Patch day analysis will come tomorrow, for now I have some initial thoughts after taking advantage of the Akali changes.
It's not, unfortunately, very exciting news. While you can theoretically use other rune and mastery setups, my tests indicate that the same exact setup from before is the fastest, safest, and most effective in general. Other setups are functional, but inferior.
So if you really want to free up a rune page or modify one to be more general you can do so, just be aware that it will likely weaken any Akali jungling you plan on doing.
Showing posts with label jungle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label jungle. Show all posts
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Monday, January 28, 2013
Jungler: Thresh
Over the weekend I uploaded a jungle Thresh video. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
To begin, let me state emphatically that Thresh is a very difficult jungler.
The fancy kiting I do at Blue buff, the over the wall hooks, and the other execution optimizations you see in the video are not for show, they are all entirely necessary for Thresh to clear quickly and safely when he does not receive help. Without those optimizations Thresh's health falls dangerously low at Red buff, low enough that clearing Wraiths is a matter of how many crits you received at Wolves earlier in the clear, and if you do clear it is many seconds slower. To achieve the "par" of 4:00 game time with a respectable amount of health those tricky maneuvers were critical.
It's come up before, but I believe strongly in the need for junglers to practice jungling without help. This is not because no one will ever help you, but because sometimes they can't or something goes horribly wrong. Thresh is exactly the sort of jungler who catches unsuspecting players unawares, consigning them to disaster when anything out of the ordinary occurs.
On top of his potential to flounder on his first clear, Thresh also requires skillful use of skillshots in order to gank and support his team effectively. You must be able to land hooks, must be able to reflexively knock champions in the proper direction with his displacement, and must be able to judge the timing and proper placement of his lantern and ultimate. A Thresh who lacks any of these qualities, in or out of the jungle, will often be a liability.
Now that I've finished scaring you away from Thresh, let me state emphatically that Thresh is also a very powerful jungler.
Everyone hates and bans Blitzcrank for good reasons, and Thresh is worthy of the same ire. While his hook has a much greater windup time, its potential is no less frightening. It actually has a longer range than Blitzcrank's Rocket Grab, meaning Thresh can actually throw it from outside an opponent's vision. The long stun gives your allies ample time to move in and go for the kill, and following it up with Thresh's other displacement ability can result in equivalent or greater pulls than Blitzcrank.
Thresh also doesn't decent damage without needing to itemize for it. So long as he collects souls his Q passive will allow him to deal significant magic damage on each auto attack. In a long game he can easily function as though he had four Wit's Ends or more (minus the Attack Speed). Combined with his Armor and AP gains, he can be frighteningly tanky and still effective.
Playing Thresh requires finesse, but if you're willing to put in the hard work to learn the champion it is well worth the effort.
To begin, let me state emphatically that Thresh is a very difficult jungler.
The fancy kiting I do at Blue buff, the over the wall hooks, and the other execution optimizations you see in the video are not for show, they are all entirely necessary for Thresh to clear quickly and safely when he does not receive help. Without those optimizations Thresh's health falls dangerously low at Red buff, low enough that clearing Wraiths is a matter of how many crits you received at Wolves earlier in the clear, and if you do clear it is many seconds slower. To achieve the "par" of 4:00 game time with a respectable amount of health those tricky maneuvers were critical.
It's come up before, but I believe strongly in the need for junglers to practice jungling without help. This is not because no one will ever help you, but because sometimes they can't or something goes horribly wrong. Thresh is exactly the sort of jungler who catches unsuspecting players unawares, consigning them to disaster when anything out of the ordinary occurs.
On top of his potential to flounder on his first clear, Thresh also requires skillful use of skillshots in order to gank and support his team effectively. You must be able to land hooks, must be able to reflexively knock champions in the proper direction with his displacement, and must be able to judge the timing and proper placement of his lantern and ultimate. A Thresh who lacks any of these qualities, in or out of the jungle, will often be a liability.
Now that I've finished scaring you away from Thresh, let me state emphatically that Thresh is also a very powerful jungler.
Everyone hates and bans Blitzcrank for good reasons, and Thresh is worthy of the same ire. While his hook has a much greater windup time, its potential is no less frightening. It actually has a longer range than Blitzcrank's Rocket Grab, meaning Thresh can actually throw it from outside an opponent's vision. The long stun gives your allies ample time to move in and go for the kill, and following it up with Thresh's other displacement ability can result in equivalent or greater pulls than Blitzcrank.
Thresh also doesn't decent damage without needing to itemize for it. So long as he collects souls his Q passive will allow him to deal significant magic damage on each auto attack. In a long game he can easily function as though he had four Wit's Ends or more (minus the Attack Speed). Combined with his Armor and AP gains, he can be frighteningly tanky and still effective.
Playing Thresh requires finesse, but if you're willing to put in the hard work to learn the champion it is well worth the effort.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Initial Jungle Thresh Impressions
I had the opportunity to jungle Thresh in a ranked game last night. I've been tooling around with it for a while, and I have a few thoughts as to its viability.
First and foremost, Thresh's initial clear speed is slow and dodgy. Even going full offense and abusing early Smites to make use of Executioner, he still finishes after 4:00 game time. He can clear without help, but the aid of his team is extremely pivotal in helping him do so quickly and safely.
Second, it may have just been the game I played, but it seemed entirely worth it. His hook may not be as instantaneous as Blitzcrank's Rocket Grab, but the long duration stun combined with the displacement and the potential to follow up with another displacement is extremely potent for ganks. His lantern is a huge asset for tower dives, allowing one ally to essentially "Flash out" without blowing summoner spells. All in all, his utility is undeniable.
The rate at which Thresh gained souls as a jungler was a little behind the ideal. A well played Thresh gains roughly 40 souls per 10 minutes played, but in the Jungle it's closer to 30-35. With better farm, or better luck when ganking, it might have gone better.
Attack Speed is definitively vital to keeping Thresh's clear speed competitive. I built Wit's End due to Thresh's low Magic Resistance, but that may not be the best or only option.
There are still tests I need to do before I conclude I've found his "optimal" setup. Even if I do find a superior setup I think it likely he'll be much more popular as a support than as a jungler (simply due to degree of difficulty). Still, I think he has potential worthy of further experimentation.
First and foremost, Thresh's initial clear speed is slow and dodgy. Even going full offense and abusing early Smites to make use of Executioner, he still finishes after 4:00 game time. He can clear without help, but the aid of his team is extremely pivotal in helping him do so quickly and safely.
Second, it may have just been the game I played, but it seemed entirely worth it. His hook may not be as instantaneous as Blitzcrank's Rocket Grab, but the long duration stun combined with the displacement and the potential to follow up with another displacement is extremely potent for ganks. His lantern is a huge asset for tower dives, allowing one ally to essentially "Flash out" without blowing summoner spells. All in all, his utility is undeniable.
The rate at which Thresh gained souls as a jungler was a little behind the ideal. A well played Thresh gains roughly 40 souls per 10 minutes played, but in the Jungle it's closer to 30-35. With better farm, or better luck when ganking, it might have gone better.
Attack Speed is definitively vital to keeping Thresh's clear speed competitive. I built Wit's End due to Thresh's low Magic Resistance, but that may not be the best or only option.
There are still tests I need to do before I conclude I've found his "optimal" setup. Even if I do find a superior setup I think it likely he'll be much more popular as a support than as a jungler (simply due to degree of difficulty). Still, I think he has potential worthy of further experimentation.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Jungler: Akali (Season 3)
I've released a new jungle Akali video. It's just the basic route, but it still provides a good point of discussion.
It's been well over two years since I first started experimenting with jungle Akali. In that time she's gone from a joke, to low tier, to viable but inappropriate for the meta, to her current state. This slow but steady progression is fairly well documented in my numerous video guides archived on Youtube. It's funny to look back on her early jungling days, which were a very far cry the from the safe, fluid jungling she is now capable of.
Season 3 is perhaps the zenith of Akali's viability as a jungler. Dive compositions are becoming more popular due to the reduced effectiveness of tanks. At the same time early ganking junglers have much greater pressure to succeed, or else face falling behind their opponents who simply farmed for level 6 before ganking. That Akali has weak early ganks is no longer quite the handicap it once was.
Akali's weakest point is level 1, she does not do quite enough damage to clear a small camp before a buff spawns. With assistance at level 1 she can easily gain 10-20 seconds on her clear time. Add in Bladed Armor and taking Golems rather than Wolves before Red, and her clear speed is actually substantially faster than the video may lead you to believe. The video, however, was largely concerned with the basic, safest route and demonstrating Akali's strong sustain for the benefit of inexperienced junglers.
Whether jungling or laning, Hextech Gunblade is simply the best single item for Akali. Hitting 41% Spell Vamp turns Smite into a personal Heal when fighting near creeps. The slow is extremely good for chasing, especially with Akali's high single target damage. This also feeds into what I believe to be Akali's ideal build, Gunblade + Deathfire Grasp + Lich Bane. With those three items Akali can absolutely decimate any carry before they can react. The ideal build isn't possible in all games, but Gunblade is absolutely and irrefutably the core item.
Once you've hit level 6 or 7 on Akali you should be extremely aggressive, especially if you have enough gold for Sorcerer's Shoes or Hextech Revolver. Even without crowd control Akali's ganks are incredibly potent due to her extreme chase potential. So long as her opponents are not in the immediate vicinity of their towers Akali can easily force Flash and other summoners. She's absolutely terrifying one on one, capable of taking on practically any champion in the game (especially if she gets first strike). Your goal is to less to farm the jungle and more to farm the enemy team.
Your late-game role is the same as any assassin, be enough of a threat that if the enemy team doesn't pay attention to you and blows cooldowns on your allies they're guaranteed to lose one or more carries. The hardest targets to kill are typically carries with stuns and roots, as they can potentially use that time to flash out of your ultimate's range. Otherwise any target you have vision of is probably a dead target.
With the meta warping under the influence of Season 3, now is finally (I swear, really, this time it's true) Akali's chance to shine as a jungler. Try her out and enjoy emerging stealthily from the jungle to complete your covert assassination missions.
It's been well over two years since I first started experimenting with jungle Akali. In that time she's gone from a joke, to low tier, to viable but inappropriate for the meta, to her current state. This slow but steady progression is fairly well documented in my numerous video guides archived on Youtube. It's funny to look back on her early jungling days, which were a very far cry the from the safe, fluid jungling she is now capable of.
Season 3 is perhaps the zenith of Akali's viability as a jungler. Dive compositions are becoming more popular due to the reduced effectiveness of tanks. At the same time early ganking junglers have much greater pressure to succeed, or else face falling behind their opponents who simply farmed for level 6 before ganking. That Akali has weak early ganks is no longer quite the handicap it once was.
Akali's weakest point is level 1, she does not do quite enough damage to clear a small camp before a buff spawns. With assistance at level 1 she can easily gain 10-20 seconds on her clear time. Add in Bladed Armor and taking Golems rather than Wolves before Red, and her clear speed is actually substantially faster than the video may lead you to believe. The video, however, was largely concerned with the basic, safest route and demonstrating Akali's strong sustain for the benefit of inexperienced junglers.
Whether jungling or laning, Hextech Gunblade is simply the best single item for Akali. Hitting 41% Spell Vamp turns Smite into a personal Heal when fighting near creeps. The slow is extremely good for chasing, especially with Akali's high single target damage. This also feeds into what I believe to be Akali's ideal build, Gunblade + Deathfire Grasp + Lich Bane. With those three items Akali can absolutely decimate any carry before they can react. The ideal build isn't possible in all games, but Gunblade is absolutely and irrefutably the core item.
Once you've hit level 6 or 7 on Akali you should be extremely aggressive, especially if you have enough gold for Sorcerer's Shoes or Hextech Revolver. Even without crowd control Akali's ganks are incredibly potent due to her extreme chase potential. So long as her opponents are not in the immediate vicinity of their towers Akali can easily force Flash and other summoners. She's absolutely terrifying one on one, capable of taking on practically any champion in the game (especially if she gets first strike). Your goal is to less to farm the jungle and more to farm the enemy team.
Your late-game role is the same as any assassin, be enough of a threat that if the enemy team doesn't pay attention to you and blows cooldowns on your allies they're guaranteed to lose one or more carries. The hardest targets to kill are typically carries with stuns and roots, as they can potentially use that time to flash out of your ultimate's range. Otherwise any target you have vision of is probably a dead target.
With the meta warping under the influence of Season 3, now is finally (I swear, really, this time it's true) Akali's chance to shine as a jungler. Try her out and enjoy emerging stealthily from the jungle to complete your covert assassination missions.
Friday, December 7, 2012
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.
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.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Jungling: Practice
I was playing a normal game with a friend when the following exchange occurred:
Random Jungler: First time jungling Irelia, I should be fine*.
Montegomery: Wouldn't it be better to do a run-through in a custom game first?
Random Jungler: Why would I practice in a custom game when I can practice in normals?
I didn't answer then because engaging in debates over the merits of practice in the middle of a game is ill-advised. To answer succinctly now, practice in a custom game takes five minutes and can save you hours of pain and suffering.
For reasons I can only speculate, the LoL community is generally averse to any practice done outside of live games. The concept of creating a custom game in order to practice a specific skill in a controlled environment is anathema. Many players prefer to spend fifteen minutes waiting to surrender rather than have the opportunity for more practice. While you can learn via this method, it's grossly inefficient and prone to reinforcing bad habits.
Almost every sport and performance art makes use of drills, and with good reason. Drills are short, simple, and repeatable; they make it easy to pick out a mistake and quickly correct it. A proper drill is the fastest way to train a specific skill. It's nearly impossible to do something complicated if you haven't first honed fundamental, prerequisite skills.
Practice is neither glamorous nor exciting, but jumping straight into the deep end is a lesson in drowning, not in swimming. A few minutes of practice will save yourself many an ignominious performance.
*For reference the jungle Irelia started Cloth Armor, farmed slower than a Warwick, tried to build Trinity Force without first building Wriggle's or gp10s, died on most of her ganks, and was generally an embarrassment to junglers everywhere.
Random Jungler: First time jungling Irelia, I should be fine*.
Montegomery: Wouldn't it be better to do a run-through in a custom game first?
Random Jungler: Why would I practice in a custom game when I can practice in normals?
I didn't answer then because engaging in debates over the merits of practice in the middle of a game is ill-advised. To answer succinctly now, practice in a custom game takes five minutes and can save you hours of pain and suffering.
For reasons I can only speculate, the LoL community is generally averse to any practice done outside of live games. The concept of creating a custom game in order to practice a specific skill in a controlled environment is anathema. Many players prefer to spend fifteen minutes waiting to surrender rather than have the opportunity for more practice. While you can learn via this method, it's grossly inefficient and prone to reinforcing bad habits.
Almost every sport and performance art makes use of drills, and with good reason. Drills are short, simple, and repeatable; they make it easy to pick out a mistake and quickly correct it. A proper drill is the fastest way to train a specific skill. It's nearly impossible to do something complicated if you haven't first honed fundamental, prerequisite skills.
Practice is neither glamorous nor exciting, but jumping straight into the deep end is a lesson in drowning, not in swimming. A few minutes of practice will save yourself many an ignominious performance.
*For reference the jungle Irelia started Cloth Armor, farmed slower than a Warwick, tried to build Trinity Force without first building Wriggle's or gp10s, died on most of her ganks, and was generally an embarrassment to junglers everywhere.
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