The 5 Best Gods for the Jungle in Patch 10.1

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SMITE: The 5 Best Gods for the Jungle in Patch 10.1


After the best Solo lane Warriors of the meta, let’s look at the most effective Junglers of SMITE patch 10.1.


With Year 10, one of the most significant changes to SMITE’s Conquest map was the Jungle: Titan Forge Studios removed some jungle camps and moved some around, meaning that Junglers have to adapt to a new layout. Additionally, the new items have shaken up the meta, making some Assassin’s – and two Mages – borderline broken. But which are the strongest Gods to help your lanes from the Jungle on the Battlegrounds of the Gods?

  1. Susano

Susano has been one of the premier Jungle picks for Season 9, being highly contested in both proplay and casual/ranked matches. The Japanese God of Storms has received some changes for his items, mainly Brawler’s Beat Stick, but it only made him stronger. He’s still a menace running around the map with 2 dashes, and can 100 to 0 some squishies with a full rotation of abilities.

Susano is also one of the best Junglers to use the new Bluestone Pendant/Bluestone Brooch strategy that some Jungle players have been utilizing. Buying Bluestone instead of Bumba’s Dagger means that your first clears will be a bit less healthy than with the other alternative, but your mid and lategame will be incredibly strong, which is worth the tradeoff in some cases – as shown by Bluestone Brooch Susano’s 63% winrate in 1164 games according to stats site smite-master.com.

  1. Thor

Another deity of storms, the Norse God of Thunder, Thor comes in at 4th place for this list. Thor was mostly seen on the Solo lane last year, where his Warriors Axe – Runeforged Hammer start has wrecked opponents. Now, he returns to the jungle as one of the premier picks of Year 10.

SMITE's God of Thunder, Thor

A number of Thor’s items have been buffed, such as Brawler’s Beat Stick and Heartseeker, and he can utilise the new Bloodforge second item really well, as Anvil of Dawn compels him to dive into enemy lines during teamfights to get kills. While he works best with the jungle starter items, such as Eye of the Jungle and Bumba’s Dagger, players have been testing out the Bluestone Pendant start with him, which works pretty well. No wonder his winrate is almost 60% in every rank above Bronze.

  1. Ao Kuang

The Dragon King of the East has returned to the jungle as well, being one of the most contested picks of patch 10.1. Ao Kuang has a 60% winrate in Gold, which goes up to 65% in Diamond – but accompanying that, he has one of the highest banrates, as he’s being banned in 70% of Ranked matches in the Platinum Divisions.

Dragon King of the Eastern Seas in SMITE, Ao Kuang

While Ao Kuang has been a regular guest of SPL, and especially SWC matches be it the Solo lane or the Jungle, he has really solidified his position in the forests of the Battleground. With the new item, Cyclopean Ring, he can get away with building only one Attack Speed item, as the extra damage should be more than enough to kill any backliner – but there’s still the classic Rings build if you need to chew through some tanks, with the penetration items sprinkled in for perfection.

  1. He Bo

Another Mage in the Jungle, He Bo’s popularity has shot up in the first few days of SMITE’s Year 10. The God of the Yellow River has incredibly high burst damage, amplified by buffed items such as Divine Ruin in this season. The choice of items for him can vary, but if you focus on tools that give him the most Magical Power, you really can’t go wrong.

He Bo, God of the Yellow River in SMITE

With his full combo deleting squishies out of existence, He Bo has garnered an almost 60% winrate at Silver elo, and in Diamond, he wins more than 60% of his matches according to Smite Master. While he has an almost 70% banrate in high elo to compensate for that, he is a terror of the lower ranks – or a way to increase your MMR quickly.

  1. Mercury

But no Jungler got as much of a boost in 10.1 as Mercury. The Roman Messenger of the Gods has been the king of the Jungle recently, as he can use a lot of the reworked or buffed Crit items meant for Hunters. The main suspect being Rage, Mercury can become a menace by the midgame, ganking from one T1 Tower to the other with his Ultimate, Sonic Boom, and three-hitting carries, while with a bit of penetration, he can get through tanks as well, thanks to his high Attack Speed – especially while using Maximum Velocity.

Messenger of the Gods, Mercury, in SMITE

 

 

While he couldn’t break the 70% winrate just yet, he is a more accessible pick for Junglers, as his banrate is in the 30’s, he could easily be a main god you can actually play.

While some of the members of the Jungle has stayed the same as Season 9, some new entries have gotten to the top of the charts. SMITE’s Year 10 has been shaping up to be one of it’s best yet, so get out there, and get your MMR!

 



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