HotshotGG is now a jungler due to a massive roster shakeup amongst the NA professional teams. It's mindboggling, but it actually happened. While HotshotGG is a very popular and well known player, I've been concerned about his ability to transition ever since I heard the news.
Of all the role swaps moving from top lane to jungle is the most problematic. The top lane is typically very isolated until the mid game, with few responsibilities save farming and winning the lane. The jungler, by contrast, is constantly interacting with the whole map, ganking/covering lanes, timing buffs/dragon, tracking the enemy jungler and more. Switching from having almost no responsibilities early game to having nearly all of them is difficult.
In addition, HotshotGG has long epitomized the "farm forever, carry later" style of top lanes. More than any other player he's known for staying top even while action is happening elsewhere. Becoming a jungler requires moving away from that mindset, a difficult task considering the many years of play cementing it in place.
These issues, while notable, are surmountable challenges and ones I previously expected HotshotGG to overcome fairly quickly. Unfortunately, HotshotGG has gone out of his way to make this transition as difficult as possible.
The very basics of jungling, item/rune build and skill order, are lost on HotshotGG. Despite personally witnessing many professional junglers at work and owning a website filled with guides for popular jungle champions, HotshotGG has applied none of this to his jungling. As a result his early jungle games have been painful to watch.
HotshotGG's mistakes are novice level, the sort of error you'd expect from an unranked player. Amongst his crimes against the jungle are such failures as taking a point in Tiger Stance at level 2 on Udyr, ignoring Wriggle's on Shyvana, and building Doran's Shield. Just a few minutes of research or thought would have averted these disasters, something any professional player should be capable of.
This is not to say transitioning is impossible for HotshotGG, but that he's chosen the slowest, most difficult path forward possible in learning his new role. With his team relying on him to prove they can still be competitive, time is of the essence. All eyes are going to be on HotshotGG in upcoming matches and tournaments, and if he's still floundering the ramifications could be dire for him and his team.
For now I remain concerned, and will watch HotshotGG carefully in the days ahead.
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