Ask ten junglers which champ is best and you will probably get ten different answers. That is exactly why having a structured LoL jungle tier list is so useful: it gives you a grounded overview of which picks reliably win games, instead of just repeating whatever your last teammate locked in.
What a LoL jungle tier list should tell you (but often doesn’t)
A good tier list is not just “S-tier = OP, C-tier = troll”. In the LoLNow guide, the author spells out what the rankings are based on in a way that actually makes sense for solo queue:
“A tier list ranks jungle champions by how reliably they win solo queue games, based on clear speed, gank threat, objective control, and consistency across matchups and elos.”
That one sentence already hits the core jungle questions: how fast you clear, how scary you are when you show up in lane, how well you secure dragons and Heralds, and whether your champion still works when the game does not go perfectly.
The traits that make a strong jungler in any meta
Every patch shakes things up a bit, but the fundamentals of the role do not really change. The LoLNow article leans into that idea directly:
“Across patches, the details of the meta change—but the traits that make a strong jungler stay fairly consistent.”
Those traits are laid out clearly in the section on what makes a good jungler. One of the key ideas is how you move through your own camps at the start of the game:
“Good junglers can clear their camps without dropping too low on health and can adapt their first few routes depending on matchups and lane states.”
If your champion only has one fragile path that falls apart the moment you get invaded, you are going to have a bad time. Strong junglers stay healthy, have options, and do not instantly crumble if the first plan fails.
S-tier vs. A-tier junglers: where should you live?
S-tier: the workhorses of solo queue
The top of the LoLNow LoL jungle tier list is full of champions that do a bit of everything: fast clears, reliable ganks, strong skirmishes, and real impact around objectives. What makes them stand out is not just raw power, but how forgiving they are when the game gets messy. As the article points out:
“What makes these picks so strong is how forgiving they are while still carrying extremely hard.”
These are the champions you can blind pick in most drafts and still feel useful. Even if a gank fails or your laner misplays, S-tier junglers tend to have enough clear speed and utility to recover and look for another angle.
A-tier: high ceiling, a bit more demanding
Just below that, A-tier junglers often look just as oppressive in the right hands. They may ask for sharper pathing, better understanding of first clear options, or more awareness of matchups, but the reward is huge when you get it right. In other words, if you already have some jungle experience and you enjoy thinking about routes and skirmish timings, your best champions might live here rather than at the absolute top.
Low elo junglers and why they feel impossible to play against
If you have ever been three camps down at five minutes while the enemy jungler is perma-ganking every lane, you know how oppressive certain picks can feel in lower ranks. LoLNow explains that feeling without sugarcoating it:
“Junglers feel overpowered in low elo when their gameplans are simple and forgiving.”
Champions with straightforward clears, obvious gank angles, and built-in survivability can show up over and over again, and most low elo players will not punish them properly. That is why the guide also notes:
“If you’re climbing from Iron to Platinum, these junglers are some of the most efficient champions you can play.”
You do not need a 10-step pathing plan or perfect mechanics to gain LP there. You need healthy clears, reliable ganks, and enough discipline to play around overextended lanes and early dragons instead of chasing every random fight.
Using the LoL jungle tier list without becoming a slave to it
One thing the LoLNow article does well is remind you that a tier list is a tool, not a law. It literally says:
“This jungle tier list isn’t here to lock you into one or two ‘allowed’ champions. It’s a framework to help you understand which junglers offer the most reliable value in solo queue and how to build a consistent champion pool around them.”
That “framework” angle is key. The list gives you direction, but you still get to build around your own style. In the practical section about climbing, there is a simple suggestion:
“Choose one or two S-Tier junglers as your main core.”
From there, you add one or two A-tier picks that match how you like to play – maybe you lean toward farm-heavy scaling, constant ganks, or early invades and skirmishes. The important part is that you are not juggling ten different champions. You commit to a small, strong pool and learn their routes, spikes, and limits in detail.
Connecting jungle theory to real games and official resources
Reading about pathing and tier lists is one thing; seeing it in high-level games is another. That is where Riot’s official ecosystem comes in. Once you have a sense of which champions sit near the top of the LoLNow rankings, you can hop over to LoL Esports and watch how pro junglers actually use those picks in LCK, LPL, LEC, LCS and international tournaments.
If you want to understand why certain champions are getting buffed or nerfed in the first place, Riot Games is where you will usually find dev posts and feature articles that explain their goals for the jungle role. And for direct patch notes, item changes and champion updates that might move junglers up or down the tier list, LeagueofLegends.com is still the main hub.
Putting all of this together is where the value really appears: use the LoLNow jungle tier list to narrow your champion pool, use official patch notes to track changes, and use esports broadcasts to steal pathing ideas and early-game plans from people who play the role for a living.
A realistic way to climb from the jungle
The closing section of the LoLNow guide is pretty blunt about what actually makes you climb, and it has very little to do with chasing every new flavor-of-the-month pick. One of the main takeaways is simple: mastering a small, strong pool and learning how to read the map beats constant champion swapping every time.
If you build around a focused set of champions near the top of the LoL jungle tier list, learn two clear routes from each side of the map, and get comfortable tracking the enemy jungler through lanes and camps, you are already ahead of most people in your MMR. Add in consistent focus on early dragons and Heralds instead of coin-flip invades, and the wins start to feel a lot less random.
In that sense, the tier list is not just about “who is OP right now”. It is a shortcut to choosing junglers that reward good habits: healthy clears, smart ganks, and objective-focused play. Combine that with the official information from Riot and what you see on stage at LoL Esports, and you have a clear path from “I feel lost in the jungle” to “I am the one setting the pace of the game.”
