Theory: Rushing Level 6

There are a number of junglers for whom hitting level 6 is a gigantic turning point. Whether they gain ganking utility, mobility, or sheer strength the acquisition of their ultimates pushes them into a whole new level of power.

Hitting level 6 as a jungler, however, has never been more difficult. It used to be that a wide array of junglers could easily hit level 6 as soon as 6:20 game time. Post-remake a jungler is lucky if they can hit level 6 at 7:30, with times such as 8:30 being much more common. For this reason junglers who are almost wholly reliant on their ultimates for their early game effectiveness, such as Warwick, have become unpopular.

That said, in the new jungle it is possible for a jungler to hit level 6 by 6:30 game time or sooner, faster than even a solo lane. For this to happen two conditions must be met. First, you must successfully gank a solo lane after finishing your first clear. Second, your ally must recall and cede all exp/farm in the lane. Only in these conditions, or those far more favorable, can this be done.

At the end of a clear (Wolves -> Blue -> Wraiths -> Wolves -> Red -> Wraiths -> Golems) a jungler will have obtained a total of ~1320 exp, more than enough for level 4. Successfully ganking a solo lane, who should also be level 4, will yield ~230 exp for both the jungler and their ally. If the ally recalls at this point the jungler will easily have two waves they can clear, netting a total of ~530 exp. At this point if the jungler clears their small camps once more, worth ~440 exp, they'll hit level 6.

This situation can happen unintentionally, such as when your laning ally is too weak following a successful gank to keep laning. However, I suggest the possibility of intentionally ceding the lane to a jungler with a strong level 6, even if the laner might otherwise be able to keep farming.

In this scenario the sacrifice made by the solo lane is outweighed by the team-wide advantage of having a stronger jungler, especially in the case of the isolated top lane. Giving Warwick, Nocturne, Skarner, Hecarim et al their strong ganking ultimates early allows them to apply huge amounts of pressure across the map. The sacrificing lane is already ahead thanks to their kill/assist, and because their laning opponent is dead they won't fall behind on farm in the meantime. It's still a sacrifice, but in this situation I suggest it is a worthy one.

There are other ways to do it, but they are either much rarer situations or require a sacrifice where your lane is actively put at a disadvantage. While you can attempt to use your advantage to remedy that, it's a much greater risk and far more difficult to accomplish intentionally.

In conclusion, I strongly believe there's a place for ceding lanes to junglers just as they often cede their own camps to their lanes. Teams already practice this in more mundane forms through the covering of lanes. Advanced applications, such as the one I've outlined, are simply the next step.