Understanding Jungle Farming in the NA LCS
Jungle camps are a valuable resource in League of Legends, especially for the Jungler. Each team in the NA LCS has a different approach to distributing jungle farm. Some teams prioritize their carries, while others focus on the jungler. Some teams invade the enemy jungle, while others stay on their own side of the map.
Let’s take a closer look at the statistics from the North American League Championship Series 2015 Spring split to understand jungle farming better.
Average Jungle Farming per Minute
One way to measure jungle farming is by looking at the average number of neutral minion kills per minute. This statistic shows how efficiently players are clearing jungle camps. It’s interesting to note that Gamsu and Impact were the top performers among top laners in terms of jungle farming. However, most top laners had similar numbers. Rhux, as a substitute, had a minimal impact on jungle farming.
Zion Spartan had the lowest jungle farm among top laners, suggesting that CLG often gave jungle farm to other players like Xmithie and DoubleLift.
Meteos stood out as the best jungler in terms of jungle farming. He had significantly higher numbers than other junglers like Santorin and ShorterACE.
XiaoWeiXiao is known for his farming prowess, but surprisingly, FeniX had slightly better jungle farming numbers. Both mid laners had higher numbers than the average, with Bjergsen falling slightly below. This was despite TSM prioritizing Bjergsen with ganks and other forms of attention.
Among ADCs, Piglet, WildTurtle, and DoubleLift were heavy jungle farmers. Sneaky, on the other hand, had lower numbers due to Cloud9’s focus on feeding Meteos with jungle farm.
Jungle Share
Jungle share measures the proportion of neutral minions killed by a player in a game divided by the total number of neutral minions killed in that game. Looking at teams as a whole, Team Solo Mid had the highest jungle share, followed by Team Impulse and Team Liquid. Teams like Team Coast and Winterfox had lower jungle shares.
Team Impulse and Team Liquid
At Team Impulse, jungle share wasn’t skewed towards any specific player. Impact, Rush, and XiaoWeiXiao all had higher-than-average jungle farming numbers. However, when it comes to invading the enemy jungle, Impact and XiaoWeiXiao stood out.
At Team Liquid, despite being a high-jungle-share team, IWDominate had the lowest volume of jungle camps. Team Liquid’s jungler preferred to let his Korean teammates, especially FeniX, take most of the jungle farm.
Keith vs. Piglet
During the debate between Keith and Piglet, there was a lot of discussion about their playstyles and how they affected the team. Jungle share numbers showed that Keith had a slightly lower jungle share compared to Piglet. However, IWDominate’s jungle share was similar with both ADCs, suggesting that the difference between playing with the two wasn’t significant.
Cloud9 Jungle Distribution
Meteos dominated jungle farming in the NA LCS with a high jungle share. He not only kept most of his own jungle but also invaded the enemy jungle frequently. Santorin had the second-highest jungle share, but it was still lower than Meteos’s.
Enemy Jungle Invasions
When it comes to invading the enemy jungle, CLG and TSM were the top teams. Xmithie led the way for CLG, while Meteos closely followed him. In contrast, Dignitas and Coast focused less on jungle invasions.
Bjergsen and XiaoWeiXiao were the Mid laners with the highest enemy-jungle CS per minute. Despite being similarly inclined towards invading, Bjergsen was more likely to leave his own jungle for his teammates. Link from CLG was also known for his invade-heavy farming style.
DoubleLift and WildTurtle often took enemies’ jungle camps, but WildTurtle had more opportunities due to TSM’s dominance during the split. Piglet and Keith also took an above-average amount of enemy-jungle CS.
Your Thoughts?
These statistics shed light on the different approaches teams and players take when it comes to jungle farming. Do you notice any interesting trends or have explanations for some of the differences? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
You can find more NA LCS statistics for players and teams in the Statistics section of Oracle’s Elixir.