Posted by Stonewall on Tuesday, April 10th 2012.

Not on tier list – Pre-Release Hecarim


God Tier – Lee Sin, Udyr,Skarner,Trundle, Nocturne, Dr Mundo

Tier 1 – Maokai, Shaco, Shyvana, Alistar,Jarvan, Nautilus, Malphite, Riven, Rammus, Amumu, Cho Gath

Tier 2 – Olaf, Gangplank, Master Yi, Sejuani, Jax, Xin Zhao, Wukong, Nunu, Renekton, Tryndamere, Fiddlesticks, Volibear, Warwick, Fiora

Tier 3 – Rumble, Shen, Singed, Kayle, Pantheon, Twisted Fate, Janna, Kennen, Blitzcrank, Taric, Sion, Ezreal, Twitch, Soraka, Karthus, Cassiopeia, Lulu, Ziggs, Fizz, Leona,  Caitlyn, Corki, Heimerdinger, Brand, Eve

Tier 4 – Veigar, Yorick, Poppy, Karma, Nasus, Gragas, Irelia, Malzahar, Sivir, Galio, Akali

Tier 5 – Viktor, Mordekaiser, Graves, Orianna, Garen, Ahri, Talon, Annie, Urgot, Kog Maw, Ashe, Sona

For tiers G to 2 – the placement is more important towards indicating “who is better” but less so for tier 3. In tier 3, just think of it in brackets as the champions here are more flawed and harder to argue. You can say the higher tier 3 are better than the lower tier 3 though. For Tier 4 and 5 it’s pretty much wishy washy.

Some people seem to be getting confused with the ranking. It should be obvious by seeing who gets the S scores that S means higher than A.

S scoring is just some video game thing used to say things like “Oh man you are amazing” etc etc. It’s most commonly used in arcade type games.

The things that changed this time around

The speeds have finally been updated. Instead of having a broad range for S scores it has been fixed so that applies to C scores instead.

3:30-3:35 is for S Scores and anything faster is S+. 3:55-4:10 is for C scores. The range for C scores, which is close to the average for most, is given a broader range so one could say “yeah he’s about average speed” (derp). Doing drifts most speeds to the C and B range but by doing so you give them more perceptive value. An S will look more impressive now that there are less. An A will look strong too now that there are less and so on and so forth. The speeds did not change just how they’re displayed.

Added Corki, Rumble, Caitlyn and Veigar – Yeah no don’t jungle them unless you’re trolling

Rumble – Now he’s a tricky one. His solo jungling is pretty average/below-average but with assistance he CAN pull off some great things and snowball out of control. His ultimate is an ungodly murder machine and help pull off some amazing ganks. He’s really mobile and he is no burdened by any form of resource (unless you want to count overheat). However it does feel like he’s wasted potential in the jungle compared to the lane.

Rammus – I mentioned this would happen and I’m questioning whether to drop him more. He’s strong solo queue jungler but he’s always been very predictable and such. However Riot has been neutering him and it has been showing. He’s easier to kill and slower. In this invasion happy “meta” we’re in right now he’s getting shafted hard.

Riven – This was partly influenced by IPL but I was going to raise her to tier 1 anyways largely due to the messages and reasons I received since the last tier list and reading people’s discussions on Reddit. In effect the IPL performance helped raise it up a tad more into tier 1. She’s a weaker Lee Sin which isn’t all too bad. It means she’s a badass when Lee Sin is a badass mother fucker. Her early ganks to weaken her and they’re very powerful with high damage and mobility. Her dueling is the thrifty part – she can roflstomp several junglers but some can cave her face in. She’s also a strong skirmisher and runs on no resources so in this current “meta” she is far more attractive. She is able to activate that early aggressiveness and punish certain junglers. At a time when pathing is starting to be valued being resource-less and being malleable is going to give junglers like Riven a boost.

Gangplank – Dropping him from Tier 1 may have been too hasty but I think it’s appropriate. If you have any objections then voice your opinions. I do read what people say if not delivered in an idiotic way. Anyways Gangplank has been nerfed and now he’s pretty much average with. His ultimate is still sexy and he can contribute to a team and he does have strong damage when it comes to ganks but his speed is lackluster and he does tend to run dry of his mana due to parley spam (and sometimes he ranks it up due to the gold instead of leveling up morale). He is still a fine jungler though. Remember tier 2 isn’t “bad” or anything.

Master Yi – He’s one of my personal biases that I will finally cave in for. He’s just very tricky to actually use. Some match ups are lopsided and sometimes he can amplify dangerously well enough to make them not matter. He’s super risky and can’t handle pressure or early skirmishes. He’s really amazing when he works but he’s a total dud when he’s the match ups in the lane or jungle are not in his favor (which is often the case).

Olaf – Maybe he’ll make it to tier 1. I’m still debating things about Olaf here. There’s amazing things about him such as utterly devouring other jungles if he’s amplified and he’s incredibly fast. Then there’s the fact that his Q spam will burn through his mana really quickly and early ganks without blue can backfire hard (mana drained). His ganking is still poor of course and he has trouble sticking to a lot of targets. Olaf can be aggressive, Olaf can be a great skirmisher and his axe is freakishly deadly but his mana is a burden. He will also be leveling his Q instead of his E to jungle so the majority of his damage is on his Q. If he misses that then he can get counter nut punchd. So Olaf’s transition is still up in the air.

Maokai – His pathing has always been rather predictable. He can be fast sure but that’s if he follows some semi strict pathing. This just drops him off from God Tier and he can easily be punished by several other fast junglers and his former status as “godly invader” has been taken from him by others for awhile now. This was made rather obvious in the recent tournament by how some aggressive junglers walked all over him.

Dr Mundo – Now some people will be like “herp derp told you Stonewall” but no they didn’t. I don’t presume to know everything of a character so I make gradual boosts to characters as new technology is found for them. I had him in tier 1 after boosting him from tier 2 for awhile. I wasn’t so skilled with him to say he should be god tier just yet. After watching his performance in the tournament it confirmed a lot of things I had questions for when I debated about having him even higher. He is stronger than Shyvana and is a faster jungler. His contribution later isn’t being considered here for that. He also has better match ups vs other junglers than Shyvana does, has more tools for jungling and actually has a ganking tool. Shyvana may gain tankiness from her ultimate but Mundo gains godly sustain.

Pretty much summed up – tanky jungler, multiple builds and paths, demolishes a lot of other junglers, super fast clear, destroys dragon and baron, mobile and resilient.

Pre-Release Hecarim

None of this is final yet. He may be changed before release and as such do not use this as a definite analysis of the new champion. I had help from other players with more access to runes and full games with Hecarim for this early look into him.

Thus far his speed is that of Trundle on his first clear and he me can maintain that at a decent rate. He gets faster with items and ranks on his Q and W but not overtly much. His resource costs are low. He is efficient and mobile and can go multiple paths including scepter and boots. He can avoid wriggles if need be as well. His invasion yet has a score because I have not had a chance to face other junglers with the champion. His ganking is much like a Rammus approach with less CC. He closes the gap with extreme speed and rams into the target and displaces them. Think Spirit Breaker from Dota or Rammus except more mobile and not hindered by minions. His ultimate is yet another great gap closer with new CC called Terrify which fears his opponents away from him.

A very awesome thing Hecarim’s ganks is that he can gank from behind turrets with relative ease. He will tank a shot or two from the tower but he’s moving at incredible speeds that the unsuspecting enemy may not react fast enough coupled with his ultimate which further gives him more range on the gank and pushes his target deeper into the lane.

Since he has yet to be released and fully tested – he will not be placed into the tier list just yet.

Also if there are any consistencies in the chart please point them out for me. I tend to overlook things since I’m usually going through a lot of information and sometimes forget to update certain points when new information is obtained.