Choosing the right Junglers makes a huge difference to your team’s success in League of Legends, and the new Feats of Strength mechanic this season makes you select junglers that can directly help your team to secure those objectives in the early game.
While most of the junglers in League have their strengths and weaknesses. Some champions have a solid early-game prowess in their clear speed, invasion pressure, and macro mobility, which makes them a no-brainer pick in the current meta. They’ll help your team put pressure on the opponents by securing the objectives and help your team get the Triumphant Boots upgrades to get a massive boost.
This list of top-tier champions can change depending on several things such as buffs/nerfs to various champions. So, it can be difficult to keep up with the flavor-of-the-month champs, so let us do it for you. Here are our top junglers for League’s Patch 25.S1.1 (15.1).
Best League of Legends junglers in Patch 25.S1.1 (15.1)
The list includes the five strongest picks in the current meta.
- Elise
- Skarner
- Nocturne
- Viego
- Wukong
You can find the full jungle tier list at the bottom of the article.
Elise
It didn’t take long for Elise to take over the meta in Patch 14.19 after the developer introduced a few quality-of-life buffs to her. After rising to power in the jungle, she was nerfed by Riot in the latest update, but that wasn’t enough to send Elise to her demise. The champion is still one of the strongest in the current League meta.
| Pros | Cons |
| – Creative gameplay – Strong ganks – Versatile playstyle | – Falls off in the late game – Can quickly become useless if she falls significantly behind |
Despite receiving some changes in the last few patches, the core of Elise’s gameplay remains the same. She’s a creative jungler with two forms—human and spider. Using them both in combat is key to achieving success, and with numerous combinations you can do, playing Elise hardly gets boring. More importantly, it often brings you success.
Elise shines the brightest in both early- and mid-game, where her powerful crowd control and damage can secure you some easy kills in ganks and fights for neutral objectives. You should always try to land a Cocoon on enemy targets first, followed by Neurotoxin and Volatile Spiderling, before switching to the spider queen mode and finishing off the enemy with your other abilities. This combo is easy to land yet often proves dangerous, especially for squishy targets. Additionally, Elise’s cooldowns are quite low and don’t cost much, so you will hardly ever run out of fuel.
| Area of Interest | Best options for Elise |
|---|---|
| Best runes | Rune tree one: Domination – Dark Harvest – Sudden Impact – Grisly Mementos – Treasure Hunter Rune two: Precision – Triumph – Coup de Grace Offense: Attack speed Flex: Adaptive force Defense: Health |
| Best items | – Sorcerer’s Shoes – Stormsurge – Mejai’s Soulstealer – Zhonya’s Hourglass Mejai’s Soulstealer asks for aggressive gameplay. However, if you feel like grabbing early kills and lead might be tough due to champion compositions, you may replace it with another pick. There are plenty to choose from both in terms of looking for an alternative for Mejai’s and seeking something to round out your build with. These include Shadowflame, Rylai’s Crystal Scepter and Void Staff, or even Rabadon’s Deathcap if you’re looking to go all in. |
| Best Summoner’s Spells | – Flash – Smite |
| Best build path | – Volatile Spiderling/Skittering Frenzy (W) – Neurotoxin/Venomous Bite (Q) – Cocoon/Rappel (E) Once you hit level three, make sure to max Q, then W, and E by the end of your game. Always put points in your ultimate when possible. |
| Toughest matchups | – Zed – Hecarim – Nocturne – Taliyah – Kha’Zix – Evelynn |
Skarner
Ever since his rework earlier this year, Skarner has been a fearless pick in League. That’s still the case in Patch 14.21, where he continues to find himself among the strongest junglers. With his versatile kit and ability to soak up tons of damage, you shouldn’t be surprised.
| Pros | Cons |
| – Tanky – Great crowd control – Easy to play, rewarding when mastered | – Typical frontline that won’t do much on his own – Susceptible to invades |
Contrary to Elise, Skarner’s gameplay isn’t the most creative. However, that doesn’t change the fact it’s still immensely satisfying. The idea behind his kit is to become a massive juggernaut who will both engage onto the enemy team and soak as much damage as possible while the rest of your team cleans the table. Believe me, grabbing multiple enemies with Skarner’s ultimate and literally dragging them to their demise is incredibly fun. On the downside, you won’t be able to do anything without your teammates since your damage will be practically nonexistent.
Still, try to make as much impact with your ganks as possible and stack both armor and magic resist towards that late game.
| Area of Interest | Best options for Skarner |
|---|---|
| Best runes | Rune tree one: Resolve – Grasp of the Undying – Shield Bash – Conditioning – Overgrowth Rune two: Inspiration – Magical Footwear – Approach Velocity Offense: Ability haste Flex: Health based on level Defense: Health based on level |
| Best items | – Mercury’s Treads/Plated Steelcaps – Heartsteel – Sterak’s Gage Like with any tank, there are numerous build options for Skarner, especially if he finishes his core items. What you pick will mostly depend on the enemy team composition. If they’re stacked in AP-dealing champions, you should go for magic resist and so on. Picks like Spirit Visage, Thornmail, Frozen Heart, Warmog’s Armor, or Jak’Sho, The Protean work brilliantly. However, my personal favorite is Unending Despair because of its passive ability to deal damage to nearby enemies in combat. As a Scorpion King who wants to be in the middle of each fight, it’s a perfect match. |
| Best Summoner’s Spells | – Flash – Smite |
| Best build path | – Shattered Earth/Upheaval (Q) – Seismic Bastion (W) – Ixtal’s Impact (E) After getting to level three, your Q should be the main priority. Then, put points in W and E, respectively. |
| Toughest matchups | – Rengar – Shaco – Graves – Rek’Sai – Warwick – Xin Zhao |
Nocturne
In a metagame of tower-diving enemy champions, Nocturne makes ganking lanes a whole lot easier. Thanks to his ability to literally turn the lights off with his ultimate, he’s a force to be reckoned with in the current meta.
| Pros | Cons |
| – Unique ultimate that makes ganking easier – High damage – Mobile – Can snowball immensely if allowed | – Easy to shut down early – Almost useless if behind – Quite tough to get the hang of quickly |
Despite being immensely strong, Nocturne is useless until he reaches level six. Before that, ganking without his ultimate can only work if you flank. The champion has an admirably fast jungle clear, though, so reaching that milestone level six shouldn’t be time-consuming.
Once you hit your ultimate, it’s time for some action. In the early levels, it’s used primarily for ganking, but as the game goes on, it can also serve as a valuable tool in other situations. During fights for League‘s neutral objectives in the jungle, you can utilize the power to turn the vision of Baron or Drake off for the enemy team.
| Area of Interest | Best options for Nocturne |
|---|---|
| Best runes | Rune tree one: Precision – Conqueror – Triumph – Legend: Alacrity – Last Stand Rune two: Domination – Grisly Mementos – Ultimate Hunter Offense: Attack Speed Flex: Adaptive Force Defense: Health |
| Best items | – Stridebreaker – Plated Steelcaps/Mercury’s Treads – Experimental Hexplate Nocturne has a lot of solid options when it comes to late-game items. Black Cleaver, Eclipse, Death’s Dance, Edge of Night Maw of Malmortius are all valuable items. It all depends on what type of team composition you are facing and what kind of stats you need to boost in the first place. |
| Best Summoner’s Spells | – Flash – Smite |
| Best build path | – Duskbringer (Q) – Shroud of Darkness (W) – Unspeakable Horror (E) Max out Q, then E, and then W as the last ability. |
| Toughest matchups | – Udyr – Morgana – Zac – Gragas – Lillia – Wukong |
Viego
Viego has one of the versatile kits, with a few standout elements that make him a potent pick.
| Pros | Cons |
| – Fast clearing speed, which helps him to counter-jungle his opponents as well – No mana with solid sustain to always stay ahead in farm – Decent mobility and strong CC – Versatile option with many team combinations | – Weak dueling in the early game, scales up in the late game – Champions can counter him with anti-heal and ranged champions can kit him to death – A high ban rate in competitive, so it’s hard to get your hands on him. |
With Viego, you want to use your no mana to your advantage and avoid one-to-one duels with the enemy champions until you unlock all your abilities. Use your sustain to stay healthy and keep farming jungle champions to finally help one of your lanes with a gank to help them secure a kill.
Your real power spike comes in level six when you unlock your ultimate and utilize the possessed enemies’ abilities to snowball teamfights and aggressively out-farm your opposite jungler. If you face problems in the early game, use your CC and get help from your teammates to farm safely and reach level six to take over the lanes and any major objectives.
| Area of Interest | Best options for Viego |
|---|---|
| Best runes | Rune tree one: Precision – Press the Attack – Triumph – Legend: Alacrity – Last Stand Rune two: Inspiration – Magical Footwear – Cosmic Insight Offense: Attack Speed Flex: Adaptive Force Defense: Health based on level |
| Best items | – Blade of the Ruined King (Q) – Harrowed Path (E) – Spectral Maw (W) Viego needs to start with his Q to get a super-fast jungle clear. After that, put points in E and W to unlock his mobility as well as CC’s ability to complete his kit. Now, you are ready to gank enemies in their lanes and steal their bodies to snowball the matches to victory. |
| Best Summoner’s Spells | – Flash – Smite |
| Best build path | – Blade of the Ruined King (Q) – Harrowed Path (E) – Spectral Maw (W) Viego needs to start with his Q to get a super-fast jungle clear. After that, put points in E and W to unlock his mobility and CC ability to complete his kit. Now, you are ready to gank enemies in their lanes and steal their bodies to snowball the matches to victory. |
| Toughest matchups | – Amumu – Warwick – Rammus – Wukong – Nocturne |
Wukong
Wukong has been steadily climbing the ranks among junglers due to his strong invisibility skill and solid armor-shredding with his Q that help him take enemies by surprise and secure first blood.
| Pros | Cons |
| – Strong burst damage to excel in one-to-one combat. – Solid disengage to safely exit bad teamfights – Great initiator of teamfights | – Lack of CC abilities in his kit makes it harder for him to gank lanes. – Weaker than other junglers until he completes his first items |
Since Wukong doesn’t have any CC abilities in his kit, he pairs well with champions like Renekton, Syndra, and others with access to stuns in their kit, making it easy for him to land his combo and secure easy kills.
His clone also plays a huge part in disrupting teamfights and breaking the momentum of the enemy. Once you reach the mid-game and get two to three items in your build, Wukong can burst down small targets easily by himself and set up advantageous teamfights for his side. So, if you couldn’t get your Feats of Strength, Wukong is here to help clutch matches without any buffs with his utility and solid damage.
| Area of Interest | Best options for Udyr |
|---|---|
| Best runes | Rune tree one: Precision – Conqueror – Triumph – Legend: Alacrity – Last Stand Rune two: Inspiration – Magical Footwear – Cosmic Insight Offense: Attack Speed Flex: Adaptive force Defense: Health based on level |
| Best items | Crushing Blow (Q) Nimbus Strike (E) Warrior Trickstar (W) Maximize R and Q first, then E and W by the end of your build. This order lets you have the most damage on your most used ability which is Q and makes you very strong with upgrades on your other abilities. |
| Best Summoner’s Spells | – Flash – Smite |
| Best build path | Crushing Blow (Q) Nimbus Strike (E) Warrior Trickstar (W) Maximize R and Q first, then E and W by the end of your build. This order lets you have the most damage on your most used ability, which is Q, and makes you very strong with upgrades on your other abilities. |
| Toughest matchups | – Viego – Kayn – Hecarim – Nocturne – Graves |
Tier list of best League of Legends junglers in Patch 25.S1.1 (15.1)
Every jungler is playable in the current meta to some extent. While the five picks explained above make for the best ones in our judgment, there are a handful of others who are strong in Patch 15.1. Here’s the full-tier list.
| Tier | Champions |
| S | Elise, Nocturne, Skarner, Viego, Wukong |
| A | Taliyah, Fiddlesticks, Ekko, Qiyana, Gragas, Wukong, Shyvana, Xin Zhao, Evelynn, Rengar, Sejuani, Teemo, Dr. Mundo, Brand, Trundle, Zed, Olaf, Maokai |
| B | Hecarim, Jarvan IV, Talon, Kayn, Kindred, Warwick, Rek’Sai, Zac, Ivern, Nunu & Willump, Poppy, Pantheon, Rammus, Shaco |
| C | Taliyah, Fiddlesticks, Ekko, Qiyana, Gragas, Wukong, Shyvana,, Xin Zhao, Evelynn, Rengar, Sejuani, Teemo, Dr. Mundo, Brand, Trundle, Zed, Olaf, Maokai |
| D | Amumu, Lee Sin, Vi, Volibear, Briar, Gwen, Master Yi, Sylas, Naafiri, Zyra |
Published: Jan 19, 2025 2:17 PM UTC