Introduction
This post is somewhat overdue, but many of you are clamoring for thoughts on jungle twisted fate's placement after Unicorns of Love defeated Team Solomid at IEM San Jose last weekend. As a solo queue champion, Twisted Fate definitely has the ability to snowball very hard, and has a very versatile kit to do so.
However, lately his win rate has historically been very low in solo queue after Riot decreased the card selection window way back in patch 4.5. Is he better in the jungle than in lane?
Analysis
Pros:
- Ganking Power - In lane, players have learned to respect Twisted Fate being MIA, and respond accordingly by playing defensively. However, similar to Pantheon jungle, his ganking power is very strong due to his ability to bypass wards and see through brushes.
- Safe Jungling - Unlike most melee junglers, because of the way Twisted Fate self leashes, his health in jungle is basically always at full.
- Double Lane Presence - Again, similar to Pantheon, he can essentially gank two lanes in rapid succession, especially if he can gain river control.
- Element of Surprise - As Twisted Fate jungle is still a somewhat new concept, you may have people that underestimate his jungling power and fall prey to easily avoidable ganks.
Cons:
- Soft Leash Difficulty - As camps reset their health after 10 soft resets, jungle Twisted Fate does take practice before being able to master the way he leashes.
- No Poke - As an AP caster, Twisted Fate is able to utilize his wildcards to clear waves and poke the enemy champions. As an AD jungler, he no longer has that at his disposal.
- One Less Tank - As one of the two traditionally "tanky" positions on a team, Twisted Fate removes the role of someone with strong front line presence and possible AOE peel, such as Amumu. In solo queue, this could spell trouble as most squishies have poor positioning and Twisted Fate may have difficulty fighting alone as his teammates are quickly decimated.
Conclusion:
While I think jungle Twisted Fate is viable in solo queue, at the same time I would much prefer a Jarvan or Amumu on the front line, just because of how much more obvious their engages are (creating teamwork) and their ability to stop more than one champion in their tracks.
If you happen to be climbing the ladder as a "TF ONLY" player, then I think it turns out you really can play in every single role. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend him specifically if you're just trying to gain Elo.
However, having one on your team doesn't put your team at any particular disadvantage, so while unorthodox, I don't think it's a handicap.
If you happen to be climbing the ladder as a "TF ONLY" player, then I think it turns out you really can play in every single role. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend him specifically if you're just trying to gain Elo.
However, having one on your team doesn't put your team at any particular disadvantage, so while unorthodox, I don't think it's a handicap.
More Resources:
As one of the first players to pick up Jungle Twisted Fate, be sure to check out CowSep's YouTube video guide on how to jungle Twisted Fate. He goes over the starting leashes and explains hard and soft resets, which are crucial to learning the champ and role.
Footage of Unicorns of Love vs TSM game 12/6/2014
Also, here's the footage of the UoL vs TSM game where they first played Twisted Fate jungle in a professional setting.
Thoughts? Comment below!