The jungle champion pool in patch 10.6 continues to welcome new faces with names like Brand, Morgana, Shen,… With this move, Riot hopes players will have more viable options, instead of being confined to just a few specific champions as in the past.
However, the main issue leading to the limited jungle champion pool with few viable choices still lies in the amount of gold and experience that jungle camps provide. Until this issue is completely resolved, players will still be forced to select strong gank champions right from level 3 to solve the economic dilemma. Here are the top 5 most stable jungle champions in the patch 10.6 meta for players to choose from:
1. Elise
With a nerf aimed at any top lane champion using Teleport, the priority for strong gank champions starting at level 3 is increasing. Elise is one of the best champions in this regard in League of Legends. Her Spiderling (E) can be combined with any top lane champion with crowd control effects to ensure the first blood, while her Skittering Frenzy (E) further enhances this ability with easy turret diving potential.
However, it’s important to note that if you are used to a “farm” jungle playstyle, Elise can be a significant challenge for you. She requires early leads to be effective in the mid and late game. If she cannot provide an early advantage for the team, she will have little use other than providing some crowd control with Spiderling in team fights.
2. Rek’Sai
Another strong early game jungle champion – Rek’Sai has gained an edge lately with changes to the Conqueror rune and the Blade Surge. Her ability to initiate crowd control instantly with a Flash – Burrow (W) combo can easily secure a kill for any solo laner at level 3. Like Elise, Rek’Sai can also easily dive towers with her ultimate.
In the mid and late game, Rek’Sai has the potential to dive deep into the enemy formation with her Tunnel (E). She can also secure kills on major objectives like Dragon and Baron by combining Smite with Feast (E) to deal a thousand true damage in an instant.
3. Olaf
Olaf has surged in popularity in Season 10, partly due to the rise of sustain support champions top lane like Janna, Sona, and Soraka. In objective contest situations during the mid game, Olaf can simply activate his Ragnarok (R) to eliminate enemy carries while receiving tremendous healing from Reckless Swing (W).
Like Rek’Sai, Olaf benefits greatly from the Conqueror rune and can also gank powerfully right from level 3 if he can pick up axes from Undertow (Q) multiple times. But it’s important to note that if the opponents do not have strong sustain champions like Soraka or Janna, Olaf will be quite weak in the late game due to not having the same power threshold as enemy carry champions at this time.
4. Lee Sin
Lee Sin, similar to Akali, has an extremely high skill ceiling making him one of the most dangerous weapons in the hands of high Elo players or in professional play. His ability to sustain through easily clearing jungle camps makes him one of the most aggressive early game junglers and allows him to solo Dragon as early as level 5.
But like Elise, Lee Sin needs to get ahead very early to be effective in the mid and late game. If he fails to do so, he can only be useful for the team with an inSec combo – Dragon’s Rage (R) to kick back the enemy carry toward his team.
5. Karthus
Karthus is a champion that only needs one button to succeed, making him a deadly threat that’s hard to deal with. He relies heavily on reaching level 6, meaning he is quite weak in the early game, especially for players struggling to camp the jungle and follow the proper jungle route.
However, once Karthus gets two major items and stacks up Dark Harvest, he can easily scale in strength during the late game. After completing Rabadon’s Deathcap, he can force the enemy team to give up on contesting major objectives with his ultimate Requiem (R) or turn the tide of team fights with Zhonya’s Hourglass combined with Defile (E).