Guide to Jarvan IV jungle in League of Legends Season 13

Jarvan IV is one of the most iconic jungle champions in the history of League of Legends. This is thanks to his presence in high Elo and professional play, which allows him to influence other lanes in an effective manner.

Seeing Jarvan IV as one of the top meta-jungle champions in Season 13 wasn't expected. But thanks to patch 13.3, where he saws buffs to his W (Golden Aegis), he has quite easily become one of the best performers, even after the small nerf he received in patch 13.4.

With a high pickrate of 15.1%, and a 52.11% winrate in Platinum+, along with an 18% banrate, Jarvan IV is quite certainly the best jungle champion in overall statistics.

With that in mind, this article will serve as a comprehensive guide for Jarvan IV jungle in League of Legends season 13.

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Runes, itemization, and gameplay guide for Jarvan IV in League of Legends Season 13

One of the main aspects of choosing Jarvan IV is understanding how to play to his strengths. He is one of the best engage champions, a great early-game pick, and is incredibly versatile when it comes to fitting into a vast number of team compositions.

Runes

For League of Legends Season 13, the Conqueror setup is the most suitable in the majority of cases for Jarvan IV. In this composition, Precision is the primary tree that grants access to Conqueror as he does very well with it, due to the rune allowing him good damage and healing when fully stacked.

Additionally, Triumph is great for skirmishing and team-fighting heals, Legend: Alacrity is great for doing additional auto-attacks, considering Legend: Tenacity is now nerfed. Further, Coup de Grace is beneficial as it allows for a high amount of damage during the start of a trade.

Inspiration is the secondary tree and it grants him access to Magical Footwear. It is essential for jungle champions in League of Legends Season 13 to maintain their tempo as this rune grants free boots. Fuerther, Cosmic Insight is easily one of the best runes for jungle champions as it grants Summoner Spell and Item Haste.

Jarvan IV Conqueror rune setup (Image via Riot Client)

Primary Rune (Precision)

Conqueror - Triumph - Legend: Alacrity - Coup de Grace

Secondary Rune (Inspiration)

Magical Footwear - Cosmic Insight

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Itemization and jungle pet

Itemization on Jarvan IV jungle for League of Legends Season 13 consists of two major core items. Goredrinker and Black Cleaver are the most crucial items for him and must be built in almost all cases.

Following that, the boots can be itemized according to the team composition, as the build is then followed by Death's Dance. This is a good fighter item against AD-heavy team compositions, followed by Guardian Angel as the fourth as Jarvan IV is one of the best champions to utilize this item properly. The last pick can be situational, but usually, Maw of Malmortius provides good value.

• Goredrinker (Core Mythic Item)
• Plated Steelcaps/ Mercury Treads (Build according to the enemy team composition)
• Black Cleaver (Core Legendary Item)
• Death's Dance (Build Maw of Malmortius as third if the enemy team has AP threats)
• Guardian Angel
• Maw of Malmortius (The last item can be very situational and depends on the state of the match, how much gold a player has, and more)

Jungle pet

In League of Legends Season 13, Mosstomper Seedling is overall the best jungle pet option for Jarvan IV. The reason behind this is that in most cases he's bound to be the primarily engage champion, who is in the melee range of the enemy champions. Due to this, having Moostomper Seedling provides the best value as it grants a permanent shield along with Tenacity and Slow Resist.

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Gameplay

One of the primary gameplay aspects of Jarvan IV in League of Legends Season 13 is understanding that he is a champion who likes to impact the map early in the game.

At the moment, the jungle meta clearly favors players who opt for full-clear rather than gank a lane after three camps. Fortunately, he is one of the champions that have the luxury of doing both, depending on the player's style of play and the ally champion's lane state.

If duoing with a fellow premate, then players are highly advised to communicate with them to let the enemy laner push the wave during level 1-3, so that the chances of an early gank have a high probability of working out.

If a player is opting out to fully clear instead of ganking early, then it is highly advised to contest the first dragon in order to utilize Jarvan IV's strong early game as he can easily manage to 1v1 any League of Legends jungle champion, especially in the early game.

When looking to gank in League of Legends Season 13, it's in the best interest of a player to analyze who the enemy team's main threat/carry should be focused on first. Further, the amount of CC (Crowd Control), what is the state of the laning phase, and what's the current health and allies' mana are other factors that should be taken into account.

In the mid-to-late game, having deep control wards that grant vision for picking overextended players is one of the best ways to punish enemies while playing Jarvan IV jungle in League of Legends Season 13.

In the late game of League of Legends, it is absolutely crucial to communicate with teammates in advance on whom to focus (primarily the main botlaner). During critical teamfights, it's important to act as the main engage and focus on the enemy ADC champions with all the CC.

And considering that while doing this, the player will be between multiple League of Legends enemies, using Jarvan IV's W (Golden Aegis) allows opponents to be slowed and grants them a shield that can be followed by multiple auto attacks.