Hey guys, I first to apologize for the absolute lack of content in a very long time. I have been quite busy with school, especially now that I'm in graduate school. That, and after early this summer, I got really sick of League of Legends. I'm not sure if I want to continue this blog. It was really fun while it lasted, but I just don't think I'm as invested in the game as I was when I started it, and I'm very rusty at jungling --- hell, I've been much more successful at mid and support recently. I still want to play League. I do. It's just hard to find time, and when there is time, I'm not guaranteed to have fun, because, well, it's League. Most of the community is trash, there is only one viable game mode, and games last too damn long. I do have another new general gaming blog, and if I could merge it with this, I would in a heartbeat. I don't want this blog to disappear, I put a lot of thought into it and it's been a blast while I did it. Plus there's a bunch of champions to go! Message me your thoughts. Maybe on a Saturday night/Monday evening, we can play a few games together.
This is something I consistently see low ELO players struggle with.
Example:
vs.
Let's say you're playing mid lane. You are playing Lux, the enemy is Zed. Obviously this isn't a fun match up. Too many players may have the mindset, "I am mid, therefore, I am a carry, I need to maximize my DPS!!" Sorry, but your Death Cap isn't going to save you from being 100-0'd at your turret.
Sometimes you're just going to play against people that are flat out better than you. It happens. It's what will make you better. But it's how you deal with it that determines how you will be better. So, you're Lux against Zed. You'll have to deal with it. Normally, you start Doran's Ring and 2 health potions. You've done it for the past 4 ranked games as mid (and you've won!). But now you're going to have to change. Unless you've played this match up a lot, you're going to want to build Cloth5. You will have less damage, but your opponent will be dealing even less to you. This is what matters.
So you're farming under your turret and Zed all-ins you at 6. Typical. If you're pro, you can snare him and combo him before he decapitates you in seconds/blows you up with his ult. That's probably going to result in 2 deaths---yours and his. You also have to be pretty good to pull it off. With a defensive build, you can Zhonyas his ult. Boom, he just wasted at least one big CD, and you have yours (Ult, Flash, etc.) still intact. You can now fight him and win. This will result in 1 death-Zeds. With something like a DeathCap, he will assassinate you under your tower and you will die, he will live.
Okay neat, that's how you counter build. This is when you are behind starting at champion select. But what happens if you fall behind after that?
So in this next scenario, you picked Darius to counter Irelia. Good! But as it turns out, Irelia is an Irelia main and kills you 3 times in under 10 minutes, and is now up by 30 cs. Uh oh. Looks like that Doran's Blade and long sword you have aren't going to save you anytime soon. What should you do? Get a Randuin's. This way, you can slow her auto attacks, withstand her damage better with both armor to deal with AD and health to tank true damage, and you have more CC for when you get into skirmishes/team fights. Yeah, you'll have to rely on your team a bit more, but its better than rushing your normal offensive build and get run down over and over again. You can build damage again if you make a comeback.
This holds true even for champions who revolve entirely around offense. Getting your face melted by LeBlanc? Athene's Unholy Grail will not only give you mana regen to out-push her, but some MR to tank her offense. Enemy is too mobile? Rylai's/Frozen Mallet. Talon mid but getting owned by Brand? Get a Hexdrinker. Nidalee pouncing on your face? You should have banned her, shes broken.
Basically, know when you've lost a lane/matchup. Don't surrender unless the score is like 2-26. Stand your grand and build tanky. Trust your teammates. Trust yourself to not feed anymore. Gain ground over your opponents with CC, and if not that, build items with built-in utility. There's a reason defensive items cost less than offensive ones.
You know the phrase. Well, hopefully you do by now. "Can't do DPS if you're dead."
Would you guys be interested in seeing me livestream some ranked games next week? That's when I go on Spring Break. I'll most likely play jungle/support. These will be pretty low ELO games but my MMR is kinda high because I've been duoing with people Gold V and higher (even though I got placed low silver).
Perceived lack of diversity in good ol' Solo Queue
(Still working out kinks with how to use champion icons on tumblr)
Unless you've been living under a Krug, you've noticed the series of complaints about the jungling role in League of Legends ever since the pre-season 5 patch. The general consensus seems to be that there are only three viable junglers currently, both shown by their pick/ban rates in solo queue and in the LCS. These champions are the above.
You've probably seen them picked/banned a lot. Why? The meta is heavy in AD now (as it has been for the past 2 seasons as well...), and these three champions are able to initiate fights, lock down at least one target, and eliminate them. All this while being relatively tanky and, to quote Phreak, "doing tons of damage."
This isn't to say these junglers are the best/"must picks" every game, though. Low elo isn't skilled enough to make the most use of Lee Sin and J4 because let's face it---not everyone can be an Insec. Vi can be used to stomp/carry low ELO because she assassinates carries and shreds tanks with just 2 damage items. She has ~54-55% win rate right now, while J4/Lee Sin actually have below 50%. Why? Because people think they can make huge MLG-LCS plays and fail. Vi doesn't rely on teammates to do this; she can assassinate people by herself by clicking her ult. She doesn't rely on positioning like J4 or Lee Sin does---although Lee Sin can easily maneuver himself with his mobility.
So what does this mean for us? Unless you actually like playing these champions a lot (and there's nothing wrong with that), you're probably sick of feeling pigeonholed into playing them simply because they can gank well despite the chilling smite range nerf. I firmly believe that you can play other junglers just as well, if not better, than these champions with skill, though. If you can't play the big 3, don't. It's that simple. Ignore any teammate who gets mad at you. Your responsibility is to play your favorite/best champions, not something that meta-sheep want you to. You other responsibility is to have fun. If you're not doing that, take a break from League for a while.
If you're struggling with these big 3, try this. In low ELO: ban Vi. Vi has the lowest skill cap and highest win rate out of the three, which means she is more attractive to low ELO players. Banning her will cause them to pick someone more difficult, making it more likely for them to mess up.
If you are higher ELO: ban Lee Sin/J4. Higher skilled players will have to resort to champions they can't make huge plays with. Vi is a huge problem here too, but can't make the phatLC$MLGG plays as much.
In the mean time, certain champions can give all three of the big 3 some trouble, such as Olaf, Shaco (if played well), and possibly Rengar. If you're confident, you can invade them as Nunu and relentlessly shut them down early. The options are endless if you're particularly skilled with a champion no one prepares for.
tl;dr: Be optimistic. Play the big 3, or learn to play around them (it's easier than people say). That, and wait for Riot to realize they royally screwed the jungle this season (and with 5.5 PBE notes, it's likely they're working on it)
Hi! I was wondering if you have any tips for playing Elise. I've been wanting to play her jungle and clearing monsters is not a problem, but I seem to mess up with ganking. What would be a good way to gank with Elise?
Elise is a very high skill cap champion, so you shouldn’t beat yourself up for messing up. Her Cocoon (caster E) can be used from a very long range, but the projectile is very thin. She can also use Rappel (Spider E) as a gap closer and use her Cocoon when the enemy flashes or uses an escape; it will make landing it easier, especially if its point blank. I like to build Rylai’s or Randuin’s on Elise earlier to give myself some slowing action to make myself both tankier and more effective in fights. You can Rappel over walls as long as there is a minion, monster or Champion to jump onto. I believe it also gives vision of the area of effect (the circle), so you can jump from raptor camp to midlane, for example, if you have a target. Be careful with Rappel though, it’s also your best juking/escape mechanism and has a long CD. That’s why one of the best stats on Elise is CDR (after Magic Pen/tank stats)!
Hey! I decided to look back through this, and with all the s5 changes, this blog will be less about individual junglers and more about general strategies involving solo queue and the game of League in general. Stay tuned, and as always, the ask box is open.
By far one of the topics fans bring up to me the most is about jungle recovery aka 'What do I do when I get stomped?' Most inexperienced players get invaded by the enemy jungler early, have a gank become catastrophic or have some random thing like a dc cause them to get behind in gold, levels and time and have absolutely flounder for the rest of the game because they do not know how to recover from the setbacks. Even then some experienced junglers still have problems with recovery. Jungle recovery and re...
Stonewall008 has a fantastic article out about what to do when you're losing in the jungle. Read up, junglers!
Everyone's favorite big-bellied drinker is here, and he packs a drunken punch with his updates. Gragas was always a viable, yet not as desirable, pick in the jungle, but the utility he brings with his kit makes him a strong AP support-tank, which not many other junglers can offer. Some people in ranked might look at you funny for picking Gragas, but let's be real. If you don't immediately pick Lee Sin, they will ALWAYS look at you funny.
Clear time: B-
It's nothing special, but its not Shen either. Gragas with blue buff can grind down camps by spamming his Q and E. With just a bit of AP, an Q-E-Smite combo can finish any small camp immediately. That said, Gragas is not a speed clearer, but that's not why you'd pick him.
Ganking: B/A
Gragas has a ranged, skill shot slow, and a mini gap closer/stun/escape as early as level 2. He could, in theory, pull off a level 2 gank, but since Gragas is a caster, he's not doing much damage after those 2 spells or until he picks up his W for more burst.
When Gragas obtains his ultimate, his ganking becomes scary. You can force the opponent to burn flash using your pre-6 ganking skills, and when they do? Throw your Explosive Cask in front of them so you knock them back towards you and your team. You can also initiate fights with this as well.
Gragas has surprisingly low cooldowns on his abilities, especially with a little CDR from items like Spirit of the Ancient Golem. After you gank once after level 6, it's only a bit more than a minute before you can use your ultimate again.
Item Efficiency: A-
Gragas is a mage, so he likes some offense on him. This can be things like Icebourne Gauntlet, Rod of Ages, or Zhonya's. These tend to be pricey for junglers, but fortunately, Gragas has other options.
Gragas has the blessing of being a jungler who doesn't need many stats to function well. In fact, the only stats he needs (as opposed to likes/wants) are CDR and HP. As such, you can build him as a tanky support and still do your job as a peeler/debuffer well.
Buff Dependency: B-
Gragas likes blue buff for his initial clear. It's not necessary, but it helps a lot. He won't be crippled if he is denied a buff, but it makes it annoying to come back against. Once he gets Spirit Stone or something like Chalice (not sure if that's the best buy), his mana issues go away a little.
Useful at all stages: A-
Gragas shines early and mid game when he has a lot of base damage and powerful offensive cooldowns. Unless you're fed and could afford to build like a mage-carry, your late game damage is subpar. As such, you can mitigate this by being your team's jack-of-all-trades support who can peel, initiate, poke, disengage, slow, and just be a bully. You don't need damage to do this.
Other lanes: Everything but ADC
Gragas is a nice early pick because he works well in any lane, even as a support. If you want an AP bruiser, go top. If you want bulkier nuking AP carry, go mid. If you want to support, hell, do it. But if you want early ganks and peeling power for low item cost, go jungle. It all works.
My goal here is to add in some junglers further back in the alphabet that I have reconsidered, and have removed some non-viable ones from the list (like Riven). Next will be Gragas, since he was not in the original list.
As always, ask box is open! Remember, overall, I'm going in alphabetical order, but I might consider doing something by popular demand.
Just look at that sucker's face. Nunu is a cold-blooded murderer.
Of your jungle, that is. Nunu has been notorious for his uncontested annoyances and counter-jungling shenanigans. He didn't see much love recently in S4, as the meta shifted from utility to damage/assassin junglers. That said, he is never really a "bad" pick, and his utility and objective control makes him hell to go up against.
Clear time: Who cares
I'm serious. The point of playing Nunu isn't necessarily to farm yourself up, its to deny the enemy jungler their farm. You can walk through their jungle, Consume/Smite their big camps, laugh in their face as you slow them, and just waltz away. As long as you're clearing your own stuff as well as theirs, it does not matter how fast you clear since you will always be ahead.
Ganking: C
Nunu's ganking isn't really that great; he can throw down a slow, speed himself or your ally up, and maybe pull off some Empire stuff with his ultimate. He can definitely force some flashes with a high-rank snowball to the face, but he isn't going to be killing anyone by himself. As such, Nunu is definitely a support/utility jungler.
Item Efficiency: A+
Nunu has the blessing of being able to build many different things. If your team needs some support items, go ahead. You're snowballing (lol get it)? AP Nunu hits like a truck, especially if you can trap people in your ultimate. Nunu scales better with levels than items, his build can be altered to fit your team's needs. The one thing Nunu likes is CDR, which can easily fit into a support build.
Buff dependency: Varies
Nunu likes his blue buff for the CDR on his Q and E rather than mana, but then again, you can also steal your opponent's buffs faster than they can blink. If you plan on power farming both your jungle and your opponent's, you want blue. If you just plan on being an ass, then it doesn't matter as long as you're counter-jungling hard.
Multiple Advantages: A-
Nunu provides his team with jungle objective control with his Q, attack speed/movement speed buffs with his W, debuffs with his E, and teamfight control with his ultimate. Depending on his build, he will offer different things for his team. A support build will focus on peeling and debuffing, while an AP build will be like a time bomb in terms of bursting opponents with E and hopefully getting off a good Absolute Zero. Nunu isn't going to carry games by himself, but he can support a good teammate.
Useful at all stages: A
Nunu is indeed useful all game long. He controls both jungles early, secures dragons/early skirmishes mid game, and provides massive pressure in team fights late game as well as Baron control. Again, his damage isn't something to rave about, but he will definitely anger a lot of teammates with how horrible he can be to deal with.
Other lanes: Support
Nunu support was a thing a year or two ago, but has pretty much vanished in favor of all-in supports like Thresh or Leona. Consume makes Nunu preferable as a jungler.
It's time for a champion further back in the alphabet. She has surprised me with how good she is!
Kayle is a rather unorthodox jungler in that she really wasn't too huge on the jungler scene until Feral Flare was released, and even then, other champions might make better use of the item. That said, I could not deny Kayle's clearing power and team-fight utility. That, and she's an absolute badass and tons of fun to play.
Clear time: A-
Kayle's clear time is decently fast as her E provides splash damage, and her Q provides monster kiting and burst. It's actually not that fast early game, but after you get Madred's Razor and some attack speed, you can blaze through camps like a Master Yi.
Ganking: B-
A targeted, ranged slow and (limited) ranged auto-attacks make Kayle a pretty good ganker, but she probably isn't getting any kills unless your teammate has some hard CC. It's best that you force a flash with your ranged attacks and come back within the 5 minute flash CD.
Item Efficiency: C+
Kayle is usually played as a hybrid hyper-carry and pretty much needs certain items to function her best, like Feral Flare and Nashor's Tooth. The only thing that keeps this score higher is her ultimate. If you fall behind and cannot afford to farm back up, you could sacrifice offense to build as much CDR as you can so you can spam your slow, heal, and your amazing ultimate to help your teammates. That way, you're not dead-weight if you build damage and get blown up before you can use your ultimate on anyone.
However, even if behind, you could theoretically build damage regardless because you could just ult yourself or someone else and make them "tanky" for 2 seconds. Intervention is one of the most useful and powerful ultimates in the game, and you should learn to play around with it if you choose to master Kayle.
Buff dependency: B-
Kayle likes her blue buff in order to spam her abilities in the jungle and for lower cool down on her E. She also likes her red buff in order to clear even faster and to give her ganks some "oomph" before she gets to mid-game when her damage is in her prime. That said, she doesn't need these buffs to clear or survive in the jungle. She can donate either buff to teammates after the initial clear and survive just fine.
Multiple Advantages: B
Damage and limitied CC. That's all Kayle provides, which should give her a lower rating altogether. However, like I said before, Kayle's ultimate is what keeps this rating so much higher than it would otherwise deserve.
If your team doesn't have a tank, your ultimate creates a tank out of whoever your target with it is. You can transform your team into a dive composition if you have, say, Riven or Evelyn. You can indirectly peel for your ADC by ulting them if they are getting focused. The amount of plays you can make with Intervention is ridiculous.
Useful at all Stages: B+
Kayle's early game isn't very strong since she can't duel or gank as well as most junglers, but once she hits level 6 and finishes 2-3 core items, she becomes scary. I've already raved enough about Kayle's ultimate, so you should have a good idea of why it's so great. It also has a surprisingly short cool-down, so you can get pretty crazy with some CDR.
Other lanes: Top, Mid, Support?
Kayle functions pretty well in most other lanes, but after her AP ratio nerfs, she isn't as good mid, and she usually functions as a top lane counter pick to melee champions who cannot handle her ranged harass. She could theoretically support, but there are way better choices. Kayle is a safe pick in ranked because no one knows for sure which lane you are going until they see your summoner spells.
Overall, Kayle fits the damage-happy jungle meta right now, and provides enough utility to justify picking her. She is one of the only junglers who can carry hard, and, well, she's just a fun pick.
If you've ever jungled even remotely seriously, you've bought this item as soon as the game started. Machete/5 health pots is generally the best start for most, if not all junglers, save the ones who can self-sustain their HP and prefer mana pots (Warwick, Fiddlesticks). The machete then builds into two items, one with early/mid game in mind, the other with late game in mind. The item you choose to build from Hunter's Machete depends greatly on the champion you're playing as well as how the early game goes for you.
I'm putting this in a read more since it is rather lengthy.
UNIQUE - BUTCHER: Against monsters, deal 30% bonus damage and restore 6% of damage dealt to monsters as health and 3% as mana.
UNIQUE - CONSERVATION: You generate Conservation stacks every 1.5 seconds, up to 80. Killing a large monster will consume up to 40 stacks and grant 1 bonus gold per stack consumed.
You may only be in possession of 1 Gold Income item.
Already, you can see how the spirit items are involved in slow and steady sustain with both mana and health. As such, they are best used on champions that utilize mana (which is most of them). Pretty much every jungle can make great use of the various spirit items, but there are a select few that prefer the Madred/Wriggle/Feral Flare line.
Spirit of the Ancient Golem
Stat
+350 health
+10% cooldown reduction
PassiveUNIQUE - TENACITY: The duration of stuns, slows, taunts, fears, silences, blinds, polymorphs, and immobilizes are reduced by 35%.
I'd say this is arguable the strongest and most widely useful out of the three spirit items. Most junglers love the three stats that this gives, especially the CDR. However, tank junglers prefer this item the most, as all three stats largely benefit them. Examples would include Maokai, Nautilus, Sejuani, or Malphite.
The reason I say this is probably the best jungle item overall is because I believe it is the most reliable regardless of how well you are doing in the game. If you are struggling to attain farm or if you've died before your spirit stone build is complete, I'd go ahead and build this. Why? Because it is the only defensive jungle item. You build defense when you're losing---it's as simple as that. Unless you're a power farmer, you need the defense to recover and survive further ganks and pushes to take objectives. Even offensive junglers like Nocturne or Hecarim can make use of this item.
Perhaps the most interesting thing about SotAG is that it gives tenacity, a much sought-after stat with very limited distribution. If the enemy team is very heavy on AD, you can build Ancient Golem and not have to worry about getting Merc Treads for your CC reduction. You can build Ninja Tabi instead!
Who can use this item: Virtually every jungler, especially tank junglers.
When is it useful: All game
When should I build it: On any and all tank junglers, or when behind and need some defense/time to recover
Spirit of the Elder Lizard
Stats
+30 attack damage
+10% cooldown reduction
Passive UNIQUE - INCINERATE: Deals an additional 14 + (2 × level) bonus true damage over 3 seconds upon dealing physical damage.
SotEL has seen so many nerfs since it's release. For reference, it used to give almost double the true damage on hit as well as 50 AD instead of 30. Still, it's strong choice on offensive AD junglers who either spam abilities (Skarner, Evelyn, Hecarim), or for AA heavy junglers who could not get the farm they needed. I say the latter because there may be some instances where you're playing something like Feral Flare Master Yi and you had to cover a lane for a bit to prevent it from going down. You lost a lot of stack farming there, and you haven't finished your second tier machete. Instead, you build SotEL to maintain your offensive pressure while making up for your lack of stack farming.
However, this item does not give much AD compared to other items of similar cost, so make sure you're utilizing the other stats, such as the burn and CDR.
Who can use this item: Spam happy AD junglers, alternative for FF junglers
When is it useful: early and mid game
When should I build it: if you lost early game farming momentum or if you need more early offense.
Spirit of the Spectral Wraith
Stats
+50 ability power
+10% cooldown reduction
Passive UNIQUE - SPIRIT DRAIN: Grants 2 ability power for every large monster kill (max: 15 stacks)
Fun fact: I had no idea this had a new passive until I looked it up. It used to give spell vamp.
Spirit of the Spectral Wraith should only be used on AP junglers like Fiddlesticks and maybe even Elise. Other than that, it doesn't have much use on competitively viable junglers. Unless you think Karthus in the jungle is viable.
That said, it gives AP and CDR, both things mages love, as well as the ability to farm up an extra 30 AP for farming more in the jungle. Unfortunately, you might not have a chance to fill this passive up because during mid/late game, pushing objectives and not farming. You could effectively get it while emptying your conservation stacks, however.
Who can use this item: AP junglers
When is it useful: early and mid game
When should I build it: if you use lots of AP, lol
Feral Flare
Stats
+30% attack speed
+12 attack damage
Passive UNIQUE - MAIM: Champion kills, assists and large monsters slain will grant Feral stacks. Basic attacks deal 25 (+1 per Feral stack) bonus magic damage and restore 10 health. Minions and monsters take triple the bonus magic damage.
Active UNIQUE: Places a Stealth Ward at target location that lasts for 180 seconds. 180 seconds cooldown (~1000 cast range).
Ah yes, the ever controversial, new jungle item that some players argue causes junglers to AFK farm for 10-20 minutes to farm up their 30 stacks to unlock this from Wriggle's Lantern. Feral Flare is much more high risk, high reward compared to the spirit items since it often involves forsaking ganking opportunities to farm. If you're quick enough, you can unlock the flare from Wriggle's by ~12 minutes or so. Wriggle's alone is not worth the purchase---you HAVE to evolve it into the flare early for it to be worth the gold. This is why it is only useful on a select few junglers.
That said, Feral Flare lets you take jungle objectives much faster than spirit items, save a few occasions. A 20 FF-Stack Warwick can take Baron much faster than a spirit item Warwick could. The fact that it infinitely stacks encourages you to get kills as well, and it turns your champion into a late-game hyper carry if you're farmed enough.
Another strategy with Feral Flare is Mad-Stone: after farming 1150 gold in the jungle, immediately back and buy both Madred's Razor AND Spirit Stone. Yes, it seems redundant at first, but you can clear camps ridiculously fast and you can solo dragon as early as 6-7 minutes into the game. The stone will also pay for itself once your get Wriggle's/FF, and you can sell it later after you've capitalized on it's farming potential. Personally, I found Udyr uses this strategy the best.
Who can use this item: Any attack speed/AD heavy jungler
When is it useful: late game
When should I build it: if you can effectively balance farming and team play, and if you can farm your FF stacks fast enough to unlock it by 20 minutes or so (any later is pretty much a waste).
Hi guys! I've been playing a lot more ranked recently, and I'm slowly learning quite a lot about the game. Ranked play has forced me to adapt to the game's various situations, which is something all players need to learn.
Of course, as a jungle main, I tend to do best when I'm playing jungle, so jungle Nocturne has been my go-to pick. Jungle Warwick has been rather successful too!
My next article will not be on any particular champion, but on a discussion on the 4 build path's of Hunter's Machete and when to build what. I hope you guys stay tuned and enjoy, and feel free to leave an ask!
First of all, thank you for reminding me that I REALLY need to update this blog!
Second, I won't get to Udyr until later, but I can answer this in a simplified way now. Udyr is a really fast, early-game heavy jungler who can be a bruiser, fighter, or support character. His build determines what role he is because his kit is pretty versatile and powerful by itself. Udyr has some of the best lv 2-4 dueling in the game, and can really punish enemy junglers for invading you or when you invade them.
Personally, I don't really like Udyr. He's very early game heavy, so unless you dominate your opponent early on, you fall off fast late game. Udyr is blue buff reliant, so during your first clear, if you are denied blue, even your early game will be crippled. Also, Udyr is very easily kited---in ranked/draft, do NOT pick Udyr if you see a team with a lot of slows or stuns. Ganking someone like Ash or Lissandra is pretty much impossible for Udyr, even with bear form. Unfortunately, Udyr was made during season 1, and his effectiveness really reflects this. That shouldn't stop you from at least trying him out, though, and who knows? Maybe you guys will master him and kick way more ass than I could!
Nasus really didn't see much competitive use at all until Season 3 when players like Diamondprox started using him in tournaments. After seeing a lot of initial success, players realized that the changes to Nasus's Q in the jungle made him a very efficient jungler. In fact, Nasus is one of the most efficient junglers in existence currently, and that's why he can fill mutliple niches in the metagame.
Clear time: B/B+
Nasus clears pretty fast, or just average, depending on what skill you level up. Ranking Q or W (for ganks) slows him down quite a bit, but ranking up Spirit Fire can let you ravage small camps without touching the little monsters. In fact, ranking up E first is probably the most beneficial to clear and for solo queue, since it clears minion waves very fast as well.
Ganking: B
This is a very subjective topic. Nasus ganks involve picking a target and using Wither. Ranking up W will increase the cripple length and effect on them. Its a very simple and effective way to gank, and will often cause a panic Flash out of your target. Your W is also on a very short cooldown for what it offers, so you might be able to kill an overextended target.
That said, Nasus doesn't do a whole lot of damage early/mid game, and if he is slowed himself, he will be almost worthless outside of his two ranged spells. He cannot gank for himself, and requires team coordination to pull off.
Item Efficiency: A+
Nasus's kit is all free stats, either to yourself or negative stats on the enemy team. Your passive gives you free life steal, your Q gives you more damage, and your R gives you tankiness and AoE. Your W and E are both debuffs. This gives Nasus freedom to build on a budget if you're not fed or behind and still do his job well. He can, of course, be build like a bruiser tank/dps if you're doing well.
Buff dependency: C
Nasus likes his blue buff for spamming Spirit Fire and Siphoning Strike to clear camps faster and gain damage faster. He could go either buff, but blue is preferable. The main reason I'm giving Nasus a low rating is because he can be out-dueled very easily. If an Olaf, Udyr or Darius invade him early, he won't be able to fight back well until he obtains all three of his abilities. Just keep that in mind should you take a risky jungle path.
Multiple Advantages: A
Nasus has support, tank, and damage abilities. He can do a LOT for a team. Early/mid game he plays like a bruiser support and a bit of an aggro tank with his ultimate and Q farm. Late game he transitions into a dps-bruiser with his Q farm. His Q and R also let him take dragon as early as level 6, and his other abilities let him zone the opponent from stealing it. The one thing he can't do that well is initiate, which a lot of junglers like being able to do.
Useful at all stages: A-
Jungle Nasus is better than top lane Nasus in this category because he can gank and push in addition to farming for late game. He can't do too much early, much like top lane Nasus, but the ability to roam and support your lanes gives him an edge.
Other lanes: Top
The one huge advantage top lane Nasus gets over jungle is the massive amount of farm. Top Nasus often ranks up Q first and gets it fed as fast as possible to transition into late game. Top lane Nasus can duel very well at level 6 and will have the items to do so, unlike jungle Nasus. Whether or not you jungle or lane Nasus depends on your team.
This question is actually brought up to me plenty of times. People often ask how I decide to start my jungle and I started streaming the other day and I was still constantly asked how I decide the first few minutes of the game. That said, I might as well make an article to answer a several people at once. I had taken quite a bit to write this because of how convoluted it may be as early game decision making varies according to the variables of the game. There are other articles that I have already writt...
Read this for an idea on how to start you jungle day well!
Here he is guys. Nocturne is my favorite champion of all time, being the first champion I've played to the most played in ranked. He is a bit of an odd ball when it comes to jungling, as he is not exactly a carry jungler, nor is he a tank. He's more like Aatrox: an aggro tank that forces the enemy team into a dilemma: Kill him to peel him off the carry while your team rushes in, or leave the carry to die and prepare for the full-on engage. Regardless, Nocturne lives up to his ultimates name and really does wreak paranoia in foes.
Clear time: A-
Nocturne actually clears pretty fast, especially with blue buff + passive. He can turn into a farming jungler like Shyvana or Master Yi, but he arguably contributes more to team fights and can actually gank very well, especially past 6. Just keep in mind when invading that Nocturne isn't that tanky early, so play cautiously.
Ganking: B-/A
Nocturne's pre-6 ganks aren't very good. You only option is to use your Q as a gap closer and try to get in range to fear them (probably burning their flash). He does this really well with a teammate with hard CC like Shen or Ryze, though.
At level 6, you gain a HUGE boost in ganking potential. You can now jump over any terrain from a gigantic distance instead of having to go through the hassle of landing Duskbringer and coming up to them.
The most overlooked part of Paranoia is the darkness. EVERY lane will be scared when they see the screen flash to black. Even though you're only jumping on one target, you're indirectly ganking every lane since any smart player will back off out of fear that Nocturne could be anywhere.
Item efficiency: B
Nocturne enjoys damage, but he's not 100% dependent on it like Zed or Master Yi. In fact, Nocturne also enjoys some bulk because he generally goes in first or second in a team fight, unlike most other melee assassins. As such, he can utilize items like Randuin's Omen or Locket (my favorite). Nocturne only really needs 1-2 damaging items, which can be something like Ghostblade or BotRK, both of which are relatively efficient.
Buff dependency: B
Nocturne prefers a blue start to spam his Q and E for early clears, but he also really likes his red buff to do damage. If you're concerned about invades, you can start at either buff. Just keep in mind Nocturne's pre-6 ganks are really shaky without red buff.
Multiple Advantages: B
Nocturne obviously does a truckload of damage, but by now we know that isn't usually enough for a jungler. Fortunately, Nocturne offers his team a fear and the global gap closer/darkness. His ultimate alone makes him a pretty strong pubstomper. You have to be aware that Nocturne's niche is an "aggro-tank" or bruiser, not a full on assassin. You CAN initiate fights, but your team better be prepared to hop in fast otherwise you just got yourself killed. Nocturne is best paired alongside someone like Shen, who can initiate by himself. (The double global ultimates make for an extremely scary mid game, too)
Useful at all stages: A-
Nocturne isn't too threatening early on, but the second he hits level 6, the entire enemy team should be terrified. He is really annoying to deal with as the laning phase ends, as he can completely flip a lane around with one good ultimate. His damage lets him contest objectives well, and his ultimate/fear make him a menace in team fights. As long as you dont' fall too behind, you should make good use of Nocturne at any stage in the game.
Other lanes: Top/mid, but...
Nocturne is very awkward in solo lanes. Top lane, he unintentionally shoves out the lane with his Q and passive, making him prone to ganks. He can function pretty well as a roaming AD assassin mid (like Talon or Zed), but since he's very heavily melee based, he can get shut down early by enemy mages. I think Nocturne is best in the jungle due to his ganking, clear time, and flexibility.
