"Art of Ganking"

P2

     Hey guys! This is part 2 of my "Art of Ganking" blog post. In this post, I'll be discussing specific gank methods that are incredibly effective in low elo as well as talking about how to efficiently farm while getting ganks off so you're not too underleveled.

     Mean Ganks

Level 2 Invade

     So the first gank that I'll be discussing isn't exactly a gank. You invade the enemy jungler at their 2nd buff or even at their first buff and try to force a summoner or kill. This is most often done by a champion who has an incredibly strong level 2 (e.g. Lee Sin/Pantheon/Rengar).

Red Side (Green represents the friendly jungler. Red represents the enemy jungler.)

Blue Side 

     For maximum efficiency, this gank should be done with you starting red buff for the burn and the slow. You can still do it if you start blue buff but it's not quite as effective.

     The first step for this invade is before you even start moving towards their jungle. You need to figure out where the enemy jungler is starting. One method to do so is to walk towards their jungle before 1:30 to drop a ward in their jungle. This is dangerous, however, because you might get caught out by their team. The easiest method is to start on your buff and watch to see which lane arrives to lane late. If top lane arrives to their lane late, it's likely that the jungler started top side. If bottom lane arrives late, it's likely that the jungler started bottom side.

     Before I discuss the next step, the key thing you need to know is that most junglers don't start buffs anymore and will instead start Krugs/Gromp. We'll be discussing the invade pattern on the assumption that the enemy jungler will be starting on either of those.

     If you start red buff and the enemy jungler starts on their red buff **side**, your best bet is to invade their blue buff. Kill your razorbeaks and then proceed to get into position at their blue buff. You'll want to ward it and then move back into the river bush while waiting for them to start it.

     If you start red buff and the enemy jungler starts on their blue buff **side**, your best bet is to invade them when they start on their buff. So in this scenario, you kill your red buff, immediately run towards their blue buff, and engage them on it because it's likely that they're at sub 40% health if they're a relatively squishy champion. Do NOT try to do a camp in this scenario.

     If you start blue buff and the enemy jungler starts on their red buff **side**, you can still invade them though your kill potential is significantly lower. In this case, you kill blue buff for level 2, run immediately towards their red buff, and engage them on it. Again, do NOT try to do a camp.

     If you start blue buff and the enemy jungler starts on their blue buff **side**, don't bother going for an invade. It'll take too long to get there and you don't have much kill potential with only blue buff as it is.

     For the most part, you want to wait until the enemy jungler is already engaged with the buff since they'll be taking extra damage from it. Wait until the enemy jungler is almost dead or the buff is around 50% health. You'll want to either kill the enemy jungler and then secure the buff or just smite steal the buff away and run.

     If done correctly, you can effectively shut down the enemy jungler by taking their double buffs. If the enemy laners aren't paying attention, you can even steal a camp or two which will hinder the enemy jungler severely.

Level 2 Ganks

     Level 2 ganks are incredibly high risk, high reward. It's worth it on a lot of champions who have incredibly high kill potential (e.g. stuns/high damage) and is best used if the laner you're ganking for has some sort of CC (e.g. Ahri/Ryze/Nami). 

     

     For level 2 ganks, I recommend ALWAYS starting red buff. Once you kill the red buff, you immediately look for a gank in the adjacent lanes. If you're the red side jungler, look for a gank on an overextended top laner or mid laner. If you're the blue side jungler, look for a gank on an overextended bottom lane or mid laner. If they aren't overextended or are playing safe, don't bother going for a level 2 gank and continue farming. It's pointless to be too patient about it you'll end up being set behind.

     Remember, the goal for the level 2 gank is to shift the advantage of a lane to your laner. If you can force a flash or secure a first blood, it's worth it. If you think there's a potential that neither will happen, don't bother. 

Camping

     I know what you might be thinking. Camping is really mean and a really cheesy strategy. Well, the name of this entire section is "Mean Ganks". Camping is an effective strategy and can tilt the enemy laner. This can end up winning you the game because the enemy laner is likely to get upset with their jungler. In addition, you can also use it to snowball a lane very hard. 

     There's no picture involved with this part so I'll just be discussing times where camping is okay. 

     The times I camp are generally when I manage to force an escape summoner out of a laner with a gank and the laner still plays aggressive. In these cases, I immediately go for another gank if they overextend again to secure a kill. If they return to lane and continue to play aggressive, I go for another gank and so on. This results in free gold for you as well as shifting the lane advantage to your laner. 

     It's also a good idea to camp for a laner if the laner you're ganking for is playing a snowball-y champion (e.g. Akali/Katarina). If you can get your laner fed, they can carry very effectively with those types of champions. Try to camp for lanes that have difficult matchups as well (e.g. Vayne vs Draven/Rengar vs Darius).

Farming 

     This section is going to be significantly shorter than the rest of the blog since it's fairly simple. 

     For the most part, as the jungler, your aim is to always be within 1 level of your solo laners. Whenever there's not an opportunity to gank anywhere on the map, make sure you're always farming your jungle camps. 

     Another thing that a lot of junglers are hesitant about is taxing. Taxing is okay as long as it's not done to an excess or it's for a purpose. It also is necessary to tax to guarantee that you don't get too underleveled. 

     One scenario where taxing is okay is if you gank a lane and your laner secures the kill or kicks the laner out of lane. In this scenario, especially since you didn't get the kill, make sure to shove the wave out with them so the enemy laner misses CS. Try to take as much of the cs as possible for gold since they obtained the kill. Another scenario is where you gank a lane and you secure the kill. In this case, make sure to help shove the wave out but try to not take TOO much CS from your laner. They didn't get the kill so the gold will help them out. However, tax the experience because it'll help you.

     If one of your laners goes back (e.g. mid gets kicked out of lane) and the wave is shoving to their turret, cover their lane. You should prioritize covering a lane over farming jungle camps unless you feel like a buff will be at risk. This is because you'll receive more experience from 10+ minions vs one camp.

     That's all for part 2. If you have any questions or comments, post on my FB page, comment here, or tweet me at @Lilnovalas. Thanks for reading!