User blog:DoctorAsawa/League of Targon's - How Riot Effectively Killed Junglers

Riot's done it again. Perhaps even more disasterous than the  fiasco of Pre-Season 3, players have already found a way to completely abuse one single Item Tree and put junglers out of a job.

Targon's Blunder
Let me introduce you to the bane of Pre-Season 4:. Targon's purpose was to be a gold generation item for Tanky Supports like  and  who are faced with early sustain problems. However, the strong passives on the item are being exploited by players in every game of any elo (or MMR or whatever).

Execute minions below 200+100%AD
Easy enough to understand. Allows lesser skilled players to obtain more last-hits without much effort. This isn't the main problem, though.

Killing a minion heals your nearest ally for 2% of your max health
This example will use  starting with a . At level 4, rushing Targon's, he will have 916 health with defensive masteries.

has a maximum of 4 charges, 1 generating every 30 seconds(1 every creep wave). 18 Health per heal, 36 per minute, not gamechanging either, right?

You're look in the wrong direction. Targon's also provides 12 Health Regen. That's 144 health every minute!

Add those two over a 15-minute laning phase:180 x 15 = '''2700 Health. For two champions, that is 5400 more Effective Health'''.

This also doesn't acount for regen from items, base regen, or the increasing regen from the item as your partner gains more health.

Killing a minion grants your ally gold equal to that kill +10
This mechanic can add 2 Melee Minions to each wave, and another Canon Minion every 3 waves.

Each Melee Minion is worth 20 gold, each Caster Minion is worth 15 gold, and each Canon Minion is 40 gold. They gain +1 Gold Value after the first wave, and +1 each 5 minutes(+2 for Canon Minions).

The normal gold worth of the first wave is:                                                         (20 x 3)+(15 x 3) = 105 gold.

Compare this to the gold worth with :                       (20 x 6)+(15 x 4)+20 = '''200 gold. Almost double the normal amount!'''

Over a 15-minute laning phase, the potential value of a normal lane is:           (3((20 x 3)+(15 x 3))+40) x 10 : 3812 gold, factoring in the increasing value of minions.

Over a 15-minute laning phase, the potential value of a Duo Targon's lane is: (3((20 x 4.6)+(15 x 3))+80+20) x 10 : 5507 gold, 144% more potential gold .

How this affects Junglers
One of the reasons why junglers even exist is the increase the overall gold of the team. With the power of Duo Targon's, that is no long a true statement.

Changes to Jungle Monsters
With Pre-Season 4, jungle monsters are now tougher, stronger, and give less gold and experience across the board.

Gold Potential of clearing the entire jungle in Season 3 was 324 Gold.

Gold Potential of clearing the entire jungle in Pre-Season 4 is 381 Gold.

More gold, right? Not exactly. With tougher mobs, the jungle takes longer to clear, not to meantion that 60 gold is coming from the new Wight Camp. With an additional camp, only the fastest and most sustained Champions will be able to farm every camp and squeeze every penny out of the new jungle.

Smite Changes
The old smite did 460+(30 x lvl) on a 60 CD. Potential Damage is 1840 in 4 minutes.

The new smite does 390+(33.88 x lvl) on a 40 CD. Potential Damage is 2340 in 4 minutes.

Both reach 1000 True Damage at Level 18, so this is a buff, right?

WRONG
This change to smite nullifies an entire Jungler tactic: Invasion.

Jungle invasion is now much more dangerous with the new abundance of vision early and lack of vision lategame.

Junglers have an additional camp that will always respawn if you steal it.

Stealing a buff also won't get you to level 3, and will take longer than in Season 3, making early steals no longer viable. Control Junglers, Nerfed.

Tougher to Gank
Access to more vision early also means that junglers are having a harder time ganking. This is very hard on slower junglers who rely on ganks as their primary source of income. Ganking Junglers, Nerfed.

Wriggle's Deception
The new  was advertised as a Farming Jungler's best friend. 40% Increased gold from Jungle Monsters. It would've been a good item choice for some champions, had they not nerfed the stats.

For 1800 gold, Wriggle's only gives 20 armor and 25% attack speed outside of the jungle. That is only 1233 gold's worth of stats. You then need to continue to farm the jungle, which you cannot due, as the  has accelerated the flow of the game, causing midgame teamfights to come faster, and all you have is a Wriggle's. Farming Junglers, Nerfed.

have also been nerfed across the board, do to the "increased gold" in the jungle.

In Conclusion
Riot hates Junglers.