I got around 800+ (normal) games played now, and I feel like I've become proficient at all the lanes, but my jungling is pretty terrible. I know the basic gist of it in terms of clearing camps, gank when you have red buff, etc, but anything more advanced than that is beyond me.

Granted, most people I see in normals aren't too far ahead of me, but I'm sure everyone's had those games where their own jungler is meh (me) and the enemy jungler actually knows his stuff and is always there when your buffs are up and his ganks always result in kills and whatever. My goal is to get to that level, so does anyone have any mid-level jungle tips/advice, or can link me any good jungling guides? What I'm looking for specifically is advice on pathing, how to anticipate the enemy jungler's pathing, and how to gank with the individual jungle champs, but I'll take any jungle advice that's more than "kill the wolves, then blue buff".

Also, can anyone suggest some good jungle streamers to watch that teach a lot (like....Scarra, but in the jungle). I'm looking more for educational value than how good the guy is.

Any help is much appreciated =D

The first buff killed generally respawns around 7:20. It's not as important to know about your own buff so much as knowing about the enemy buff (and knowing what camp he originally started at). To me, this is the point of the game where you really decide which jungler is going to have the bigger impact on the game.

Also, ward. Ward, ward, ward. I buy almost as many wards as the jungler as I do when I play support. As the jungler, you're all over the map. You can place wards in plenty of key spots (mostly entrances to either side of the jungle) that become extraordinarily effective at keeping track of where the enemy jungler is at.


Part of what's important in being a good jungler is understanding the strengths of the various junglers. Lee Sin is a quick ganker, for example. His strength is getting that first buff and immediately ganking. Nunu is a counter-jungler. His strength is sneaking into the enemy jungle and stealing his farm and getting back out.

You need to learn not just the strengths/weaknesses of your own jungler (in order to know how to play him) but also of numerous other junglers so you understand how to counter play the enemy jungler.

Some of this can be obtained through guides or watching informative streams, but when it comes to anticipating your enemy, it's just a matter of practice and experience, in my opinion. Queue up for normals, and spam a lot of matches as jungle--that's a good start.

TheOddOne is a famous jungler. Or for more general tips, Wingsofdeathx is just nice to listen to in general.
If you find that people are warding, start buying pinks or oracles.

Play a jungler with CC, not yi or fiora.
CC helps your ganks, even if it is a slow.

Put yourself in the other junglers shoes to predict where he will gank, then hang around that lane.
And lastly, play someone with good clears, and someone who can still do well later, even if behind.
(Underfed Shyv, kinda useless, underfed amumu/malph is still op.)

And if you have a great ult at 6, constantly gank when it's up.

I really can't explain everything, but I gave you a couple tips to chew over.

Lastly, Have fun.
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my first bit of advice is: what is your preferred role? If its a laner like Mid or ADC think long and hard about how much effort you're willing to put into learning jungle. If its jungle, then by all means, continue onward.

The thing is, jungle is really different from all the other roles. I dont know when it is i realized i needed to specialize in it or that I was better at it than my friends but ultimately thats what happened. I am a good mid laner but only with certain champs (LeBlanc), a decent ADC, a mediocre support, and an even worse top laner. So I realized eventually that jungle was a role i LIKED and a role I tended to do well in and gravitated to, all things being equal.

My brother is an exceptionally good AP and AD carry - but an awful jungler. And theres pretty little incentive for him ever to learn it.

So with that out of the way, I would pick tanky champs with heavy CC. Maokai, Amumu, Nautilus. All good, all relatively simple to a degree, all safe picks.

The jungle role is very extensive. you have t odo it ALOT to really get the facets of your job - after all, you have to be aware of everything and everyone. You will see what this means the more you do it.

You want 1 of 2 things in a jungler:

1: Fast Clear time, aggressive counter-jungling. Mundo, Shyvana, Trundle, Skarner, etc.

2: Early and effective ganks.. Lee Sin, Shaco, Jarvan IV, etc.


There are a lot of other "good" junglers who do not excel in these areas quite as much as the ones I listed, such as Amumu, Malphite, Cho'gath, etc.. But what those 3 champions bring is a very strong late game. Problem is, if the enemy jungler poops all over all 3 of your lanes before you're able to get those lanes fed, odds are you won't make it to late game.