Players will learn the best characters and playstyle to carry with in Season 16 League of Legends. I’ll be covering the most optimal strategies for climbing in every rank and the methods I’ve used to achieve high ranks. My goal for readers is to understand how to pilot a carry jungler throughout a game and how to effectively translate resources into wins.
Jungle has evolved throughout the years to become a more carry-centric role through the changes to jungle camps and experience. Players now prioritize full clearing and playing for objectives over ganking and pressuring every lane. Although there are a few tank and supportive champions that still exist in the jungle, carry junglers are the most dominant class.
A carry jungler is any champion that thrives with gold and resources and can build damage items. Characters such as Graves, Hecarim, and Kha’Zix are carry junglers because they prioritize taking every kill and building their individual gold lead over playing for other teammates. They thrive in solo queue because games are chaotic and teams are constantly making mistakes that can be capitalized on by a carry jungler.
The first step to climbing in solo queue is to adopt a carry mindset. Players must shift the view of jungling from enabling your teammates into doing the carrying yourself. Maximizing resources through full clearing, taking waves that would otherwise be missed, and buying damage items are all ways to improve a player's ability to carry a game. Instead of playing for another teammate, the carry mindset is centered around being strong individually. Players who utilize the carry mindset have the most consistent control over their game’s outcome because they reduce reliance on teammates and instead focus on maximizing their own impact.
Agency is essentially the extent of a player's impact throughout a game. Carry junglers have more agency than other styles because they have the ability to directly influence the outcome of fights and objectives without needing heavy coordination from their teammates. This differs from tank and supportive junglers who rely heavily on their team to follow up on engages or setups. Carry junglers create their own leads through dealing damage and snowballing.
This style is effective in solo queue because it rewards a player's skill and mechanics while also putting the game in the player’s hands. When ahead, players can pressure lanes, secure objectives, and win skirmishes independently without hoping for teammates to make the right plays. Solo queue is a chaotic atmosphere, and champions that can take advantage of enemy mistakes are the most effective to climb with.
Carry champions are also great to climb with because they make efficient use of gold and resources. For example, a champion such as Graves can turn gold into raw damage, which in turn secures more kills and objectives for him and his team. A fed Graves can take over teamfights and kill enemy carries without needing support from others.
Tank and supportive junglers scale with their utility and crowd control, and make less efficient use of gold and experience. A three-item Sejuani with additional health is not much different than two items; however, a Graves with three items and armor penetration is substantially stronger. Utility junglers cannot punish the enemy even when ahead, as they require follow-up from other players, whereas damage junglers scale with the gold and experience they receive.
Playing a carry jungler rewards players who are mechanically skilled. Being able to show off mechanical prowess and intelligent pathing makes carry junglers feel more impactful and helps boost player confidence. This style differs from tank and utility junglers, who have a lower skill ceiling and expression. These types of champions have less potential to carry and have a lower skill ceiling than damage junglers.
Another strength of playing a carry jungler is having the ability to take and control objectives. Carry junglers can often solo objectives without needing their teammates due to their high amounts of damage and sustain. Additionally, the threat of their damage when ahead scares opponents from even contesting objectives. Carry junglers can take space for their team and prevent the enemy from entering a fight.
Tank and utility junglers struggle to take objectives alone and require movement and assistance from teammates. They’re also susceptible to being outsmited by a damage jungler due to their lower damage. Although these types of champions have great setup and can take space for their team, their individual threat is a lot lower.
Solo queue is a chaotic environment where players constantly make mistakes across the map. When playing a damage jungler, you have more agency to punish enemy mistakes like dying in a tower dive or recalling when their camps are still up. These champions can invade quickly or make a play on the opposite side of the map without having to sacrifice their tempo. Being able to capitalize on an enemy's mistakes is crucial because there will always be moments in a game when the enemy team takes a bad fight or starts Baron at the wrong time. Carry junglers are the most effective at turning enemy mistakes into gold, objectives, and map control that can snowball into wins.
When attempting to climb in Season 16, the most effective strategy is to play a high agency, carry jungler. These types of champions make efficient use of gold, have unique skill expression, can consistently take and control objectives, and can punish enemy mistakes. They translate leads into objectives, reward unique and aggressive pathing, and possess the damage to snowball games out of control. Adopting a carry mindset is important to pilot these champions; being able to convert resources into winning fights and knowing how to become individually strong is a crucial skill. This type of carry playstyle is great for solo queue because it teaches consistency and learning how to capitalize on enemy mistakes throughout a game.
