Dear junglers, I know times have been hard for you, and we know we haven’t treated you too well in the past. Too long have you been pressured to gank for your laners, only to lose games time and time again. Today, we’d like to change that, bringing you the best 5 junglers to win in solo queue.
Nocturne
Let’s start off with a classic. Nocturne is a famous menace in solo queue. He has a very simple but quick clearspeed, relatively strong duel power, and an all-powerful ultimate. Since Nocturne is so simple to play, it becomes easier to focus on what’s important: Keeping an eye on your lanes, and punishing the enemy when it matters.
Don’t feel pressured to gank early, but do keep an eye out for greedy enemies stepping up too far in lane. Grab as much experience as you can, get to level 6, and become terror incarnate. Try to fight where enemies don’t group, you’re stronger in picking people off one by one.
An advanced technique for Nocturne is using your ultimate to deny vision. Are you killing Baron Nashor, but the enemy is taking a look to contest? Throw out your ultimate, and make their approach ten times scarier. Stay creative and use your head, and you’ll give the enemy nightmares in no time.
Hecarim
Another cookie cutter jungler. Hecarim brings a good clear speed, great ganking potential and heavy snowballing power. In the midgame, he can become a massive threat due to his natural tankiness and AOE healing. Not only that, but his ultimate can change the course of the game in the right situation.
Clear the jungle early, and look for ganks. Since Hecarim takes Ghost over Flash, try to make use of it as soon as possible. Ghost has a lower cooldown than Flash, so even trading it is worth it for you. Charge up your E and try baiting out mobility spells before knocking the enemy right back in your team, taking them down. Bait even more mobility and hold out your ultimate for when they eventually try to escape.
Don’t underestimate your Q damage either. When it’s fully stacked, it can outdamage almost anything in the game. Get ahead, get tanky and pick off poor stragglers to gallop yourself to the win.
Zac
Here’s a curveball for you, or should we say curveblob? Generally, tank junglers aren’t popular in the jungle, but Zac still deserves a special shoutout, being a great tank pickup, even in high elo.
His biggest asset is his incredibly strong engaging power. Your E, Elastic Slingshot, lets you gank from so many different places, and from huge ranges. Stand behind walls in the fog of war and knock up the first person to walk into range.
Botlane is Zac’s kingdom. He only uses aoe or multi-target spells, and his damage in the early game isn’t great. Having two enemies to kill and two teammates to help thus is extremely useful. Become the engage your team needs later on in the game. You were made for that.. literally.
Diana
While assassins come from far and wide to the jungle, Diana is a pick that simply doesn’t want to die out. Proficient players perform magic on what’s a seemingly simple champion, and in the chaos of SoloQ, huge wombo combo ultimates are not that uncommon.
Just like Nocturne, Diana admittedly isn’t amazing in the early game. She shines when she starts picking up her first items, carefully picking off champions until she inevitably becomes unstoppable. Try to fight the enemy in tight spaces, where you can make use of massive multi-man ultimates to set your team up for victory.
Be careful of enemy junglers in the early game. They’ll be looking to stop your massive scaling potential. Stay in the dark and try to find surprise ganks to get you going, you’ll rise to a full moon when the night falls.
Viego
Not just a king of ruin, but also a king in SoloQ. Viego, while slightly more difficult to carry on, is still at the top of jungle solo carry champions. His on-hit playstyle allows him to completely overpower enemies when ahead, and his possession can set him up for some incredible outplays.
While you have decent early dueling power, it’s usually more beneficial to start farming and scaling up. Just like other on-hit champions, your powerspikes lie on your big item purchases. Apply the same game plan as Diana: Try to grab early ganks on unsuspecting laners, but consistently getting ahead on the enemy is your priority, as falling behind can quickly end your game.
Also, consider playing some ARAMs, playing Viego means never having enough champion knowledge, as befits a true ruler of the mist.
Dear junglers, we know times have been hard for you, but we hope these picks will help your journey to the top. Keep a cool head and show your laners who’s boss in this game.
Read more:
- The 5 best supports to climb in Season 12
- RGE Larssen: “I definitely think I’m the best mid laner in Europe”
- MSF Hiiva: “Shlatan has always been the strongest voice in any of our teams and that was one of the biggest reasons why we promoted him”
Which junglers do you use to climb? Join the discussion on social media or our Discord!
