League of Legends Patch 10.4 was a big one. With nerfs to Soraka and Sona in the top lane, buffs to tank items, adjustments to runes, and the addition of jungle capabilities to champions we don’t traditionally see in that role, it has completely changed the meta.


New junglers

Darius, Diana, Garen, Gnar, Mordekaiser, Talon, and Zed have all had certain skills or their passive changed so that they deal more damage to jungle monsters.

This is the first time Riot Games has given a boost to off-meta junglers to help them in their clear.

Darius
Passive – Hemorrhage damage now deals 120% damage to all monsters
Q – Decimate Heal now heals from large monsters

Diana
Passive – Moonsilver Blade damage increased by 150% on non-Epic monsters

Garen
E – Judgement damage now deals 150% damage to non-Epic monsters

Gnar
W – Hyper base maximum bonus damage to monsters from 100/150/200/250/300 to 300 at all levels

Mordekaiser
Passive – Darkness Rise maximum damage to monsters 15-100 (levels 1-18) to 25-120 (levels 1-18)

Talon
Passive – Blade’s End monster damage abilities now wound all monsters for 120% damage

Zed
Passive – Contempt For The Weak damage increased by 100% against monsters
Passive – Contempt For The Weak maximum damage to monsters from 120/240/360 (levels 1, 7, 17) to 200/350/500 (levels 1, 7, 17)



The best new junglers for every skill level

Typically, junglers fall into two categories: Hard crowd-control, gank-heavy junglers (eg. Jarvan IV, Elise, Gragas) and farming junglers that want to scale (eg. Karthus, Kindred, Master Yi).

So when it comes to these champions that were not originally designed to be junglers, it is difficult to put them in either category. These buffs will not propel them into professional play, but they do give off-role players more options to fill while climbing the ranked ladder.

If you’re keen to try them out, we’ve grouped them into three levels of difficulty.

Beginners

Diana, Mordekaiser

  • They do AoE spell damage to camps, and are able to clear camps faster than their counterparts on this list.
  • Due to her passive Moonsilver Blade, which gives her bonus attack speed and extra damage, Diana already has a decent clear.
  • Diana’s Lunar Rush (E) with Moonfall (R) and Mordekaiser’s Death Grasp (E) provide them with a gap closer and CC which makes ganking easier.

Intermediate

Garen, Darius

  • You’ll need to learn how to cancel auto attacks and kite jungle creeps.
  • Garen’s Judgment (E) and Darius’ Decimate (Q) provide some AoE damage to camps. Spin to win.
  • Neither Garen nor Darius have a gap closer, so run the Predator rune and… run towards enemies the best you can.

Advanced

Talon, Zed, Gnar

  • Kiting is crucial when it comes to these junglers, otherwise your HP bar will plunge, leaving you vulnerable to invades and reducing your ability to gank.
  • Talon, Zed and Gnar’s power spikes at level 6. Gnar will have access to Wallop (W), while Talon and Zed will be able to dish out maximum damage as assassins.
  • For Talon, you’ll have to hit the right angles of attack utilizing Assassin’s Path to increase the success of ganks.

If you’re not having any luck with these new junglers, the top tier meta junglers, Ekko, Elise, Jarven IV, and Lee Sin are still top picks.

If you’re looking for less mainstream junglers, Camille is making a comeback alongside Pantheon who was successfully used by Jankos of G2 Esports in their match against SK Gaming in the LEC.

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