League of Legends players can expect to see more non-traditional champions on the jungle pool in the next few patches.
In season 10, Riot tried to expand the Jungle champion pool by adding Darius, Garen, Talon, Zed, Diana, and Mordekaiser to the list. However, that experiment failed pretty badly. Most of the champions failed to surpass a 45% win rate, while others had a below 40% win rate.
Recently, on Patch 11.8, Riot decided to buff the off-meta jungle champions like Zed, Darius, Mordekaiser, Morgana, and Diana once again. And the results seem pretty solid so far for some of them.
Now, on the latest dev post, League of Legends Lead Game Designer Riot Jag has confirmed that more jungle changes are incoming on Patch 11.10.
“We’re looking forward to seeing the results of our 11.8 changes. If they turn out well, we’ll look to add even more champions to the jungle,” Riot Jag said. “In the meantime, expect more systemic jungle changes in 11.10, aimed at raising the jungle floor, and not the ceiling.”
Systemic jungle changes in Patch 11.10
Even though Riot didn’t reveal what systemic jungle changes they are bringing in patch 11.10 yet, Riot Jag cleared up what he actually meant by “raising the jungle floor” in a reply.
“In this case it means raising the minimum output of a jungler,” Riot Jag on raising the jungle floor. “Or in other words, making the worst jungler players less bad at it.”
Regarding the jungle, he also mentioned that currently, “the jungle is very intimidating to a lot of our players, especially in lower MMRs.”
So, based on Riot Jag’s comments, it is pretty much confirmed that they are planning to make the jungle role more beginner-friendly in patch 11.10.
More non-traditional champions to be added to the jungle pool
Riot is currently keeping an eye on the recently added jungle champions in patch 11.8. Based on the data, more champions will follow in the next few patches.
Riot also explained why they would add more non-traditional champions to the League of Legends jungle pool.
As more and more lower MMR players struggle to take advantage of the Jungle role, Riot saw an opportunity to ease the difficulty by adding more champions in the jungle so that those players can play the jungle with familiar champions.
Adding more popular non-traditional champions to the jungle pool will also help those players to learn jungle more efficiently, Riot believes.
Moreover, Riot also thinks adding more champions in the jungle role will increase the “diversity”.
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Kai’sa Jungle?
A Reddit user asked Riot Jag if they will ever make Kai’sa jungle viable in League of Legends. In replying to the comment, Riot Jag said, “It’s definitely possible but far too risky.”
Riot believes her presence in pro games is already high, and making her a flex pick will be more “dangerous” and, in her case, “disastrous.”
Is adding more champions to the Jungle pool any good? The current state of recently added champions
Adding more champions to the Jungle pool is definitely a good move by Riot Games, as most of the time, the jungle meta remains limited to three to four champions.
Giving a non-traditional champion a buff in the jungle role not only increases the diversity but can also impact the meta as well. Currently, the jungle role is dominated by Hecarim and Udyr. However, just after buffing Zed, Darius, Mordekaiser, Morgana, and Diana jungle, more and more players are picking these champions to make them work, and according to data, some are already in a good spot.
Just after the recent buff, Diana is currently sitting at a 52.13% win rate in the jungle with a 7.6% pick rate. Moreover, Morgana also has a 52.71% win rate in the jungle with a 6.7% pick rate, making both of them quite successful in the new role.
Even though Zed, Darius, and Mordekaiser are not shining that much, some players are still trying to make them work. And adding more champions will diversify the jungle role even more.
