The Jungle role is the most dominant lane in League of Legends, and a strong Jungler can take over the map through constant ganks and early game aggression. One tricking a champion is a great way of climbing faster, as you know the ins and outs of how to play that champion. Compared to having a large champion pool, one-tricking makes you a better player and increases your chances of winning.
In this article, we will break down 5 of the strongest and best one-trick pony champions to play in the Jungle role to climb with in Season 26. This is part of a new series we are working on, and if you're looking for other recommendations or you're not much of a reader, we recommend watching the video below!
1) Lee Sin
Lee Sin is one of the most iconic Junglers in League of Legends, and he is a fan favourite champion to main in LoL. His kit gives him high skill expression and lets him make many flashy plays. The more time you spend on learning and playing Lee Sin, the more rewarding he will be to play. A good Lee Sin can take over the game through early game pressure.
In the early game, Lee Sin excels at ganking and invading. His mobility allows him to close gaps quickly and catch enemies off guard. He can gank from unexpected angles, fog of war, and he can gank from level 3 or 4 onwards. A good Lee Sin player will constantly pressure lanes and deny the enemy Jungler gold and XP.
In the mid and late game, Lee Sin’s playstyle changes, and instead of being a dominator, he becomes more of a playmaker for his team. While his damage falls off compared to other scaling junglers, his utility remains incredibly valuable. During the mid-game, he should be looking to secure major objectives like the Dragon and Baron. A one-trick Lee Sin can carry through tempo, mechanics, and decision-making rather than raw scaling.
How to play Lee Sin
2) Fiddlesticks
Fiddlesticks is a powerful one-trick Jungler due to his unique playstyle, strong objective control, and strong Ultimate in team fights. His ability to punish enemies with surprise attacks makes him incredibly effective when mastered. He rewards patience, map awareness, and smart positioning.
During the early game, Fiddlesticks focuses on power farming and reaching level 6 as quickly as possible. While his pre-6 ganks are weaker, he can still apply pressure and gank his allies who can set up the gank with CC. A good Fiddlesticks will also be looking to invade and steal away camps to deny the enemy Jungler CS and XP.
In the mid and late game, Fiddlesticks becomes a team-fighting monster. His ultimate can completely wipe teams if used from the fog of war. He excels at securing objectives by zoning enemies and threatening team fights with his Ultimate. A one-trick Fiddlesticks can dominate games through smart engages and map control.
How to play Fiddlesticks
3) Shaco
The next champion on our list is Shaco. Shaco is one of those champions where you can always tell the difference between someone who is first-timing him and someone who has mained Shaco for years. Shaco is an excellent one-trick champion thanks to how annoying he is to play against and his snowball potential. His kit makes him incredibly frustrating to play against, especially if you’re playing a squishy champion.
Shaco is one of the strongest early game Junglers, and he can basically gank from level 2 onwards. His Q allows him to approach lanes undetected, and his boxes can set up easy kills. He thrives on early aggression and can quickly snowball by repeatedly ganking and invading the enemy Jungler.
During the mid and late game, Shaco should continue trying to annoy and assassinate people who are walking around the map alone. You can easily take down the enemy Support or ADC as they go to ward or move from lane to lane. While he is less effective in traditional front-to-back fights, an OTP can control the map by applying constant pressure.
How to play Shaco
4) Viego
The fourth champion on our list is Viego. Viego is another strong Jungler to one-trick in League of Legends as he has high solo carry potential and can take over the map when he gets an early kill or two. Viego also scales incredibly well, so he is strong throughout the game and doesn’t really fall off compared to other Junglers in LoL.
In the early game, Viego should be prioritising ganking his allies and getting as much gold and XP as possible. He needs to clear his jungle, gank his allies and get kills, then invade the enemy Jungler, steal their camps, deny them XP and gold. Do this enough in the early and mid game, and you will dominate those mid and late game team fights.
During team fights, Viego is quite good if he can flank in team fights and land his CC on a squishy or easy-to-kill champion. Getting multiple resets in a fight can allow you to completely take over the team fight and win it for your team. When no team fights are occurring, Viego needs to continue farming and securing objectives for his team, like the Dragon.
How to play Viego
5) Lillia
The final champion on our list is Lillia, who is the only girl champion and one of 2 AP champions on our list. In a game with many high-pick-rate AD assassins in the Mid lane, picking to main an AP Jungler could be a good option for you! Lillia has a unique playstyle, and she excels at kiting and controlling the pace of fights with her Ultimate.
In the early game, Lillia does struggle to gank early, so she could focus on clearing camps and ganking her allies who can set them up for her (like champions who have CC, and they can follow up). Once she gets level 6, she should be looking to be proactive with her Ultimate and constantly looking to make plays whenever it is available to her.
Lillia is very strong in 5v5 team fights during the mid- and late-game. If she can use her Ultimate on multiple targets, she can put them to sleep and then kill them. Even using her Ultimate on 1 person, as the enemy carry, could be enough for her team to win a team fight.
How to play Lillia
Final Thoughts
And that wraps up our guide on the best champions to one-trick in the jungle in League of Legends. What do you think of these picks? Jungle can be one of the most demanding roles macro-wise, but once you’ve mastered pathing, decision-making, and map control on these champions, you’ll find yourself climbing far more consistently in Season 26.
If you want to see the rest of our guides, you can find them here.