Rychie's Jungling Mindset | 12.1 :: League of Legends Strategy Guides

Introductions

Hello everyone!!

I'm Rychie a jungle main in NA! I started maining jungle since season 9 and I fell in love with the complexity of the role. Many guides lack the basics that most junglers are not conditioned to think about. I wanted to gather my thoughts and put together baseline knowledge for anyone looking to start jungling or simply want to sharpen their way of handling the role. I've added some links below where you can find me. Thank you so much for checking on my guide!

If you appreciate the hard work that went into this guide, please give it a +1 and drop a comment!

Best regards.

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Know Your Role

Jungle is one of the most important and vital roles. Knowing the purpose of your existence, match to match, is important. Remember, these points are not absolute and are only a basic guideline.

Controlling the flow from early game to mid game.
Enabling laners to win their lanes. Some allied laners need to scale and are simply too weak early on to help in skirmishes.
Securing objectives such as dragons, Rift Herald and Baron Nashor with Smite.
Controlling vision in key areas of the map with Stealth Wards, Control Wards, or an Oracle Lens.
Tracking the jungler for either counterganks, stealing enemy camps, or looking to kill.
Communicate via ping where the jungler is likely at. If you invade his red side and the jungler clearly is not there, danger ping the blue side along with the respective laners. If you know, but your team does not know, it is basically like no one knows!

Positive Mental

Easily one of your greatest assets and your ally is your mental. I wanted to take a moment to talk about the importance of a clear mental.

As the 30/30/40 rule states, 30% of games are unloseable, 30% of games are unwinnable, and 40% of games are directly impacted by your performance. There will always be games you cannot control and games that you can.

No one knows yourself better than you! Find ways to keep your mental intact and able to have a constant flow of decision making thoughts. One small ripple in the water distorts the ability to see clearly through what is underneath.

Questions Asked During Loading Screen

Which lanes are gankable?

Generally speaking, lanes that have crowd control are the easiest to gank. Always observe lane states while walking from camp to camp to judge whether a lane is frozen, pushing, or crashing.
Safe to assume that most range matchups will have priority in lane over their opposing melee matchups.
Some enemy botlane combinations such as Morgana and Ezreal are very difficult lanes to gank unless they are very mispositioned, overextended, or overstaying. Some ganks would be a waste of time.
Never underestimate the power of a in-lane gank versus a river gank.

What are my win conditions? What are their win conditions?

Win conditions should be thought of as Plan A, which can lead to Plan B and so forth. It represents a set of goals that a team is trying to achieve. The first team to fulfill their own win conditions wins. Some win conditions will counter the opponent's conditions.
Matchups such as Draven versus Vayne can be a good example of this. Draven is an early game champion that when gotten ahead can help snowball and end the game by 20 minutes. Vayne, if waited on, can outscale Draven and be able to win the game towards endgame.
What is my 1 versus 1 or 2 versus 2 potential? A Vladimir, Gangplank, or Kayle will not provide much assistance early on without items or level 6.

How does scaling look for my team versus opposing team?

Do you want to farm or do you want to fight? If your team has a better late game but worse early game, it is better to not force objectives or skirmishes until the team hits their power spikes. Some champions need to be level 6 before they are relevant.
If both teams have similar scaling, try to determine which lanes have the better early-mid game instead and play around them to secure objectives.
If your team has the worst early, mid and late game? Just dodge.

What objectives do I look to control this game?

First Rift Herald spawns at 8:00. It despawns permanently at 19:45, or 19:55 if in combat. Second Rift Herald only spawns if the first one is killed before 13:45. If the first Rift Herald is killed when the timer shows exactly 13:44, the second Rift Herald will spawn at 19:45 and instantly despawn.
Herald is valuable but most of the times not worth trading two deaths.
First dragon spawns at 5:00.
Purchase Control Wards, control blast cones and Scryer’s bloom to sneak/secure early epic monsters.

Do I have invade potential? Counterganking?

Depending on the matchup, certain junglers are weaker in the early game and can be punished with invades.
Be mindful of lane states and lane priorities.
On the same note, matchups that favor you can be abused by counterganking and then invading afterwards to punish.

What is my role in teamfights?

The role in teamfight changes depending on early, mid, and late game.
Be mindful on how you can best impact and help your team. Whether it is to peel for the carries, getting crucial picks prior to epic spawns, setting up teamfights, or diving back lines. Each jungler has their strengths, weaknesses, and playstyles.

How should I be itemizing?

Every game is different. Are you snowballing? Are you behind? Building appropriately based on your champion will help you push your lead or find ways to come back from behind.

Jungle Camps

Kite Camps

Each second saved between jungle camps is a second on the map elsewhere. Six camps could yield six extra seconds. For example, kite rift scuttler towards the next camp/spot in mind.
Fun Fact: Each jungle camp, including rift scuttler, counts as 4 creep score (CS). If a jungler shows up level 3 for scuttle with only 12 CS, they only did three camps ( red brambleback, blue sentinel, and gromp). A simple trick for simple tracking.

Jungle Timers

Silver Hourglass: 1 minute spawn for any jungle camp/epic monster
Yellow Hourglass: 15 second spawn for any jungle camp/epic monster

Lane States

While moving between jungle camps, always toggle to the nearest lane to watch for pushing, freezing, or crashing waves and analyze how the jungle could impact that lane.
Make use of the function keys and spacebar to shortcut toggle the camera views between allied champions.
Lane priority is granted to the team that can push a minion wave faster into tower. It gives priority for that champion to leave lane first to help elsewhere without losing too much experience and minions.

Macro Tips

Baron > Inhibitor

Matter of opinion. Baron Nashor is usually a safer play because it allows for extra gold post big fight, forced reset, and allows for better siege. Forcing inhibitors allows for potential overstay, reverse sweep and enemy access to Baron with free inhibitor farm thereafter.
Baron Debuff: Whomever baron is auto attacking, a debuff is applied where that champion does less damage. Ideal situations, the support/tank should be tanking Baron.
Fun Fact: 80% of solo queue games are won by the team that takes first Baron.

Herald > Dragon

First Rift Herald on spawn is better than first dragon before 14 minutes because gold from plates are better early game and first tower gold can also be threatened.
Rift Herald: To take the first tower, it is best to get a tower as low as 2.5 plates before Rift Herald spawn for tower execution damage.

Drake Priority

Ocean drake: The best in every situation; insane sustain for team fighting.
Mountain drake: Great for beefy frontlines such as Malphite and Poppy.
Infernal drake: Great for teams with lots of damage dealers.
Cloud drake: Great for game-changing ultimates like Karthus’s Requiem, Ekko’s Chronobreak, Zilean’s Chronoshift, Kassadin's Riftwalk).

Fun Fact: The only dragons that are worth making some sacrifices are first ocean or ones denying the opponent from dragon soul.

Coin-Flip

In situations where both team compositions are even, it is favorable to obtain a pick or cheese. Team fighting will likely result in a 50/50 which are undesirable odds.
Be mindful of terrain advantages. For example, Anivia and Illaoi are stronger in narrow areas in the jungle.
Be mindful of "Wombo Combo" potentials which can turn any fight around regardless of a team being ahead or behind.
Denying vision is just as important as setting down vision. This opens opportunities for picks prior to an objective spawn. Control Wards, Oracle Lenses, Stealth Wards, and Farsight Alteration are all helpful in controlling vision on the map.
Stay on the same quadrant as the spawning epic monster. If Baron Nashor is alive, do not show bottom lane. These are good habits to stand by.

Points to Improve

Covering Waves

While taking Blue Sentinel and Gromp (blue side), the enemy top laner has the wave frozen near his turret for at least 45 seconds. Consider helping to break the freeze for it to slow push back. This is helpful for scaling top laners like Nasus or Kayle. It will set up a gank or a safer wave for the ally top laner to farm.
Fun Fact: Gromp's full name is Lord Grompulus Kevin Ribbiton of Croaksworth
If your top laner gets a kill and is too low to shove the wave so it does not freeze, it would be optimal for the jungler to help.
If the ally mid laner is recalling, respawning, or roaming, it is beneficial to soak up the XP and minion gold from a crashing wave. This will also help deter any additional tower damage and deny tower plate gold.

Hovering

Does not have to be a kill in exchange for a gank. Sometimes you might just have to prepare to protect a dive. The result could also force the use of enemy summoner spells.

Trading Objectives

Do more consistent positive plays.
Trade dragons for top side activity (gank/invade/ Rift Herald).
Remember, any trade is better than no trade. 1 for 2 is always going to be better than 0 for 1. Sometimes you have to take risks. Always play to win instead of play to not lose. Be proactive.

Greedy Habits

Making the wrong/greedy plays may seem positive in the moment but it is better to train yourself to do the opposite.
The higher the ladder one climbs, the more punishable these greedy habits become.

Quick Tips

AMUMU

In general, has a weak early game and venerable to invades; he can be punished level 1 to 5. The champion has poor escapes and he favors towards farming AoE camps. Eary game junglers can force him to farm blue side which is ideal as Gromp is slow to clear. Amumu excels in team fights and against high health builds with no magic resistance due to passive and W, .

EKKO

jungle can be a very slippery matchup. Be mindful of his resonance stacks through his passive. The third stack on a champion will grant movement speed. The shield and AoE stun animation must be pre-planned and has a high cool down. Post level 6, track his ultimate. The main way to defeat Ekko is to wait on his ability usage on a camp or attempted gank and then proceed. The champion can snowball fast off early ganks.

ELISE

Definition of "feast or famine." is an early game jungler that tends to look for ganks and tower dives level 3, after three camps. Be sure to ward her out, warn your teammates and countergank. Regardless, Elise will fall off and as long as you are matching or exceeding her farm and playing for mid to late teamfights. Try to side step the .

EVELYNN

In general, is very weak early game prior to reaching level 6 gaining access to . Early game junglers can put her behind by invading when possible and contesting scuttles. Encourage teammates to buy s to spot her on the map. Evelynn’s ultimate, , plus has one of the strongest smite steal potentials in the game.

FIDDLESTICKS

is weaker early game prior to reaching level 6, gaining access to . He tends to power farm and can choose to full clear prior to first spawn. Mid-late game is where he shines the most. He is vulnerable to early invades. Fiddle does more damage if finishes channeling. If you have a stun save it for this moment. Encourage teammates to buy s and heavily deep ward for him. Force teamfights or objectives when his ultimate is on cooldown.

GRAGAS

is a very cheesy jungler with very effective ganking abilities. When possible dodge his E, , to increase the cooldown. He can level 1 buff steal with his Q, . Soloing objectives is not his strong suit but he does shine at stealing s and . He will likely try to early gank as much as possible especially if he has . Warn your allies and deep ward. Invade if the matchup and lane states call for it.

GRAVES

’s most common start is where he will proceed to either invade you or not. I like to place a ward on his buff to see where he might start. Starting the same side as him will deter any possible invades. He can kite out most champions with and as well we outduel most junglers. If he invades you take the opportunity to gank, take an objective, or invade his opposite side. Graves’s gank potential is not the greatest unless he has crowd control assisting him.

HECARIM

can be very difficult to deal with. He has great gank potential with and . Catch him in a gank with E cooldown and you will turn fights. Early game brawling is where Hecarim is the weakest prior to level 6. With his E on cooldown you can abuse the lack of . Extended fights is where Hecarim shines with spamming. Invade if the matchup and lane priorities invite it.

IVERN

can invade and cheese one of your buffs. Ivern’s marked camps can be easily stolen since he usually uses smites to secure buffs. When it comes to and , Ivern can never solo them unless he has . Some junglers can take advantage of these weaknesses. is a great legendary item against if any champions on the team can build it.

JARVAN IV

One can easily outplay if they dodge his E, , and Q, combo. He is a great level two ganker so try to ward him out and warn your teammates. Deny the early tempo and countergank if possible. There are tons potential in matchups as long as you play around his engage.

JAX

has a weaker early game in the jungle. If the matchup or lane priorities allow it, try to catch him with on cooldown. The more auto attack damage dodged by , the more damage the stun will do. During his ganks, is his engage and disengage. Try to play around that cooldown during counterganks. Jax can definately solo objectives due to his E.

KARTHUS

]’s strength is reliant on how well he can hit his Q’s, . He will want to full clear his jungle and get free kills later with his R, . With his low movement speed and relatively low heath, he is super vulnerable to invades. Try not to move in a straight line at him due to his W, . Karthus also has difficulty soloing objectives by himself early on. Take advantage of that if the matchup allows it and catch him off guard.

KAYN: SHADOW ASSASSIN

’s Shadown assassin, usually runs or . He will have the trade off of being super squishy for loads of damage. Punish Kayn early if possible and save any stuns for when he tries to escape through a wall with Shadow Step. Ward for his flanks and countergank.

KAYN: RHAAST

’s Rhaast form is the most common. He will have loads of sustain especially if he goes . Grievous wounds is a must against him. Avoid stacking health. Play aggressively early game if the matchup allows it.

KHA'ZIX

has one of the best one verse one potentials in the jungle. It gets far worse once he gets level 6 and/or . Grievous wounds helps with his healing through and . Controlling vision against him and making sure carries are not ISOLATED is key to winning. He does more damage against champions that are alone. Countergank and prevent him from snowballing.

KINDRED

can be a slippery jungler. Her strength comes from her slow and kite. If all fails her ultimate keeps her from being bursted down. Kindred wins if she starts the fight so try to ambush her. Keep her marks warded. First mark is always 50/50. Be aware of lane priorities. At four stacks, she gains additional attack range.

LEE SIN

is similar to in a way where he is “feast or famine.” He will likely do three camp level 3 gank. No matter the case, Lee will fall off late game. His second Q, does % damage based on missing health so try to avoid him when you’re low. His W, , has a higher cooldown if he uses it on a ward. Lee Sin can solo objectives very well.

LILLIA

is a very tough champion to deal with due to her mobility and clear speed. She is vulnerable to invades pre-6 against early game junglers. Dodge her . Deep ward her with s and s to predict her ganks and routes. Lillia tends to do 4 to 5 camp initial clears. are your best friend and some matchups will build .

MASTER YI

is weaker early game. If the matchup allows it and the lanes have priority, you would want to invade him. If he is allowed to farm until 20 minutes the game leans to his favor. After casting , Yi will reappear facing your champion. If you have hard crowd control, save it for his . Try to avoid teamfights and look for skirmishes. Master Yi can solo objectives very well.

DR. MUNDO

early game is very weak since his clear speed uses his HP through . He is very vulnerable to invades. His clear path tends to be a full clear prior to scuttle or clearing one quadrant and recalling before clearing the next quadrant. Grievous wounds will be needed do to his healing through . Try to dodge his skill shots, . is a great legendary if your champion/team can build it.

NIDALEE

high skill cap champion and you can always find mistakes in low elo games. Her skill shot Q, , is the source of her damage. Avoid walking over her traps . Depending on the matchup, try to ambush her or countergank.

NOCTURNE

will likely (but not always) farm until level 6 and gank when his ultimate is available. Invade and track him in his early game if the matchup allows it. He will gain movement speed and attack speed if he hits you with his trail, . If you have crowd control, save it for when his spell shield is on cooldown, . Countergank by shadowing allies that are likely to be ganked and allow for a potential turn.

NUNU & WILLUMP

is has an insane amount of ganking potential and objective control. Try to keep s and s. Grievous wounds will be necessary against Nunu for his . Do not attempted to 50/50 smite. If you have crowd control save it for his R, . is a skill shot and he needs multiple snowballs to land the root. Standing behind minions can delay the buildup.

OLAF

can do a full clear before scuttle if he chooses. He can be cheesed at his by three camp junglers if Olaf started . Try to dodge his Q, . It will refresh if he picks up his axe. Grievous wounds will be necessary against his . Early game Olaf will likely win most matchups. He will fall off mid to late. When he uses ultimate, , kite him out and burst him down with the team due to reduced passive bonus armor and magic resistance.

RAMMUS

is super weak early game with very low clear speeds and base stats for a tank. Rammus is very vulnerable with early invades. He will use E, , and W, , to start camps with Q, , to keep tempo. When he uses he is slowed by 30%. Use this time to reposition if necessary.

REK'SAI

is very similar to Olaf’s early game. She is very strong level 3 and level 6. She will spend a lot of her time in her W, . Her tremor sense allows for tracking of movement in fog of war. When invading and sneaking objectives, be sure to stand still. She will fall off so ward for her early game to prevent a snowball and play for mid to late game. Countergank.

RENGAR

near bushes is one of the strongest king of assassins. If you are at a bush, keep it warded to not lose vision of him in critical moments. In most matchups, you will likely not want to one verse one. Most of his damage comes from his Q, , which can be ed. The more trophies he collects the more % damage increase through his passive, . If he consumes his four stacks to empower his Q, or E, , he will be vulnerable to crowd control due to no W, . Otherwise he is cleansed for 1.5 seconds.

SEJUANI

is stronger when she is with an allied champion due to her passive. Be careful during counterganks. She will gain after landing her Q, . Try to dodge that and she will be vulnerable. The passive requires 4 autos from nearby allies or two autos and W, , from Sejuani to proc the stun. Try to side step the W whenever possible.

SETT

jungle is basically a tank. In order for this E, , to proc the stun, there has to be an enemy of each side of the champion. Standing on the same only issues a slow. His shield, has a high cooldown. Simply walk through him while casting and save your abilities until after the shield is expires. is a good item if any teammates can build it. During ganks, he gains movement speed from his Q, . Try to countergank whenever possible. The bonus health you stack, the more damage his R, , does.

SHACO

can be a slippery champion. Countergank him since he has to use to gank and has no way out after. AP shaco relies on his boxes. Best way to counter is to get an early and smite his boxes when possible. Avoid chasing and avoid killing the clone. AD Shaco’s main purpose is to assassinate your carries. Buy s and track movement with . Shaco will eventually fall off.

SHYVANA

is a straight forward jungle. She has no real gank potential unless she has her ultimate, , for AP and AD Shyvana. Keep warded and ambush her if possible since she will 100% attempt objects on spawn. If she does use her ultimate, kite her out and do not let her maintain fury. Shyvana has amazing clear speeds but is very vulnerable to invades especially early game without ultimate.

SKARNER

gains raw stats if he is within range of a crystal due to the passive . Capture crystals when possible and ambush him. Dodge his E, , to avoid being crowd controlled. If you have been marked by E, avoid being auto attacked until the Crystal venom wears off (5 seconds). Without his ultimate, , he is has no real threat and thus susceptible to invade. Mid to late game, will be a good investment. His W, , provides a shield and while the shield persists he gains movement speed. Break his shield and he will be vulnerable.

TRUNDLE

is very similar to Olaf. While is active he gains attack speed, movement speed, and healing while in the 1000 radius zone. Try to kite him out of the zone. Grievous wound be helpful against his healing. His ultimate, , steals health, magic and armor resistance while lowering yours respectively. Save defensive buffs until after he uses ultimate such as . Save any dashes to dash over his , since it is impassible terrain.

UDYR

is a very difficult champion to deal with. He can solo objectives starting level 4 and farm efficiently. His gank potential is not the best since he has no real gap closer unless he itemizes . Kite him out. Udyr falls off mid to late unless he builds AP. His split push can be annoying but force a 4 verse 5 or punish him by taking objectives. He heavily relies on skirmishes and splitting, much less teamfighting.

VI

clearly speed is not the best. Try and keep s and control wards on the map to avoid free ganks and objectives. She relies on her Q, , to set up her combo. Dodge this. Her passive, , does % damage every three auto attacks. The ultimate, , is unstoppable. Save crowd control until after the R animation.

VOLIBEAR

is a GODLY champion. Everyone must respect him. His Q, Thundering Smash, gets reset if he is hard crowd controlled. Most of his damage early game comes from his E, , and late game damage comes from his W, . Try and dodge the E whenever you see the animation. Grievous wounds would help with his W healing. His ultimate, , is unstoppable. Dodge his skill shots, W and R, and kite him out. But if you cannot beat the bear, play the bear!

WARWICK

is very similar to Olaf and Trundle. His ultimate R, , can be cancelled with a well timed stun. If he casts his E, , back off from the fear and reengage when he howls. Warwick’s W, , gives him movement speed around 50% or lower targets. Make sure to stay healthy in your jungle. Grievous wounds will help with his healing off of Q, .

XIN ZHAO

will always look for a level two gank. Warn your teammates and ward for his potential gank. As an early game jungler, track him and contergank him when possible. He will fall off making his engages useless. A majority of his damage comes from his W, , which is dodgeable.

ZAC

has a very poor early game. He is very vulnerable to invades. Zac will usually max E, , which gives him more range for engage. Most of his damage early game comes from his Q, . Try to use a minion to block or side step it. You can one of his blobs during his passive, , since they count as minions. Warn your teammates to ward the more niche spots where he can gank from.

DISCLAIMER

Champion advice given here should be taken in ideal situations. Each game will be different and priorities in lane judge whether or not invading is an option. Some games it better to camp an enemy win condition than to invade a weak early game jungler. Always preemptively formulate a plan during loading screen but also be able to change the plan if situations arise.

Final Words

Special thanks to Lassitude and Mickey that helped tremendously with this great guide. I could not have done this without you both. If you appreciate the hard work that went into this guide, please give it a +1 and drop a comment. I stream every single day at midnight EST for about 5 hours. You can find me on Twitch or in my Discord. For more great guides, check out my Volibear and Phoenix Udyr jungle guides below: