We’ve all had games that felt completely unwinnable in League of Legends. It’s one of the worst feelings in the game. We’ve all had games that felt un-losable, only to end up throwing it late. There’s a reason we call it League of Throws.
As a Jungler, when every lane is losing, it can feel impossible to come back from the brink of defeat. I won’t lie; I’ve had plenty of games where it felt like I had to drag my team kicking and screaming across the finish line.
While not every single game is winnable, we can do things as Junglers to increase our winrate and turn many games around. In this guide, I will cover how to win those “unwinnable” Jungle games where every lane is losing. I’ve had over a decade of experience Jungling and have picked up these tips through experience and the teachings of players much better than myself.
Find the Easiest Gank
Even if it feels like every single lane is getting stomped, this isn’t the case most of the time. You have to identify as early as possible which lane you can gank. If you don’t identify this lane soon enough, it will give the enemy team time to ensure that every lane really is losing too hard to come back.
Do any of your laners have a stun or a lot of innate damage? Think about Champions like Renekton. Even if Renekton is behind on farm and kills, he can easily jump through minions and land a stun. It’s tough for a Renekton to mess up his combo, meaning he’s the perfect Champion for you to gank. If you can land a couple of easy kills, it could give you the strength to kill stronger enemy lanes and switch the game’s momentum.
After landing an easy kill, you can even transition to an objective. If you have a strong Bot lane, try to creep through the bush and execute a lane gank. Afterward, you can grab Dragon, and all of a sudden, you’re in a position to win the game.
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Prioritize a Scaling Lane
Sometimes your team comp doesn’t have any Champions that are easy to help. In that case, you should focus your efforts on scaling. If you can get a Champion like Kayle, Vayne, or Ryze ahead, they can carry you to victory. League offers losing teams a lot of comeback potential, and you need to take advantage of that.
Even if you can’t net these Champions kills, maybe you can relieve some of the pressure so that they can farm. Try to stall the game as long as possible and allow your team to scale if they can’t win lane outright.
Counter Gank
If every lane is losing due to the enemy Jungler being everywhere, you need to answer that Jungler. Even if your Champion isn’t as good at ganking as the enemy (Think Yi v.s. Shaco), you still need to do something. Many Junglers make the mistake of power farming while the enemy Jungler runs the map, which may work out sometimes, but definitely not every time.
If you can’t find easy ganks because all of your lanes are losing and pushing, try to find the opportunity to counter gank the enemy Jungler. Winning a fight after a counter gank can shut the enemy Jungler down and allow you to take an objective or some of his farm. In a perfect game, it will also tilt that Jungler and allow you to grab a few more kills on them during the laning phase.
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Objectives
In modern League of Legends, most Junglers can solo Dragon very early. If every lane is losing and ganking is not an option, try to secure a Drake or two. Make sure to buy plenty of Pink wards because the worst thing you could do is get killed while trying to solo-kill Dragon. This would inevitably tilt your team even more and also throw away any hope you had of being the hero of the story.
Rift Harold takes a bit longer to solo than Dragon and doesn’t offer the full-team advantage that Dragon does. However, it is a lot safer to secure than Drake because the Top laner is less likely to come sniffing around than the Support.
Keep track of the enemy Jungler when deciding which objective to attempt. Also, think about which side of the map you spawned on. If your base is behind the Dragon Pit wall, then you’ll be a lot more vulnerable than if you spawned on the Red side (Top – Right).
Hard Farm
So there are no gankable lanes. The enemy Jungler is stronger than you, so you can’t counter gank. Doing an objective would be suicide, and you just can’t seem to make anything happen. What do you do now? Farm your heart out.
I do not like being this desperate because you’re practically leaving the game up to the enemy team. However, sometimes it is the only option left. This strategy intuitively works well for Champions like Kha’Zix, Master Yi, and other scaling Junglers. But many Junglers do not realize it is an option for early game Junglers like Shaco and Kha’Zix.
If your Jungler has a solid early game, but you can’t make ganks happen, there’s no need to worry. Just farm up, try to keep your levels above the enemy ADC, and wait for an opportunity to fall in your lap. In 99% of your games, I promise that there will be a chance for you to turn the game around. If you’re under-leveled, you’re more likely to blow that chance.
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Counter Jungle
Finally, one of the best ways to get back in the game is to counter Jungle the enemy. If you notice the enemy Jungler is ganking Top lane, take the opportunity to run to their bot-side Jungle and grab as much farm as you can. This strategy will allow you to gain XP, while denying the enemy Jungler their farm.
When you take an enemy camp, leave behind a little minion so that the camp won’t respawn until the other Jungler clears it. You can clear the camp entirely if you think you’ll be back when it respawns.
Be careful while you’re counter Jungling. The last thing you need is to die in the enemy Jungle. This will not only feed an enemy laner or Jungler, but it will completely tilt your team (especially whoever’s lane killed you). Buy lots of pink wards, and pay attention to missing lanes and the enemy Jungler’s last known location.
Not every game is winnable in League of Legends, but our goal as competitive players is to flatten the curve and raise our winrate. With these tips, I hope you’ll be able to win at least a few more of those unfortunate games where every lane is feeding, and the game seems hopeless. No matter what happens, remember to keep your mind focused on improvement, and there’s no doubt that you’ll see positive results in your gameplay.
