Given the massive changes in League of Legends, a lot of players are wondering which champions are best for their respective roles. Not only is Riot Games looking to shake things up every year gameplay-wise, but there also seems to be a shift in terms of balancing and overall design philosophy overhauls.
With that in mind, we will take a look at the best jungle champions you can pick in 25.S1.1 (15.1) and start off your Ranked climb appropriately.
Table of Contents
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Tier List Explanation
This tier list will examine some of the most-played League of Legends champions in the jungle. Keep in mind that this is for Emerald+ divisions.
- S-Tier: The best champions you can use to ensure you are always victorious.
- A-Tier: Great options but lacking just slightly either in terms of damage or utility.
- B-Tier: Viable and reliable in most situations, you can manage rather decently.
NOTE: Although this tier list strives to be as objective as possible in terms of viability, you should not limit yourself to strictly adhere to this list, but rather experiment and see which champion feels fun to play with.
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S-Tier Jungle Champions
Viego is an extremely good carry jungler that excel in small skirmishes due to his passive. Although you need to be aware of enemy invades, you should find a lot of success, given how players have finally started playing around objectives.
Wukong is another fantastic pick due to his great damage and excellent teamfighting, allowing you to quickly clear camps and contest neutral objectives.
Skarner is great tank option for your team, and given the fact that you can use terrain to your advantage, you can even set up for some surprise dives or quick skirmishes.
Lee Sin can be a blast to play, and although he might fall behind if he doesn't get any kills, you can still get a lot of value from his mobility and skirmishing potential.
Nocturne has a semi-global ultimate that is great for punishing solo laners as well as denying the enemy team crucial vision of objectives, thus securing you extra seconds of map pressure.
Bel'Veth has an easy time clearing her camps and setting up small fights around objectives. Her mobility and map pressure gives her ample opportunities to push out waves and prioritize objectives on the map without sacrificing too much tempo.
If you are looking for a power farming AP champion then look no further. Although you might sacrifice some early game pressure, you can compensate with your insane damage and annoying ultimate, allowing you to contest mid-to-late game fights and objectives.
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Hecarim excels in the current meta, given how easily he can traverse the map, clear his camps, and secure objectives.
Kindred is a snowball-heavy champion that might fall behind if you don't get enough stacks. However, since the game is centered around team fights, your ultimate can decide the tide of battle in most cases.
Amumu can shine in this meta as tanks are extremely powerful given the changes to tank items. Your CC can also play a vital role in most fights, and your easy clears make Amumu an easy and safe choice for most cases.
Jarvan can be quite strong due to his ultimate zoning out tanks or trapping carries. His engage tools are also great for setting up ganks and punishing immobile champions.
Udyr is a tanky power-clearing machine that can stick onto enemy carries without much worry. Although you need 1-2 items to get rolling, you should be able to quickly kill objectives, you can struggle against teams with a lot of mobility.
Diana is another strong AP jungler that can deal a lot of damage when paired up with other team-oriented champs. She can struggle in the early game, but if you get her rolling, you are almost guaranteed an easy win.
Xin Zhao is a great engage jungler that can have a nice mix of damage and tankiness, but you need proper follow-up from your team to enable some game-winning fights.
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A-Tier Jungle Champions
Fiddlesticks can be difficult to navigate, but the recent changes can make him much more viable, given how often teams gather to get objectives. He has an easy and fast clear, however, he is quite weak in the early game.
Lillia saw some nerfs in previous patches, lowering her winrate, but she still remains a viable AP option for teams that lack proper AoE damage and her ultimate can also swing fights in your favor.
Nunu is now a much more popular pick due to how important it is to secure objectives, so his fast clears and practically having a second Smite might net you a lot of critical advantages over the course of the game.
Ivern is a supportive jungler who lacks the ability to carry, but you can still enable your carries to seize control over the game and push the tide in your favor.
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Rek'Sai is doing fairly decent currently, and the added bonus of tunneling throughout the map can help you contest objectives, deal damage and be a beefy frontline for your team.
Shyvana is another example of a power clearing champion that needs level 6 to become relevant in the game. The good news is that her clears are still pretty fast, making it wise to focus on objectives over ganks and skirmishes.
Although assassins have seen better days, Talon can be a good pick into squishier comps, lacking the tools to deal with his insane mobility and damage.
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B-Tier Jungle Champions
Speaking of tanks, Rammus can still deliver quite a fun experience to players wanting to roll out and annoy enemies.
Qiyana can struggle a lot against beefier comps, but if you find yourself lacking an assassin, then give her a try.
Volibear's power has been cut down in the top, however, you can still get some decent results when playing him as a jungler due to his nice clears and skirmishing potential.
Mastery Yi is doing fairly alright, however, he is getting a minor buff in the next patch which might make him an A-Tier contender.
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Briar has a very niche playstyle, and given how the current Feats of Strength work, you should probably wait until the next patch before spamming her in solo queue.
Teemo is such a nuisance, and given how the game has finally shifted to focusing on objectives, you can catch enemies off-guard with your shrooms.
Poppy still remains a great anti-engage tank that can have some moderate success in skirmishes.
Nidalee has been butchered into irrelevancy, but you can still find some success if you are able to path efficiently and weave in a gank or two.
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Best Jungle Champions Tier List
All in all, this League of Legends tier list is surely to change based on balance changes the devs implement but it should give you a general idea of which champions are strong and which might need some additional tuning to become more viable.
S-Tier Champions
- Viego
- Wukong
- Skarner
- Lee Sin
- Nocturne
- Bel'Veth
- Karthus
- Hecarim
- Kindred
- Amumu
- Jarvan IV
- Udyr
- Diana
- Xin Zhao
A-Tier Champions
- Fiddlesticks
- Gwen
- Lillia
- Nunu & Willump
- Talon
- Ivern
- Warwick
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B-Tier Champions
- Rammus
- Qiyana
- Volibear
- Pantheon
- Master Yi
- Taliyah
- Zyra
- Poppy
- Briar
- Teemo
- Nidalee
C-Tier Champions
- Zed
- Zac
D-Tier Champions
- Rengar
- Kayn
- Ekko
- Sejuani
- Sylas
- Ambessa
- Gragas
- Evelynn
- Vi
- Kha'Zix
- Shaco
- Elise
- Graves
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