Twitch star Tyler1 discussed League of Legends‘ most controversial role during his broadcast today, outlining what he believes is the primary problem with jungle.
Riot Games has made several changes to the role starting from season 11’s preseason, including making it more beginner-friendly, deploying positional nerfs, and widening the jungle champ pool. Add in a number of nerfs to the MOBA’s premier junglers, and the position has definitely given devs some balancing trouble. Tyler1 argues there’s very little risk in jungling because you can clear camps without taking much damage.
“The primary problem with jungle is there is no risk factor, you take no damage from camps,” he said. “So when you go for a stupid fucking gank, where you should be at risk of dying, you do it for free. You don’t have to recall until seven minutes.”
The streamer is likely pointing to junglers’ early-clear potential, which allows them to kill their camps and remain relatively healthy. They can then gank a lane with full health, return to their jungle to clear more camps, and replenish life with potions and Smite. By the time they recall to base, junglers can potentially accrue a lot of gold to spend on items.
This issue is compounded by the fact that the top junglers in the meta, like Udyr and Hecarim, enjoy high pick, ban, and win rates. They’ve also both been nerfed in multiple patches in season eleven alone and are capable of clearing camps, invading opposing junglers, and oppressing enemy laners.
But jungle continues to be the position that ostracizes a lot of players. Many opt to queue for other roles due to the jungle’s complexity, especially in lower ranks. Riot has tried to remedy this by making popular champs viable in the jungle, like Morgana and Darius, along with reducing the power of kiting camps. It still remains a polarizing position, however.
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