win.gg
Win.gg League of Legends How the jungle has changed in the 2021 preseason patch 10.23

How the jungle has changed in the 2021 preseason patch 10.23

Author Icon
William Davis Published 13/11/2020

It wouldn’t be a League of Legends preseason without changes to the jungle. 

With the introduction of the 2021 preseason in patch 10.23, the jungle has seen some changes for both the monsters and items. The primary changes have been made to the jungle items, as Riot has aimed to remove the mandatory jungle items while still keeping different Smites in the game. 

Riot has also introduced some adjustments to all jungle camps, primarily to nerf ranged junglers from kiting the monsters around. This strategy has been very effective throughout the 2020 season and enabled ranged junglers to clear camps without taking that much damage. 

Let’s take a look at how the jungle has changed for the 2021 preseason.  

Jungle items have changed for 2021 preseason

The most notable jungle change for the 2021 preseason is the jungle items. Previously, players could choose from different jungle items that would empower the Smite, while giving necessary stats for clearing the jungle camps. 

This will change in the 2021 season, as Riot has removed those items and made it possible for junglers to build completely normal items like any other role on the map. The only items that remain are Hailblade and Emberknife, which are both possible to purchase from level 1. 

Both items will have the necessary stats to clear the jungle in the early game and will consume itself after the player has used Smite five times. After consumption, the player’s Smite will be turned into either Chilling Smite or Challenging Smite. 

Hailblade is the new item that turns a player’s Smite into the Chilling Smite. This Smite can be cast on champions, which will apply a 20% slow and deal 20-156 true damage. 

The item itself costs 350 gold and provides Omnivamp against monsters, a burn to monsters, mana regen when in the jungle or river, and an experience bonus for each large monster kill. The item is perfect as a jungler’s first purchase in the game. 

Hailblade is the best option for junglers that want a bit of extra utility. The Chilling Smite is great for a bit of damage, but the slow is also very valuable to keep a target in place. 

Emberknife is similar to Hailblade in stats, except that it turns into Challenging Smite instead. The Challenging Smite is great for champions that want to deal a lot of damage. 

When using Challenging Smite on an enemy champion, it is marked for four seconds. In that time, attacks and abilities deal 48-125 bonus true damage over 2.5 seconds and the damage dealer takes 20% reduced damage from the Smites enemy. 

The Smite is therefore ideal for assassin champions such as Rengar and Kha’Zix, as they want to dish out a lot of damage in a short amount of time. 

The changes to the jungle items will likely make it easier for junglers to create alternative build paths, as they don’t rely on getting an expensive jungle item at the start of every game. 

Jungle monsters adjusted on patch LoL patch 10.23

All neutral jungle monsters have also gotten some slight adjustments on patch 10.23 to hopefully make the jungle a more balanced role. Riot has mainly been focusing on increasing the movement speed of all camps, to prevent players from kiting monsters around without taking much damage. 

Furthermore, the armor and magic resist has been adjusted on most camps by removing the armor and magic resist scaling. Many camps have also seen some slight adjustments to health and gold values. 

For some of the bigger changes, Riot has made it so the Rift Scuttler spawns with a 60% max health shield. This shield can be broken if the Scuttler is immobilized. To balance it out, the Scuttler no longer restores health and mana when killed.

The healing from killing Rift Scuttler has instead been added to Gromp, to make it easier for both sides of the jungle to take advantage of this. Gromp now restored both health and mana when killed and doesn’t have increased damage on its first three attacks. The changes have made it way easier and valuable for players to kill Gromp. 

Riot will be monitoring and adjusting the preseason changes until season 11 starts in the beginning of 2021. 

William Davis
About William Davis

View full profile
Read Also
Top Esports beats Team WE in the LPL, qualifies for MSI 2026 Esports Betting
Top Esports beats Team WE in the LPL, qualifies for MSI 2026 Wasif Ahmed Against all odds, Top Esports faced Team WE in the LPL upper bracket final. Both teams fought over a spot for the Mid-Season Invitational that everyone expected Anyone’s Legend, Bilibili Gaming, or JD Gaming to claim. In the end, TES paused WE’s Cinderella story as they beat them 3-0. Before this series, World Elite had defeated two LPL powerhouses in BLG and AL. Against TES, though, they suddenly lost all ...
G2 Esports complete comeback against Karmine Corp to win LEC Spring 2026 League of Legends
G2 Esports complete comeback against Karmine Corp to win LEC Spring 2026 Hannan Mundia After a fairly smooth split, G2 Esports emerged victorious in the 2026 LEC Spring split grand final by making a comeback against Karmine Corp. The 2026 LEC Spring split has finally concluded. With spots at MSI and the Esports World Cup on the line, every professional European team gave it their all to get as far as they could. While most teams fell quickly, Karmine Corp and G2 Esports managed ...
G2 Esports vs Karmine Corp 2026 LEC Spring: Best odds, picks Esports Betting
G2 Esports vs Karmine Corp 2026 LEC Spring: Best odds, picks Hannan Mundia The 2026 LEC Spring split is about to conclude, with G2 Esports and Karmine Corp facing off one last time to see which team qualifies for the Esports World Cup. While both teams have done well to make it to this LEC split’s grand final, only one team can be crowned the victor. With a direct ticket to the EWC on the line, there’s a strong chance that G2’s dominating ...
MKOI vs Karmine Corp 2026 LEC Spring betting preview: Best odds and picks Esports Betting
MKOI vs Karmine Corp 2026 LEC Spring betting preview: Best odds and picks Hannan Mundia Two LEC spots are open for this year’s Mid-Season Invitational, and MKOI will battle against Karmine Corp to determine which team grabs it. The ongoing LEC Spring split is almost done, and only three teams remain. While G2 Esports has already established itself as the strongest so far with a guaranteed spot in the grand final, Movistar KOI and Karmine Corp will battle it out on the big stage for ...
LCK 2026 Road to MSI: Teams, format, and schedule League of Legends
LCK 2026 Road to MSI: Teams, format, and schedule Hannan Mundia With the LCK 2026 Rounds 1-2 complete, the qualified teams will battle it out in Road to MSI. With two spots for the 2026 Mid-Season Invitational and one spot for the 2026 Esports World Cup on the line, here’s everything to know about the LCK 2026 Road to MSI. Six teams have qualified for Road to MSI, but only two MSI spots are available for this region. While powerhouse teams ...
KT Rolster vs T1 2026 LCK Season Rounds 1-2: Best odds and picks Esports Betting
KT Rolster vs T1 2026 LCK Season Rounds 1-2: Best odds and picks Hannan Mundia KT Rolster and T1 will face off in the last week of 2026 LCK Rounds 1-2 to potentially improve their starting position at Road to MSI. KT Rolster and T1 have both had their moment to shine in the ongoing 2026 LCK split. With one week remaining, the two teams will battle against each other for a chance at acquiring second place and starting with a significant advantage in the ...
EWC officially heads to Paris for 2026 as early reports confirmed Esports Betting
EWC officially heads to Paris for 2026 as early reports confirmed Michael Hassall The Esports World Cup 2026 will take place in Paris, France from July later this year as per an new announcement by the EWC organizers, the Esports Foundation. Revealed in a post on their official social media, and an accompanying release and blog post, the announcement confirmed earlier speculation that the event would move location due to the “regional situation” around Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Here’s the info: The Esports World ...