User blog comment:Shigfugjum/Kindred's Niche in the Jungle Ecosystem/@comment-33536623-20151009011411/@comment-24420226-20151009211736

I see what you mean regarding the item build. I suppose Kindred could opt into a more utility-focused on-hit build, maybe even using Wit's End or Black Cleaver. Especially if her team already has a devoted ranged marksman more focused on raw DPS. But even with such a build, her role in a team is still very much another auto-attacker who needs to kite back threats. She would be reduced to an odd attack-speed support.

Also BotRK is not really that inexpensive; it definitely is cheaper than an IE or Bloodthirster, but at 3200 it's fairly costly as far as attack speed items go (PD is 2800, even Zephyr is 2850). It's certainly not something you usually plan to rush on a jungler's income. BotRK is an interesting case as well because while it isn't cheap per se, it has a very smoth build path consisting of many cheap parts that can be combined in to mid-tier items before being assembled into the completed item. A good strategy would be to grab the Cutlass, then focus on another (probably more defensive) item before finishing BotRK.

The meta definitely has some bend to it, especially with Morde being a viable bot lane-pick. The core of the meta, the 1-top 1-mid 2-bot with 1 jungler is a reflection of how resources are distributed on a map. As far as more in-depth teamcomp meta goes, it's better to think of it in terms of how dense your three lines are in a teamfight - your frontline (diving and initiating), mid line (poke and peel) and back line (squishiy glass cannons focused on kiting back the enemy front line).

A "meta" teamcomp usually has 2 in the front (top lane and jungle, sometimes midlane), one or two in the middle (support or midlane), and one or two in the back (adc or midlane). You can play with this to an extant. Top lane Lulu is definitely a utility oriented pick designed to help control fights - she would be an example of a midline champion coming from the top lane. But if your support and midlaner are also midline champions, then you only have one champion as your front line (assuming you do have a ranged adc) to try and dive the enemy team all by his/her lonesome. It can work, but it has weaknesses - it is very reliant on your backline being stronger than the enemy's, since you would lack bruisers or assassins to attack the backline directly. As an interesting note, the "Protect the Hyper Carry" comp is an example where you have a heavily skewed composition of 4 midline peelers trying to keep a single backline champion alive. The problem with this comp is if you lose that one backliner to an assassin or bruiser, the entire comp falls apart.

Some champions have lots of utility and can swap between these roles on the fly. For example, while Nautilus is traditionally an initiation focused champion, he has enough CC that he can become a midline peel-tank if his team gets caught off guard. hence why he works well as a support (FYI support Nautilis is not a new phenomenon, neither are midlane Ezreal or Corki). Ashe has her ultimate that enables her to create or follow up on engages easily, allowing her to fill holes that might exist in her frontline without sacrificing her role as a backline DPS. I do not feel Kindred is one of the champions - her CC is weak and while her ultimate definitely has a huge potential to impact a fight, it would be used to emulate midline peel for the backline - which is not where the hole would be if picking into a Kindred Jungle. It would be in your frontline, where you would have to use an aggressive initiation support like Leona to make up for it and hope that your midline is enough to keep your two - or potentially 3 - backline kiters alive.

Sorry if the comment on the teamcomp meta is super long. It probably deserves its own blog post to fully explain how 'off-meta' picks are or aren't viable, which is usually on a case-by-case basis.