How to Play Kayn Jungle

Kayn Guide For Season 14

Kayn has been a very strong Jungler in League of Legends for quite some time, but people haven’t really appreciated how strong he is when compared to other S-tier Junglers. With Riot recently nerfing some of the big names in the jungle, and actually buffing his red form, he is a must pick champion if you want to climb.

In patch 14.5, Riot improved Kayn’s red form, buffing his healing and damage output. So now you can pick either the blue or red form (Shadow or Darkin), depending on your needs. If you love Kayn, you’ll see yourself climbing a lot this patch!

Stay updated with the latest League of Legends news, with articles, how-to guides and information to help you climb, which can all be found on the Mobalytics Blog.

Why Kayn is Suddenly OP

Kayn isn’t suddenly OP. He has been a hidden OP for some time. He didn’t receive any direct changes that were buffs until last patch where they improved his red form. But where his true strength comes from are the item and objective changes that occurred at the start of the season.

He has benefited from the objective changes, as Junglers usually skirmish on the top side of the map to take the first set of grubs. Let’s make it clear: He can take them pretty well thanks to his AOE Q, which helps him kill them more effectively. But also, as he needs to change his form quickly, he can get it faster as he will be fighting the enemy Jungler for them. So this allows him to snowball and get his form faster than before!

Kayn is good with many of the new items, and depending on what form he wishes to take, his build takes some of the new items too.

Kayn Best Build (for Red and Blue)

At the time of writing this article (Patch 14.5), these are the best builds for Kayn. If you want to stay up to date with the latest builds for Kayn or any other champion in League of Legends, make sure you download the Mobalytics App.

Best Blue Kayn Build for Season 14

Best Red Kayn Build for Season 14

Kayn Jungle First Clear

We will now break down all of Kayn’s best early jungle routes. We keep our Kayn Champion Page up to date, so make sure you check it out incase the ones in this guide are not up to date. We’ve also updated all our initial jungle routes on our Mobalytics’ Champion Pages, so if you’re a Jungle main and want to see what other routes Junglers should take, head over there now!

Please note these jungle routes are a full first clear.

Anyway, here’s our recommended route for Kayn if you’re the blue team.

Here’s the route for Red Side full clear.

When To Take Blue Kayn

You should always try to decide in champion select before you load in so that you can get the right runes for either. If unsure, you can go for Conqueror (Red Kayn Runes) and then mix it up based on how the early game goes.

Blue Kayn is by far the most popular Kayn setup right now as he can abuse lethality items and squishy champions. Blue Kayn is great versus squishy carries who he can abuse a lot early.

If you want to pick Blue Kayn, it’s a good idea to have a tanky frontline so they can soak up damage and go in with you.

When To Take Red Kayn

For Red Kayn, you should pick him against team comps that are mostly melee. You’ll have an easier time getting your stacks, and unlike Blue Kayn, Red Kayn can better handle these champions.

If your team doesn’t have any frontline champions, your best bet is to go for Red Kayn so you can be the “tank” while still dealing considerable damage. Or, if your team has strong carries and grouping potential, you could go for Red Kayn for the additional utility and peel potential.

If you don’t like the idea of Blue or Red Kayn, why not go Purple Kayn instead, which is where you take the Red form for the CC on your W and the extra sustain, but build more damage items.

Early Game Tips

I will now break down some basic Kayn early game tips that you should keep in mind when playing Kayn. The first thing to remember is that you want to get your form as quickly as possible. You can get your form by skirmishing early on in the game. You can gain many early points towards your form by skirmishing at the Void Grubs.

You should try to take the Grubs after your first back to give your team an advantage. If the enemy tries to fight you for them, fight them so you can get points. After that, look to farm your jungle and try to gank your allies when you can.

Don’t forget that Kayn is a good counter-ganker, so look for counter-ganking opportunities whenever possible. Place wards around the map and track the enemy Jungler. Not in a position to counter-gank? Try to invade their jungle and steal away camps instead. Kayn is a great thief and can easily get in and out of situations with his E.

Kayn Best and Worst Matchups

Knowing when you should and shouldn’t pick Kayn will highly favour you if you’re not a Kayn one-trick. This will allow you to understand which matchups you can play cocky in, and others you need to be a little bit more respectful. I think it is important to note that matchups in the Jungle are not as impactful compared to a lane as you’re not constantly fighting the enemy Jungler.

At the time of writing this article, we are using Mid-Patch data for Patch 14.5, all servers and is Emerald+.

Jax (He has a 45% win rate at the moment)

Kayn has multiple tools in his kit to make Jax’s 1v1 potential really bad. For instance, he can escape with either his Q, E or Ultimate. Jax cannot really 1v1 Kayn as he can always run away or just fight him.

Shyvana (She has a 45.8% win rate)

Kayn is a strong early game champion, but Shyvana isn’t. This means Kayn can successfully invade her in the early game and steal away her camps to delay her first power spike. Similarly, invading her will allow him to get his transformation earlier too.

Maokai (He currently has a 46% win rate)

Maokai has received some nerfs on Patch 14.5, so he is a lot weaker overall. Kayn can abuse him throughout all stages of the game, and can also adapt his build depending on if the Maokai gets ahead or not.

However, I would avoid trying to 1v1 the enemy often when playing against these champions, as they’re strong against him.

Rengar (Rengar’s win rate is 51.7% versus Kayn)

Rengar is one of the best counters to Kayn right now. Rengar is stronger in the 1v1 against Kayn and can prevent him from escaping a fight. Post 6, Rengar also has good counter gank potential, so he can also turn any 2v2 gank around.

Volibear (His win rate is 51.7% against Kayn)

Never underestimate Volibear versus a melee champion like Kayn. Volibear is good in 1v1s and 2v2s, too. This makes it hard for Kayn to get an early lead, as it is risky to fight him alone.

Rek’Sai (Rek’Sai has a 51.3% win rate versus Kayn)

Rek’Sai is a champion that has recently received some changes and major bug fixes. She is overall a better Jungler in S14. Against Kayn, her win rate might be slightly skewed, but that doesn’t mean she is weak against him. As long as you time your knockup right, you can easily counter him in the 1v1.

Final Thoughts

Don’t delay—abuse Kayn today! Riot made a little mistake buffing him when he was already strong, but who am I to complain? Make sure you play Kayn as much as you can before Riot nerfs and guts him.

What do you want to see next? Is there another champion who has been reacking havoc on Summoners Rift you want us to cover? Let us know, and as always you can check out more articles like this one on the Mobalytics Blog!