- Jungle
Invade dueling is winning a 1v1 inside the enemy jungle, where corridors are narrow and camps are close. You do it by using the walls, the brush and the monsters themselves, and by choosing when to hit so you do not give your position away.
What it is
Invading is walking into the enemy half of the jungle to gain information and possibly steal camps. Counter-jungling is invading with the specific aim of stealing camps to cover a deficit. Either one can start a fight, because laners come to scare off the invader or to help ambush them. When the enemy jungler arrives, that fight is often a duel in a space only a few champions wide.
Several rules decide such a duel. Terrain blocks sight and is always opaque to vision from units and wards, and brush hides what is inside it from the outside. Entering brush is not stealth, so a ward or any sight over the brush reveals you. If you use a unit-targeted attack or ability from inside fog, a 300 radius around you is revealed for two seconds. Walls and brush give you cover, but the attack that starts the fight takes it away for a moment.
Monsters matter too. A monster that is aggroed attacks the nearest champion by walking distance, whether or not it can see them, and a camp changing target can alert a team that someone is nearby. They also follow a target into brush. Standing in a camp is therefore not safe during a duel, because the monsters may attack either of you. And when a large monster dies, the rest of its camp is marked for death and dies on its own ten seconds after it is out of combat. Killing the large monster is all it takes to clear a camp.
How to do it
- Check the timers before you cross
A camp that you saw cleared shows its respawn timer. Plan the invade around camps that are live, and around the enemy camps you know will be up. Enter with a clear idea of which camps you want and what you will do if their jungler walks in.
- Pick the ground, not the camp
Before you take a camp, check your exits. Stand where a wall or a brush is between you and the way the enemy will most likely arrive. In a narrow corridor a skillshot or a dash has fewer places to miss, and a wall can break their line of sight.
- Use brush as cover, not as a hiding spot
Brush hides you from the outside only until an enemy has sight over it. Step in to break their targeting, so that they must walk into the brush to attack you. Remember that an attack from inside reveals a 300 radius for two seconds, so make that attack count.
- Fight away from the camp if you can
Monsters attack the nearest champion. If you take the fight to a spot with no live camp, the monsters cannot join in against you. If they cannot be avoided, use them: stand so that the nearest champion is your opponent.
- Start with the ability that costs them the most
Open with the crowd control or the dash you are most sure of in the space you have. Keep your escape for the moment the duel turns. This is advice rather than a rule: the right opener depends on your champion and theirs.
- Know when to leave
A duel in their jungle is a duel next to their team. If their laner is walking in, or your health is below what you need to win, leave through the fog and the brush before you take a second hit.
Watch it
What to watch for: A general guide to invading the jungle. Watch the paths it shows and how the jungler positions around camps.
Video: The ULTIMATE Jungle Invade Guide — Every Path, Explained — Coach Leaf
Common mistakes
- You fight on top of a live camp. The monsters attack the nearest champion, which may be you. Move the fight away from them, or stand so the monsters hit your opponent.
- You trust the brush after attacking from it. An attack from inside reveals a 300 radius for two seconds, so you are visible. Decide where you go next before you attack.
- You fight in the open when a wall was one step away. Use terrain to cut their sight and make them come to you.
- You invade without knowing what is up. Check the camp timers and the sides you have seen, or you spend the invade walking into an empty camp.
- You keep duelling when their team arrives. Leave while you still have your escape.
Practice drill
- In a custom game, ask a friend to play the enemy jungler. Start the fight from three different spots, one in open ground, one beside a wall and one at a brush edge, and count how many of your abilities land from each.
- Replay your last invade and write down where you stood when the fight started and where your exit was. Pick one better position for each.