadows
No longer deals damage at the end location
Rider damage increased to 150/250/350 (+1.0 Ability Power) from 100/200/300 (+0.4 Ability Power)

Hecarim got minorly nerfed. With the popularization of the Chinese freight-train composition I have previously discussed, the nerf was aimed more for competitive play. While he has now gained the ability to leap over narrow terrain, I don't see this ability giving him any major advantage as his ultimate already gives him the power to go through almost any conventional wall. However, the damage reduction on his ultimate is quite significant as the Chinese freight-train composition revolved around high burst with mobility to catch targets. While Hecarim has seen less solo queue play, it is up to the Chinese league, specifically Team OMG, to decide if he is still worth playing in the freight-train composition.

Sejuani

Northern Winds
Bonus maximum Health ratio reduced to 10% from 16%

Permafrost
Reduced slow duration to 1.5/1.75/2/2.25/2.5 seconds from 2/2.25/2.5/2.75/3
Glacial Prison
Reduced stun and slow duration to 1.25/1.5/1.75 seconds from 1.5/1.75/2

Sejuani was noticeably stronger in her change; with the ability to become extremely tanky and still do a ton of base damage, she reminded me of post-nerf Nautilus. Furthermore, her percentage HP damage was very efficient for burning down tanks while peeling for AD carries following an initiation. The nerfs to her base damage and CC was well warranted and should make her a little weaker; however, teams looking for long range AoE initiation will still find all they need in Sejuani as she retains her innate tankiness.

Nautilus

Titan's Wrath
Damage changed to 40/55/70/85/100 from 30/55/80/105/130

Minor nerfs to Nautilus' damage. As one of my favourite junglers, I am quite sad to see the change. However, I feel that it was very much warranted. He is still extremely strong due to his safety in the jungle and the amount of CC he brings to the table. A small damage change will make it a little more difficult to secure kills in the mid-game but with a good teammates, he still shouldn't have a problem if he lands all his CC.

Item Changes

Hunter's Machete
UNIQUE Passive - Rend changed to UNIQUE Passive - Maim
Now deals 10 bonus magic damage to monsters with every basic attack

Spirit Stone
UNIQUE Passive - Rend changed to UNIQUE Passive - Maim
Now deals 10 bonus magic damage to monsters with every basic attack

Madred's Razors
UNIQUE Passive - Maim
Now deals 60 bonus magic damage to monsters with every basic attack
No longer deals bonus damage to minions

Wriggle's Lantern
UNIQUE Passive - Maim
Now deals 100 bonus magic damage to monsters with every basic attack
No longer deals bonus damage to minions
UNIQUE Active
Ward duration reduced to 90 seconds from 180
Cooldown reduced to 90 seconds from 180
Attack Damage increased to 25 from 15
Life Steal increased to 15% from 10%
Armor reduced to 25 from 30
Combine cost increased to 500 gold from 100 (total cost increased to 2000 gold from 1600)

The item changes are all very minor, while there were some small nerfs to the Spirit Stone upgrades, they were all minor and very much warranted. However, the biggest change was the Maim passive no longer being chance based. Both Madreds Razors and Wriggles Latern have seen a decrease in damage from the passive of around 20% (25% to hit 300 / 25% to hit 500 compared to 25% to hit 240 / 25% to hit 400). Instead, they now proc every time. This really does not change much except providing more reliable damage. In theory, jungle clear times with these items should be lower but in practical application I don't see it changing much. Wriggle's Latern on the other hand has even less incentive to be upgraded. Many 'professional players' and myself included feel that Wriggles is not worth it to upgrade. With a 1000 gold cost from Madreds it didn't bring much when you can use the gold to purchase parts of Locket or Aegis. With a 1500 gold cost to upgrade now, I can see it being completely avoided. While you do get 15% life steal and 25 attack damage, you can easily put 1500 gold towards a brutalizer. Wriggles Latern is more useful for 'bruiser' junglers who find that damage and life steal more useful like Lee Sin and Nocturne; however, these 'bruiser' junglers usually have built in life steal.

State of the Jungle - Article 5

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Fri, 31 May 2013 12:57:00 +0000

State of the Jungle: Article 5 - Fjelord Patch V3.06

State of the Jungle is an article series that details current meta changes in the jungle. IT is aimed to inform players of all skill levels on how the jungle is currently played when effected by tournament results and solo queue formalities.

Check out what the All-Star Shanghai 2013 International Tournament has brought to the jungle!

I'm writing this in the Airport terminal while waiting for my flight to Tokyo, so I do not have as much time to analyze the data and games of the all-stars; however, the 2013 Shanghai All-Star International Tournament has set some minor precedents for the jungle meta. While the time for the teams to prepare was limited, I believe it is safe to say that the chosen players know a little about what they are doing and which champions are strong enough to pit against the best players in the world. I have already briefly written my thoughts on the meta that the different regions played in a previous post, so I shall focus on specific changes in the jungle.

Before I begin to explain my thoughts on why the champions that have been picked, the picks for the All-Star tournament in general were: Zac, J4, Volibear, Udyr, Lee Sin, Nautilus, Evelyn, Hecarim, and Gragas. There are some consistent meta picks, some returning junglers, and just some silly champions. As this is a all-star tournament, there is bound to be quirky picks to appease the players in some way.

The first thing that I thought while watching the champ select for some of the games is that the kings are back - Support Junglers are now seeing more play in competitive. While I have not been following some of the Korean, Garena, or Tencent server tournaments, these junglers have almost been abolished in the North America and European Scene in favour of my previously classified hybrid junglers who act as quasi-late game tank-initators without the lack of early-mid game damage. Specifically, champions Zac and Nautilus saw a ton of play. These two junglers were seen in every BO3 except for the round 1 match between Europe and Korea. Zac was picked nine times out of twelve games in the entire tournament and Nautilus was picked four times out of twelve games.

Nautilus was picked by the North American jungler SaintVicious four out of six games he played. With the ability to peel and initiate extremely well, Nautilus played to the North American squad's strengths of protecting NA man of steel, Doublelift (aka pentalift). Furthermore, after extensive play of Nautilus in Solo Queue, I have found that he has been buffed back to existence. While Nautilus never lost his ability to peel and initiate in mid-late game, he lost appeal when his jungle safety was nerfed. However, with recent patches and buffs to his armor and W ability, he has once again regained his safety in the jungle. Arguably, I believe that Nautilus is now more safe in the jungle. In fact, I believe he is safe enough to duel to safety most average bruiser junglers on Solo Queue experiences. Nautilus was always one of my favourite junglers back in Season 2 and I am, personally, very glad to see him return to his former glory.

The other two support junglers who have made an appearance in the Shanghai All-Star Tournament, Zac and Hecarim, were played mostly by Asian teams. Korea, and China have played these two champions, specifically Zac, to some significant degree of success. Zac has been picked up by a lot of the aggressive Asian teams who utilize him to dive, and secure kills deep within enemy towers. Furthermore, Zac's ability to effectively trade tower allows the Korean teams to completely neutralize most tower damage in dives. However, both Zac and Hecarim were played by the Chinese as key components of the 'freight-train' composition debuted by Team OMG of the LPL Tencent League. The fast paced composition focuses on catching, and quickly bursting single targets through terrain. Champions such as Zac and Hecarim, along with Thresh and Graves, excel at bursting, catching, and following up with catches over walls. If played effectively, the 'freight-train' comp allows teams to quickly, as one may imagine intrinsically, to powerfully roll through the enemy team swiftly. As such, teams playing in the LPL Tencent League have learned to quickly not position themselves where they can be caught. Such play can be exemplified by North America versus China round one game two where the North American squad failed to catch any members of the Chinese team for an extended period of time during the mid-game even when they acquired an early game advantage.

The hybrid and bruiser junglers also make an appearance at the All-Star Weekend. Specifcally, Jarvan IV, Volibear, Nasus, and Udyr make an appearance in the NA, Chinese, Garena, and European teams. Nothing really to say about these junglers as they have all been good, consistent picks as Season 3 progresses. The only odd pick would be Nasus due to the nerf on his wither, my guess would be that it was a comfort pick for the Garena Jungler.

Without a doubt, Europe's Diamondprox and Korea's InSec were the junglers to watch in this tournament. These two junglers are known for their 'carry' play style, innovation, and unconventional picks. InSec's inspirational Lee Sin play was highlighted throughout the tournament, even forcing target bans on a sub-prar jungler. While I retain that Lee Sin is in a good place in the meta right now, he is definitely not a very 'safe' pick in competitive play just because he is easy to peel and blow up with good team coordination and landing damage on him is quite difficult in team fights. However, InSec was able to take Lee Sin to a whole new level and dominate world class teams with immense lane pressure and god-like Lee Sin mechanics.

InSec, also, showed off his Gragas play in the last game of the tournament where he was able to defeat the Chinese team who thought they target picked and banned him out. A less noticed highlight play by InSec was a bottom lane tower dive and skirmish where he was able to knock XiaoXiao into a friendly Caitlyn trap with his ultimate (0:30 on the video below)!

Without a doubt, Diamondprox played just as well as InSec. He showcased impressive Evelyn play where he was able to pick up a plethora of kills. Diamondprox once again showed that he is able to innovate and play unconventional champions in the jungle to a degree of success.

With new blood junglers like Gragas and Evelyn mixing with old blood junglers like Lee Sin and Nautilus, there can be evidence for a good argument that the season 3 jungle changes has brought diversity to the jungle meta. Some could argue that, perhaps, a balanced meta has been created. While I would agree with many of these arguments to some extent, I think it is important to point out that the majority of the unconventional junglers used in the All-Star tournament were used by professional players who have had a ton of experience in the champion. Understanding champion mechanics better over an enemy brings a special sort of edge over enemy players. Players like InSec have had so much practice with champions like Lee Sin, that even though he is a sub-prar pick they are still able to play him to perfection. InSec could probably do his legendary ward-jump kick in his sleep. That being said, players looking to imitate world class junglers should look to practice their game mechanics on said champion before bringing them into ranked queue; or play more 'safe' champions who do their job without fault.

There can be a special note that due to the specific Fjelord patch used in this tournament, where Trundle was disabled, that Trundle has not seen any play because of this situation. Trundle may be the new 'broken' jungler that is yet to be debuted; however, I find that hard to believe. While Trundle's top lane potential has been improved due to his increased sustain, he still suffers from the same issues as before. The lack of any true gap closer makes him similar to Udyr. Furthermore, his pillar rarely stops good players who are not quick to burn escapes. Trundle still suffers from the same issues as before the remake, and should not see a huge increase in play.

In conclusion, while unique unconventional picks for specific players is not a new trend, the return of true support junglers has got me excited! TheOddOne has seen some success in the North American LCS with Cho'Gath, it was yet to be affirmed in the international scene until now. As a jungler who really picked up jungling in Season 2, I learned how to jungle primarily support junglers and I am extremely glad they are seeing more play.

All-Star Weekend and Update

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Tue, 28 May 2013 11:26:00 +0000

The Shang Hai All-Stars Weekend confirmed, once again, Asian teams dominance on the international scene. However, what was most surprising was NA's triumph over EU. I initially predicted that NA would come last; however, my predictions proved wrong. While the EU team, arguably, had less practice than the NA team, results cannot be disputed. Hopefully, the NA LCS All-Star's team practice regime and experience on the international scene influences NA teams to advance to the same levels of Asian teams. Moreover, Riot's production and the games played were of extremely high quality that even surprised me. I commend Riot's amazing commitment to eSports that has been set at an unprecedented level.

While many things didn't surprise me, what surprised me was Madlife's amazing Thresh play. Asian teams are stronger than Western teams; however, Madlife's play was truly inspirational. Without a doubt, Madlife is the best League of Legends player in the world. Take a look at the plays Madlife managed to accomplish, truly insane. I was equally impressed with Shy's top lane play.

It seems, that EU teams are still playing the older style where teams coordinate a time and group up for objectives to acquire a global advantage; control of lanes and minions dominate this style. NA teams are now doing the older Korean meta of lane swaps and early grouping that was popularized during the break-out era culminating at TSM v. Azubu Blaze. The NA meta is dominated by early game control of camps, towers, and objectives through grouping and lane swaps with champ select. The Korean meta now consists of early game pushing, tower control, and a ton of team fighting which utilizes their superior communication, training regime, and coordination. Koreans tend to group a lot and immediately move towards any small skirmishes. When Koreans kill a tower, they never go back to the lane and farm; instead top laners would roam to gank and push lanes to apply more pressure and create skirmishes. The Chinese meta, is completely influenced by the emergence of Team OMG who have been dominating the previous Chinese scene of Team World Elite and Invictus Gaming. The Chinese meta consists of generally passive lane swapping and farming in the early stages to ensure players make it to mid-game where a highly aggressive team composition looks for picks where champions thrive in quick engagements to catch and burst a single target as a team, over walls and terrain. As such, champions like Hecarim, Thresh, Zac, and Graves are highly fought over for. The composition, named the 'freight train' composition was designed by Team OMG and implemented by the Chinese international team. As the name 'freight train' implies, the composition is designed to swiftly eliminate picks by the team with the force of a train and force easy objectives in 4 v 5 situations.

With the first All-Stars weekend over I look forward to further international tournaments, probably the next World Championships. I am interested to know if NA teams have learned from this international experience and will implement serious training regimes to keep up with the Asian scene.

As for a personal update. I will be heading to the Eastern Hemisphere for Summer traveling. I hope I will have time to post more for this Blog; however, I may not be able to. I will also not be playing League of Legends for upwards of a month which I worry for the deterioration of my Jungling decision making. Furthermore, my team has folded due to my long-term vacation. Hopefully, I will be able to work with some of my old teammates or a new team in the near future.

Until next time, ChaiPod out!

Itemization in the Jungle Guide

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Tue, 28 May 2013 10:59:00 +0000

With the introduction of item sets in the new patch, many players are looking to create item sets for their junglers! This post focuses theoretical and practical concepts for itemization for junglers.While it focuses on meta building for junglers in an initiating role, which is the most common role for junglers, it touches on building for champions in general. Ultimately, building in any role is dependent on the champion you play; however, there are certain concepts to follow which can be applied to mostly all junglers.

Learn more about understanding itemization in the jungle after the jump!

Concepts

Playing a jungler role in most high ELO solo queue and competitve, arranged 5s teams fills a specific niche role. As seen on the international scene, the regional LCS, and high ELO solo queue, most junglers play tank initators. I have mentioned this kind of role constantly throughout my posts and I attempt to reason to players that this is the way the jungle should be played. While the role may seem 'dull or stale,' it is a necessary component in the current game meta. Until Riot changes a method for junglers to attain more gold on the map than laners, a Jungler will mostly retain this role. While innovators try to play new champions as carry roles with junglers who can farm and gank extremely efficiently, junglers who do not get kills or take CS from lanes will find it difficult to 'carry' with the amount of gold they can attain steadily.

That being said, the first concept when a Jungler considers items to build is the Cost Efficiency Concept. Junglers who are only taking assists, holding CS for laners, and only farming when there are no gank opportunities will find that they cannot keep up with big ticket defensive items like Sunfire Cape, Randuins Omen, or Warmogs. These items, while cost efficient and give amazing stats, are expensive. Junglers, in normal situations, who build these items will find themselves behind with no global benefit to the team. Which is why many pro Junglers prefer items like Runic Bulwark and Locket of the Iron Solari. These items are more cost efficient than big defensive items laners tend to get. Furthermore, these items make the entire team tanky. Every gold you spend on a Runic Bulwark is worth more than every gold you spend on a Warmogs for the entire team. In addition, these team items are needed by teams. Who better to build a tanky aura item than on the tanky initator jungler who runs around the map and participates in most skirmishes? As long as junglers have less accessible money than laners, junglers will always tend to favour building aura tank items which are more cost efficient than other big ticket defensive items.

The second concept when a Jungler considers items to build is the Initiating Role Concept. In the current standard NA meta, teams generally like to come together and fight as five. In order for good opportunities to start fights to be capitalized on, there needs to be a champion who has hard crowd control that can initiate the fight. This champion has to be tanky so that he does not get bursted down completely by the enemy team. Furthermore, the hard crowd control that these champions have are useful in ganks in the early-mid game. Of course, top laners like Malphite or Zac can also take on the initiating role. However, the CC available by these champions are wasted sitting in the top lane when it can be available globally in ganks. That being said, the jungle fills the initiating role the best. As long as there is a demand for an initiating role due to how the game is played, Junglers will always want to build a certain way.

Conditions

In my blog, I like to generalize a lot because it helps people make their own decisions in their own situations. However, League of Legends is a game of infinite variables. While I do say that most junglers should play an initiating role and build aura items, there are many conditions where you should not. Being able to recognize these situations and deviate from standard items is a trait of a good jungler.

The Damage Condition is one condition where you junglers should recognize to deviate from the traditional build paths. When a team lacks damage, sometimes a jungler is coerced into building more damage for the team. For example, an initiating Top Laner like Malphite or an ADC like Urgot are all champions who are not valued for their damage when their counterparts for their role are. Make sure you recognize when your team is building too tanky and lacks damage which allows you to build more damage than traditionally warranted.

The Fed Condition is another condition where junglers can deviate from traditional build paths. While you generally want to be giving kills to your team, sometimes its better to secure a kill than to let players get away. Junglers who unexpectedly pick up multiple kills will find themselves with more money than laners. In these situations, you want to be building differently, preferably some damage. Junglers who stick to their traditional builds while picking up many kills to find gold being wasted as the Cost Effiicency Concept does not apply properly. For example, in the recent Shang Hai All-Star Games jungler SaintVicious for North America managed to secure many kills in the laning phase, but was not able to utilize them properly. As a result, the NA LCS Team who managed to secure an advantage in laning phase were not able to win.

Items

Core defensive items on Junglers tend focus on three areas - Health, Resists, and Cooldown Reduction. These three stats allow junglers to satisfy the initiating role by being able to take more abuse and provide an optimal amount of utility from their kits. The following items are all effective and efficient items for junglers and are considered core on many standard junglers in general situations.

Runic Bulwark / Aegis of the Legion

One of the most consistently best items in the game. Aegis of the Legion and its S3 upgrade Runic Bulwark are two of the most cost efficient items in the game. As a result, it has been a favourite item for junglers for a long time. While Aegis of the Legion is good in almost every situation, it's counter-part Runic Bulwark should only be rushed if the enemy team has a lot of AP damage.

Locket of the Iron Solari

Locket of the Iron Solari is almost as cost efficient as Aegis of the Legion; however, its shield provides upfront effectiveness dependent on the skill of the initiator. Obviously, the more allies you shield the more efficient it becomes. Locket of the Iron Solari is useful against bruisers or teams with a lot of upfront burst damage.

Spirit of the Ancient Golem

Spirit of the Ancient Golem has become one of the core items on traditional Junglers more recently due to its change. Giving cooldown reduction, and health is amazing for Junglers as it is a relatively cheap item. Moreover, the tenacity it gives is one of its most appealing parts as it allows junglers to buy cheaper, and more useful boots instead of Mercury's Treads. Outside of Spirit of the Ancient Golem, Junglers should generally just keep their Spirit Stone or Madred's Razor for items to build their Machete out of.

Randuin's Omen

Randuin's Omen is one of the more expensive items that can be considered a core jungle item. I generally build this item last. Not only does Randuin's Omen give a ton of health and armor, but it also gives one of the best passive and actives in the game. It is extremely effective late game where AD carries do most of the damage. This item is extremely strong at temporarily neutralizing the damage of an AD carry and lowering their average DPS.

Ninja Tabi

Similar to Randuin's Omen, this item is amazing at lowering the DPS of an AD carry by a flat 10%. Furthermore, it's extremely useful early game in the jungle as it gives more armor and the passive works on jungle camps. Ninja Tabi lets junglers take a lot less damage while clearing. Traditionally, Ninja Tabi was an unappealing option because of the lack of tenacity one would usually get from Mercury's Treads. However, Ninja Tabi coupled with Spirit of the Ancient Golem is an extremely efficient option for junglers.

Boots of Mobility

Boots of Mobility, along with Ninja Tabi, work well together with Spirit of the Ancient Golem. Junglers who are looking to gank a lot during the laning phase and look to out-run the enemy team to initiate should look to pick up Boots of Mobility.

Mercury's Treads

The traditional option for junglers as Tenacity was extremely strong. However, recently with S3 masteries and Spirit of the Ancient Golem, there has been a number of other options and combinations that work just as well. Mercury's Treads are very expensive boots and should only be purchased if the enemy team is AP heavy and you require Tenacity early in the game where Spirit of the Ancient Golem is too expensive to acquire.

Situational Items for junglers tend to be required when the above mentioned conditions are met or the concepts cannot be applied appropriately. These items may be purchased when a special situation arises. Other items for damage which can be purchased on specific junglers can be: Brutalizer, Spirit of the Lizard Elder, Blade of the Ruined King, Last Whisper, Hex Drinker, Rylias Crystal Sceptor, Abyssal Sceptor. Whereas, situational defensive items can be: Frozen Heart, Thornmail, Sunfire Cape, Warmogs, Shureylias Reverie. Use your own judgement on these items when putting into account the different variables that the game brings up.

Conclusion

With the major items on most junglers being the same, many players believe that the NA meta for junglers which has favoured a support role to be stale and boring. Three threat teams that dominate the NA scene have always run with this setup. However, Korean teams have been known to run four threat teams where the jungler plays another quasi-carry role. Popularized by Insec's Zed play, four threat teams are difficult to play but are extremely strong. However, NA teams tend to only average 300 to 350 GPM; while Korean teams manage to average 400+ GPM. The aggressive playstyle by Koreans yields more gold than how the NA scene plays. As a result, more gold is readily available.

With an ever-changing, evolving meta, League of Legends does not guarantee that the 'core items' listed above are going to be built in the future. However, if game mechanics remain the same due to the mentioned concepts, players should be able to discover the most efficient items easily. However, I would be hard pressed to be convinced that Riot would want to shift the meta to favour quasi-carry junglers in the jungle. In order for such norm to be created, gold for junglers has to be provided in a consistent manner and in some way not available to laners at the same time.

Basics of Jungling Guide

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Thu, 02 May 2013 10:13:00 +0000

Everyone has to start somewhere. From low levels to low elo, everyone learning to jungle should understand the basics of jungling.

This article is aimed to inform new players who are attempting to learn how to jungle about the basics on starting in the jungle and starting effectively in the jungle. I will go over common champions played, runes, masteries, summoners, using smite, and jungle routes.

Learn the basics of jungling following the jump.

Common Junglers

There are three general kinds of junglers who are picked depending on the game and the situation. Matching the needs of your team with the type of jungler is crucial to the success of any team. While there are many champions who are viable to be junglers, these fit the most commonly demanded roles of a team and are most commonly chosen. While there are other kinds of junglers like carry junglers or ability power junglers, these champions are high risk, high reward and should not be considered when just learning the jungle.

Bruiser Junglers

These junglers are extremely strong in the jungle and are commonly known for their ability to dominate laning phase, jungling, and early-mid game. These power houses are extremely safe in the jungle. However, their utility and potency fall of mid-late game as other junglers outshine them. These junglers are commonly bruisers who have very high base damage but lack inherent tankiness.

Examples: Lee Sin, Vi, Nocturne

Hybrid Junglers

These junglers are situated between support junglers and bruiser junglers. Their skill sets provide both damage and inherent defense; however, they do not excel at either. These junglers fill many roles depending on the demands of the team and are relatively strong in all stages of the game. These junglers commonly have strong initiation, strong clearing, strong ganks, and strong damage; however, they, by no means, provide the best. These junglers are as strong as they are safe.

Examples: Jarvan IV, Xin Zhao, Nasus, Skarner, Hecarim

Support Junglers

These junglers are relatively weaker than the other two kinds of junglers previously mentioned. While their base damage is relatively low, these junglers excel in late game confrontations with exceptional initiation abilities or utility provided to the team. Furthermore, these junglers are able to be extremely difficult to kill due to their skill sets once they get going. These junglers are also efficient gankers as their utility from their skill sets allow CC to be provided to gank targets, but certainly lose to skirmishes against other junglers and laners. Junglers who are able to make it out of the laning phase against a bruiser jungler will find that support junglers outshine their bruiser counterparts significantly in late game.

Examples: Amumu, Nautilus, Zac, Maokai, Cho'Gath

Runes

The two most common rune pages jungler use are the AD rune page and the AS + MS rune page. These two pages fit the majority of initiator and bruiser junglers that were previously discussed. While armor penetration marks, armor quintessences, and many more runes can be used for jungle pages, these two pages are the most common for junglers and fit most AD junglers.

AD Page

9 Flat Attack Damage Marks
9 Flat Armor Seals
9 Scaling Magic Resist Glyphs
3 Flat Attack Damage Quintessences

The AD rune page can be used with most bruiser and hybrid junglers. Generally, you want to use the AD page with champions who have high base damage and scale well with AD, or champions who have built in attack speed or mobility. The extra AD given by this rune page will increase your gank potential with more damage and clear the jungle faster.

AS + MS Page

9 Flat Attack Speed Marks
9 Flat Armor Seals
9 Scaling Magic Resist Glyphs
3 Movement Speed Quintessences

The AS + MS rune page can be used with most hybrid and support junglers. Generally, you want to use the AS + MS rune page with champions who are picked for their utility and CC. These runes allow the champion to clear the jungle faster and move across Summoners Rift to initiate team fights or gank more quickly.

Masteries

21/9/0

The 21/9/0 mastery page can be used for bruiser junglers who are considered quasi-carries. These junglers scale better than their counterparts and do well with with the offense tree. When taking the 21/9/0, make sure another person on your team can fill the initiator role as junglers who take this mastery page are better suited for following up an initiation.

9/21/0

The 9/21/0 mastery page can be used for bruiser junglers or hybrid junglers who are considered bruisers and initiators. These junglers are strong in the early-mid game and act as bruisers; however, they are strong initiators or damage soaks in the mid-late game who benefit from the defense tree greatly.

0/21/9

The 0/21/9 mastery page can be used for hybrid or support junglers who are considered initiators and utility machines. These junglers are strong in the mid-late game and benefit from the defense tree; however, they are not considered bruisers or do not require the additional damage from the offense tree. Therefore, they are teched into the utility tree instead of the offense.

Summoners

Smite

This is a mandatory ability to take on every jungler. You take it, not because its good, but because your team needs it. It doesn't help much in skirmishes or escapes, but it does one very important role - it secures objectives. Global objectives like blue buff, red buff, dragon, and baron can be secured with smite as it does the highest true damage in the game in a single ability. Read the section below to learn more about mastering smite!

Flash

This is a good option on many junglers. It can be used offensively to initiate instantaneously or to counter-flash after someone; it can be used defensively to escape over walls or dodge fatal abilities. While its cooldown is high flash is an amazing ability on almost every champion, even on champions who have built in flashes.

Ghost

This is another good option on certain junglers. While its effect is not as instant as flash its good for covering long distances. Champions who thrive in drawn out fights like Nasus and Volibear make good use of ghost. Ghost lets junglers stick in team fights much better; however, for champions who excel at catching enemy champions out of position, flash is a better option.

Exhaust

This is another good option on certain junglers. It is best on junglers who are strong at escaping or negating catch potential. Champions who have built in flashes can consider taking exhaust. It is extremely strong in early-mid game ganks and can guarantee kills even if enemy champions use their escape summoner. Also, it is useful in late game situations on champions who dive AD carries as this summoner negates mostly all damage from AD carries.

Smiting

Securing Objectives

Large global objectives like Baron or Dragon provide your team with global gold and buff advantages that can easily dictate the pace of the game. Always make sure that your smite is up when you are attempting these objectives and check the damage of your smite by hovering over the smite icon. Be aware, enemy junglers who are higher level than you have higher smite damage making it more difficult to secure objectives. It's generally a bad idea to attempt global objectives if the enemy jungler is two to three levels higher than you. Keep your eyes on the health bar and make sure you smite the dragon or baron when it gets low enough, but make sure you don't sacrifice all your map awareness and don't realize when your team needs to turn and fight instead of completing an objective.

Dragon re-spawns every 6 minutes, and baron re-spawns every 7 minutes.

Try working on your smite for Baron with this smite stealing simulator!

Early game Buffs

Blue and Red Buff are strong camps for early game that can easily chunk a champion out of health quickly. Smite helps to clear these camps as fast as possible. Always make sure you smite the last bit of HP, similar to securing global objectives. Always try to get your team to give you a smiteless leash on your first buff, it helps with your clear time significantly! Be wary of doing camps without smite up as it can easily be stolen by the enemy team and you can be counter-jungled effectively during. That being said, try to do buff camps when your smite is up.

In this game (starting at 17:20), GGU NintendudeX and CLG Chauster battle it out with their knowledge of smite and positioning for early game buff control. While Chauster gets a smiteless red start, NintendudeX is forced to smite on a blue start. As a result, Chauster is able to steal away NintendudeX's red buff. However, this results to a stand-off between both junglers for Chauster's blue buff. Chauster eventually secures the three buffs as he waits for his smite to go back up. Both junglers feared getting caught counter-jungling or clearing the blue buff without smite.

Damage

The damage for smite can be found in the table above. While remembering the damage for smite is not expected, you should always check your damage of smite, by the method discussed above, before you do an objective or buff. Always try to use smite on the objective as close as possible to the damage of the smite.

Routes

Now that you've chosen a jungler, the rune page, the mastery page, and the summoners the first thing a jungler has to do is his initial clear. There are three main factors when a jungler considers which path they should follow, assuming you're not looking to counter-jungle or get counter-jungled.

1. What the lanes can do for you

Getting a 'leash' on the initial clear is important for a fast clear time; depending on how much damage you get on your first buff, you can either use your smite or save your smite. Generally, it is better to save your smite so you can do your next buff right after. Then, you will be able to get out of the jungle and gank faster, putting pressure on the lanes earlier. There are usually two factors that determine what lanes can do for you. Bot lane, with a numbers advantage, can easily give you a smiteless, but blue side bot lane will look to do golems and purple side bot lane will look to stop golems or sap xp from wolves. Top lane, with only two players to help you, is hard pressed to give you a smiteless or they will miss crucial initial minions and experience.

2. Where you want to end up

Deciding where you want to end up after your initial clear is important for efficient ganking and pressure. Deciding who and where you want to gank before you start the clear is important. If you want to gank top lane first, you should start at the bottom of the jungle so you end up at the top. That way, you save the travel time that you would need to make it back to the top if you started at the top and ended at the bottom of the jungle.

3. What your champion can do

Certain champions need to start certain buffs or benefit from it. Champions who are mana dependent need a blue buff to start to make use of all of their abilities to clear swiftly. Champions who are not mana dependent can take red buff first, so that red buff is constantly doing damage on camps. However, most champions who are looking to gank should try to end with red buff, as the duration of red buff can be used more for ganking than for clearing. Red buff provides a DoT (damage over time) and a slow that increases gank potential.

Blue Start

Smiteless Blue

1 - Start at Wolves then head to Blue Buff (Save Smite)
2 - Finish Blue Buff then head to Wraiths
3 - Finish Wriaths then head to Red Buff (Use Smite)

Blue Side Notes:
- Getting a mid laner and top laner to stay to give you a smiteless blue is difficult as they will miss the initial creeps and possibly die to a level two all-in

Purple Side Notes:
- Having the support, an extra person in comparison to blue side, makes it an appealing starting route
- Your bot lane may want to stop the enemy early double golems or sap experience off your wolves to prevent being level two all-ined

Smite Blue

1 - Start at Wolves then head to Blue Buff (Use Smite)
2 - Finish Blue Buff then head to Wraiths
3 - Finish Wriaths then head to Wolves
4 - Finish Wolves then head to Red Buff (Use Smite)
5 - Finish Red Buff then head to Wraiths

Blue Side Notes:
- A fairly inefficient route, only start this route if you absolutely need blue buff on your champion

Purple Side Notes:
- Generally, fairly unnecessary as the bot lane can provide a very strong leash on the purple side

Red Start

Smite Red

1 - Start at Wraiths then head to Red Buff (Use Smite)
2 - Finish Red Buff then head to Wolves
3 - Finish Wolves then head to Wraiths
4 - Finish Wraiths then head to Blue Buff (Use Smite)

Blue Side Notes:
- Generally very unneccessary as bot lane can provide a strong initial leash
- Bot lane may want to do double golems so you should expect a late leash on the red, regardless, it should still be quite effective

Purple Side Notes:
- A fairly inefficient route, only start this route if your champion needs a red buff start, or you're looking to do a fast level two gank top with a red buff

Smiteless Red

1 - Start at Wraiths then head to Red Buff (Save Smite)
2 - Finish Red Buff then head to Wolves
3 - Finish Wolves then head to Blue Buff (Use Smite)

Blue Side Notes:
- A very appealing route, as bot lane can provide a very strong leash
- It is possible to start Double Golems instead of Wraiths if your bot lane does not want to do it, starting Golems instead will actually give you more experience than starting Wraiths.

Purple Side Notes:
- Getting a mid laner and top laner to stay to give you a smiteless red is difficult as they will miss the initial creeps and possibly die to a level two all-in

Conclusion

Now that you've chosen a proper jungler for your team, applied the proper runes and masteries, chosen the proper summoners, and cleared your initial jungle, you can start ganking those players who are stopping you from winning your games! Prepare to be blamed for almost everything that is irrelevant to you and enjoy being the scapegoat of Solo Queue. Check out my other guides on how to improve your jungling! Remember - every single game is different demanding different choices for the jungler, use your experience and knowledge to guide yourself to victory by balancing whats more worthwhile to do.

State of the Jungle - Article 4

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Sat, 13 Apr 2013 21:02:00 +0000

Source: scriptkittie.deviantart.com

State of the Jungle: Article 4 - General Patch V3.04

State of the Jungle is an article series that details current meta changes in the jungle. It is aimed to inform players of all skill levels on how the jungle is currently played when effected by tournament results and solo queue formalities.

Check out what GambitGaming's DiamondProx has brought to the jungle meta after the jump!
A bear and a dog. Seriously, DiamondProx? Volibear and Nasus, two champions no one would believe, have become the favour of professional players alike. At first, I was absolutely puzzled as to why these two champions have risen in popularly so much as continuations of the 'Hybrid Junglers,' previously mentioned, such as Vi, Jarvan IV, and Xin Zhao. The holy trinity of Hybrid junglers were recently nerfed by Riot and play of them has dropped accordingly. As such, it makes more sense as to why Volibear and Nasus have seen more play.

Volibear has seen a ton of play in both LCS and solo queue, and justifiably so. He is another addition to the classification of 'hybrid junglers' that have been dominating Season 3. With a combination of a good clear time, and a game changing passive, he has quickly become one of my favorite junglers. A mix of maxing E on his kit and building Madreds with the attack speed steroid on his W gives him a very fast clear time. His Q, which was recently nerfed, gives him some mobility along with a broken mechanic that can fling people even after they flash (Skarner wants his nerfs reverted, riot). Furthermore, the most intimidating part of Volibear's kit is his passive which heals him for 30% of his maximum health. His passive lets him win almost any duel or skirmish in the jungle, heals him for ridiculous amounts of health in late game situations, baits enemies to their death, and forces ignites on low priority targets. However, with a lack of a true gap closer Volibear is vulnerable to soft CCs which make Janna a more popular pick in the LCS. Also, Thresh, Volibears free gap-closing-CCing friend, has become a more popular ban as teams and solo queue players alike fear the flying bear ganks that ravaged bot lane .

Nasus puzzled me for a long time; I could not figure out why he was such a contested pick in the LCS. He does fit the 'hybrid jungler' description as his ultimate makes him relatively difficult to kill and his Q stack will allow him some sort of late game damage while building pure defense. However, his only merits were the armor shred provided by his E and the ability for wither to destroy ADCs without proper itemization. His clear time was good when maxing his E ability but was extremely mana intensive. Although his kit was decent for jungling, many other champions do the job better. It wasn't until I considered the implications he had to the 'korean / push' meta that many teams have been favoring in the LCS that I realized he was an amazing pick. His ability to clear a wave with his E is game changing against teams who wish to play the korean / push meta. Nasus is like the Anivia of the jungle such that teams who wish to push down towers will find it almost impossible to do any tower damage as the wave is just cleared before it even hits the tower. Furthermore, with Riot nerfing Jarvan IV, Vi, Xin Zhao, and Volibear, Nasus appears to be the last remaining 'hybrid jungler' that has not been nerfed making him a lot stronger relatively.

Nasus' popularity quickly rises as he sees more play in the LCS

As Nasus and Volibear see a rise in popularity in the LCS, Vi and Xin Zhao have fallen in favor as Riot nerfs two of the original 'hybrid junglers.' After the nerfs on Xin Zhao, I noticed a huge fall of damage in mid-late game situations. He simply did not have the ability to stomp on ADCs by himself that he used to be able to do. Popular professional jungler, Gambit Gaming's DiamondProx, recently expressed similar thoughts on Xin Zhao. He expressed similar concerns on Vi, that Riot nerfed her too hard and has made her too weak in comparsion to more popular junglers now.

Aegis of the Legion sees a small dip in popularity after the March 19, 2013 patch

Locket of the Iron Solari sees a small increase in popularity after the March 19, 2013 patch

Following my empirical analysis on the nerfs of Runic Bulwark and Locket of the Iron Solari, I still believe that they are both items which are strong on junglers who wish to fill the role of an initiator for the team. As well as being cheap to build, these items are cost efficient and effective for the team. However, LCS players have seen an increase in Runic Bulwark rushes as I see many professional players rush the item first instead of Locket. Locket has seen a slight decrease in favor, albeit many players are still building it as part of their 'core items' on many jungle champions.

Team Dignitas starts three red pots on all of their carries and go on to beat TSM in Week 7 Day 1 of the NA LCS

This would not be a good article if I did not mention the significant increase in red pot starts for many laners. As a jungle enthusiast, I seriously despise this item enormously. It is not just snowbally top laners starting it now, even mid lane players who are playing AP champions with a melee ranged attack (Diana, Gragas) are starting it and bot lane ADCs. Hell, people are starting it to just not die in lane against those who did start it. The extra 100 to 200 HP it temporarily gives to a champion make ganking and tower diving more difficult to successfully pull off. I cannot tell you how many times I have walked away from an enemy champion that should die to ignite only for them to use red pot and survive. That being said, junglers should always be wary of red pots on the enemy list as it does influence gank potential significantly. I am glad they are increasing the price of Red Pot to discourage laners from starting with it, but I can still see it as a viable start after the change.

A Response to Amateur Tournaments

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 21:18:00 +0000

The introduction of Riot's Season 3 LCS tournament system has allowed professional players to play in a structured format similar to contemporary professional sports. However, Riot successfully created a monopoly on all League of Legends tournaments by contracting current 'professional' players. This article goes through my thoughts on amateur tournaments and a mainstreaming of developer managed systems.

Check out my thoughts by clicking more, below!

Before Riot's LCS, the two biggest tournaments that League of Legends fans watched was IPL and MLG. These two tournaments were so huge for the League of Legends scene that you could essentially become labelled a 'professional' player by attending these tournaments. However, both of these tournaments have been dropped as Riot takes a commanding monopoly on players of their game. The IPL series were scrapped as IGN sold IPL to Blizzard, and MLG has dropped League of Legends off its schedule. What does this mean for League of Legends fans and aspiring players?

Becoming a professional in League of Legends is now mainstreamed. Players need only climb the Ranked 5s ladder to challenger and place well within the qualifier tournament that Riot sets up to become a professional player and enter the LCS. Blizzard is looking to follow the same business model as Riot with the creation of the WCS.

So can amateur tournaments like MLG, IPL, WCG, etc. and smaller tournaments for unknown players be completely disregarded in the League of Legends scene? Why bother joining Go4LoL, and similar tournaments when you could just be laddering to get to the qualifier series? I would argue, no. Although many players who set up amateur teams look to, ultimately, play in the LCS, it is a dream that many players do not believe of actually achieving. Similar to high school sport teams or post secondary sport teams, the sports these players engage in are hobbies. Smaller tournaments act as a talent scout for players as teams look for new players to replace current players.

Small tournaments create a new experience for players that is completely different from the grind that comes from laddering. An exciting experience that increases as the rounds get deeper. Semi-competitive players look to enhance their gaming experience by such tournaments which cannot be found in ranked 5s laddering. That being said, it comes as no surprise Riot still offers free RP and triumphant Ryze skins for small tournaments.

My team and I recently won one of these said small tournaments. Although the tournament was generally quite easy, poorly organized, slowly casted, and production was terrible, it brought an experience to me and my teammates that days of grinding solo queue could not give.

On a completely unrelated tangent, I would like to apologize to the teams we played in the 1st RushMid Tournament for completely stomping them. I think in the finals, the enemy top laner rage quit after I death-boxed the enemy Cho'Gath Jungle to give my top laner first blood and double buffs which resulted in him getting absolutely zoned, dove, and generally destroyed (not that I did not have faith in my top laner to do it regardless).

I guess this small tangent from my regular posts (which have been abysmal due to University finals) simply wants to highlight an importance of small tournaments that will exist in any sort of sport. Players will always look for a new experience in a game which small tournaments can provide. Furthermore, teams and leagues will always want to talent scout in these small tournaments if player are consistent in their victories. Although these tournaments are barely watched, they are essential to a survival to any game or sport.

A Response to Player Shifts

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 22:17:00 +0000

With the popular League of Legend's professional Team - Team Solomid - replacing their long time AD carry player Shan "Chaox" Huang, there has been a lot of discussion and debate in regards to this huge player shift in a professional team. With teammates and close members of the team giving their responses, find my thoughts and experiences on the issue at hand after the jump.

In his vlog, Team Solomid's Support player 'Xpecial,' looks saddened by the replacement of Chaox by WildTurtle. After spending years with Chaox, Xpecial considers him a great friend; however, in the long run a professional team is about business. Furthermore, Xpecial does not consider Chaox as an inferior player to WildTurtle.

So, the question remains, why was Chaox replaced?

Without getting direct answers from the team itself in regards to the specifics of the replacement, it is important for people to understand how teams, generally, operate in games. In team games like League of Legends, communication is the most important aspect for teams. A leader for the team who acts as a 'shot-caller' is usually clearly defined in most teams. A team without a 'shot-caller' becomes representative of a solo queue team, which even with the highest level of mechanics, will not win in competitive play. In Team Solomid's case, they were operating with two 'shot-callers.' Both Reginald and Chaox are known for their natural leadership. Conflicting calls results to indecisive play which can be worse than a team making a bad call. In the end, a team wins and losses together - everyone makes mistakes. However, indecisive play is something that can be avoided entirely.

Although I am not at a professional level, I have been playing on an amateur team for the past year. Albeit, we are not very good; similar issues appear even in the lowest form of competitive play. As a natural leader, at least what I consider myself to be, conflicting calls kill a teams chances at victory more than bad calls. Frequently, a bad call, when followed through, can still result to a positive play. However, when calls are completely questioned in the middle of a game, indecisive play allows a team to be picked apart. The general rule in competitive play is that a call is followed through to the end, regardless of result. Trust in your teammates is enormous when it comes to this kind of mentality. Similar views on 'teamwork' are seen, more broadly, in the military, and, more narrowly, professional teams. What seems like a 'bad fight' in the LCS and a team charging to their death is an application of this doctrine.

It is worse to question a decision and remain indecisive than it is to fall victim to a non-optimal decision.

With that in mind, two 'shot-callers,' regardless of how skilled they are, on a team generally results to highly conflicting decisions. From what I have heard / read on vlogs and comments, Team Solomid would usually pass the role of 'shot-caller' between Chaox and Reginald. Albeit, they have seen a ton of success, this was ultimately the reason for Chaox's dismissal.

As for what remains of Team Solomid, I am sure Chaox played an instrumental role to the macro strategies of the popular team. I am, personally, interested to see how the team shifts in playstyle with the dismissal of their "genius of theory crafting" as Dyrus would put it .

Welcome to the Platinum Club

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 22:35:00 +0000

I remember the first post I wrote very clearly, even to this date. It was one of absolute frustration and hatred towards myself and this game. However, I did not give up because I held myself to a higher standard and I believed that I deserved this recognition. Today, I hit a long time goal of Platinum Tier in League of Legends solo queue. Although I do not attach much worth to this division as, time and time again, solo queue has proven itself to be a place where skill is made up and ELO does not matter, I find it rewarding to know that I have achieved a certain rank after the two years I have been playing this game.

Oh, and I just happen to beat popular streamer Destiny during my promotion series too.

With the introduction of Season 3 and the new 'tier / division system,' I struggled to hit platinum as I consistently fell from Gold I to Gold II only to quickly climb back to Gold I. Perhaps this has something to do with how I always go on winning streaks or losing streaks depending if I play in a good mood or on tilt. However, there is something I want to say about this new tier system implemented by Riot. This new system was the worst thing to happen to determining solo queue ranks.

I am not arguing that the new system does not make ladder less fun, in fact I believe that it makes laddering more challenging and interactive instead of it being a straight zero to one hundred grind. However, for determining actual ranking amongst players in a game it is a terrible system. Riot attempted to learn from Starcraft II's laddering system when creating their new system but they failed to understand one thing - Starcraft II is not a team game. Albeit, there are team game modes on Starcraft II but they are not as popular or relevant as the solo ladder; some would even call it completely irrelevant.

So what is the difference between the current system and the previous one? Well, for starters it does not average games appropriately. In the previous system, when one won a game in solo queue they would go up one games worth of rating, except during placements; when one lost a game in solo queue they would go down one games worth of rating. Although there was an existence of 'troll' players, these players would only be able to take one games worth of rating away from you. Furthermore, if one does not consider themselves to be a 'troll' player then there is always a higher chance of the enemy team getting more 'troll' players than your team.

In the current system, certain games are attributed to be worth more rating than other games. when you are about to drop or rise a tier, these games are fundamentally worth more than other games. Losing these games, makes you lose five to ten games worth of rating. Moreover, players cannot drop divisions so someone who has lost 100 games at Platinum 5, could still be considered a Platinum player. As I said before, the new system is an absolute abomination of a creation when you consider it's main job is to determine a rating for a team game. Players who were 'trolled' in the previous system could still determine their true rating as it would average out in the end; however, in the current system it creates a situation where your rank can be enormously influenced by chance in the short-run.

Don't get me wrong. I think this system is a great system - just not for League of Legends. In Starcraft II, where the system originated from, the solo ladder was not a team game and there is a zero probably for chance to determine a game. A player loses because he lost under the set parameters of a game, nothing out of the players control influenced the loss; however, in League of Legends the existence of 'trolls' can be a factor that influences a loss.

Although I have said that the current system is absolutely terrible for determining actual rating efficiently, I still do not believe it is impossible to rise purely because of the existence of 'trolls' and this system. A player who deserves to rise, will rise. Period. There is no ELO hell. It is simply a myth that players create to reason their poor rating and play. Players who deserve to rise will simply take longer than before to rise.

I beg anyone who thinks they are in 'ELO hell' to simply watch the video above and to truly consider why you have been losing (Warning: This video is rage inducing, I almost got a rage-coma) . There has always been a take I had on Solo Queue, albeit I am not the best Solo Queue player, which may help anyone who is considering to play this cesspool of a game mode. Remember, you can only control what you do, nothing more nothing less, so always focus on how to better your play. You may not be able to win this game, but if you did well and you fix the mistakes you made on this game you will be able to help and win future games. That is the key to solo queue: focus on your own mistakes and the long-run. People who believe in 'ELO hell' are suffering from a common cognitive bias called the Dunning-Kruger effect, where they believe they are actually superior to everyone around them. They fail to realize their own mistakes and remedy them, as such they will never become better players and truly deserve to rise in rating.

So now we come to the final question that everyone wants the answer to. What do you do in Solo Queue to win? How do you influence the game to ensure that your team has a higher chance to win? What is the difference between you and me when we are both playing this game and why do you win when I lose?

Besides focusing on my own mistakes and never making them in future games, I tend to try to pick roles that put me into a the shoes of a decision maker. Assuming you deserve to rise and you are actually a better player, you should be able to make the proper decisions for your team. You can't control how much CS your top laner has by 10 minutes, but you can control when he will go into a team fight (after you initiate). Carrying does not mean to put up a huge score and have a ton of gold; there are many players who lose with huge scores. Carrying means to make the proper decisions for your team so that you only force favourable plays that you will win for sure. If you have ever started a fight and thought "we might not win this" or "why did I initiate here," you deserve to lose that game. Carrying means telling everyone to sit outside baron put while you pink ward baron and catch someone checking it. Carrying means making the right dragon calls so your team does not get killed while doing an early dragon. Carrying means initiating the fight on that twelve kill Vayne because she mis-stepped for half a second and you caught her for it.

After this long read, I commend you for actually reading this and thank you. I realize I may sound pretentious as I am only a platinum player; however, Solo Queue is not a place of skill, nor is rating a determinant of skill especially in this current system. I hope the next time I write another article about success in solo queue it will be when I join the diamond club. Although as my favourite pro player, TheOddOne, has proven, diamond is not something to be proud about.

Patch 3.04 Jungle Implications: Runic Bulwark and Locket of the Iron Solari Analysis

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 02:35:00 +0000

This article goes through the changes in patch 3.04 with emphasis on the implications it has on jungling. There is specific emphasis on the comparison on the changes of Runic Bulwark and Locket of the Iron Solari. Will the changes in the 3.04 patch de-throne the jungle core items of Runic Bulwark and Locket of the Iron Solari? Should you still be building these items? Will we see different item choices in the LCS? Find out after the jump.

Although I would like to go over some of the minor changes, I am going to focus this article on the specific changes to Runic Bulwark (Bulwark) and Locket of the Iron Solari (Locket). Sorry, my dear Jarvan IV, but as Bulwark and Locket are being rampantly being built on Summoner's Rift, changes to these items should be seriously considered.

First off, let's look at the changes to Bulwark and, to a lesser extent, Aegis of The Legion (Aegis).

Runic Bulwark
Combine cost reduced to 400 gold from 650 (total cost reduced to 2950 gold from 3200)
Health reduced to 300 from 400
Magic Resist aura reduced to 25 from 30
Aura grants an additional 50% Health Regen, Armor and Magic Resist for minions *Similar to Aegis*

At first glance, the aura change is almost negligible; which leaves the health, resist, and cost reductions to be the most important aspects of the change. Let's consider a more mathematical side to item efficiency on Runic Bulwark and then go towards a more practical approach to the change.

Runic Bulwark previous item efficiency

400 health = 1056g
10 health regeneration= 360g
30 armor = 600g
60 magic resist = 1200g
Total Gold Value = 3216g
Aura Value per Ally Champion
10 health regeneration = 360g
10 armor = 200g
30 magic resist = 600g
Total Gold Value = 1160g

Maximum Potential Gold Value
3216g + (1160g x 4) = 7856g

7856g (gold value) / 3200g (item cost) = 2.45g

Runic Bulwark current item efficiency

300 health = 792g
10 health regeneration= 360g
30 armor = 600g
55 magic resist = 1100g
Total Gold Value = 2852g

Aura Value per Ally Champion
10 health regeneration = 360g
10 armor = 200g
25 magic resist = 500g
Total Gold Value = 1060g

Maximum Potential Gold Value
2862g + (1060g x 4) = 7102g

7102g (gold value) / 2950g (item cost) = 2.41g

Essentially, every 1g you put into a completed Bulwark used to grant you, at a maximum, 2.45g worth of stats; now, it will only grant you 2.41g worth of stats. There is only a 0.015% of reduction in maximum item efficiency on Bulwark. Bulwark is still one of the most cost efficient items in the game. Similarly, let us analyze the changes to Locket.

Locket of the Iron Solari

Combine cost reduced to 520 gold from 670 (total cost reduced to 1850 gold from 2000)
Health reduced to 300 from 400

Locket of the Iron Solari exhibits the same changes where there seems to be a balanced reduction of cost and stats it gives as seen with Bulwark.

Locket of the Iron Solari previous item efficiency

400 health = 1056g
35 armor = 700g
10% cooldown reduction = 322g
10 health regeneration = 360g
Total Gold Value = 2438g

2438g (gold value) / 2000g (item cost) = 1.22g

Locket of the Iron Solari current item efficiency

300 health = 792g
35 armor = 700g
10% cooldown reduction = 322g
10 health regeneration = 360g
Total Gold Value = 2174g

2174g (gold value) / 1850g (item cost) = 1.18g

Similarly to Bulwark, every 1g you put into a completed Locket used to grant you 1.22g worth of stats; now, it will only grant you 1.18g worth of stats. This statistic is greatly influenced by the lack of calculation done on the active. But the point remains that the changes to locket has only 0.033% change in item efficiency on stats it gives. Of course, the actual item efficiency of Locket is much higher due to the shield it gives from it's active ability; which explains why it is being picked up in every single LCS game.

With the changes being mathematically proven to be similarly gold efficient, Locket and Bulwark are still very strong items statistically speaking. However, what about in practical application? The main concern the changes bring is how well these items will fair in the late game aspect. Originally, Aegis of the Legion was a very strong mid game item; however, when late game came along it became a weaker item that became a waste of an item slot. As champions can only have six items at any given time, when gold is negligible one would want to swap out the old aegis for an item that gave bigger stats. However, Bulwark was meant to be an 'update' for Aegis in the late-game where people could still keep the aegis and have it be an item of effect. But with the recent changes, Bulwark and Locket may begin to suffer from the 'mid-game item' issue that Spirit Visage and Aegis suffered from for so long.

In conclusion, Bulwark and Locket are still very cost-efficient items that give a champion amazing stats for the gold they require. On a gold-starved role like Jungle or Support, these items are, and remain, essential to proper itemization.

Ganking: Part 1 - Top Lane Guide

noreply@blogger.com (ChaiPodLoL) — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 16:57:00 +0000

Welcome to a three part series on understanding ganking. One of the most frequently asked questions from beginner junglers is how and when should I be ganking? Although experience is the ultimate factor for a player to gage how and when a gank should be attempted, this article series will attempt to highlight some norms and conditions to ganking the top lane. The other two parts of this series will cover the other two lanes.

This article is dedicated to my previous top laner and current ADC from my team - HoopsScoops, who taught me the importance of influencing top lane instead of just leaving them on an island.

Learn the intricacies of ganking top lane after the jump!

History and Meta of Top Lane

At the end of season 1 and the start of season 2, top lane used to be an island. The 'Island Rule' stated that top lane should be left alone for success in the jungle because of the minimal influence they had on the map during the early laning phase. Many pro streamers emphasized this rule and let top lane passively farm until mid-late game. The 'Island Rule' was created due to the natural position of dragon, where influence on the top lane would not be able to influence the team's potential to secure dragons early. The early game objective which defined the pace of the early NA meta, essentially, left top laners jungler-less. It wasn't until the explosion of Moscow 5 and the de-throning of the NA scene did players realize the potential top lane had to snowball excessively could win games.

Top lane champions have a tendency to be extremely mobile, high damage, and high escape champions. Favouring champions similar to Riven, Jax, and Singed, these champions are extremely strong when they have two to three items to make them almost unstoppable and are extremely slippery and difficult to kill. Regardless, these champions are simple to kill extremely early. Furthermore, champions of top lane tend to snowball excessively. An early kill and extra item in the lane could easily result in laners being completely zoned from creep score (CS). As a result, the 'island rule' no longer applies because securing kills in top lane is worth a lot in the long run. It is worth missing ten to twenty jungle CS, a buff, and using multiple summoner spells to get the kill top lane. As a result, an ahead top laner will be able to demand the attention of the enemy jungler during mid-game allowing the team to secure dragon or influence the map with the additional player who is not on the island. If the jungler continues to ignore the lane after the snowball, the enemy team will, essentially, be playing four versus five. In conclusion, the importance of ganking top lane comes into play when the opportunity cost of a small early game advantage is overcome by the pressure exerted by a snowballed top laner mid-late game.

Time and Conditions for Ganking Top Lane

The most common 'time frames' to gank top lane are very early-game, and mid-game after dragon has been secured. Although the 'island rule' has been made mostly obsolete, the possibility of losing dragon is still an important factor for junglers to consider; therefore, top lane should, generally, be avoided when early-to-mid-game comes along and dragon becomes more of a possibility for team to attempt.

Early Game Time Frame

Ganking top lane early-game is one of the most effective strategies to gain an influential advantage for the team. The term early-game can be defined as the moments in the game before dragon can usually be attempted, contested, or completed. However, in the case of ganking top lane a successful time frame for an early-game gank can be defined within the parameters of the first several minutes of the game. As top laners are generally extremely hard to catch, it becomes easier to gank them when they are ward-less, low level, and missing abilities. Although with the introduction of Crystalline Flask top laners are frequently starting wards, most top laners are not warded before the first back / buy. Albeit ganking a lane without a ward seems natural, top lane is a much more difficult lane to gank due to the meta champion pool and should take priority over other lanes.

Post Dragon Time Frame

Another common 'time frame' for ganking top lane would be mid-game after dragon has completed. The dragon time frame is generally when a team can tank dragon and kill it without it taking too much health from the jungler. Therefore, a jungler who goes top lane during this time frame will have dragon taken from them at the risk of forcing their team to contest dragon at a disadvantage. When the dragon time frame exists, experienced junglers would choose to hover around mid and bot lane. After dragon is completed, ganks on top lane can be executed without risking an objective on another part of the map.

Snowball Condition

Snowballing is one of the most significant factors when it comes to choosing to gank top lane. To snowball a champion, or prevent a champion from snowballing too extreme determines requires pressure from a jungler on top lane. Many champions, such as Riven and Darius, are extremely strong at dominating their lane and are picked to snowball their lane. Ganks for these lanes are especially potent and should be attempted as frequently as possible. On the other hand, when your top laner is playing against heavy snowballing laners it is also important to ensure that they are not snowballed against.

Riven is great example of a top lane champion on the enemy team that you may or may not want to gank. Riven has many small dashes on a low cooldown that can be used to escape ganks effectively. However, when Riven is ahead in her lane she can easily take over the pace of the game. Furthermore when a Riven is snowballed, she can easily 1 v 2 your top laner and yourself, the jungler. Sometimes, letting a lane that has snowballed die is the best choice.

Slippery Condition

Sometimes, there are conditions where choosing to not gank top lane is the best option. Some of these conditions would include champions on your team that have no gank potential or favour another play style, or champions on the enemy team that are remarkably slippery or have snowballed.

Nidalee becomes a prime example of a top lane champion on your team who you would not want to gank for. She does not have any crowd control, nor does she have any burst damage abilities. Instead, Nidalee's skill set favours a long, drawn-out laning phase which benefits champions with utility. Instead of ganking top lane, leaving Nidalee to her own laning benefits your team the most. On the other hand, ganking a Nidalee is crucial in the early stages when she is vulnerable and ensures that your team can handle her split-push in the late game.

Tri-Brush Position Condition

Another condition to consider for ganking top lane over another lane would be the map, Summoner's Rift, itself. The position of the 'tri-brush' opens different, easier gank paths for ganking top lane. When jungling on the blue side, ganking top lane is much easier because the tri-brush allows you to go around and behind the enemy top laner; the tri-brush opens up unique and favourable positions when attempting to kill the purple top laner. However, when jungling on the purple side, ganking top lane is more difficult as the tri-brush is positioned on bot lane instead of top lane. Check below in the gank paths section for more information on the difference between blue and purple gank positions.

Controlling a Losing Top Lane

We have all seen the worst case situation in League of Legends. Where the enemy top lane Singed, Darius, or Akali are so ahead of everyone else, they can simply walk through the whole team and destroy your chances at victory. You would like to blame your top laner; however, you realize that, ultimately, you cannot control how your top laner plays and you needed to have taken some sort of action. There are three common methods for controlling a losing top lane - pulling the top laner, letting a lane die, or multi-player ganks

Pulling the Top Laner

If a top laner is having a rough time, you can utilize the previously mentioned 'island rule' to your advantage. Force your top laner to make his way down to a global objective on the other side of the map to force objectives and favourable fights. The enemy top laner who has to react to an objective will be forced to either continue farming and hope his team handles the situation properly, or follow his laner. Always remember, that by pulling your top laner you are trying to create a favourable situation. If at anytime the situation is extended and the stronger enemy top laner has gotten off 'the island,' ensure that your team gets out safely and on time. If done successfully, pulling a top laner can even out the global gold and halt a bad lane from getting worse in a team-play scenario.

Letting a Lane Die

Minimizing losses may be the proper way to handle a losing top lane. In which case, simply inform your top laner that he has been sacrificed for the greater good of the team and he should give up his lane, tower and try to get what gold he can without dieing. You can actively let a lane die by simply choosing not to save his tower, help his lane, nor relieve pressure. That being said, by actively letting a lane die you should also be actively seeking to bring a lane up to speed. Only sacrifice a lane if your team is going to be able to handle 4v5 scenarios. Also, when top lane loses its tower it also loses its global attention of the enemy top laner. Make sure you are prepared to handle the enemy top laner roaming around the map and ward accordingly.

Multi-player Ganks

Trying to bring back a dead lane is a very risky play; however, if done properly, you can turn a dire situation for the better. The key to handling a snowballed top laner is multi-player ganks. Safety in numbers has always been a key concept in League of Legends, and it applies to this situation as well. Pulling your mid laner for a gank can sometimes be unexpected by the enemy top laner who feels like he is strong enough to handle you and your top laner. By pulling your mid laner, you sometimes lose pressure on parts of the map that you want to retain. Try to executive multi-player ganks when dragon is down or when you can secure kills on the enemy mid laner. Always ward properly to ensure you are not counter ganked as a failed multi-player gank is almost always unrecoverable.

Following-up a Successful Gank

Congratulations, you have just managed to pull off a successful gank! You managed to secure a kill and an advantage for your team. What now? Many new junglers are not quite sure what to do with themselves after a successful gank. Sometimes, an effective gank for the lane, top lane specifically, has a lot to do with how a jungler handles a lane after a gank. There are generally, three things you may want to do depending on the situation - push the lane to the enemy tower, freeze the lane, or take the enemy tower. Regardless of what you decide to do, always ensure that is what your laner wants. They are the laner and they have final say on what happens in the lane. However, always ensure that your top laner is going to go back after the gank so the difference between gold is actually put into application.

Pushing the Lane

A common low ELO myth is 'pushing is bad.' This is false. Pushing, when done in the proper situations, is extremely powerful. Although pushing does put the lane at risk, when the enemy is dead after a gank you can push to the enemy tower and simply reset the lane. Pushing does three things for the team and the laner. First, it denies the team gold. Instead of letting the wave be slowly killed off, it is given to the enemy tower. This means that the enemy jungler who is now slowly making his way up to the dead lane will have less creeps to farm. Second, it denies the team experience. If a wave is pushing in a certain way, the majority of a wave may be kept for the dead enemy laner to come back. Third, it allows your top laner to not miss any CS and experience, albeit it is less experience with the jungler there, when you help him kill the creeps faster and lets him back faster to not miss the next wave. Generally, you want to push unless the laner does not want to go buy for a certain reason as it's positive effects for the team outweigh the potential positive effects for the laner. When you are pushing the wave for the laner, always try to not take any CS, especially the cannon creep, unless you are taxing the lane which is explained below.

Freezing the Lane

Freezing the lane is an extremely effective method when your laner is having a tough time in lane, or he is playing a lane bully (i.e., Darius) or a squishy ranged champion (i.e., Jayce, Kennen). After you secure the kill, let your top laner know that you are going to freeze the lane for him and that he should go back to purchase before the enemy top laner comes back. By freezing the lane, you are allowing your top laner to come back to the lane in a safer position and with more items. Make sure when you are freezing, you do not accidentally push the lane and only last hit when absolutely necessary. Freezing the lane also let's you gain experience and gold from a lane for an extended period of time, which is far superior to jungle creeps outside of the buffs.

Taking the Tower

Taking the tower early-mid game is a very situational decision to make following a successful top lane gank, there are two common situations where you want to take the tower. First, your laner is doing poorly and would not benefit from extended laning against his top laner. Second, you want your top laner to back and follow you to acquire an objective in another part of the map. Although by taking the tower early, you secure a global gold advantage; sometimes, it ends up denying your top laner safe farm if taken too early. Moreover, there are two common situations where you do not want to take the tower. First, your laner is snowballing and dominating their lane opponent, in which case you want to give the enemy top laner an incentive to stay in the lane so that you and your top laner can abuse him further. Second, your laner is a farm dependent champion. By taking a tower too early for a farm dependent champion, it may deny safe, consistent farm.

In top lane, pushing the wave or taking the tower, in that order, are the most common and optimal ways to handle the situation after a successful gank. Top laners are generally very strong bruiser champions who, if given the opportunity to, will take kills even after a succesful gank if your top laner does not go back to buy. I cannot stress it enough, that you should always help your top laner after the gank so that he can go back without losing anything or putting himself in a dangerous situation.

Lane Tax

Lane Tax. You've all heard it. The act of taking creeps as a form of payment for the jungler spending time to gank your lane. When is it acceptable to tax top lane? As a jungler who actually enjoy watching my lanes succeed, I would argue that it is almost never acceptable to tax, specifically, a top laner especially after a failed gank. Although it may be acceptable to tax a top laner after a successful gank if you are playing a carry jungler, it is almost always better to let the laner have the CS as money that is constantly comparable is better than money that is not. For example, an extra Doran's Blade on your top laner is going to be a lot more effective than an extra Doran's Blade on yourself as the enemy top laner has to handle the extra Doran's Blade where it only helps the jungler farm creeps faster. Although in cases where you've spent a significant amount of time in the lane to secure the kill it may be acceptable to take lane tax, in general you do not want to tax your top laner.

Relevant Top Lane Wards Locations

Blue Side: Common Wards from the Top Laner
1. River Brush Ward
2. River Ward
3. Tri-Brush Ward

These ward locations are commonly used by the enemy top laner. Generally, these wards are placed after the first buy; however, if the enemy is starting an unorthodox combination of items, they may have these locations warded before the first buy. Blue side top laners will commonly place a ward in the river (2.), while relying on their mid laner or jungler to ward in the wraith camp (8.)

Blue Side: Uncommon Wards from Top Laner
4. Behind the Tower Ward
5. Close Brush Ward
6. Far Brush Ward

These ward locations are uncommonly used by the enemy top laner. If the enemy laner feels like they will be tower-dived because they have been pressured for a significant amount of time or placed in a 1v2 lane, they may ward behind the tower (4.) Wards in the brushes of top lane (5. & 6.) are usually extremely uncommon. You can usually assume that there will be no wards in the lane brushes.

Blue Side: Common Wards from other lane
7. Top River J Brush Ward
8. Top Wraith Ward

These ward locations are commonly used by other laners which provide safety to the enemy top laner. These wards are used to spot the enemy jungler who may wish to bypass a tri-brush ward (3.) or an enemy mid laner who wants to gank top themselves.

Blue Side: Uncommon Wards from other lanes
9. Baron Ward
10. Blue Buff Ward

These ward locations are uncommonly used by other lanes which provide safety to the enemy top laner. These wards are generally placed by the enemy jungler who wishes to provide specific cover on global and jungle objectives such as Baron (9.) and Blue Buff (10.) Generally, these ward locations are only used in the mid-late game when these global objectives are in contention.

Purple Side: Common Wards from Top Laner
1. River Brush Ward
2. River Ward
3. Tri-Brush Ward

These ward locations are commonly used by the enemy top laner. Similar to blue side ward locations; however, purple top laners are more likely to place a ward in the tri-brush (3.) and let the enemy jungler or mid laner ward the J brush (7.)

Purple Side: Uncommon Wards from Top Laner
11. Behind the Tower Ward
6. Close Brush Ward
5. Far Brush Ward

These ward locations are uncommonly used by the enemy top laner. Similar to blue side uncommon wards from the top laner, these wards are usually extremely uncommon. You can usually assume that there will be no wards in the lane brushes.

Purple Side: Common Wards from Other Lanes
7. Top River J Brush Ward
8. Top Wraith Ward

These ward locations are commonly used by other laners which provide safety to the enemy top laner. These wards generally provide cover to the enemy purple top laner from the river as purple side top laners generally like to ward the tri-brush instead of river.

Purple Side: Uncommon Wards from Other Lanes
9. Baron Ward
12. Red Buff Ward

These ward locations are uncommonly used by other lanes which provide safety to the enemy top laner. Similar to the blue side uncommon wards from other lanes, except it covers the enemy red buff (12.) instead. Furthermore, top laners who feel extremely threatened by ganks will likely place wards in the tri-brush (3.) and outside the baron put (9.)

Different Gank Paths and Positions of Top Lane

Blue & Purple Side: The River Gank

Explanation:
The 'oldest trick in the book' is done by every jungler from Bronze IV to Challenger tier. The key to an effective river gank is timing and early game lane control by the top laner. The river gank plagued top laners in Season 2; however, with more top laners starting wards it has become less of a threat. Go from your jungle entrances through the river and into the enemy brush. Used most effectively as a purple side, but works as blue side too. Similar ganks would be the blue side tri-brush gank from river.

Conditions:
- Lane is even or being pushed
- Unwarded in common ward positions
- Most effective post first ward / buy / back (2-5 minutes)

Blue Side: The Brush Lane Gank

Explanation:

A more unexpected gank by the enemy top laner. Go through the lane when minions cannot see you (Tip: Check the vision of your minions to compare how far the enemy minions can see you) and enter the brush. Then, either wait for the enemy laner to be aggressive or tell your laner to push to the tower so you can enter the second brush and gank the enemy laner when the wave pushes back.

Conditions:

- Lane is a little bit pushed

- No minion vision on the entrance of the brush

- Unwarded in uncommon places

- Works well with a hard CC on your laner

- Works well with a mobile jungler

Blue Side: The Tower Dive

Explanation:

This is the seldom part of the game where you can get up off your chair, yell "TOWER DIVE" and charge in bravely. More realistically, this is one of the most riskiest ganks in the game and should not be attempted lightly. The key to an effective tower dive gank is not being seen by wards so that the enemy team does not have time to counter-gank effectively nor does the enemy laner have time to leave the lane and proper execution. Usually, if you want to tower dive it means your laner has been winning and pushing the whole time and the enemy laner has not needed to ward. However, if the enemy laner has warded in common ward locations, go through the outer top lane jungle entrance.

Conditions:

- Your lane is winning and you want to snowball the lane further

- The enemy laner has not bought new items for a long time

- The enemy mid laner is pressured and your mid laner can follow effectively

- The enemy jungler may be seen elsewhere on the map

- The enemy laner is low HP

- The enemy laner just used CC or escape abilities before the attempt to dive

- You and your laner both hit skillshots and CC abilities, do not attempt to dive if you miss these abilities or it will go terribly wrong

- You or your top laner can tank the tower effectively

- Fresh minion wave, preferably a cannon wave, is about to hit the tower against an already cleared minion wave

Blue Side: The Lane Gank

Explanation:

One of the most unpredictable and deadly ganks; however, it only works in the worst of worst cases. There are no tricks, no hiding - simply go through the lane and run down the enemy laner. The key to a lane gank is ganking a non-mobile champion who relies on wards for safety where you can chase and kill him as he runs the long distance from your tower to his. Similar to the tower dive gank, conditions for this gank are extremely specific although for the opposite reasons. This is the perfect gank to use against Darius who thinks his double wards let him bully and push all day.

Conditions:

- Enemy laner is pushing to your tower, hard

- You and your top laner are playing mobile champions with good CC

- Enemy laner is not a fast, mobile champion

- Enemy laner has common and uncommon positions warded

Blue Side: The Tri-Brush Gank

Explanation:

The Tri-Brush Gank is a two step process. The first step is determining the entry point and the second step is determining the exit point. There are three entry points for the Tri-Brush Gank. First, the river purple top inner jungle entrance which is commonly warded. Second, over the baron pit entrance which is less warded but only available to certain champions without using flash. Third, the long route uses the purple top outer jungle entrance which is commonly warded by the mid lane and jungler.

Conditions:

Inner Jungle Entrance

- Early game when common ward positions are not warded (2-5 minutes)

Baron Pit Entrance

- When common ward locations are warded

- You are playing a jungler with a free flash (Jarvan, Lee Sin); alternatively, use flash

Outer Jungle Entrance

- When the enemy mid laner has not warded common ward locations

- Early game when common ward positions are not warded (2-5 minutes)

Explanation:

In the second step of the Tri-Brush Gank, a jungler must determine the exit point of the gank. Although sometimes this step is not as important as the entry point. The first exit point is initiating the gank through the tri-brush itself, then walking out through the purple lane entrance. Make sure the minion wave is past the tower to give the enemy laner less warning (Tip: check the position of your minions to make sure they are past the tower, your minion positions mirror the enemies).

Conditions:

- Tri-brush is not warded

- Enemy laner / lane is in the middle or a little pushed

- Enemy laner is warded in the river

- Minion wave is past the tower

Explanation:

The second exit point of the Tri-Brush Gank is going around, hopping over the golem wall will make it faster, and walking past the tri-brush to gank the laner. This avoids actually entering the tri-brush and gives the enemy laner less warning if the tri-brush is warded. Again, exit through the purple lane entrance and make sure the wave has passed the tower.

Conditions:

- Tri-brush is warded

- Enemy laner / lane is in the middle or a little pushed

- Enemy laner is warded in the river

- Minion wave is past the tower

Purple Side: The Tower Dive

Explanation:

Similar to the Blue Side: Tower Dive Gank, it is an exceptionally conditional and risky gank that should be executed with caution. The key to the tower dive gank is execution and not being seen. The main difference between the tower dive gank for purple and blue side is that purple side easily bypasses common ward locations. This gank position can also be used for standard non-dive ganks where you will take 2-3 shots from the tower to get behind the enemy; however, this variant of the purple side tower dive gank is quite risky in the early levels and should not be attempted.

Conditions:

- Your lane is winning and you want to snowball the lane further

- The enemy laner has not bought new items for a long time

- The enemy mid laner is pressured and your mid laner can follow effectively

- The enemy jungler may be seen elsewhere on the map

- The enemy laner is low HP

- The enemy laner just used CC or escape abilities before the attempt to dive

- You and your laner both hit skillshots and CC abilities, do not attempt to dive if you miss these abilities or it will go terribly wrong

- You or your top laner can tank the tower effectively

- Fresh minion wave, preferably a cannon wave, is about to hit the tower against an already cleared minion wave

Purple Side: The Lane Brush Gank

Explanation:

Similar to the Blue Side: Brush Gank, the key to success with a brush gank is not being seen by the minions by the jungler and not telegraphing the gank by the top laner. Typically, this is easily accomplished against a very aggressive top laner. Do not try this gank against passive, farming top laners (i.e., Vladimir). Alternatively, let your top laner push to the enemy tower and wait for the wave to reset, which is quite time consuming.

Conditions:

- Lane is a little bit pushed

- No minion vision on the entrance of the brush

- Unwarded in uncommon places

- Works well with a hard CC on your laner

- Works well with a mobile jungler

Purple Side: The Lane Gank

Explanation:

Similar to the Blue Side: Lane Gank, this gank can be used on a heavily warded enemy laner who is constantly pushing and bullying your laner. Ensure that you and your top laner can run down the enemy laner for a successful lane gank. Furthermore, do not walk through the tri-brush to get to the lane as the tri-brush is commonly warded for blue side top laners.

Conditions:

- Enemy laner is pushing to your tower, hard

- You and your top laner are playing mobile champions with good CC

- Enemy laner is not a fast, mobile champion

- Enemy laner has common and uncommon positions warded

- Do not walk through the tri-brush unless it is not warded

Purple Side: The Hidden Angle Gank Variant 1

Explanation:

One of the most complicated ganks for purple side which can be used extremely effectively against relatively safe top laners with no inherent flash (I.e., Olaf, Rumble, Vladimir, Elise).The Hidden Angle Gank works when the lane is pushing a little towards your side, but the minions have not reached past the purple side tri-brush wall. If you are playing a jungler with an inherent flash (I.e., Lee Sin) you can hop over the entire wall or the top part of the wall and proceed to run down an enemy. Alternatively, you can jump closer towards the enemy when they move forward to CS as they can not see you past the angle of the wall.

Conditions:

- Lane pushing slightly towards your tower

- Blue side melee minions are not giving vision past the wall

- You are a high mobility jungler

- Enemy is not extremely mobile

- You and your laner have the potential to run down the enemy laner

- There is no tri-brush ward, and only a ward in the river

Purple Side: The Hidden Angle Gank Variant 2

Explanation:

This is perhaps the most difficult gank to grasp in top lane; it is a mixture of the lane gank and the first variant. In this case, there is a very specific location where a jungler can stand that the enemy laner will not have vision of if the lane is even. Furthermore, the common locations for top lane wards such as river and tri-brush will not spot you. Follow the location in the image above for the 'sweet spot' where the minions won't be able to spot you, a tri-brush ward won't be able to spot you, and you are one flash away from being beside the enemy top laner who goes up to last hit a ranged creep.

Conditions:

- Lane is evenly pushed

- Blue side melee minions are not giving vision past the wall

- You are a high mobility jungler

- Enemy is not extremely mobile

- There is a ward in both the river and the tri-brush

Purple Side: The Sprint Gank

Explanation:
Similar to the Hidden Angle Gank, this gank relies on a high mobility jungler to run down the enemy top laner when they are pushed and only warded in the river. When the laner pushes to your tower, quickly run down and execute a river gank. Although this can be classified as a river gank, it's more effective later into the laning phase when wards are commonly placed in the river.

Conditions:

- Lane pushing slightly towards your tower

- You are a high mobility jungler

- Enemy is not mobile

- You and your laner have the potential to run down the enemy laner

- There is no tri-brush ward, and only a ward in the river.

Champions of Top Lane

These champions are the most played top lane champions of the meta. Although there is a huge selection of top lane champions, these are considered are 'meta' picks and will be explained how to gank for them and how to gank against them.

Akali
Ganking For
- Priority: Low before level 6, High after level 6
- Gank after she attains her ultimate
- Snowballs heavily
Ganking Against
- Priority: High before level 6, Low after level 6
- Gank before she attains her ultimate
- Wait for her to use her Twilight Shroud / Make your laner burn her Twilight Shroud
- Champions that reveal other champions (i.e., Lee Sin) are amazing for catching her in Twilight Shroud

Cho'Gath
Ganking For
- Priority: Low
- Gank after he has levels in Rupture and Feral Scream; let him initiate the gank with Rupture
- Ganking for a Cho'Gath with Feast is much more successful
Ganking Against
- Priority: Low
- Gank before Cho'Gath purchases Rod of Ages or has stacks on Feast
- Gank early for more gank potential; less health and less CC to stop the gank
- Wait for Cho'Gath to use Rupture before you gank him, or dodge Rupture when ganking

Darius
Ganking For
- Priority: High
- Gank for him often, and early; he snowballs extremely hard
- Darius natually pushes a bit, try a lane gank!
- Darius has a ton of kill potential early and post level 6; try ganking for Darius with any champion with a hard CC
Ganking Against
- Priority: High
- Ganks on him are quite succesful as long as there are not too many creeps and he is not too fed such that he can 1v2; he naturally pushes the lane with his abilities and has no inherent escape
- Darius snowballs hard and will constantly dominate a lane and team fight with his base damage and resets; shut him down early!

Elise
Ganking For
- Priority: Medium
- Elise is a long-term laning champion, preferring to poke the champion down with her Q
- Elise does have a lot of burst, make sure she hits her stun for the gank to be successful
- Try ganking for an Elise level 2; otherwise let her run the lane to her own accord
Ganking Against
- Priority: High
- Elise is a tough lane opponent who will destroy any laner without any pressure
- Gank her often to make sure your laner can snowball and kill her in lane with all-ins
- When she rappels make sure you just stand in the middle and don't run her closer towards the tower

Gangplank
Ganking For
- Priority: Medium
- Gank for a Gangplank early because of his strong damage levels 1 to 2.
- Leave him to farm the lane and let him use ultimates to help you in skirmishes elsewhere on the map
Ganking Against
- Priority: Low
- Gangplank has a CC removal, movement speed increase, and AoE slow making him extremely difficult to gank
- As long as your laner is farming with him, most common top lane picks bring more utility than Gangplank in mid-late game
- If the Gangplank is building double GP5, make sure you punish him

Irelia
Ganking For
- Priority: Low
- Irelia is a farm dependent champion which is strong in long-term laning
- Ganking for an Irelia who is level 2, with Q and E, or level 11, with five levels in W, is the ideal time to gank
- Let Irelia farm and do her thing, try not to attract the enemy jungler up there
Ganking Against
- Priority: Low
- Irelia is a jungler's worst nightmare to gank, free recharging hops, free tenacity, and a stun when low HP
- Only gank an Irelia when the gank potential is extremely high
- Never tower dive a full HP Irelia unless the lane is snowballed to all hell

Jayce
Ganking For
- Priority: Medium
- Jayce is a farm dependent champion which requires two to three completed AD items to be extremely strong
- Try ganking for a Jayce around level 2 when he will have four abilities!
Ganking Against
- Priority: Low
- Jayce is a high escape champion with knock backs, slows, and speed boosts; either gank him before he is level two or ensure you have proper kill potential.
- Try ganking Jayce when just as he transforms to his cannon and uses acceleration gate to farm a creep wave

Jarvan IV
Ganking For
- Priority: Medium
- Try ganking for Jarvan IV when he hits level 2, his flag combo provides amazing kill potential for ganks
- Jarvan IV's ultimate may actually hinder a gank if the enemy champion has an inherent escape from it
Ganking Against
- Priority: Low
- Jarvan IV has hard CC, slow, and a unique terrain modifier; ganking a Jarvan IV is difficult due to his skill set and innate tankiness

Jax
Ganking For
- Priority: Medium
- Jax has good kill potential with his gap closer and stun
- Jax is a farm dependent champion; try not to create too much action in this lane and let him farm to get his core items
Ganking Against
- Priority: High
- Jax is a hyper carry which will be able to ruin games by himself; shut him down early to keep him down

Lee Sin
Ganking For
- Priority: High
- Lee Sin can either be played as a high snowball champion or a lane sustain counter pick; make sure you determine which one you are playing with
- Lee Sin snowballs well and can dominate a lane early; his high mobility compliments ganks very well
Ganking Against
- Priority: Low
- Lee Sin is a high escape champion; try to avoid ganking his lane unless you want to prevent him from snowballing

Malphite
Ganking For
- Priority: Low
- Malphite is a mid-late game pick for lane or a counter pick, let him plat the lane or just survive
- Malphite has little kill potential early and high kill potential at level 6; however, he should be using his ultimate on other lanes
Ganking Against
- Priority: Low
- Malphite has high survivability and movement speed with his Q
- No matter how much you shut down Malphite, during mid-late game team fights he's going to be just as effective

Nidalee
Ganking For
- Priority: Low
- There is almost never a reason to gank for a Nidalee; her kit thrives on laning and has very little kill potential
Ganking Against
- Priority: Before 6 High, After 6 Low
- Nidalee is a lane monster who aims to split push; make sure your laner has an advantage so that you don't lose to a split push Nidalee
- Nidalee's survivability increases significantly after level 6, gank her lane often before she hits level 6 because you are not going to be able to do it after

Olaf
Ganking For
- Priority: Medium
- Olaf has good kill potential with his Q and E
- Olaf thrives off trading in lane or being able to farm effectively in a 1v2, try letting him play his lane out without creating too much action
Ganking Against
- Priority: Before 6 Medium, After 6 Low
- Olaf has no inherent escape; Olaf's generally take ghost for late game and can be easily killed early game
- Try ganking Olaf extremely early; but do not tower dive him
- When Olaf hits level 6, he can not be crowd controled; leave him alone after level 6
- Try picking Jarvan IV against Olaf, his ultimate can either secure kills easily or force him to take flash

Riven
Ganking For
- Priority: High
- Riven is a champion that is made to snowball; snowball a Riven and the game is going to be a lot easier
Ganking Against
- Priority: High
- Riven is a snowball champion that needs to be stopped; stopping a Riven from snowballing should be a high priority for a jungler
- If you allow Riven to snowball, it should only be that other lanes are going to be winning just as hard

Rumble
Ganking For
- Priority: High
- Rumble is a lane bully and snowballs heavily; try to gank for him after he gets all 3 of his early game abilities or his ultimate
Ganking Against
- Priority: Medium
- Stopping Rumble from snowballing is sometimes necessary if he is starting to get a bit out of control
- Rumble has decent escape if you have no inherent gap closers
- A snowballed Rumble can easily 1v2 successfully, sometimes it's better to let a lane die

Shen
Ganking For
- Priority: Before 6 High, After 6 Low
- Shen has great kill potential with his taunt early game, take advantage of it!
- After level 6, Shen's ultimate is lackluster when used in skirmishes; try to create action elsewhere on the map so he can use it to its potential
Ganking Against
- Priority: High
- Shen has good escape early game with his E, make sure you get a good angle when you gank him
- Try creating action in the top lane after Shen hits level 6 so that his ultimate is not useful in skirmishes

Singed
Ganking For
- Priority: Medium
- Singed has good kill potential early with his flip; however, he is a champion designed to do the most damage while running away
- Try letting Singed draw the attention of the enemy jungler and creating action or accomplishing objectives elsewhere on the map when the enemy jungler is trying to kill singed
- Counter gank early for Singed as many junglers look to kill singed before he hits level 6
Ganking Against
- Priority: Before 6 High, After 6 Low
- Singed is a champion that will ruin a game if he gets out of hand; make sure he does not get out of hand
- Sometimes, Singed will farm past the tower; make sure you have enough kill potential before you go for the kill so you don't waste time
- Gank Singed before he gets his level 6 which makes him extremely difficult to kill
- Ensuring your laner can handle Singed is vital to a successful game against him, gank him early a lot
- Similar to Nidalee, split push Singed can carry a game easily
- Leaving a Singed to do whatever he wants to do may be the best course of action

Vladimir
Ganking For
- Priority: Low
- Vladimir is a farm dependent champion that wants to lane and get to late game
- Similar to Nidalee, try not to gank Vladimir unless necessary
Ganking Against
- Priority: Low
- Vladimir is a ranged farming champion that has high sustain and escape; avoid ganking him
- If you have to gank Vladimir, try ganking him before level 4 when he will not have Sanguine Pool
- Gank Vladimir early when he is still squishy

Wukong
Ganking For
- Priority: Medium
- Wu Kong has good damage for kill potential early; however, he really shines in his ultimate
- Instead of ganking for a Wu Kong, try pulling him from Top Lane into team fights where his ultimate can hit multiple targets
Ganking Against
- Priority: Medium
- Wu Kong's W ability let's him create an invisible clone which may allow him to easily escape ganks (Tip: When ganking a Wu Kong, target him with a ping; when Wu Kong goes into stealth the ping on top of him will disappear!)
- Wu Kong can be slippery if the kill potential is not there

Yorick
Ganking For
- Priority: Low
- Yorick is another example of a lane champion with one job; win the lane and use his ultimate on the AD carry
- Only gank for Yorick if there is no kill potential elsewhere
- Instead, try ganking for champions that Yorick will ultimate
Ganking Against
- Priority: Medium
- Yorick is a champion that will do his job no matter how much you shut him down
- Only gank Yorick to ensure that your top laner is not denied or shut down too hard
- Try ganking and shutting down the ADC who Yorick will be ulting.

Zed
Ganking For
- Priority: High
- Zed is a high damage, item dependent champion that, when fed, can one shot AD carries; try to get him kills
- Pick a high CC champion and let Zed apply all the damage for the gank!
- Let Zed's ultimate pick up the kill, it has a delay so don't be too quick to try and secure a kill
Ganking Against
- Priority: Low
- Zed has an inherent flash that makes catching him very difficult
- When ganking Zed, wait for him to use his shadow to harass so that he cannot use it to escape
- Keep an eye on Zed's energy! If he is low on energy he won't be able to jump out

Conclusion & Summary

As a relatively larger article than my previous posts, I feel obligated to provide some sort of synopsis for this article. Although I would urge everyone to read the entire post, perhaps I could help those who are a little less eager to read the wall of text above. Generally, my 'understanding' series posts revolve around revealing general decision making experiences for players who wish to play the jungle role more effectively; however, this post has been a lot more specific.

Although ganking a top lane was traditionally unimportant in the pace of the mid-game, it is important to understand that top laners have significant impact on late game which can influence and change the pace of a game that was imperfect in the mid-game scenario. Controlling the top lane to ensure that certain champions are not able to split push or do not snowball out of control is a hallmark of any good jungler. However, it is important to recognize that, as such a one-sided lane, sometimes a jungler's best bet is to just let that lane die. Regardless, ganking top lane should revolve around experience and understanding of gank potential. Try to gank top lane early, as missing abilities make normally slippery champions much easier to kill.