Jungling is a technical and complicated role. As such, the more game knowledge you have the easier it is to play as, and against, certain types of junglers. Of the multitude of things to consider in the loading screen, understanding what your enemy hopes to accomplish is key. An important aspect of that is taking into account the inclination of their champion picks. Let us dive straight into the 3 broadest categories, starting with every mid laner's favourite:

Ganking Junglers

Ganking junglers usually comprise of more early and mid-game centered champions that to fall off later into the game. Their main purpose is to impact the map early on, snowballing their laners out of control and falling back on their engage and utility in later team fights. In general, these champions possess a reliable form of crowd control and a gap closer, allowing them to immobilize the opposing laner and expedite their grey screened recall back to base.

The reason laners never get their 1v1s:

While most of these junglers can pull off level 2 cheese ganks, the initial objective of these junglers is to hit their level 3 power spike as quickly and efficiently as possible. After which, they will likely gank a nearby lane while waiting for the Rift Scuttler (Scuttle Crab) to spawn.

Most of the common jungle routes involve finishing on the opposite side of the map from where you started. Therefore, it is critical when playing against these types of champions to be aware of which buff they started and where they will likely be at the end of their first clear. The most common time for a jungler to gank is before and after the 3:15 mark, since that is when Scuttle Crabs spawn. So, if the enemy jungler started on the opposite side of the map from your lane, be aware that between 2:50 and 3:50 is a treacherous time to be overextended. This is especially true for mid laners.

In the mid and late game ganking junglers look to group with their team in order to make picks or force fights around objectives. While these champions have the option to build full glass cannon in order to delete squishy back line champions, most ganking junglers opt to build resistances in order to be a reliable source of engagement for their team. Due to current state of the game, it is not uncommon for junglers to be behind on levels compared to solo laners which makes it harder to duel them and come out on top.

Finally, do not be pressured into over ganking and neglect clearing your jungle camps. You do not want to be a liability to your team in the mid and late-game!

Farming Junglers

Hyperscalers

Up next, we have the refuge of auto-filled players and the domain of Cowsep devotees, the farming junglers. Junglers in this category generally look to full clear their jungle constantly, stopping only to gank extremely overextended lanes between camp respawn timers. In most cases, champions in this category scale extremely well into the late game and surrender early influence over the map in order to reach their first power spike at level 6.

Behold, the regulars of pentakill montages:

Like the branches of a tree, the playstyles of this exclusive list of champions begins similarly only to divide into separate focuses as the game matures. In the early game, these champions focus on consistently clearing their jungle, straying off the beaten track ever so often for ganks with a high chance of success. In an effort to ensure the safety of your jungle, your first ward should be to cover the side of the jungle you finish your route on. Additionally, based on which of the enemy laners shows up last, you can intuitively figure out which Scuttle Crab the enemy jungler will likely go for and opt to go for the remaining Scuttle. It is worth reminding yourself to be patient and accept that you will likely be playing highly reactively for the first 15 minutes of the game as you farm your way towards your item and level power spikes.

The mid and late game are where the fun begins. This is also where our unique picks part ways into their own distinctive playstyles. In the case of Master Yi, you can either look to split push or group with your team to look for team fights. In team fights, you will want to enter after key disabling and high damage spells have been put on cooldown. As Karthus, you pretty much run it down on the enemy team. You are the only champion in the game that your team expects to not make it out of team fights alive. Go crazy. You just need to be sure your enemies cannot disengage away from your team and re-engage into a 5v4 after your passive times out.

As we all realize in life but tend to choose to neglect, too much of a good thing can be fatal. For starters, having too many champions on your team that scale into late game but are subpar early game will mean that your lanes will likely get runover and require help. As a farming jungler that is not an ideal place to be. Keep in mind that once your outer towers fall, it becomes a lot harder to farm your jungle camps safely and protect your camps from being pillaged. Finally, picking these champions in teams without a reliable form of engage is also a recipe for disaster. The only reliable engage you have is the exceptionally large target strapped to your back.

Farming Assassins

The next subcategory of farming junglers are the bane of mages and marksmen. Farming assassins fit into the grey area between farming and ganking junglers, looking to full clear their jungle in order to unlock level 6 abilities that significantly improve their ability to gank. These champions tend to be squishy and deal an obnoxious amount of damage in an extremely short duration of time. Armed with a variety of gap closers, crowd controls, and absurd damage, these champions make Zhonya’s Hourglass feel like a necessity for low mobility marksmen.

Fear the dark:

In the mid game, with the fall of outer turrets comes a larger area for these assassins to be effective. At this time, split pushing champions, or those foraging for creeps, in side lanes become easy pickings. Naturally, these champions become harder to play as the enemy constantly moves around in a group. At this point, these champions can begin to pressure side lanes, taunting enemies away from the safety of their team, seducing them against their better judgement to wander into the dark forest. Like Ghost Face in the Scream series.

In the late game, your game plan should be to allow the fight to be initiated before popping into the back line in order to delete squishy, high priority targets. Depending on your champion, this might be a one-way ticket. While high mobility champions like Kha’Zix and Evelynn have complementary return tickets, Rengar and Nocturne will have to time their entry perfectly, get great insurance (Guardian Angel), and swing their way out of the fight. Sometimes, you can do everything right and still feel as though you are blindly inting into their carries fight after fight.

Countering farming assassins means delaying their level 6 power spike as much as possible, establishing deep wards or warding their jungle camps, and grouping up to force objectives as early as possible. The best way to delay their level 6 is by counter jungling or killing them while they are farming in their jungle. To do this you need to be able to track their position and ensure that your team can rotate to help you before theirs can. Following that, getting deep vision in their jungle or warding their camps is generally the only way to spot champions like Nocturne, Rengar, and Evelynn. Conventional warding positions will provide little to no protection or information about their whereabouts. Finally, when grouping to force objectives, be sure to save one or two crowd controls and keep in mind that they will join the fight late.

Control Junglers

A concept based on triggering your opponent, control junglers are highly mobile, fast farming champions who focus on maintaining map control and counter jungling. The game plan of these champions is to track the enemy jungler, skip into the side of the jungle that they are not in, and take as much as possible while dropping wards. In theory, you starve the enemy of gold and experience, forcing them into ganking underleveled and underfarmed. From there you can position yourself for a counter gank or warn your allies against the impending gank. Between the vision control, quick clearing, and starving of the enemy jungler, the game quickly spirals into a 5v4 and securing objectives becomes a breeze. Like an avalanche, it’s all about gaining momentum and keeping it.

The faces of thieves:

For a variety of reasons, this style of playing is generally quite difficult. While all of the above champions, with the exception of Nunu, deal a lot of damage, they do not possess much hard crowd control (stuns, knock ups, etc.) or utility. Furthermore, playing control junglers requires even more in-depth game knowledge in order to predict possible jungle routes for the enemy jungler and understand the power spikes of both allied and enemy champions. Additionally, control junglers are more reliant on their team to be optimally effective. Invading into the enemy jungle when your team is not in position to help you will lead to you gifting kills to the enemies. Finally, playing control junglers requires a lot of concentration, because of the variety of unique situations you will encounter, you must be highly proactive in creating advantageous opportunities where you can.

The biggest benefit of these champions is their flexibility. When played optimally, control junglers can get vision on ganking junglers, rob hyperscalers of farm and experience, and group with the team to force objectives. Fair warning, keeping in mind the wise last words of Uncle Ben, the onus will be on you to be proactive and not fall behind.

You got this buddy!

Now that you know some rough categories of junglers, it’s time to put that information to good use. First, identify the playstyle of the enemy jungler. Consider power spikes, the number of crowd controls, gap closers, and damage output of both your champion and theirs. Then, put both the enemy’s and your pick into one of the above groups and start playing towards your strengths and their weaknesses. It might take a bit of getting used to and you may classify certain champions wrongly at the beginning, but don’t give up! You will get the hang of it and be glad you did!

With that being said, feel free to check out some of the other resources we have to improve your gameplay. For more on the basics of jungling check out “Season 10 Jungling: A Beginner's Guide” or our “In-Depth Jungle Guide for League of Legends featuring DIG LoL Akaadian” for more advanced concepts. Happy reading!