Throughout Season 5, the jungle meta has changed frequently with the introduction of new items and champions - consequently, there is now a broad range of champions who function as viable junglers. This is the first of a series of articles discussing unconventional champion picks that handle the jungle well and offer a range of different approaches to the role. The series begins with a discussion of alternative Devourer users and what strengths they can bring to a composition.

LOL Kayle by Cabal飯, © Riot Games

Kayle

Kayle is an extremely versatile champion that has seen play in almost all roles. As a jungler, she’s a powerful champion with extremely fast clear speeds and brilliant synergy with Devourer, rendering her an incredibly powerful sustained damage dealer.

Righteous Fury (E) grants Kayle high area-of-effect magic damage upon auto-attacking, allowing her to whittle down jungle camps very quickly. This spell is Kayle’s main form of damage output. As Kayle is a rather fragile champion, it’s important to keep moving around and kiting the monsters between auto-attacks to minimize damage taken. While moving between jungle camps and clearing, be sure to constantly use Divine Blessing (W) to stay healthy and mobile. Reckoning (Q) is a useful ganking tool, but should never be used when clearing due to its high mana cost and relatively low damage. Divination (R) is a potent ultimate ability that can shift the tide of a teamfight when used thoughtfully, and solidifies Kayle’s identity as a high-impact skirmisher. Righteous Fury should be maxed first for high prolonged damage to jungle camps, followed by Divine Blessing for agility and sustain, and lastly Reckoning.

Devourer is the strongest option for jungle Kayle as it gives a large amount of attack speed and amplifies her on-hit magic damage. Completing Sated Devourer is a significant power-spike for Kayle, as she can then apply Righteous Fury’s magic damage twice, and her Holy Fervor (Passive) stacks extra fast to rapidly shred through her target’s resistances. Being a mage that scales with attack speed, the most efficient build for her would obviously include attack speed alongside items that give ability power and additional on-hit effects. Additionally, attaining 40% cooldown reduction should be a priority on Kayle, as this guarantees that Righteous Fury will almost always be available. One such item that provides all of these stats is Nashor’s Tooth, an essential purchase for any Kayle player. This item is an all-round massive boost in strength by providing a large increase in all aforementioned stats, as well as further augmenting her on-hit magic damage. Other excellent on-hit items for Kayle include Rylai’s Crystal Scepter, Wit’s End and Runaan’s Hurricane: Rylai’s provides the potential to ‘perma-slow’ her opponents; Wit’s End accentuates her in-built resistance shred; and Runaan’s both gives the largest possible attack speed boost and synergises with her area-of-effect damage.

Boot selection for Kayle is dependent on how the player intends to achieve 40% cooldown reduction. If 40% CDR can be attained with Nashor’s Tooth alone (i.e. Nashor’s Tooth 20% + Mastery page 5% + Scaling Cooldown Reduction Runes 15%), then Berserker’s Greaves are the most optimal purchase. Otherwise, Ionian Boots of Lucidity are always the better choice.

In essence, Kayle is a wicked carry jungler packed with utility that can be picked and picked into a variety of team compositions safely. She works well in conjunction with initiation and juggernaut champions such as Darius and Irelia who benefit greatly from her Divine Blessing’s speed boost, as well as hypercarries such as Kog’Maw and Vayne by boosting their mobility and protecting them from harm with Divination. In addition to her massive damage output, Holy Fervor’s debuff will magnify your ally’s damage output and weaken enemy tanks. Despite her broad range of strengths, she struggles against team compositions with high area-of-effect crowd control. Kayle has particular difficulty against highly mobile AD caster-style champions such as Riven and Yasuo who can reach and cripple Kayle in skirmishes with ease, and she’s also extremely vulnerable in the early game with low defensive stats. For that reason, it is essential to tread carefully against strong early-game junglers with cheese potential such as Lee Sin and Nidalee.

It is my mouth into which all travels end by MirthSpindle, © Riot Games

Tahm Kench

Primarily designed as a top lane and support tank, Tahm Kench is a strange champion that doesn’t yet have a clear identity. He’s an unusual tank that applies his crowd-control in unique ways, and hasn’t shown much success both competitively nor solo queue. In the jungle however, he brings about an unexpectedly high level of gank strength and objective control.

Tahm’s skillset is composed of a number of excellent clearing tools. Tongue Lash (Q) is a short cooldown ability with a high base damage and low mana cost, making it a strong spammable ability for chewing through the jungle. Although Devour (W) can’t be used on red or blue buff, its percentage health damage decimates all other jungle monsters - additionally, it’s an extremely powerful (and obnoxious) spell for stealing enemy jungle monsters and securing the Rift Scuttler. Thick Skin (E) is a useful sustain tool which negates plenty of damage when timed correctly. After hitting level 6, Abyssal Voyage (R) enhances Tahm’s objective control and gank potential, and its passive further assists his clear speeds and damage output.

Although Cinderhulk seems like the most suitable option for the Kench, Devourer is an extremely potent build option for combat strength and clear speeds. Devourer’s attack speed allows Acquired Taste (Passive) stacks to be applied very quickly and renders Tahm a massive threat with high kill potential in skirmishes. Tahm’s inherent crowd-control synergises with attack speed, and Devourer is just the item that allows him to ravage through the enemy team. Although Sated Devourer will help Tahm apply his passive stacks even faster, the base item’s stats are sufficient for early game impact, so reaching 30 stacks shouldn’t be a major priority. After completing the jungle item, the rest of your build should be composed of tank items. The recent Juggernaut items work particularly well on Tahm: Dead Man’s Plate is a powerful second item for stronger skirmishing and map presence, and Sterak’s Gage significantly boosts your durability and base damage during the initial moments of a teamfight.

Tahm is flexible and functions well in a number of team compositions. Champions with movement speed boosts such as Lulu and Sivir help Tahm reach his targets, and champions with strong initiation potential like Malphite and Wukong flank well in combination with his ultimate. He’s best picked against team comps with low mobility and few escapes; he’ll struggle to apply his passive stacks against slippery targets such as Vayne or Ahri.

Teemo by Mashachruah, © Riot Games

Teemo

At face value, the mere concept of jungle Teemo sounds extremely trollish and weak. In reality, the jungle role allows Teemo to be a frighteningly potent global threat with high-damage ganks, immense map control and fast clears. Paired with Devourer, Teemo can blitz through jungle camps and farm up to become a late-game hypercarry.

In terms of clearing, Teemo functions similarly to Kayle in the way that your main damage output orientates around magic-empowered autoattacks. Toxic Shot (E) deals significant magic damage with each attack and should be maxed first for the highest extended damage output possible. Blinding Dart (Q) is a powerful spell for ganking and farming, and should be used on jungle camps to blind them, rendering the monsters harmless momentarily. Move Quick (W) should be used to move between jungle camps and mobilize for ganks. While Noxious Traps (R) shouldn’t be used for clearing, they’re useful when scattered around the jungle to deter enemy counter-jungling.

Devourer is by far the best choice on Teemo. He has very high clear speeds and applies massive on-hit damage, both of which inherently cooperate with attack speed, and thus acquires Devourer stacks very quickly. Sated Devourer will apply his Toxic Shot twice, cementing Teemo as a lategame hypercarry. Runaan’s Hurricane is an essential purchase, as its massive attack speed boost offers reliable waveclear and split pushing potential. The rest of Teemo’s build can be flexible, and should be adapted for optimal damage output to the enemy team. Against tanky compositions, Blade of the Ruined King is an excellent choice, whereas Ability Power items such as Rabadon’s Deathcap and Lich Bane can burst carries and more vulnerable champions. Much like Kayle, Nashor’s Tooth is also a great pickup for its on-hit effect and high cooldown reduction. To establish a global presence, itemizing for CDR is especially efficient because Teemo’s Noxious Traps will function as damage-dealing wards that both grant vision and inhibit enemy map movement.

Teemo is a quintessential ‘glass cannon’ and should therefore be picked alongside champions such as Maokai and Thresh that can initiate, peel, and displace enemy targets, otherwise he’ll struggle to apply much damage before being bursted instantly. He’s a strong pick against auto-attackers and sustained close-range damage dealers such as Jax and Xin Zhao since his blind can render them ineffective during crucial moments.

This article is the first in a series of discussions concerning alternative champion choices in the jungle. The next article in this series will address underrated Cinderhulk users and the unique strengths they bring to a team composition. Happy jungling!

Are you into fantasy leagues? Then check out AlphaDraft and put together your allstar lineup!