Season 11 s tier jungle all the way!
Champion Guide: Ekko, The Boy Who Shattered Time
In this Season 11 Champion Guide we look at Ekko in the Jungle. We show you what makes the shatterer of time so strong and how to play the assassin on the strongest position in solo queue. You want to make life hell for your opponent's Carries? No problem with our Season 11 Ekko Champion Guide.
If AD assassins like Zed are the classic assassins for mid lane, then Ekko is probably more the atypical one. Since LoL Patch 11.17, the AP Assassin is back. However, not in Mid Lane, but in the Jungle. And that's exactly where Ekko belongs. Today we explain how to play him in solo queue and why Ekko Jungle is the right choice in the current meta. In less than two weeks his pick rate has risen to 13%, but he still gets banned much less than the other S-tier junglers. Take advantage of that while you can!
- Next Patch is out. Check out all the LoL Patch 11.18: All Champion and Item Buffs
Ekko Jungle Guide: Runes and Items
The days of Mid Lane Ekko are over and so is Conqueror. Your main skill tree is Domination with the following runes:
- Keystone: Dark Harvest
- Sudden Impact
- Eyeball Collection
- Ravenous Hunter
Domination brings everything the modern assassin needs and perfectly complements Ekko's kit. Even if you don't get a kill on a gank in the early game, you get Dark Harvest stacks. This way you become more and more dangerous in the course of the game. Sudden Impact procs on your E. Every time you dash, you get the lethality and magic penetration. Eyeball Collection and Ravenous Hunter on top provide even more damage and sustain for each kill. And trust me - you'll score a few in the solo queue!
Your Secondary Tree is inspiration with these two runes:
- Magical Footwear
- Cosmic Insight
Magical Footwear is your go-to. Ekko is not a hyper-aggressive early game jungler, so you don't need to rush boots. Footwear ensures that you get strong boots later and save a lot of gold. You can also shorten the time of the Magical Footwear with kills.
Cosmic Insight gives you Ability Haste and Item Ability Haste.
- Don't worry, nothing will be changed for Ekko with LoL Patch 11.18. He remains as strong as he is.
The Haste bonuses are self-explanatory once you know Ekko's core items: Sorcerer's Boots and Hextech Rocketbelt. Assassins need to be mobile and Ekko is already mobile with his E and the teleport of his Ultimate. Especially for ganks in mid-game you need to be fast enough on the lane. Rush boots and the Rocketbelt for an extra portion of mobility, magic penetration and burst.
Ekko Jungle Guide: Early Game
Ekko is one of the few meta junglers that actually loses hp in the first jungle clear and doesn't target level 4. There are two possible routes: The 5 camp clear, then scuttle, then gank, or the 5 camp clear, then gank and the scuttle afterwards. So depending on the side you start on, you don't clear completely, but only 5 camps. Unfortunately, there is no general statement about starting with Ekko, because it depends a lot on the champions of your team mates and of course on the opponent's jungler.
Pre level 6, Ekko is a welcomed target for many bruisers like Jarvan IV, which simply have much higher base damage. So think carefully about which scuttle you contests and work together with your solo laners. Only use your W to break the crab's shield if you know where the enemy jungler is. Otherwise you are wasting a valuable tool to escape or fight.
Ekko's passive was buffed with patch 11.17, which greatly improved his first clear. But as strange as it sounds now: Proc the passive only on the big jungle monsters! Many Ekko players make the mistake of auto attacking the small wolves and raptors after the second hit through his Q. But this is wrong! To have a port left for the fights in the river after the 5 camps, you have to focus on the big jungle monsters. Because the small adds live longer, you can heal much more and by doing more auto attacks on the big monsters you don't even lose time.
If you land a successful bot lane gank, only start drake as a team. Everything else is not an option.
Ekko Jungle Guide: Mid Game
Now the fun begins. You have completed your core items and really, really do a lot of damage. A combo with Rocketbelt kills pretty much any carry that comes your way. Now play more around the last platings and focus on objectives like the Herald and Drake. With Ekko's Ultimate you can dive incredibly efficiently and as long as the laning phase is not over yet, you should take advantage of it. With Ekko you canboverextend super far as long as you keep an eye on the CC of your opponents.
There are a lot of Bruisers and Assassins being played in the mid and top lane at the moment. None of the champions like Irelia, Camille or Renekton are overly tanky. Get quick, easy kills and get some free platings!
Ekko Jungle Guide: Late Game
With 4 items Ekko becomes an assassin like you want it and can easily compete with his AD alternatives. He is even better! Ekko is the only assassin who can get out and escape with the Ultimate and also with his W he is the only one with an AoE stun.
In the late game you have about 40 seconds of cooldown on the ultimate, so you can go in and out super often. team fights are not what you want, of course. Rather hunt the enemy ADC or Mid Laner and get the free kills. For Ekko, it's all about vision. Always pck up 2 Pink Wards while you can and use your Sweeper trinket once you're in the enemy Jungle. If the enemy team doesn't have vision, there's no way they can risk falling into one of your traps.
If there are team fights over Drake or Baron, play around your team. Wait for the right moment and flank the enemy carries. If you can and the enemies are stacked, use Zhonyas and wait until your ult image is on them and your W has activated. After that there will be a huge explosion and hopefully double or triple kills for you.
Ekko Jungle Guide: Matchup situations
Be aware of your weaknesses in the early game and do not force yourself into bad positions around the scuttle or in the jungle. In the end you will not only lose the crab or the camp, but also your life. Only one person benefits from this - the enemy jungler.
If your solo lanes are not absolutely dominant, it is quite normal to give up the first drake or even lose both scuttles. But don't worry, your power spike will come and Ekko can win every matchup sooner or later.
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