Jungle is now easily the most important role in the game currently. It was arguable before, with the lack of effective gold income, but all of the recent changes to the jungle monsters make them small objectives. These objectives change the way a jungler is going to play the game. So not only do you have map pressure in the form of ganking, but you control every small buff in the jungle. A jungler can now efficiently swing games even with less gold.

First off, let’s take a look at what all has changed. Bear with me here, it’s a lot.

First off, Hunter’s Machete is only accessible to people with smite. This means you have to invest a summoner spell into the jungle item now. It’s a great change to keep things like the old Blue Ezreal build with Elder Lizard popping up because of the gold efficiency while still giving junglers something good. No more trying to balance out the gold efficiency of items with the low gold income of junglers.

Second, now you upgrade Machete in 2 different ways. One of them determines your jungling style and changes your smite to have an extra effect, while the other determines how you scale stat wise. Each way can be mixed together for a total of 16 possible items! Awesome diversity.

At it’s core, the idea of all of these items are great. A lot of rich diversity and itemizing can be done here. However, the new jungle is harsh. Almost anyone who doesn’t have a built in way to sustain is going to have issues clearing without getting dangerously low.

Because of this, if your jungler doesn’t have a way to heal themselves in the jungle, you almost HAVE to build Ranger’s Trailblazer. It doesn’t hurt that, in addition to the health and mana restore, you have AoE damage, AND you stun the monster as well. Ranger’s Trailblazer just straight up outclasses every other upgrade.

Ranger’s Trailblazer: Does AoE damage to minions as well as stunning them. Restores 15% missing health and mana.

To be perfectly honest, I like where the item sits in terms of power. It’s a little strong right now, and does deserve a nerf, possibly to the stun. Overall though, it just does the job right. While it outclasses the other upgrades for the most part, I think it’s more because the others are lacking rather than this item is over-tuned.

Skirmisher’s Sabre: Smite a champion and you deal bonus true damage on hit to them, while they do 20% less damage to you. Lasts 6 seconds.

The only other option that is seemingly viable by numbers is Skirmisher’s Sabre on a few champions. Recently changed to do damage when you smite someone, so it works similarly to ignite that procs on an auto attack. I can already see Shaco loving this since he’s one of the few junglers that can run ignite with smite.

Poacher’s Knife: Smiting the opposite sides large monster gives smite a 30 second CD and you get some bonus gold and move speed

Poacher’s Knife, while a great concept, just doesn’t give enough. If you’re going to counter jungle, you’re still going to be taking your own jungle. The CD halving is only applicable to the enemy jungle. The extra gold you get is sub-par at best and the extra movespeed is great for running away, but it’s still too extremely situational for it to be the main draw of the item. The only jungler that would feasibly get this is Nunu, and he is literally made to counter jungle.

To fix the item, I’d propose the CD be lowered to 45 seconds. Adding more gold reward than just 20g would also be a nice aspect as well. The CD reduction on enemy monsters should stay and if it’s still behind the others adding a slight heal to health and mana to that may work as well. Almost like a Ranger’s Trailblazer for the enemy jungle, but lackluster in your own.

Stalker’s Blade: Smite a champion and deal true damage and slow them for 2 seconds.

Finally there’s Stalker’s Blade. Once again, a great concept, and in some aspects it works. However, not only isn’t it still outclassed by everything you get with Ranger’s Trailblazer, if you smite a champion you’re still stuck waiting on a 60 sec CD to use it in the jungle again. So, while ganking junglers ganked while smite was on CD, even a gank working doesn’t mean you’ll get to go back and farm again if you used smite on the champion.

Stalker’s Blade needs to encourage ganking, while not punishing for it as well. This means a lower CD on smite for using it on champions. As far as the active itself. It’s actually pretty decent. The biggest issue the item faces is how it just hinders anyone who ganks with it if they want to go back to jungling.

Next we have the enchantments. Now, most of these will be pretty cut and dry when compared to your choices for the smite enhancements. Just like a lot of other items on laning champs, there’s some items you can build, but usually one stands out as the most synergistic with your champion. Each enchantment has a few items to build along with it that conicide with the type of item it is. (I.E. health for tank item, AD for Attack damage item, etc.)

Devourer:

+50% attack speed

+25 on hit magic damage

Unique Passive - Devouring: Killing large monsters increases the magic damage of this item by +1. Champion kills or assists increases the magic damage of this item by +2.

Basically old Feral Flare, but now you get the extra damage on hit as soon as you buy it. This item is crazy right now and it hurts. Combine this with the extra damage you get from Skirmisher’s Sabre and you can melt people disgustingly fast. The synergy behind these two items is just too good.

The recent nerf hit it hard, and I think it will fall similarly to Feral Flare. Still viable on certain champs, but not overly broken like it was on release.

Juggernaut:

+500 Health

+10% CDR

Unique Passive - Tenacity: Reduces the duration of stuns, slows, taunts, fears, silences, blinds, polymorphs, and immobilizes, by 35%.

Here’s your tank item, and they brought back the Tenacity on it as well. This actually makes it pretty efficient if you’re planning on getting tanky anyway and doesn’t feel like a waste. Almost any tank wants CDR so they can disrupt more often in a fight, and Tenacity is such a hard stat to come by that does so much. It opens up other boot options as well. (Like Ninja Tabi for that Devourer jungler you’re fighting)

I don’t think any harsh changes need to be made to this enchantment. It does it’s job and has a nice passive that opens up possibilities in item builds. The only thing I could give it some negatives on is if you absolutely want to build Mercury’s Treads, because the Tenacity won’t stack at that point.

Magus:

+80 Ability Power

+20% CDR

This item is so extremely efficient. It gives the same amount of AP as a Morellonomicon and more than a Void Staff or Athene’s. It also gives 20% CDR which I’d argue is more useful in the jungle than mid lane since you have to clear the monsters faster or you end up taking more damage. The cost of this pure stat boost though is that it lacks a passive like some of the items have. At least you no longer have to stack it like Spectral Wraith did.

I’d expect this item to get nerfed if not soon, in the future. It’s pretty powerful in its current state and it isn’t being shown too much because the only real big mage jungler is Fiddlesticks at the moment and he’s only showing up in solo queue and not an overly large amount. Diana has been another jungler that makes great use of it and I’m almost certain that there are a multitude of others as well.

Warrior:

+45 Attack Damage

+10% CDR

+10 Armor Pen.

And finally, we have our AD item. Basically not much different from Elder Lizard in terms of stats, but you once again have no passive. The stat boost isn’t as huge as the one from Magus, although that’s a hard comparison to make since they’re different scalings. It’s made for AD caster junglers, like Lee, Kha’ Zix, etc. and it does that job well, but it almost feels like it lacks something. It may have something to do with it losing the passive burn that it had before.

I wouldn’t touch the item at this point with nerfs or buffs, it’s probably the least offending in any degree of the four. It’s not overwhelmingly strong or weak. I do think it needs touched up a little bit to make it a bit more unique than just a stat boost, but that’s something that can be looked at another time.

Smite Buffs

So now smiting any of the monsters in the jungle gives you a buff (Keep in mind smiting gives you the buff, not killing with the smite.) This is what really opens up strategic opprotunities in the new jungle and makes it so complicated to play now.

Let’s review the buffs you can get.

Murkwolves: Using smite on the large wolf will give you a small unkillable spirit that will follow the first enemy it sees. This is an amazing way to track if you’re getting invaded. Or, if you’re the one doing the invading, a way to keep an eye on the enemy jungler and when they show up in that area. The fact that you can’t kill this “ward” is huge since even if the enemy has a bunch of sweepers and pinks, you can still keep some kind of vision if you smite this.

Gromp: Gromp will give you some poison armor if you smite it, (anything that auto attacks you is poisoned) this is great for a first clear, and even later on if you’re a low damage jungler. Tanks like Nautalis and Zac will enjoy the extra clear speed it can give you. It also applies to any enemy champion so it can be add some damage to your tank in a gank. Other junglers will probably want to hang on to smite for other buffs if they aren’t looking just to clear.

Razorbeaks: One of the most important camps for a ganking jungler to remember. Smiting the large Razorbeak will give you basically a one time Oracle’s lens. If you walk by a ward, you’ll be notified and you can try and sniff it out and clear it. It’s even better than a sweeper because this one actually puts a big exclamation point over your head when you go by a ward. You’ll know if that bush you’re sitting in is warded immediately and you won’t waste your time.

Krugs: The Krugs have been the other starting point for most junglers, they give a stun on every 6th auto attack. This stun only applies to minions and monsters, not champions. While this seems lackluster at first, its application is great. It helps you kite the monsters and keep you healthier. Nice for all of the squishier junglers out there that want to avoid the autos from monsters.

The recent change from 5 to 6 auto attacks really was nice to balance out auto attack junglers that were ravaging the 4.20 patch, however it is a nerf to all junglers as well and really lowers the value of starting Krugs over Gromp. Especially since Gromp damage got buffed at the same time.

Brambleback: While red buff wasn’t changed for killing it. The smite buff from it gives missing health. Good for after gank or pre-gank health restore.

Golem: Once again same buff for killing, but smiting it restores mana similarly to the Brambleback. Some junglers get literally no use out of it, but for ones that may have held on to blue buff it’s a nice little addition.

The big objectives still go to the killer, not the smiter necessarily.

Dragon: Killing dragon just got a lot more complicated, it was probably the one that was changed the most and I have no clue how the meta-game is going to play around it.

1st kill: 6% increase in total AP and AD

2nd kill: +15% damage to turrets and buildings

3rd kill: +5% move speed

4th kill: +15% damage to minions and monsters

5th kill: Doubles all bonuses and attacks deal 150 true damage over 5 seconds.

You don’t have to kill dragon this many times in a row, and you can keep track of your enemies and your dragons up in the scoreboard. It’s actually a good way to get a timer if you have vision of someone on the enemy team but not dragon when they take it. It’s worth noting that getting a 5th dragon is extremely strong. It usually means a won game, and it’ll be interesting to see teams play around it.

The actual buffs are in a weird order though. The first kill is so strong in comparison to the time you’d get it and it makes snowballing really apparent. It doesn’t help that some champs can take dragon really easily early on because they lowered the attack speed on it. I’d like to see some re-ordering of the buffs to make it more of a scaling objective rather than being worried about them getting the first dragon, but not the third.

EX:

1st: Move speed

2nd:Damage to turrets and buildings

3rd: Damage to minions and monsters

4th: AD and AP increase

5th: Double

Baron: Baron has changed a bit too, no more health and mana regen. You do get in return, more powerful minions and a quicker recall. The new minons are crazy strong too. The cannon minion with the buff outranges towers. Meaning the enemy has to move away from their safe zone to kill it. They aren’t easy to kill either. You do have to be close to the minions for them to have the buff though, it goes away almost as soon as you leave.

No longer will Baron just make you stronger in fights, you have to use it effectively as a siege breaker now. It makes getting Baron a choice, rather than being an objective you have to fight over late game because of the ease of taking and power it gives. He also hurts a lot more now so you have to be smart in taking the buff

Conclusion

Jungle has changed a lot. It hits harder and is harder to sustain in, and the addition of all of the possible buffs and items you can get makes it easily the hardest role to learn. You can control the map in so many different ways now, and there’s a lot of strategies to be played. Do you want to control dragon now and win through its buffs? Maybe try and siege the new towers and get Baron late? Focus on using the new smite buffs to farm up? There’s a lot you can do and once it’s a bit more balanced it will have a huge amount opportunities open.