Jungle Speed Does Not Equal Win

Since the Mundo craze that began after IPL a few months ago, the only thing summoners seem to care about when it comes to the jungle is jungle speed. Sejuani’s free week made me decide to pick her up (and buy a skin to prove I’m not a noob :) after not playing her since she came out, and I am having a blast and participating in some very one sided matches.

Nowadays, when people discuss junglers and their relative strengths, the first thing they say is “this champion has a slow jungle” or “this champion’s jungle is faster than that one” as if a jungler’s worth in League of Legends is only the speed with which he or she can clear the jungle.

This is simply ridiculous and a result of a ranked solo-queue mindset that is cancerous to both the fun of League of Legends as a game and it’s purity as an eSport.

Solo-queue creates some REALLY bad habits in summoners. Firstly, everyone attaches far too much importance on the first 5-10 minutes of the game, aka the “laning phase.” Summoners select champions, runes and even masteries based on their expectations of who they will be laning against.

How many times have you seen a solo-top lane summoner purchase ninja tabi because their opponent is AD? Even when in team fights Mercury Treads might be more important?

Since the pros discovered how to lose with Mundo, all they talk about is his fast jungle speed. And although it pains me to admit it, Mundo is really, really strong in the first 15 minutes of a game, but once team fights begin, I think he’s extremely weak and therefore a bad choice.

The reason I’ve always been a fan of Nautilus (who is receiving some attention at the pro level and likely receiving a nerf because of it in the upcoming patch-sadface) is not because of his jungle speed but because of the utility he brings to teamfights.

People in solo-queue are looking for a reason to give up. They let early ganks and kills make them think the game is lost. This is why jungle speed is considered valuable, and it’s a very bad reason.

Team fights win and lose games. Not jungle speed.