Cinderhulk is the new jungle enchantment that has flipped the tables on what champions are viable on the Summoner’s Rift and is responsible for an influx of new champion picks played once upon a time. Players from the earlier days of League of Legends will be revelling in this opportunity to relive some past experiences with the return of the likes of Zac and Nautilus jungle.

The big joke doing the rounds on social media at the moment is that League of Legends has become World of Tanks with this item change but it has to be asked: just how good is Cinderhulk?

Video guide (released during PBE) courtesy of Foxdrop

The Good:

It can’t be denied – having more champions viable in the jungle is great. We’ve had the period of burst damage excelling to the point that it came in two parts; brute force damage from Jarvan IV and Vi, followed by the ‘move then shred’ stylings of Nidalee and Rek’Sai. Now is the time of the tanks and, before people complain, remember this: LoL always cycles different styles of meta. Siege champions mid lane was a big thing going back a year, with Ziggs and Gragas dominating the mid picks, but change keeps the game exciting. Change also offers greater creativity with team compositions. It forces a rethink to the previously set style that players and teams often get so accustomed to.

Cinderhulk offers 350 health to junglers, with 25% bonus health on top of that. This is where the tanks become interested, but they’re still not sure. It also cleverly adds the Immolate passive from Sunfire Cape, dealing a ramping damage from 16 + 1 per champion level over 10 seconds, up to 24 magic damage +1.5 per champ level. This seals the deal for tanks as it enables quicker jungle clear, but also better presence in fights what with dishing out more damage over time and benefiting from longer duration fights. Coupled with a Ranger’s Trailblazer for those with poor clear speed or something like the very popular Stalker’s Blade to stop people “doing a runner” you very quickly see a flexibility emerge in who to pick up.

Team Dignitas' own Andrew "Azingy" Zamarripa on Zac jungle vs CLG

The new dynamic caused enables a lot of change. Some junglers will stick with the previous meta junglers because they prefer them, or their team are more synergised with them. Others will switch to tankier options to outlast people, or to free up top lane to be more about damage, maybe even as an assassin style champion. Ohmwrecker will become more of an early game choice (mark my words!), previous tanks can afford to go even tankier and never die or include a previously-unused damage item to make things interesting and unpredictable. A lot more Sejuani builds are bringing in the Abyssal Scepter now because there’s no need for Sunfire Cape. This isn’t the only example of change but the point is that even previously established builds or styles are beginning to change and adapt.

The beauty of Cinderhulk in terms of the bigger picture is that it presents us with fresh ground for speculation; old champions returning with new kits, new stats, and new items against more recently used ones who are more understood and refined but perhaps not quite as strong. Which wins, stats or expertise? It’s these little variables that cause a positive trend of discussion and debate amongst fans, which does the brand – and eSports – the world of good by mirroring the same attitudes and levels of interest and argument that traditional sports have.

The Bad:

Cinderhulk replaces Juggernaut but fails to retain any of the tenacity it offered. This stat is a rare offering and yes, not necessary all the time but, given the popularity of people like Morgana, Sejuani, and a rising interest in Cho’Gath and likely Amumu, it’s going to be frustrating for players to know that their pick ups will include Mercury Treads or Zephyr, with the Elixir of Iron to give this a boost later in the game. On a similar note, the in-game shop still lists the Cinderhulk enchantment under Cooldown Reduction AND Tenacity in the sub-sections.

Photo courtesy of Rewardadrawer

There are other shop issues, like Recommended Build pages listing both Cinderhulk and the non-stacking Sunfire Cape (seriously guys, stop buying both, it’s painful), but this is a superficial problem. The real issue, or just downside to the item, is gank potential. Yes, you are a big scary jungler with improved clear speed using Cinderhulk and yes, this does make you a pain in the backside to kill in teamfights BUT this does raise the problem of ganking. Tanks are usually kept for laning because they’re difficult to gank with. Someone like a Trundle or a Maokai offer perfectly good damage and bonuses in fights but are pretty slow at running into a lane and causing trouble. The issue then is that if you can’t gank you basically jungle farm and neglect your team (similar to the Feral Flare patch) and this forces lanes to depend on solo skill; something that technically is their problem but is very risky and can cause players to get despondent and even toxic.

Part 2 Cinderhulk : It's too dependent on your laners success. While not putting them in a good position to succeed (lack of presence etc)

— Impaler (@Impalerlol) March 15, 2015

The final complaint about Cinderhulk is that it is 250g cheaper than other jungle upgrades. This means that while other junglers using Warrior or Magus are still farming up, you can be waving your fully upgraded jungle item around. The idea from Riot is that this compensates for their greater gank potential and that’s fine, but the issue is that especially in higher level League of Legends it doesn’t really take into account rotation work; a tanky jungler with a support can use that extra gold to deep ward onto a more damage-focused champion and completely do a number on his jungle. With a Nunu for example you could just cruelly counter and yes, this is a legitimate tactic and yes, it is smart, but it’s also really detrimental to keeping the variety in game ASIDE tanky junglers. The simple solution would be to re-grant the tenacity to the Cinderhulk and increase the cost to 100/150g shy of the others, rather than 250g.

The Reality:

All items – new and old – have good and bad to them. The truth is that Cinderhulk has made it possible to play a lot more champions, and that can only be a good thing. Nearly every game saw Nidalee or Rek’Sai, followed by Jarvan, Vi, Rengar, or Lee Sin, should they be banned. Now we’ve already seen several Zac picks, as well as people like Olaf coming through, Sejuani is the top jungle pick, Sion is very popular, Maokai, Trundle, Volibear, Hecarim… all are making comebacks. Even Nasus has made a return for some people (Note: Meteos is currently working on that one – expect a surprise NA LCS pick soon). There is a joy in seeing different faces and different synergy on the Summoner’s Rift, and Riot has made a very good move here.

Cinderhulk + Righteous Glory seems to be a pretty working combo on tank junglers now might even make them viable... Really liking the change

— Lauri Happonen (@OGCyanide) March 12, 2015

As mentioned before, for eSports to succeed it has to keep fresh like traditional sports. Changing players on teams is one way, as was adding Ccaches to help the competitiveness and the professionalism, but it has to be a wider ranging change. Gameplay variables are important. If your game gets stagnant, it dies. Blizzard can attest to that and Warcraft is only recently making a comeback.

The reality is this: Cinderhulk makes tanks better in the jungle, but it doesn’t make players better at ganking. This is still on them. This will help – especially in professional scenes – determine who are the better junglers, who are the better solo laners, and who can adapt to the new patch and new item the best, be it with the last meta’s champions or the current. If you can’t beat the item, join them. It’s that simple.

Below is a quick video from streamer Nightblue demonstrating Volibear with Cinderhulk.