Every game of League requires a team to work together to achieve victory. Seldom will a team of five who have no interaction or communication be able to pull out a win with nothing but pure individual skill. One of the biggest roles that requires communication is the jungler. Junglers thrive on helping lanes by killing or at least inconveniencing the enemy laner, pushing lanes up to towers, and getting jungle objectives as a group. What makes the jungler a unique social role is that they can be called upon by laners to deliver aid. What tends to be the chink in the armor here is when junglers are treated as tools rather than players and when the players tend to clash over strategies that should be used. Junglers have to play a very different early game than the rest of the field, so they require different objectives and cannot always be in the spot that laners desire 100% of the time. Here are some tips for you laners out there.

1) Leash If You Can, Ward If You Can't

While League games are rather long and early game moves don't always translate into later game actions, every little bit of aid helps. Your jungler is going to want the best start possible to be able to keep up in itemization, and have the greatest effect he or she can during the laning phase. Whether this means ganking often at level 2 or 3 or trying to rush farming to obtain a speedy level 6, the more you can help your jungler, the more your jungler can help you.

So what is the first thing you can do to help? Most junglers do not choose to invade, so if it's a standard jungle start they want, it’s a standard start you should aid. If the Jungler is starting with a camp closer to your lane, go over and help him or her clear it. Pay attention to if they Smite instantly or wait to use their Smite to finish off the camp. If they do not Smite out of the gate, when the camp is at about 30-40% of its original health, leave it alone or communicate with pings to your jungler. If the camp has more than one creep (Krugs for example), then focus down the larger one with the Jungler, unless they request differently. If you are one of the bottom laners, then send the support to aid with the leash while the carry gets some farm for a small but significant head start.

If you are not on the leashing side of the jungle, you can do a very simple task that could make the difference for your jungler. Go and wait by the camp early to prevent any invades. Once you leave the camp (around 1:20), make sure to drop a ward. This allows your jungler to know that their jungle is safe and that the enemy jungler is nowhere to be found. While a large percentage of games don't involve invades or counter jungling at level 1 or 2, this measure protects them in the unlikely event of an invade. It is the little things that could absolutely change the path of a game.

Note: Invading with your team is up to your discretion. While invading with your jungler would be beneficial if it works, this is a team effort that could make or break your early game. If your team invades and loses a fight, then you are staring down in kills, behind in farm and you show up late in lane. Look at who your jungler and fellow invaders are before you lock down on any ideas and make sure you are all in the effort together. Make sure that if you are having a teammate burn a teleport or miss a lot of farm to come across the map to help that they do not miss all the action. If your jungler demands that you invade and runs all gung-ho behind enemy lines, it might be advised to wait back and discuss the invade with your teammates quickly, rather than charge in blindly with him on a whim.

2) Talk Ganking Strategy

A poorly executed gank could not only ruin a chance to get ahead in lane, but put you and your team way behind. If you or the jungler runs in against your enemy laner without telling the other one your intentions, then the gank is not going to be as effective since it is less calculated than a gank that has been plotted out. Try and plan your ganking around the jungler's place on the map as well as your enemy laner. Keep in mind your jungler’s mobility and try and direct him or her to the best gank paths for maximum success (tri-bush by enemy tower for example).

If your jungler starts on the side of the jungle closer to you, maybe ask if a level 2 or 3 gank could come in your direction early. If the jungler starts on the other side, don't request ganks when he or she is trying to just get a foot into the game since ganking would require a trek across the Rift. Try and talk to your jungler when they are close to your lane, since the thought of detouring to a lane is easier and they don't have to clear several camps before they gank. This does not mean you should not request ganks if your lane is struggling, but be aware the jungler has other priorities to attend to. Do not expect your jungler to camp you if you are losing. It is not the jungler’s job to win your lane for you, but to disperse aid to wherever it has the most effect.

When your jungler comes to gank, you need to be as ready as he or she is. Make sure your opponent is pushed up far enough so that there is plenty of room to chase him or her down, and that their tower is not immediately behind them. Make sure that all your moves are ready to go, especially any forms of crowd control that could aid the campaign to kill your enemy laner. Also be ready to burn summoner spells, namely flash or ignite. Talk in chat or ping where and when he should engage on your foe. If your jungler ganks at the right moment, and the gank goes off perfectly, allow them to grab the pushing minion wave, to make up for the experience they lost ganking. Then communicate the follow up. Try and push up onto the tower if you are strong enough but don't force your jungler to do something that could get them killed, like a tower push when they are down flash and low HP.

Image Courtesy of Franklinzero.deviantart.com

3) Vigilance, Warding, Enemy Ganks, O My!

Where the supporting your jungler in this aspect lies is in communication. If you see the enemy jungler by your lane either on your mini-map or because you are only so far away, let your jungler know this. Simply because he or she might be too busy to notice an enemy champion making a three second appearance top before they leave. The constant back and forth of information between lanes of the enemy jungler’s position makes sure that your jungler can easily know where the enemy is and try and cause a reaction somewhere else, whether that be stealing camps from the other side of the map, or trying to get a gank off in an enemy lane as far from their aid as possible. Make sure your jungler (and your team while you're at it) knows that you have seen their gank threat and that it's safe if they want to engage in a fight or try and unleash a gank of their own.

One of the more complex parts of being a jungler revolves around keeping the enemy jungler in check and making sure his or her whereabouts are known to the entire team. While this might seem like a duty that should be left to the jungler, the lanes can actually do a substantial amount to help keep tabs on the enemy jungler. Each lane warding their river bush already provides a bit of info as to the location of the enemy gank-machine, if only right before the gank would be delivered. This is why buying an extra ward in the early game can be extremely helpful to not only you or your jungler, but your entire team. If each laner bought one pink ward before the 12 or 13 minute mark, then that would be four points of vision in the enemy jungle that you could have to locate where you saw the enemy jungler and then make plays off that information.

4) Buffs n' Camps, Buffs n' Camps

Everybody on the Rift is always looking for ways to gain an advantage over their opponent. Whether that be trying to outfarm their opponent or push their opponent out of lane, every inch of an advantage is important. One of the big factors that could really aid a lane's conquest for victory are buffs. There's the mana giving, AP friendly Blue buff, which can make a huge difference for mid laners who run through mana quickly. In contrast there's the DoT burn and damage boosting red buff, normally best used in the hands of a high damage AD carry. However, just because these buffs work best in certain lanes does not mean that if you are playing in these lanes you should feel entitled to have them.

One of the largest and most easily preventable debates is over whom each buff really belongs to. In reality, the buffs are jungle camps and therefore are for the jungler to take. Now if the jungler asks if you want a buff, feel free to go and grab it since they are offering it up. If the jungler does not ask, but you are falling behind or really want to improve your laning game, do not just go and grab the buff. Just ask. Ping the buff. If they do not respond, just pretend like it’s a no and continue your laning phase. The jungler is probably more willing to let red buff go, since if the jungler is mana heavy the blue buff can really make or break their jungle game. Essentially, just don't walk up and steal buffs, unless they belong to the enemy. Simple.

5) Communication, Good and Constructive.

All of the above points do center on the point of communication. It really does make all the difference to everyone on your team. While to a more advanced player the above tips might seem like second nature, this does not stop the need for clear and fluent in-game communication with your teammates. If you keep your jungler in the loop with what you're seeing and how you are doing in your lane, it can help streamline where they use their resources in-game. If you are open, calm, and don't act aggressive when you need aid or see an enemy threat that you need help with, then the jungler is more likely to come help in comparison to if you yell and demand they come help you. If you create an atmosphere of anger and aggression, then your jungler is less prone to help you, since nobody wants to help someone who is being a bully and can't help themselves.

Remember that good communication can lead to higher morale, better teamwork and more victories. If you have any questions about anything you’ve read here, or want to talk shop about League, contact me @Buns_and_roses on twitter, and I will get back to you. See you all on the Rift!

Get your own AKRacing Chair here and support our players, all profit goes towards the teams!