Season 3: Assorted Jungling Thoughts

Jungling is my forte, and I keep all my jungle setups in a document for when time and disuse lead to forgetfulness. As you might imagine, Season 3's jungle revamp has made my current document obsolete, warranting a lot of effort in updating it.

As I've been working my way through the list of forty or more champions, some more serious than others, there are a few trends that have come to my attention. It's early yet for there to be much certainty, but I'm confident in the following points.

First, there is a universal jungle setup which will more or less work for every single champion in the game. If you have but one rune page to spare for jungling, use this:

The Universal Jungle Rune Page:
Quints: Attack Speed
Marks: Attack Speed
Seals: Armor
Glyphs: Attack Speed

This page will not only work for 99% of junglers, but will most likely be the page that yields the fastest, and safest, clear time. Only Attack Speed scales the jungle-specific true damage on Hunter's Machete, so this isn't unexpected. The page is not optimal for all junglers, there are more considerations than just speed and safety (e.g. having enough Magic Resistance to not instantaneously die when ganking mid), but as far as universal pages go this is the most effective there's ever been.

Second, there is far less leeway for optimizing a jungle setup. In Season 2 jungling was easy enough that most of a jungle setup could be oriented towards concerns outside of the jungle. Season 3, being far less forgiving, demands that the bulk of one's attention be paid toward clearing the jungle. Some junglers have more leeway than others, but the majority make themselves more vulnerable and less effective early if they sacrifice clearing speed and safety for other goals.

Finally, a much greater number of junglers are likely to be viable than before. This seems like it would be in contrast to my second point, but in fact it is not. Because almost all junglers have been forced to shift toward Machete + 5 Potions as an opening, junglers who previously were lacking in sustain, but not necessarily killing power, are now much more competitive. While I doubt that certain champions are serious contenders due to other issues (e.g. Cassiopeia and Malzahar could not possibly function without Blue), the potential pool has widened. Whether we see these new options or not is going to depend on the meta.

Nothing terribly exciting, but any tectonic shifts in the meta have only just begun their rumblings. If you're disappointed simply wait a few more weeks. By then the meta might be five bruisers all building as many Black Cleavers as possible.