I've been a support main for 6 years. And after 6 long years of hoping game after game that I can set up my teammates to carry me in fights, do the damage they were meant to do, and get me to a higher rank, I've decided that I want to take the game into my own hands for once. I'm tired of seeing a Lee Sin, Rengar, Nidalee, and other aggressive junglers get a double kill after a countergank top lane at 3 minutes and proceed to steamroll the entire game without me really standing a chance. A couple months ago, I started to play only jungle to try and emulate those junglers I've seen singlehandedly carry games through ganking and getting laners (and themselves) ahead. Here are a couple tips I've learned to make your ganks more deadly and carry the game on your back, and make sure you get all those honors in the post game lobby.

Map Awareness

Okay, I know this may seem obvious! Of course you should be aware of the map regardless of role, but hear me out. Generally as a jungler, keeping in mind that you don't have a true "lane" opponent per say, your eyes should be more or less glued to the minimap while you're doing camps, going back to base, or transitioning to another lane you think you can help get ahead. Being aware of the state of the map as a whole allows you to figure out what lanes are pushed into tower and are begging for a gank, what camps you may be able to take on your way up there, and what the best path is considering your champion choice and whether or not the opposing laner warded. Keeping one eye on the minimap is one of the most basic practices of high elo junglers, because it allows you to grasp what 9/10 people are doing at any time (the only exception being the enemy jungler) and facilitate the state of the game based on that. No good gank happened by chance. There is almost always a jungler making an informed decision based on what they see on the map behind each one. One of the biggest differentiators between low and high elo junglers isn't necessarily mechanics, but the ability to be aware of the state of the map and act accordingly. Any good jungler will tell you that any good gank starts with map awareness.





Gank Options

Before you even get to pulling off a gank, you have to figure out what lanes are best to gank. Look at matchups and ask yourself a few questions: Does my team have a lot of gank setup (i.e. CC)? Does the enemy laner have an escape? Does bot lane have a peeling support that would make it difficult to gank (i.e. Braum, Tahm Kench, Morgana)? Do you have the damage output to kill the opposing laner? Are the lanes pushed up enough to easily gank? Are the river bushes warded? The answers to these questions largely determine what lanes are best to gank. Do you have a Lucian Soraka bot lane with nearly 0 CC between the two of them? Probably best not to gank unless you're really confident you can 100-0 them without any hard CC. Is your top lane playing Kayle? Probably best to let her get to level 6 before you gank, so she can actually help out.

But above all, when you're choosing what lane to gank, any high elo jungler will tell you it's best not to gank losing lanes. Games are much more likely to be decided by who is fed and can carry than who didn't lose lane, or whose lane was neutralized. If you spend a lot of your time trying to get top lane even when they're in a neutral matchup, the enemy jungler is going to target the weaker parts of the map and punish you for it. All of a sudden, their mid laner or ADC is fed and is going to steamroll over your neutral top lane. That's not to say you should never gank a losing lane; if an immobile laner like Teemo or Xerath is always in a position to get ganked, it might be worth it to go for it anyway. It all depends on what the state of the lane or the matchup in it, which is integral to any successful gank.





Gank Paths

Now that we've considered the state of every lane before we gank, now its time to look at the numerous possible paths available to you to get into any given lane without the enemy laner noticing. Before we look into entrances, any gank from any angle can be easily thwarted by a well-placed ward, so you should look to get a red trinket on your first or second back so you can know whether or not they've warded.

A) Top Lane

Top lane, more so than any other lane, is very blue/red side dependent. In general it favors blue side for almost every jungler, with two solid gank paths making your ganks less dependent on who is pushed in or no

1) The most standard river gank path, tried and true. Look to come directly up the river if the lane is in a neutral state or pushed closer to your side, as any type of pushing allows you to easily get on top of an enemy laner with minimal interference. Be careful if the wave is stacked though, as that many minions may give the enemy laner what they need to turn the gank around.

2) A gank coming straight from tri-bush only ever is something you should do consistently when you're on blue side, as a red side jungler should look to use the #1 path for most situations. This path allows you to get right behind the enemy laner, making them go through you if they want to get to the safety of their tower. However, the downside of this path is the lack of surprise, given that the tower will always see you coming in and gives the enemy laner more time to react to you being there.

3) This is a path reserved for very few champions and red side junglers only. Kayn and Zac primarily can get straight over that huge wall and into lane with their kit. Being able to get over this wall, or the smaller portion of the wall to the left, can set up for more deadly ganks because so few top laners ward this spot, making it a consistent spot to surprise people from.

4) In my opinion, lane ganks are one of the most underutilized gank paths in solo queue, and this makes them all the more deadly. Look to sneak into a bush when your top laner pushed the wave out, then wait for the wave to bounce back and get into a neutral state before you surprise them out of the bush. The only downside to this path is the time it usually ends up taking, so if you don't end up seeing an opportunity to go in, it's best to simply back to base and look to gank another lane or clear your camps.





B) Mid Lane

They say all roads lead to h̶o̶m̶e mid lane, and they're right. Mid has a whopping 8 different entrances and exits, not including the lane itself, but since the lane is more or less mirrored, I'll only talk about 4 of them.

1) Another classic river path. Nothing too different from top or bot lane river gank paths. Just try and keep in mind that mid laners, more than top laners or ADCs, grab a Control Ward to put in one of the side bushes after their first back.

2) (Blue Side Only) This path is similar to the tri-bush path in top lane, and used mostly to put yourself between the enemy laner and their tower. Coming from this spot avoids a lot of the typical wards mid laners place in the river bushes, so its one of the safer routes. But this route also means you may be more susceptible to a countergank if the enemy jungler is fresh off their raptors or red buff.

3) (Red Side Only) Pretty much the exact same thing as the second path, but for red side junglers. Another point I want to make with this path is that you should look to gank from the side that has the thinnest wall, in this case the bot side, so that you can get into lane 5-6 seconds quicker than if you took the other path.

4) Another very underused gank path is one that goes over the raptor wall. However, like the similar path top, it's reserved for champs who can afford to use their dash or movement to get over the wall, as opposed to getting directly on top of the enemy laner. Lee Sin, Zac, Kayn, Shaco, Kha'Zix, Rek'Sai, and Kindred have a pretty easy time ganking from this position. Be aware, however, of the enemy jungler being at nearby camps, or placing safe vision that can seriously mess up your gank and possibly get you killed if you happen to get caught under tower.

C) Bot Lane



Gankwise, bot lane paths are similar to top lane in that the lanes themselves are mirrored. However, bot ganks are much more rewarding if you pull them off, snagging a potential two kills and a dragon or turret plates. As rewarding as they are, you are more likely to get a ganked turned around on you if you're not careful, and the enemy team has champions like Braum or Leona, who can 2v3 relatively easily depending on the matchup. Despite these risks, bot lane has been the de facto lane to gank for several seasons now because of how easy it is to convert into other objectives and more gold.

1) Nothing new about this path as opposed to top lane pathing wise, but keep in mind that bot laners know that they are more likely to get ganked than other lanes, and thusly ward much more often than other lanes. Always expect a pink ward or something similar in the river bush, because more than likely the support has a few on hand to put in there and keep them safe. This makes ganking as a blue side jungler slightly harder, but if you are able to play around their vision, clear it, and repeat gank before they have a chance to replace it, you may just reap the benefits anyway.

2) Mainly a red side path, an early tri-bush gank before it inevitably gets Control Warded by a blue side support is deadly, as like similar ganks top and mid side, it makes their bot lane go through you if they want to get back to the safety of their tower. Blue side junglers can use this path occasionally if the enemy laners are extremely pushed up, or your team has a Thresh that can lantern you in from afar, but it's much more situational.

3) Ganks from this area are much more common than in top lane due to the fact that the river bush is more likely to be warded after 6-7 minutes, and being able to get over the wall (or through the wall if you're Kayn) with a dash or blast cone gives the enemy laners less time to react than usual, making them all the more deadly. Both blue and red side junglers can use this path, it's almost all dependent on whose lane is pushed in at the time.

4) Seeing as how bot laners spam the river bush tri-bush, and Dragon pit with wards like its going out of style, lane ganks become one of the more optimal strategies for setting up a 3v2 situation bot lane. I specifically recommend the use of the alcove here, as nearly all bot laners forget it exists most of the time, and never check to see if a jungler might actually be lurking there.





Keeping all these ganking tips in mind, you should have no problem pulling off gank after gank in your solo queue games, and making the enemy team spam "gg jg dif" in all chat after you get all your laners, as well as yourself, farther ahead than theirs by simply using consistent strategies and paths. Asking yourself which lane to gank and what makes it gankable separates many low elo junglers from the high elo ones, and makes forcing plays much less common and capitalizing on enemy mistakes all the more likely to pull your team ahead. If you employ all these tips when you're looking to gank in your games, I've no doubt you'll be forcing 15 minutes ff's in no time and gaining elo like you wouldn't believe. Good luck out there!