Rek'Sai

- by dignitas/Azingy (May 2015, Patch 5.8)

We're back with new competitive champion guides from our pro players, This time we’ve got an in-depth look at Rek'Sai by

the jungler from our NA team, Azingy.

Special thanks to Robert 'Roscoe' Wery for

his help writing this guide together with Azingy. Related links:

Twitch.tv/lolazingy - @lolAzingy - Profile Page

INTRODUCTION





Rek'Sai had a place in the meta long before the introduction of Cinderhulk, but now she's here to stay. As a tanky jungler with a kit made for natural dps, she can easily act as a frontline while dealing enough damage to be considered a threat. Andrew 'Azingy' Zamarripa has brought her out in solo queue and competitive play on numerous occasions, and here's how he plays her.

Why you should play Rek'Sai - Rek'Sai has incredible mobility. She excels at early ganks when she hits her level three power spike and even without a damage ult, has a high damage combo. With the low cooldown on her Q and potential true damage from her E, Rek'Sai is able to deal out a considerable amount of damage per second.

Why you shouldn't play Rek'Sai - She's a very well rounded champion, she doesn't have many weaknesses, that's why she's top tier. Perhaps if Gragas or Sejuani is open you can pick Rek instead, but I can't think of too many reasons why you wouldn't want to jungle with this champion.

RUNES





Grab nine Greater Marks of Attack Damage, a combination of Greater Glyphs of Magic Resist and Greater Glyphs of Cooldown Reduction, nine Greater Seals of Armor and three Greater Quintessences of Attack Speed.

If you run Attack Speed reds and Attack Damage Quints, it's an inefficient setup, you actually get less AD out of it and not enough Attack Speed to make up for it. In your Seals, the problem with running health is that from level one to five you won't be able to sustain against the jungle camps. Nine armor is going to be around 8% less incoming physical damage, so it's better to grab Armor to make it through the early game.

You can do a lot with blues, you can have 5% CDR, 2.5% CDR but I haven't seen 7.5% CDR, you never really go all CDR blues. In weird scenarios where the other team has an all AD comp, you could maybe go with all CDR, but if there's any some magic damage you should go with a portion of MR.

MASTERIES





The general rule for bruiser junglers is that you don't go 21 in defense because having 21 in offense helps with your early ganks and you might actually take less damage from the jungle because you have a faster clear. You could experiment with it, especially with the popularity of Cinderhulk, but the first choice is 21/9/0.

We go offensive here because we want the level three gank to be successful. Whether tanky or strong, you have the CC knockup, it's a matter of following through with enough damage to secure that first blood. And then with Cinderhulk you have enough tank, so you don't need to over-invest.

SUMMONER SPELLS - Smite and Flash



These spells are about the only setup you'd run. If you were playing something like jungle Master Yi, you might go TP/Smite, but this is a Rek'Sai guide, get out of here Master Yi players. Rek'Sai's knockup engage is a great way to start a fight for your team, and Flashing in to catch your opponent by surprise is going to set your team up for a much stronger engage.

SKILL ORDER









You want to max your abilities Q>E>W, but make sure you get Burrow second, after Q. The extra damage from her E is nice, but the passive healing between camps, the knockup and extra Q ability offer too much to pass up in early jungle clears. This order is pretty standard because your easiest damage comes from the use of your Q, then E, and we only need one point in W for the burrow/unborrow.

ITEM BUILD



A standard jungler's start. Getting anything else will make it nearly impossible to take off when you need to.

I try to make a gank happen level three. A successful first blood will allow you to pick up that early Bami's Cinder, but a forcing a Flash is the next best thing. With the Cinder, your level five power spike is going to put you ahead of any counter-jungler. You'll clear quickly and be able to 1v1 if you invade or they do.

Throughout the rest of the game these are the items you should grab. After completing Cinderhulk, first you'll need to choose between Locket of the Iron Solari and Randiun's Omen. You'll get both, but the order depends on what you need to defend against most. After that you can go Warmog's Armor or Thornmail, but I don't buy Thornmail often, they need a lot of Attack Damage for it to be worth it.

If they've invested more in magic damage a Spirit Visage or Banshee's Veil are solid pickups. I personally go Banshee's a little more often, but the 10% CDR from Visage might make it better for you, depending on how many Runes you have in MR and CDR. Then of course boots whenever you can or is appropriate, and Merc Treads or Ninja Tabi depending on the incoming damage, but I tend towards Merc Treads more often.

These items, like I mentioned for Spirit Visage and Thornmail, are situational. When it comes to Maw of Malmortius, it's not a bad buy if you're looking to snowball a little harder. Hexdrinker after an early kill or two helps you get rolling even faster, the finished item fits Rek'Sai well. It's not a must buy, but if you happen to have around 1450 gold in a choice between the three magic resist items, feel free.

MATCHUPS/PATHING



Gragas is another really strong jungler right now. Level three, I think he could effectively duel you, but it comes down to each champion's health. It's a close matchup, so the more mechanically skilled fighter will likely come out on top. Lee Sin may not see a ton of play right now, but there is a trick if you're up against him. If he follows through with his Q on your or an ally, you can unburrow while he's midair to cut off a ton of his damage.

Beyond that, Rek'Sai is a pretty well-rounded champion and isn't directly countered by anyone else.

In terms of pathing through the jungle, I most consistently start Krugs, move to Raptors, take Red, then look for a gank depending on what side of the map I'm on. Another path that I've taken before is Gromp, Wolves then Red, but that requires a little more experimentation.

CONCLUSION





Rek'Sai is a champion that I consider to be top tier. She was pretty good before, but now with Cinderhulk, she's right at home in this world of tanks. On top of being able to soak up a ton of damage, by being in a fight her AOE damage from Q and Cinderhulk will eventually become too much for your targets to handle, forcing their team to peel for you.