The jungle is one of the most flexible roles in League of Legends since you can play a wide range of champions such as tanks, assassins, mages, marksmen, or supports. This guide will be focused on magic damage junglers and discussing three levels of junglers: beginner, intermediate, and hard. It will be giving a brief overview of each champion as well as some tips for anyone who is just trying to learn the champion.

Beginner

Amumu, The Cursed Mummy

Amumu is traditionally seen as a tank jungler that is very beginner friendly. Amumu’s clear is healthy since he has constant area of effect damage from his W - Despair and E - Tantrum that allow him to clear camps at a decent pace. Amumu does not see much competitive play due to his kit being outdated compared to other champions, however he is a great champion to pick up if you are learning jungle.

Amumu’s Q - Bandage Toss is the key to his ganks since it is a single target stun that does high damage when building AP. If you can land the Q, then Amumu can follow up with his R - Curse of the Sad Mummy. AP Amumu greatly benefitted from the item updated in Season 11 since his kit synergizes well with items such as Sunfire Aegis, Demonic Embrace, and Cosmic Drive.

Amumu also has high AP scalings in his kit such as a 70% AP ratio on Q, 50% ratio on E, and 80% ratio on R. When Amumu does build AP, he still typically buys Sunfire Aegis since the Sunfire Passive - Immolate synergizes with his kit and he still needs to stay fairly tanky since he will typically be up close to the enemy in fights.

Tips

While Amumu’s Q is typically used to engage ganks, if you can cut the enemy off and lead with R, it can allow you to hit the Q much easier and allow you to burst enemy champions quicker.

Amumu’s E cooldown gets reduced by 0.5 seconds whenever he is hit by a basic attack, so Amumu can clear camps with lots of monsters such as Krugs and Raptors much faster compared to Gromp, Red Buff, and Blue Buff.

Amumu’s R and basic attacks apply his Passive - Cursed Touch to all enemies hit. Cursed Touch causes enemies to take 10% bonus true damage from all incoming magic damage. If you can apply the passive before using your Q and E, it can add a bit more burst to your combo.

Amumu’s R has a 0.25 cast time which means if you can flash before the R comes out, then you can catch enemies off guard and move the R to spots they would not expect.

Morgana, The Fallen

Morgana was an extremely popular champion at the Mid-Season Invitational and is still a strong pick in the jungle. While she has received numerous nerfs since her peak on 11.8, she can still jungle effectively and is great for beginners to pick up. Morgana’s W - Tormented Soil is the key to her clear since it deals area of effect damage to the camps and the cooldown gets reduced 5% of the max cooldown whenever her Passive - Soul Siphon procs. Soul Siphon causes Morgana to heal equal to 20% of damage dealt by spells to champions, large minions, and large and medium monsters.

Morgana also has strong ganks with her Q - Dark Binding which is a skillshot root that lasts 2 seconds at rank 1 and her R - Soul Shackles which tethers and slows enemies hit and can stun enemies if the tether is not broken. Morgana builds mainly AP compared to Amumu who builds a more tanky style, however she sometimes plays a bit more forward in teamfights due to the R. Morgana typically builds items such as Liandry’s Anguish, Zhonya’s Hourglass, and Demonic Embrace, since the burn damages from Liandry’s Anguish and Demonic Embrace synergize well with Morgana’s W and Zhonya’s Hourglass works with her R.

Tips

While Morgana’s E - Black Shield can block crowd control to help on ganks, Morgana typically is not putting many points in that ability which means it is easy to break the shield.

The cooldown of Morgana’s W can be reduced quickly if there are multiple monsters or champions in the area, this means you are able to do 2 camps at once and have the W constantly up.

Morgana is very flexible since she can play in 3 lanes, so if you are playing in a more controlled environment such as Ranked or Clash, you can be open to moving Morgana around.

Intermediate

Gragas, The Rabble Rouser

Gragas has been an immensely popular jungler in past seasons, but now he is more frequently seen in top lane or support. Gragas can be seen as a simpler Lee Sin since they have a lot of similarities in their kits. Gragas has strong gank potential with his Q - Barrel Roll, E - Body Slam, and R - Explosive Cask. With a kit loaded with crowd control Gragas is not only strong in ganking but can be a nuisance in teamfights. However, Gragas does not have constant damage like Morgana and Amumu which makes his clear slower and a bit more difficult in timing combos.

Gragas is like Amumu since he builds some tankiness to stay alive when he jumps into fights with his E and his R can turn teamfights. Gragas’ R - Explosive Cask is an area of effect spell that knocks enemies back from the center of the area of landing. This spell can easily catch out squishy champions, but you can also accidently push bruisers towards your team which can get your team killed. Gragas has a lot of potential for playmaking, however it will take practice and knowledge to know when you should be pushing enemies away or knocking them towards your team.

Popular items on Gragas are Everfrost, Hextech Rocketbelt, Zhonya’s Hourglass, and Banshee’s Veil. All these items give Gragas resistances which synergize with his W - Drunken Rage which causes him to take reduced damage.

Tips

On ganks before level 6, try to get as close to the enemy as possible to make it harder for the enemy to dodge your E. If you can hit your E and stun the enemy, it will allow your teammates to follow up and guarantee you hit your Q.

When clearing on Gragas, try to take notice of when your Passive - Happy Hour is off cooldown and time your abilities with it. Happy Hour restores 8% of Gragas’ max health after casting an ability. You want to try to maximize this so you can have a healthy clear.

Gragas can cast his R and Q during his E animation. When ganking and you do not think you will get in range of hitting your E, you can use E to close the gap and hit one of your other forms of crowd control to enable the gank.

Elise, The Spider Queen

Elise has either seen dominance in the jungle or is never seen due to how she plays. Elise can dominate the early game and push leads incredibly hard, however if she does not have a large enough lead in the early game, she can be incredibly weak as the game progresses. Understanding Elise’s R - Human Form/Spider Form is crucial for understanding how she clears and ganks.

In Human Form, Elise’s abilities are Q - Neurotoxin, W - Volatile Spiderling, and E - Cocoon. Neurotoxin is a single target spell that deals more damage the higher the enemy’s current health is. Volatile Spiderling is an area of effect spell that follows enemies and deals damage. Cocoon is a single target skillshot that stuns the first enemy hit.

In Spider Form, Elise’s abilities are Q - Venomous Bite, W - Skittering Frenzy, and E - Rappel. Venomous Bite is a single target spell that deals more damage the lower the enemy’s current health is and applies on-hit effects. Skittering Frenzy passively gives attack speed to Elise’s spiderlings and on activation it increases the attack speed of Elise and her Spiderlings. Rappel causes Elise and her Spiderlings to lift into the air for up to 2 seconds where they cannot act, but they are untargetable. Elise can target an enemy and descend on them earlier than the 2 seconds or if the 2 seconds pass Elise and her Spiderlings will descend onto her current position. If Elise descends on an enemy, she will increase the effect of Passive - Spider Queen in Spider Form. Spider Queen in Spider Form causes Elise to deal bonus magic damage on her basic attacks and heal on-hit. Spider Queen in Human form grants Elise a dormant Spiderling whenever she hits an ability on an enemy, when she turns into Spider Form her Spiderlings are brought out.

Looking at the 2 forms, Human Form is typically used to initiate fights, while Spider Form is used for executing enemies. Elise typically wants to lead ganks in Human Form, so she can stun the enemy and deal max damage with Neurotoxin. After using her spells in Human Form, she wants to swap to Spider Form to finish the kill with Venomous Bite. The same concept applies to when clearing jungle camps since you want to be dealing the max potential damage possible to speed up your clear.

For itemization, Elise likes to build magic penetration since her core damaging abilities, Neurotoxin and Venomous Bite, deal percent health damage which work best with magic penetration. Items that Elise likes to build are Hextech Rocketbelt, Void Staff, Sorcerer’s Shoes, and Zhonya’s Hourglass. Zhonya’s Hourglass is particularly good since in combination with Rappel, Elise can be untargetable up to 4.5 seconds which can buy a lot of time for your own cooldowns or for your team to follow up.

Tips

While Elise would usually start ganks in Human Form, Rappel is a long-distance gap closer which can allow Elise to quickly get in range of the enemy and set up her Cocoon.

Elise can also use her Rappel on Jungle Plants, monsters and enemy wards which can set her up for stealing objectives, creative gank paths, or escape routes.

Volatile Spiderling grants vision and can be used to check areas of Fog of War. Also, if the Volatile Spiderling is out and Elise uses her Venomous Bite, the Volatile Spiderling will jump to the enemy hit by Venomous Bite. This interaction is particularly important since the Volatile Spiderling will move towards the first enemy in its path, so you cannot guarantee it will move towards the enemy you are targeting. You can also throw the Volatile Spiderling in one direction to check an area and still have it deal damage on your target.

Hard

Nidalee, The Bestial Huntress

Nidalee is popular due to her high skill expression and ability to play different styles throughout the game. Nidalee is like Elise since Nidalee’s R gives her access to 2 forms, Human Form and Cougar Form. In Human Form, Nidalee’s abilities are Q - Javelin Toss, W - Bushwack, and E - Primal Surge. In Cougar Form, her abilities are Q - Takedown, W - Pounce, and E - Swipe. In both forms Nidalee has the 2-part passive Prowl, the first part, Prowl, grants Nidalee bonus move speed when she moves through brush.

The second passive is called Hunt, which causes Javelin Toss and Bushwack to mark monsters or enemy champions with a debuff called Hunted. Enemies marked with Hunted are revealed for 4 seconds and grant Nidalee bonus move speed, which increases when Nidalee moves towards them. Hunted targets also take increased damage when they are first hit by Takedown and Pounce.Javelin Toss is a long-range single target skillshot that deals damage based on how far it travels. Bushwack places a trap that deals magic damage over 4 seconds after an enemy walks over it. Primal Surge heals target ally champion for an amount based on their current health and grants attack speed. The heal increases the lower health the target is.

Takedown enhances Nidalee’s next basic attack to deal increased damage based on how low the target’s health is. Pounce is an area of effect spell that has Nidalee dash to the target location and deal damage to enemies in the landing area. If there is a target marked with Hunted, the range of Pounce will increase. Pounce cooldown is reduced when used on a Hunted Target or when Nidalee kills an enemy. Swipe is an area of effect spell that deals magic damage in a half circle in the direction of the cast.

Nidalee is the first jungler on this list that has zero crowd control in her kit which can make ganking difficult. However, Nidalee’s ganking power comes from marking her target with Hunted and closing the distance using Pounce to finish the target. Nidalee can also clear the jungle very quickly using her Javelin Toss and Bushwack to reset her Pounce cooldown on the monsters. Nidalee’s playstyle also changes through the game since she goes from a burst champion in the early game to a long-range poke champion that can support her team with heals and vision control.

Some items that Nidalee usually buys are Night Harvester, Luden’s Echo, Lich Bane, and Zhonya’s Hourglass. Night Harvester is the more popular mythic choice for Nidalee; however, Luden’s Echo can scale better into the late game since it gives magic penetration, and the mana helps Nidalee spam her spells.

Tips

When ganking, try to place a Bushwack in the path the enemy is trying to run since you will either mark them with Hunted and Pounce on them or it will cause the enemy to run away from the trap and set up your Javelin Toss.

While Takedown deals more damage the lower the enemy’s health is if you use Swipe immediately after Takedown you can cancel the Takedown animation. In small quick trades you may prefer this combo since you can get away quicker. However, if you are looking to kill the enemy using Swipe first will cause Takedown to do more damage.

During teamfights try to use Primal Surge on your ADC, since they will greatly benefit from the bonus attack speed. Primal Surge gives 60% attack speed at max rank which is double of Ardent Censer. Even though the heal is greater when the target is lower health, the attack speed can set up your ADC to deal much more damage and by the time your ADC gets lower health you can heal them back up.

Taliyah, The Stoneweaver

Taliyah was incredibly dominant at the beginning of Season 11 but has been out of the meta for quite some time. However, she can still dominate the jungle from her strong zone control and snowballing power. Taliyah clears the jungle mainly using her Q - Threaded Volley, which is a single target skillshot that causes Taliyah to throw 5 stones dealing less damage with each consecutive stone hit.

Upon casting Threaded Volley, Worked Ground will appear under where Taliyah casted which makes future Threaded Volley’s used in the area to only throw 1 stone for only 1 mana; Worked Ground disappears after 45 seconds. This ability is the key to Taliyah’s clear since it is her only constant damage source, so it is important that you manage your Worked Ground when in the jungle since you want to be using the 5 stone Threaded Volley whenever possible.

Taliyah’s main ganking tools are her W - Seismic Shove, E - Unraveled Earth, and R - Weaver’s Wall. Seismic Shove is an area of effect spell that casts after 0.25 seconds, and deals damage and knocks the enemy in the direction Seismic Shove is cast. Unraveled Earth causes Taliyah to summon 18 stones in a trapezoid in the direction it is casted in and deals initial damage to enemies. After 4 seconds the stones will explode dealing damage and slowing enemies in the area. If an enemy dashes or is knocked through the stones, the stones will instantly explode as the target moves through them dealing damage and slowing. Weaver’s Wall causes Taliyah to summon a wall of rocks for 5 seconds in a target direction; the wall behaves the same as any other wall on the map. Taliyah can ride the wall after 1 second of channeling and move in the target direction. If Taliyah takes damage when channeling or when riding the wall, she is forced off the wall. Taliyah can recast her R to drop the wall early.

Seismic Shove is Taliyah’s main crowd control and in combination with her E, it is her main way of bursting monsters or champions. Weaver’s Wall lets Taliyah cut off the enemies’ main escape route on ganks and make it easier to hit the Seismic Shove. Taliyah is difficult since if she misses her W and E combo, her only damage comes from her Q and her Q requires you to manage your Worked Ground during fights. When ganking it is best to see if your teammates can crowd control the enemy, so you can hit your W and E combo. Taliyah is a burst mage that can also deal constant damage if you can manage your Worked Ground.

Items that Taliyah usually buys are Luden’s Echo, Everfrost, Cosmic Drive, and Zhonya’s Hourglass. Luden’s Echo does more damage since it has the passive splash damage and built-in magic penetration, however Everfrost can set up your W and E combo which is an essential when trying to one shot someone.

Tips

Weaver’s Wall is an ability with incredibly high potential since the length of the wall increases with ability rank. During late game you can completely cut off the enemy from entering objectives or cut off their escape path to set up your teams engage.

When starting camps, try to start as close to the monster as possible so you can space your Worked Ground out as best as possible. Since you can move while Threaded Volley is casting, you want to be moving to areas without Worked Ground so you can set up your next cast.

Unraveled Earth is a very underrated peeling ability since it denies champions with dashes from getting to you. Try to place the stones to cover as much area as possible so it can serve as a zoning area, and you can threaten the enemy with a Seismic Shove at any time.

Conclusion

This guide gave a brief insight on six different champions of differing skill levels to help players get introduced to AP junglers. Each champion has different playstyles and suits different needs depending on the game. With practice you should be able to understand each of these champions, so do your best and starting your AP jungle journey!