Best Solo Carry Junglers for Season 12

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Best Solo Carry Junglers for Season 12

The Jungler has the most impact of any role in League of Legends. A good Jungler can take over the map and assert dominance over every enemy champion through ganking and invading. If you don’t want to rely on your team to carry you in LoL, then we recommend picking one of these champions to increase your chances of solo carrying the game.

In the second part of our five-part series of guides, we will list 12 of the best solo carry Junglers in League of Legends.

If you want to learn more tips and tricks to play each of these champions, then head over and sign up for a free Mobalytics account.

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You can find more advice for each of these champions, or if you’re not much of a reader with our Mobalytics video!

1. Viego

Viego is the first champion on our list. He is one of the best Junglers around right now, thanks to his insane early game pressure and the amount of stress he can cause on the enemy Jungler and the enemy laners.

A good Viego will be looking to dominate the early game through constant ganks and getting kills. He can start ganking after getting his first set of buffs and it’s not uncommon for Viego to try and skirmish with the enemy Jungler at the first Scuttle Crab.

As Viego can take over the life form of an enemy champion, the sky is really the limit with how strong he can be. If he takes over a strong enemy champion, it can be hard for the enemy to really do anything against him.

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Tips and Tricks:

• Your E is a very versatile tool. You can use it on towers to make split pushing much more effective thanks to the bonus attack speed.
• While your Ultimate should be used for fighting the enemy, it can be a good tool to escape or run away from someone. You can use it to jump over walls and make an escape.
• Use your E to reposition in team fights. Play around your cooldowns to make full use of the camouflage.

2. Shaco

Shaco is one of the most annoying Junglers to play against in League of Legends. His early game pressure is incredibly strong, and if he can get a few kills early on, he can become unstoppable, and solo carry the game.

A good Shaco can be anywhere and everywhere on the map. If you can avoid common warding spots and use your Q to full effect to dodge vision, it can be really hard for the enemy to counter you.

Shaco always has something to offer too. If his team is full AD, he can go AP too. This is handy in the matchups where your team doesn’t look at who has been picked by your allies. He

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Tips and Tricks:

• Try to secure every objective for your team. Thanks to your Ultimate, you have good Dragon and Rift Herald control.
• Place as many Boxes before the first camp spawns to have the healthiest clear possible.
• Use your Ultimate to dodge CC and incoming damage. Timing it just as the CC/ damage is about to hit you will make you dodge the damage.

3. Ekko

While Ekko isn’t as popular as he once was (thank goodness), he is still a solid Jungler in League of Legends. Ekko has a lot to offer in the early game and will look to skirmish frequently to get kills.

Ekko is quite forgiving to some regard. His Ultimate can allow him to escape sticky situations and dodge tons of damage. He can also go for riskier plays and potential dives and escape with his Ultimate.

A good Ekko player will look to abuse his early strength to get kills and invade the enemy Jungler. If he can invade frequently and get kills, then he can be extremely obnoxious and take over the map.

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Tips and Tricks:

• In team fights, look to flank the enemy with your W. Use your W from fog of war and then engage once it’s about to activate. If your team is not in a position to follow up- don’t go in!
• While approaching a lane, place your W behind the enemy target to increase your chances of locking them down with your stun.
• Use your W as you walk to your next camp so you get a shield to protect you against incoming damage.

4. Rek’Sai

Rek’Sai is a strong Jungler who can be anywhere and everywhere. She can dodge wards, has unique gank paths and can be pretty hard to track. Any slight lead she gets early could allow her to snowball heavily.

While she is pretty easy to play mechanically, she can go for sweet looking out plays with her Ultimate and her E. She can also use her Q to interrupt the enemy and knock them up. If you can perfect the timing, you can save your allies.

Rek’Sai is one of the strongest early game Junglers. Look to gank often and invade the enemy’s jungle whenever you can to pick up additional kills, farm and XP.

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Tips and Tricks:

• Rek’Sai excels at skirmishing during the early game. Use this opportunity to dominate the jungle and assist your lanes.
• When out of combat, always remain burrowed. This is vital as it allows you to have a much higher vision range with Tremor Sense which can be the difference between living and dying.
• Be creative with your ganking patterns and avoid the linear gank path. Rek’Sai Tunnel can go through any wall in the game.

5. Nidalee

One of the hardest champions on our list, Nidalee is such a strong champion that pretty much every high ELO Jungler has under their belt. Nidalee is a strong ganker, has great skirmishing power and can be a real pain for any enemy champion.

A good Nidalee will look to invade the enemy’s jungle and try to fight the enemy Jungler and force them out of their own jungle. While they’re in their jungle, she will steal away camps to deny them XP and gold.

Her objective control is very good. So make sure you abuse your early game to take these objectives. You can also gank the bottom lane and then take the Drake with your bot laners.

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Tips and Tricks:

• Nidalee is an early game dominant Jungler. Look to gank as frequently as possible to get yourself ahead.
• Use alternative ganking routes by jumping over small walls with your W to ignore commonly placed wards.
• Delay a team fight for as long as possible while you poke them down with long-ranged Q’s.

6. Nocturne

The next champion on our list is Nocturne. Thanks to his Ultimate, he is a good solo carry champion with excellent map pressure post level 6. A good Nocturne can take over the map through constant ganks and objective control.

Nocturne can gank early, but most commonly he will power farm until level 6 so he can get his Ultimate. When he gets his Ultimate, he can gank from afar and force everyone on the enemy team to stop overextending. He uses his Ultimate to inflict fear on the enemy.

What makes Nocturne very scary is his Ult, and a good Jungler will look to gank very often. If he can keep using it whenever its back up, it will usually result in a kill for him or his allies.

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Tips and Tricks:

• Try to get level 6 as quickly as possible so you’re able to impact the map with your Ultimate.
• As you’re an Assassin, try to assassinate immobile champions that are in the side lane alone. You can also use your Ultimate to take down champions who are running through the river alone too.
• When ganking, get as close as you can to the enemy before casting your Ultimate just in case they walk out of range. Make sure you’re not spotted by deep wards though.

7. Evelynn

Evelynn isn’t the best early game champion, but once she hits level 6 and unlocks her Ultimate, she can quickly be anywhere and everywhere. If the enemy has terrible map awareness, you can quickly snowball and take over the map.

Evelynn can play the game of cat and mouse. It can be hard to know where she is when she’s gone invisible. For instance, Evelynn can repeatedly gank the same lane over and over again. She will leave the lane, go invisible again and then try to gank again.

In the mid and late game, Evelynn likes to stalk and catch enemies who are walking around Summoners Rift alone. More commonly, she will execute squishy champions moving from lane to lane.

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Tips and Tricks:

• Pre-level 6, try and avoid duelling the enemy Jungler. You’re not very strong until you’ve got your Ultimate and your invisibility.
• Avoid going for risky picks when your Ultimate is down. You need it to execute enemies and when it’s down, you’ll find it harder to kill the enemy.
• Make sure you’re invisible before approaching a lane so you do not get spotted by wards. Ideally, change form while you’re in your jungle.

8. Rengar

When you think about solo carry Junglers, one of the most popular is Rengar. He is an OG carry who has singlehandedly carried many-a-games against everyone at one time or another.

Rengar is very strong and a good carry for Solo Queue because of his ability to one shot and take someone down before the team fight starts. He is an assassin and will look to pick off squishy targets to make fights 4v5.

Rengar is very good when he is ahead. No enemy is safe, not even with defensive items like Zhonya’s or a Guardians Angel to protect them. He can one shot anyone with his empowered Q.

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Tips and Tricks:

• Invade the enemy Jungler and look to take away their camps or fight them. Use the bushes to aid in your assassination/invasion attempt.
• During the mid-game, try and take out targets with your Ultimate that are away from their team or isolated. Catching someone out before a major team fight or objective spawns is a great way of getting an advantage.
• Skirmish heavily in the early game to assert dominance and gain a lead over the enemy Jungler.

9. Kayn

Kayn is one of the most versatile champions on our list. He can adjust his form depending on the enemy team comp and if he’s ahead in the early game. A good Kayn can be anywhere and everywhere.

He is very good in every rank and is a great solo carry. He can blow people up and surprise them by going through walls and getting ganks off with ease. He is a great Solo Queue champion as he can dodge wards too.

Kayn is so good when he is ahead. He can one-shot champions, and fight even the strongest of enemies.

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Tips and Tricks:

• Don’t be afraid to use alternative ganking routes with your E to dodge commonly warded bushes.
• Try and get your transformation as quickly as possible by ganking and skirmishing with the enemy as often as you can.
• You’ll want to transform into Blue Kayn if the enemy has lots of squishy champions. If they have lots of tanky champs, opt for Red Kayn.

10. Diana

Diana is a strong Jungler who is extremely good at all stages of the game. She is good at ganking early, a real force to be dealt with in the mid-game, and her team fights are impressive thanks to the AOE on her Ultimate.

Diana’s kit makes her very strong in 1v1s. Her Q and E allow her to jump on targets and chase down retreating enemies. Her W is good at protecting her and dealing more damage to targets. Her Ultimate is amazing too.

While her best build is full damage, Diana can go off tank if she is behind and still deal a considerable amount of damage to targets. This versatility makes Diana an even stronger champion in Solo Queue.

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Tips and Tricks:

• Limit your E use unless the enemy is afflicted with Moonlight so you can get the reset on your E and escape or commit to the trade.
• Use your W at the start of each camp to block some of the incoming damage and to protect your health bar.
• When ganking, throw your Q in the approximate location of where you think the enemy is going to walk too. This will allow you to get the E reset.

11. Hecarim

My personal favourite Jungler on today’s list is Hecarim. Hecarim is a very strong Jungler with a versatile build path. Whether you have a good or bad game, you can always be useful on Hecarim.

He is really good at ganking early and can get a few kills fast. If he gets some extra gold, he can get his first item quickly and then take over the map. Even when he only has his component item, Hecarim is very strong in 1v1s.

We said he is good even when he’s having a bad game. That’s true because Hecarim can adjust his build depending on how many kills he has, his level and what his team needs. If he’s behind, he can go full tank. Although, even if he’s not behind, he will still be tanky with his usual build.

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Tips and Tricks:

• Do not sit on your Ultimate for too long. Whenever it’s up, try to gank a lane as it is a great tool that will help you with getting kills and taking over the map.
• Hecarim is a strong early game duelist. When playing against weak enemies, invade their jungle and try to fight them early on and force them out of their jungle.
• Team fights are going to be difficult for you as you’re prone to poke. Using your Ultimate, try and flank the enemy from an unwarded bush or from the side so the enemy cannot poke you down and force you to disengage.

12. Kha’Zix

The last champion on our list is another OG. Kha’Zix has been in the game for a long time and has always been good at solo carrying games. Thanks to his Passive and Q, his skirmishing power is very high.

A good Kha’Zix will look to invade the enemy’s jungle frequently and try to kill the enemy Jungler. Thanks to his Q, he can out damage a lot of enemy Junglers in the early game. In the mid-game, his invades strengthen further.

Kha’Zix is similar to some extent to Evelynn and Rengar. They can catch out enemies who are walking around Summoners Rift alone during the mid and late game.

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Tips and Tricks:

• Kha’Zix is a strong early game champion. Try to skirmish and gank as much as you can in the early game to get you and your allies ahead.
• Kha’Zix is a strong 1v1 duelist if he can take down an isolated target. You can invade the enemy Jungler in the early game and try to set them behind.
• At levels 6, 11 and 16 you’ll be able to evolve your abilities. Generally, your first evolve will be your Q.

Summary

And that about sums up our article on the best solo carry champions in the Top Lane right now. Don’t forget that you can play basically anyone and you should play champions you enjoy rather than the ones we suggest if you don’t like them! For more educational content to help you climb, head over to Mobalytics.